bittorrent-tracker — Self-Hosted, Open-Source

Simple, robust, BitTorrent tracker

License: MIT. Built with: JavaScript, Shell. Website: https://webtorrent.io/. Source: https://github.com/webtorrent/bittorrent-tracker.

Features

Includes client & server implementations
Supports all mainstream tracker types:
HTTP trackers
UDP trackers (BEP 15)
WebTorrent trackers (BEP forthcoming)
Supports ipv4 & ipv6
Supports tracker "scrape" extension
Robust and well-tested
Comprehensive test suite (runs entirely offline, so it's reliable)
Used by popular clients: WebTorrent, peerflix, and playback

Installation

npm install bittorrent-tracker

Why self-host bittorrent-tracker

Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.

What hardware do you need

Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through bittorrent-tracker. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.

Where to go from here

Last verified: 2026-04-20