At this moment the offer for P2P file sharing networks has become quite generous. In case you haven’t yet found the P2P file sharing network which best meets your needs, this comparison we’ve placed here is meant to help you do just that. We have pointed out both the strong and the weak points of every P2P file sharing network, without troubling you with too much technical data.

However, as some strong points are more important than others (the same goes for the weak points) you can't know with certainty the true quality of the P2P file sharing network based only on the differences between strong points and weak points. Thus we provided (if available) links to clients, reviews and guides.

Ares Network

Clients: Ares.
Ares Review

BitTorrent Network

Clients: ABC, Arctic Torrent, Azureus, BitComet, BitTornado, BitTorrent, BT++, G3 Torrent, Halite, TorrentFlux, uTorrent, Warez P2P, XBT Client.
Azureus review

Strong Points

• Superior corruption managing
• Encryption provided
• High download speeds
• Offers "Hash"-like link functionality with torrents
• It’s open source
• Credit system to facilitate fair trading
• Well-known

Weak points

• You need broadband connection
• Supports only large files
• Short-time availability for the files
• Lacks global search option
• Your IP is known to trackers
• Trackers not very protected from legal attacks

Direct Connect Network

Clients: BCDC++, CZDC++, DC++, fulDC, StrongDC++

Strong Points

• Efficient searching
• High download speeds
• It’s open source

Weak points

• Users-based DDOS attacks
• Hubs exposed to legal attack
• Certain sharing conditions imposed by most hubs
• The fewer users the better the functionality

eDonkey Network

Clients: eMule, eMule 0.48a Xtreme, eMule 0.49a MorphXT, eMule Plus.
eMule review

Strong Points

• Superior corruption managing
• Offers encryption
• Offers hash link functionality
• Multiple modes
• Large number of users (ideal for rare content)
• Stringent protection system against leeching

Weak points

• Requires Firewall or NAT good configuration
• Servers exposed to legal attack
• Disadvantages new users

Gnutella Network

Clients: BearShare, FrostWire, Gnucleus, LimeWire, Shareaza.
Limewire review, BearShare review

Strong Points

• Decentralized: which gives it an advantage when facing legal attack
• Offers hash link functionality

Weak points

• Vulnerable to leeching
• Large files usage limited to some clients
• An increased number of users compared to original Gnutella networks
• Generally using open source clients
• Open source

Gnutella2 Network (G2)

Clients: Shareaza.

Strong Points

• Decentralized: which gives it an advantage when facing legal attack
• Offers hash link functionality
• An improved network protocol compared to Gnutella
• Open source

Weak points

• Not many clients available
• Smaller number of users than original Gnutella network
• Vulnerable to leeching

FastTrack Network

Clients: K-Lite, Kazaa Lite K++, Kazaa Lite Resurrection.
Kazaa review

Strong Points

• Decentralized: which gives it an advantage when facing legal attack
• Offers hash link functionality
• High-speed hashing performance

Weak points

• Totally illegal for Australian customers
• Long waiting time to connection
• Highly unreliable hashing: corrupt file liability
• Vulnerable to leeching
• Large amounts of corrupt and bogus files
• Supports only one official client which includes malware

MP2P Network

Strong Points

• Decentralized: which gives it an advantage when facing legal attack
• Hash link functionality

Weak points

• Not many clients available, most of them containing adware
• Small number of users
• No open source clients
• Limited to music files

Usenet Network

Clients: UseNext

Strong Points

• High speed downloads
• Usually, files first come out on this network

Weak points

• Newsgroups offered just by some ISPs
• Not so friendly to beginners
• Constant leeching
• Short time availability for files