RARBG in 2026: What Happened, Is It Back, and Proxy Sites Explained

For fifteen years RARBG was one of the best-known torrent sites on the web. It launched in Bulgaria in 2008, became famous for its own compact movie and TV encodes, and in January 2023 still ranked as the fourth most-visited torrent site in TorrentFreak’s annual count. Then, on 31 May 2023, it posted a short farewell note and switched off.

The searches never stopped. Around 40,000 people a month in the US still type “rarbg” into Google, plus thousands more for “rarbg proxy”, “rarbg.to” and misspellings such as “ragb” and “rar bg”, according to Semrush. Most of the pages that answer them are lists of “working proxy and mirror links”.

This guide takes a different approach. It explains what happened to RARBG, what the sites using its name really are, what we found when we checked rarbg.to on 13 November 2026, and where to watch the same kind of films and shows legally.

We don’t link to any RARBG clone or torrent index in this article, and the sections below explain why.

What Was RARBG?

RARBG (the “BG” stands for Bulgaria) was a public BitTorrent index founded in 2008. Unlike most torrent sites, it didn’t let ordinary users upload torrents; it listed releases from its own team and a small set of trusted sources, which made its catalogue unusually consistent. Its releases, tagged “RARBG”, were known for small file sizes at good quality, and TorrentFreak described them as among the most downloaded in history.

That popularity brought legal pressure. Courts and regulators ordered internet providers to block RARBG in more than a dozen countries, including the UK (2014), Denmark (2015), Australia (2017), Ireland (2018), India (2019) and the Netherlands (2022), according to Wikipedia’s record of the blocks. In 2019 the US Trade Representative named it a “notorious market” for piracy.

Why Did RARBG Shut Down?

On 31 May 2023, rarbg.to replaced its homepage with a short note. The team wrote that the previous two years had been very hard: some members had died of COVID complications and others still couldn’t work because of its after-effects; some were fighting in the war in Europe, on both sides; and higher electricity prices at European data centres, together with inflation, had made the site too expensive to keep running. After what it called a unanimous vote, the team closed it.

“Inflation makes our daily expenses impossible to bare.” (sic) — the RARBG team’s farewell note, 31 May 2023

The closure was total. The site went offline and the RARBG release group stopped publishing at the same moment, as TorrentFreak reported the same day. Nothing in the note hinted at a return, and nothing has come from the original team since.

Is RARBG Back in 2026?

No. When we checked on 13 November 2026, the rarbg.to domain was pointed at a domain-parking service, and a plain request returned a “This domain is for sale” page marked noindex. When we opened www.rarbg.to in a full browser from India, a script on that page sent us on to an unrelated online betting site. The old address now earns money for whoever controls the domain, not for anyone connected to RARBG.

The other names people search for, such as “rarbg.to site”, “rar bg”, “rarbg site” or “ragb”, lead to the same two places: the parked domain or one of the copycat sites described in the next section.

RARBG Proxy and Mirror Sites: What They Really Are

Before 2023, a RARBG proxy was a relay. Where a country blocked RARBG, a proxy server fetched pages from the real site and passed them on, so the content still came from RARBG. A mirror was a second copy of the site at another address, kept in step with the original.

Once RARBG’s servers went dark, there was nothing left to relay or mirror. TorrentFreak asked the RARBG team in June 2023, and they confirmed there are no official proxies, mirrors or rebuilds. Any site calling itself a RARBG proxy today is its own site, with its own operator and its own database, using the RARBG name and look to attract visitors.

The best-known example is “RARGB”, which swaps the last two letters. TorrentFreak reported that this look-alike had been running for years before the shutdown, drew millions of visitors and often ranked above the original in Google. It produces nothing of its own: it gathers torrents from other sites and repackages them under the RARBG brand. Names such as “TheRARBG” and addresses on other country domains work the same way, and so do the “RARBG proxy lists” on GitHub and elsewhere that point to them.

That has one practical consequence. A list of “working RARBG proxies” is really a list of websites run by people nobody can identify, which is why we don’t publish one.

Are RARBG Proxy and Clone Sites Safe?

Not in any way you can check. Clone sites carry three kinds of risk, and the first is the one most likely to cost you.

Malware and fake downloads

Sites that live off ad money tend to use the most aggressive ad networks: pop-unders, redirects, fake “Download” and “Play” buttons, and prompts to install a “player” or codec. The US Federal Trade Commission’s consumer advice on malware lists free downloads of movies and shows from unfamiliar websites, and peer-to-peer file-sharing sites, among the common ways malware reaches a device. A Carnegie Mellon study that followed 253 people’s browsing for a year found that doubling the time spent on piracy sites went with roughly 20% more malware on their computers, as TorrentFreak summarised. For a plain-English refresher on what that malware does, see our guide to what malware is and how to protect your computer from it.

Phishing and notification spam

Many clones ask for permission to show browser notifications, then push fake virus alerts and prize pop-ups to your desktop for weeks afterwards. Some ask for an email address or card details to “unlock” a download, the same tricks covered in our guide to recognising smishing and phishing attempts. On a phone, treat any app file offered by a torrent site as unsafe; Android’s enhanced scam protections help, but the safest rule is not to sideload apps from these sites at all.

Legal exposure

BitTorrent is a technology, not a crime, but downloading or sharing copyrighted films and shows without permission is copyright infringement in the US and most other countries. In a torrent swarm your device uploads as well as downloads, and every other peer can see your IP address; our free What Is My IP tool shows what yours reveals. Rights holders watch public swarms and send notices through internet providers. A VPN hides your address from your provider and other peers, but it doesn’t make infringement legal and it won’t stop a malicious file.

If you have already used a clone site

1. Remove the site’s notification permission in your browser settings, then clear your browser cache and site data.
2. Uninstall any “player”, codec, extension or app the site asked you to install.
3. Run a full scan with reputable antivirus software.
4. Change any password you typed on the site, and turn on two-factor sign-in where you can.
5. Keep your browser updated; our guide to what makes a web browser secure explains which settings matter.

What Happened to RARBG’s Torrents?

Within a day of the shutdown, someone had posted text files with more than 267,000 RARBG magnet links for movies and TV shows to GitHub, TorrentFreak reported: 117,233 for films and 150,638 for TV. A magnet link is a short line of text that identifies a torrent, so a whole catalogue fits in a few small files. Copies spread fast, but by July 2023 more than 900 GitHub repositories holding them had been taken down after copyright notices.

Two things follow. First, the dump is a frozen snapshot: nothing in it is newer than May 2023, and older torrents only work while people keep sharing them. Second, any “RARBG” release dated after 31 May 2023 cannot have come from the RARBG team, because they stopped releasing when the site closed. New uploads carrying the RARBG tag are someone else’s files borrowing a trusted name, which is exactly how malware gets passed around.

Legal Alternatives to RARBG for Movies and TV

Most people used RARBG for one of a few things: new releases in high quality, small files to watch offline, or a big catalogue that cost nothing. Each of those has a legal equivalent now, and several are free.

Free with ads

Tubi, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel are the easiest swaps: no subscription, no files to manage and nothing to install beyond an app. Tubi has even launched an app inside ChatGPT for finding something to watch. The Roku Channel works in a browser as well as on Roku players such as the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, and Plex adds free films next to your own media library. We compared these and more in our list of 10 legal free movie sites with no download.

Free with a library card

Kanopy and Hoopla are paid for by public libraries and universities, so with a card from a participating library you can stream films with no ads and no fee. Kanopy leans towards classic, independent and documentary titles; Hoopla mixes films and TV with e-books and audiobooks. Each library sets its own monthly limits.

Public-domain films

The Internet Archive’s Feature Films collection listed 28,589 items when we checked, from silent films to film noir, and many can be downloaded as well as streamed. Because these films are in the public domain or shared with permission, you can keep and share copies freely.

New releases in 4K

For recent films in the best quality, renting or buying is the legal route: Apple TV and Fandango at Home sell and rent many titles in 4K HDR without a subscription. Before you pay, search the title on JustWatch, which shows every service that currently streams it, including the free ones. If you used RARBG’s small files to watch on flights, the Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ apps can download most titles to a phone or tablet for offline viewing.

Legal Ways to Use BitTorrent

BitTorrent itself is legal and still useful. The Internet Archive offers torrents for many of its items, Linux distributions such as Ubuntu publish official torrent downloads, and open-source clients such as qBittorrent come with no ads or bundled software. If you miss the RARBG way of downloading, those are the places to use it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RARBG still working in 2026?

No. RARBG shut down on 31 May 2023, and the original team has not relaunched it. Sites using the RARBG name in 2026 are unofficial copies run by other people.

Is rarbg.to the real RARBG?

No. When we checked on 13 November 2026, rarbg.to was a parked domain showing a “for sale” page, and in a full browser it redirected to an unrelated betting site. It has nothing to do with the former RARBG team.

What is RARGB?

RARGB is a look-alike site whose name swaps the last two letters of RARBG. It existed before the shutdown, copies torrents from other sites and presents them under the RARBG brand. It is not connected to the original site.

Why did RARBG shut down?

Its farewell note said team members had died of COVID complications or could no longer work, some were fighting in the war in Europe, and rising data-centre electricity prices and inflation had made the site too expensive to run.

Are RARBG proxy sites safe?

No. There are no official RARBG proxies or mirrors, so every proxy is an unknown third-party site. Clones commonly use pop-ups, fake download buttons and notification spam, which are common routes for malware and scams.

Is it illegal to use RARBG clone sites?

Browsing a page is rarely the problem. Downloading or sharing copyrighted films and shows without permission is copyright infringement in the US and most other countries, and torrent swarms expose your IP address to everyone in them.

Where did the RARBG torrents go?

Shortly after the shutdown, more than 267,000 RARBG magnet links were posted to GitHub, and hundreds of copies were later removed after takedown notices. The collection stops at May 2023, and anything tagged RARBG after that date is not from the original group.

What is the best legal alternative to RARBG?

For free films, start with Tubi, Pluto TV or The Roku Channel. With a library card, Kanopy and Hoopla are ad-free. For new releases in 4K, rent or buy on Apple TV or Fandango at Home, and use JustWatch to see where a title is streaming.

Will RARBG come back?

Nothing suggests it will. The team gave personal and financial reasons for closing, has made no announcement since 2023, and the rarbg.to domain is now parked and listed for sale.