Seedbox vs VPN

A seedbox and a VPN both add privacy to torrenting, but they work in completely different ways. A VPN encrypts your home internet connection so your ISP cannot see what you are downloading. A seedbox moves the downloading off your machine entirely, onto a remote server in a datacenter.

The choice depends on what problem you are solving.

How each one works

VPN

A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a VPN server. Your ISP sees encrypted traffic to the VPN server but cannot see what is inside. The VPN server forwards your traffic to the internet using its own IP address.

When you torrent through a VPN, the download still happens on your computer, using your home bandwidth and storage. Your ISP cannot see that you are torrenting, but you are still limited by your home connection speed and upload capacity.

If the VPN disconnects (a "leak"), your real IP address is briefly visible to the torrent swarm.

Seedbox

A seedbox is a server in a datacenter that downloads and uploads torrents for you. You add torrents through a web interface or SSH. The seedbox downloads at datacenter speed (1-20 Gbps), seeds 24/7, and stores the files on its drives.

When you want the files, you pull them from the seedbox to your machine over SFTP or HTTPS. Your ISP sees an encrypted file transfer from a datacenter, not torrent traffic.

Your home IP address never appears in any torrent swarm. The seedbox IP does.

Comparison

	Seedbox	VPN
Where downloading happens	Datacenter server	Your computer
Download speed	1-20 Gbps (datacenter)	Limited by your home connection
Upload/seeding	24/7 on datacenter bandwidth	Only while your computer is on and VPN connected
Your IP in torrent swarm	No (seedbox IP)	No (VPN server IP), unless VPN leaks
Storage	Seedbox drives (500 GB to 30+ TB)	Your local drives
ISP sees	Encrypted SFTP/HTTPS transfers	Encrypted VPN tunnel
What happens on disconnect	Seedbox keeps running	Your real IP is exposed (VPN leak)
Private tracker ratio	Easy to maintain (always seeding at high speed)	Hard (limited by home upload speed)
Typical cost	EUR 5-25/month	EUR 3-10/month
Setup	Web interface, add torrents	Install VPN app, configure kill switch

When a seedbox is the better choice

Private trackers. Private trackers require maintaining upload ratios. A seedbox seeds 24/7 at datacenter speed. On a 1 Gbps seedbox, you can seed to dozens of peers simultaneously without touching your home bandwidth. On a VPN over a home connection, you are limited to whatever upload speed your ISP provides (typically 10-50 Mbps).

Large downloads. A seedbox on a 10 Gbps port can download a 50 GB file in under a minute. On a typical home connection, that same file takes an hour or more. The seedbox downloads first, then you pull the file over SFTP at your maximum download speed.

Always-on seeding. A seedbox runs in a datacenter with redundant power and network. It seeds whether your computer is on or off. This matters for ratio requirements and for contributing back to swarms.

No leak risk. Your home IP never enters the torrent swarm. There is no VPN kill switch to configure, no accidental DNS leak, no momentary exposure during reconnection. The seedbox IP is the only IP visible to peers.

Media streaming. With Jellyfin installed on your seedbox, you can stream downloaded content directly to your devices without transferring files home. This is not possible with a VPN alone.

When a VPN is the better choice

General privacy. If your goal is to hide all internet activity from your ISP (not just torrenting), a VPN covers everything. A seedbox only handles torrent traffic.

Casual downloading. If you download a few files per month from public trackers and do not care about seeding ratio, a VPN is simpler and cheaper.

Geo-restriction bypass. A VPN lets you access content that is restricted by country. Seedboxes do not change what websites or streaming services you can access from your home connection.

Budget. VPN services typically cost EUR 3-10/month. Seedbox plans start around the same price but go higher for more storage and speed.

Using both together

Some users run a VPN on their seedbox to add a layer between the seedbox IP and the torrent swarm. This means the torrent swarm sees the VPN IP, the VPN provider sees the seedbox IP, and neither sees your home IP.

This is a niche setup. For most users, the seedbox alone provides sufficient separation. The seedbox IP is a datacenter address that is not linked to your home identity. Adding a VPN on top adds complexity with limited practical benefit unless you have specific threat model requirements.

Pulsed Media seedbox plans

PM seedboxes include rTorrent, Deluge, and qBittorrent pre-installed. All traffic between you and the seedbox is encrypted (HTTPS for web panel, SSH/SFTP for file transfers). No VPN is needed for basic seedbox use, but you can set up WireGuard or OpenVPN on your seedbox if you want to route additional traffic through it.

Plans range from 1 Gbps shared (V1000/M1000) to 20 Gbps (Dragon-R). Full details at pulsedmedia.com.