FileStream.me is a file storage service and free online torrent client that lets you download torrents without ever needing to install software. There are, however, some limitations, which you can read about below.
Some of the positive features you can find in FileStream.me include support for resumed downloads, audio and video streaming, and batch downloads.
Pros:
- There's no software you have to download
- Very easy to use
- You don't have to seed/upload/share any files
- Email alerts are sent to you when your torrents are ready for download
- Supports resumed downloads for single files*
- Batch downloads are supported
- Your IP address is reportedly hidden
- Supports streaming video and audio files
- Zero monthly download limitations
*Resume isn't supported for ZIP files, which means if you're downloading multiple files at once with the bulk download option, you can't resume broken downloads.
Cons:
- Must create an account before you can download torrents
- Includes advertisements
- There's a limit on how large file downloads can be
- Your torrent files aren't stored in your account for very long
- If you use FileStream.me too much, your download speed may be restricted
FileStream.me's Limitations
Because FileStream.me has a premium subscription that you can buy, there are lots of restrictions with free accounts.
Torrents fetched (loaded) by FileStream.me can only be 200 MB in size, but the total file size of the entire torrent, with all its files combined together, can actually exceed 200 MB so long as you are only downloading files that are less than 200 MB.
As an example, say you have a torrent that consists of hundreds of video files that are each 200 MB, but the whole torrent itself is 100 GB. FileStream.me will read the whole torrent without hesitation but will not fetch anything into your account because it won't load more than half a gigabyte at a time, and when you first load such a large torrent, all the files are queued for fetching at the same time.
To circumvent this, FileStream.me lets you choose which files out of the torrent that you want it to download. This means you can choose one of the 200 MB files, have it fetched, and then download it without a problem. Then, you'd just have to add that same torrent back into your account and choose a different 200 MB file and repeat the whole process until you've downloaded everything you want.
No more than two torrent files can be downloading into your account at the same time. This means you can load one torrent and then load a completely different one at the same time without any issues, but no more than those two until one of them has completed fetching.
FileStream.me also limits how long your torrents are stored in your account before being removed. The limit is three days, which means after a torrent has been successfully fetched, and therefore loaded in your account, you have three days to download the files before the torrent gets removed from your account.
In addition to the above, FileStream.me limits download speeds for some users, whereas premium members can download files at the maximum speed possible. Limitations occur when a free user's traffic usage goes up to high. While testing this out, my downloads were just as quick as they are with any other website.
You're given 200 GB of storage space with a free FileStream.me account. That's hardly a limitation since it's huge, but it definitely isn't as much as the paid options that give between 500 GB and 1,000 GB.
More About FileStream.me
Following are some additional things worth mentioning about FileStream.me:
- Torrents can be added by a local torrent file, a magnet link, or a URL
- Your account can be accessed from an Android device, through which you can also add torrents like you can with the desktop site
- You can login to FileStream.me with your email address or by using your Facebook, Google, or Microsoft account
- Your files can be organized within folders
- Chrome users can install the FileStream.me extension to download files easier
- For a small fee, the expiration date for your files can be extended past the three day limit
My Thoughts on FileStream.me
Because of its limitations, FileStream.me probably isn't the service for heavy users. For such people, I recommend uTorrent.
However, if you need to download smaller torrents and would rather not install software to your computer, FileStream.me is actually very nice.
Because FileStream.me doesn't use the BitTorrent network to download your files, download restrictions are less likely to be enforced by your ISP, which can't be said for programs like uTorrent and BitLord.
If you're not interested in FileStream.me, be sure to check out my review of ZbigZ, which is another free online torrent client.
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