Top 5 PeerBlock Alternatives

PeerBlock is a tool that lets you control who your computer communicates with over the Internet. Its main appeal is blocking connections from potentially harmful or surveillance-heavy IPs, such as those from law enforcement or copyright agencies. This helps users avoid detection while torrenting. However, while PeerBlock can provide a certain level of privacy, it doesn’t offer the complete protection or encryption that a VPN provides.

If you're looking for more robust online security, consider some PeerBlock alternatives. VPNs, for example, encrypt all traffic and mask your IP address, providing far superior protection than PeerBlock alone. These features make your connections more secure and protect your online activity.

In this guide, you’ll learn about PeerBlock and explore the best VPN alternative options.

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What does PeerBlock do?

PeerBlock is a free, open-source personal firewall that blocks traffic from specific IP addresses, such as those associated with surveillance agencies or copyright enforcement. It works by maintaining a list of blacklisted hosts, preventing connections from these addresses while allowing normal communication with trusted sources.

To use PeerBlock effectively, you must manually add IP addresses to the blacklist, restricting connections to known sources of surveillance or unwanted traffic. You can also create a whitelist to allow trusted connections. While PeerBlock can help block certain IPs, it doesn't encrypt your internet traffic or mask your real IP address, exposing your online activity. This is where I-Blocklist.com comes in. I-Blocklist provides updated lists of known IPs from surveillance agencies and copyright trolls, which can enhance PeerBlock’s effectiveness in blocking unwanted traffic.

Best Peerblock alternatives in 2025

1. NordVPN

   Overall, the best VPN for torrenting overall
   9.8
2. Surfshark VPN

   P2P-sharing torrent VPN with infinite connections
   9.5
3. TotalVPN

   Affordable VPN for torrenting with extra security tools
   8.2
4. PrivateVPN

   Torrent VPN with great P2P features
   8.7
5. Proton VPN

   Private and secure P2P VPN for torrenting
   8.6

What’s an I-Blocklist?

I-Blocklist is a premium service that provides updated lists of blacklisted IP addresses, including those belonging to government agencies, copyright enforcers, and other entities considered suspicious. Using these blacklists along with peer block software, such as PeerBlock, can help protect torrent users from monitoring.

However, the main challenge with relying solely on the I-Blocklist is that it doesn't offer complete anonymity while blocking known malicious IPs. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can still monitor your online activity, meaning your browsing and torrenting habits are visible to them. Moreover, copyright trolls and other entities may mask their IP addresses before joining a P2P swarm, bypassing blacklists altogether. Let's take a closer look at PeerBlock's pros and cons:

PeerBlock Pros

PeerBlock is a great tool for blocking specific IP addresses in the P2P swarm when torrenting. The IP addresses blocked usually belong to copyright trolls or other third parties with a vested interest in monitoring your torrenting activities. Below are some of the key benefits of using PeerBlock:

• IP Blocking. PeerBlock effectively blocks known IPs from unwanted sources, such as copyright enforcers and surveillance agencies, adding another layer of privacy to torrenting.
• Free service. PeerBlock is completely free to use, making it accessible to anyone looking for basic privacy protection without any cost.

PeerBlock Cons

PeerBlock operates on the premise that you can identify all the IP addresses that belong to law enforcement or copyright trolls worldwide, which can be dangerous. however, there is no way to confirm that you have every single IP address of monitoring agencies, which is a major flaw. In addition, law enforcement can either mask their IP addresses or compel your ISP to release your identity, which can be very costly. See a list of PeerBlock’s main flaws below:

• It doesn’t block all malicious IP addresses
• It can’t mask your IP address or location
• Long blacklists can slow down the torrent download speed
• PeerBlock does not encrypt your torrenting traffic

As a result, while PeerBlock can provide basic protection by blocking certain IP addresses, it falls short of full privacy and security. Its inability to encrypt traffic, mask your IP, or ensure complete anonymity makes it a less reliable option than more comprehensive solutions like VPNs.

VPN – #1 PeerBlock alternative

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) protects you by allowing you to connect to the internet via the provider’s servers and encrypting your online activity in the process.

A VPN is a far better solution than PeerBlock because it hides your real IP address and encrypts your internet traffic, making it nearly impossible for even your ISP or any other third party to view your online activity. For example, you can monitor your torrenting in two ways:

1. By your ISP via unencrypted traffic.
2. It's via your real IP address that shows up in your P2P swarm.

A VPN that allows torrenting via its servers completely eliminates these two risks.

Here are some of the main benefits of using a VPN:

• Data encryption: a reliable VPN provider encrypts your internet traffic, making it extremely difficult for even your ISP to monitor your torrenting or other online activity.
• IP masking: a VPN hides your real IP address and replaces it with one of theirs which is not linked to your ISP.
• Location changing: a VPN can repeatedly change your location by masking your IP address and replacing it with another.
• Some VPN providers offer a no-logs policy
• A kill switch: it’s available with some VPN providers and ensures that all internet activity stops whenever the VPN connection drops.

Other PeerBlock alternatives

People usually have a misconception that PeerBlock can secure their torrenting only if you make critical changes to the blacklist and have a way of knowing every malicious IP address out there. This is wrong!

While a VPN remains undoubtedly the most secure way of securing your torrenting and protecting your privacy, you could consider the following programs like PeerBlock.

PeerGuardian

When you compare PeerBlock and PeerGuard, you’ll quickly realize they’re similar in nearly every way. They both help you block a specific IP blacklist from making connections to your computer. However, PeerBlock still offers more stability and many additional features that make it better overall.

Just like PeerBlock, PeerGuardian does not offer enough protection from prying eyes when downloading torrents especially in terms of location masking and encryption.

Simplewall (for Windows)

Simplewall is a free PeerBlock alternative that takes a different approach to torrenting protection. It’s not a firewall application but instead uses Windoew's built-in filtering platform.

Simplewall can either be run in blacklist mode where you add applications it must prevent from running, or in whitelist mode where you create an exceptions list of apps that can connect to the internet.

Once you’ve added the apps and enabled filtering, you should be able to blacklist IP addresses and ports easily.

IPlist (for Linux)

IPlist is one of the best alternatives to PeerBlock and is only available for Linux operating systems. It is also an open source program like PeerBlock and allows you to block unwanted IP addresses via Netfilter.

One of the best things about IPlist is that it has received more updates than PeerBlock and even PeerGuardian since its launched in 2008.

BeeThink IP Blocker

BeeThink IP Blocker is another great PeerBlock alternative. It's widely respected for its ability to work on Windows and Server machines. This simple app is packed with features, such as support for multiple IP address list file types, including .htaccess.

This PeerBlock alternative also includes features like an auto IP update list. One of the most important things to note about BeeThink IP Blocker is that it essentially allows you to look up IP ownership from within the app, although this feature comes at an added cost.

The bottom line: best PeerBlock alternatives

PeerBlock can help block IP addresses associated with surveillance or copyright trolls, but it cannot guarantee comprehensive privacy and security. It doesn’t encrypt your traffic or mask your IP address, leaving you vulnerable to monitoring by your ISP or other entities. Additionally, the reliance on incomplete blacklists means that PeerBlock might not catch every threat, putting your online privacy at risk.

I highly recommend using a VPN like NordVPN for a more robust and reliable solution. Unlike PeerBlock, NordVPN offers full internet traffic encryption, hiding your IP address and preventing anyone from tracking your online activity. It also provides a large network of secure servers, fast speeds for torrenting, and additional privacy features such as a kill switch and double VPN for extra protection. Using NordVPN, you can browse securely and anonymously, making it the best alternative to PeerBlock for online privacy.

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You may also like to read:
Best VPN for torrenting anonymously
How to not get caught torrenting
Private Internet Access for torrenting
Best antivirus with VPN

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FAQ

Is PeerBlock a VPN?

PeerBlock is not a VPN and functions very differently from one. It doesn't encrypt your traffic or mask your IP address, which are key features of a VPN. Instead, PeerBlock blocks specific IP addresses associated with malware or surveillance. VPNs, such as NordVPN, offer encryption, IP masking, and other features, such as a large network of servers, to safeguard your online privacy.

What does Peerblock actually do?

PeerBlock acts as a firewall and blocks connection requests from malicious IP blacklists. It helps internet users avoid detection by blocking IP addresses associated with monitoring agencies, copyright enforcement, or malware. However, while it provides some level of privacy by blocking these specific IPs, it doesn’t offer full protection like a VPN.

Does Peerblock work for torrenting?

PeerBlock works for torrenting but is not as safe as a VPN. While it can block certain malicious IP addresses associated with copyright enforcement or surveillance, it doesn't offer encryption or full protection. PeerBlock would be much more effective if it could block all malicious IPs and encrypt your traffic, which is exactly what a VPN like NordVPN does.

How do I uninstall Peerblock?

To uninstall PeerBlock, launch the Start Menu and open the Control Panel. Once there, depending on your view, double-click "Programs and Features" or navigate to the "Programs" section. Next, locate PeerBlock in the list of installed programs and click the "Uninstall" button. Finally, restart your computer to complete the uninstallation process.