diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 135fb93c..8a3f673c 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const path = require('path')
 const Peer = require('simple-peer')
 const randombytes = require('randombytes')
 const speedometer = require('speedometer')
+const ThrottleGroup = require('stream-throttle').ThrottleGroup
 
 const TCPPool = require('./lib/tcp-pool') // browser exclude
 const Torrent = require('./lib/torrent')
@@ -71,12 +72,19 @@ class WebTorrent extends EventEmitter {
     this.tracker = opts.tracker !== undefined ? opts.tracker : {}
     this.torrents = []
     this.maxConns = Number(opts.maxConns) || 55
+    this.downloadLimit = Number(opts.downloadLimit) || Number.MAX_VALUE
+    this.uploadLimit = Number(opts.uploadLimit) || Number.MAX_VALUE
 
     this._debug(
       'new webtorrent (peerId %s, nodeId %s, port %s)',
       this.peerId, this.nodeId, this.torrentPort
     )
 
+    this.throttleGroups = {
+      down: new ThrottleGroup({ rate: this.downloadLimit }),
+      up: new ThrottleGroup({ rate: this.uploadLimit })
+    }
+
     if (this.tracker) {
       if (typeof this.tracker !== 'object') this.tracker = {}
       if (opts.rtcConfig) {
@@ -355,6 +363,26 @@ class WebTorrent extends EventEmitter {
       : { address: '0.0.0.0', family: 'IPv4', port: 0 }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Set global download throttle rate
+   * @param  {Number} rate
+   */
+  throttleDownload (rate) {
+    if (!Number(rate) || Number(rate) < 0) return
+    this.throttleGroups.down.bucket.bucketSize = rate
+    this.throttleGroups.down.bucket.tokensPerInterval = rate
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Set global upload throttle rate
+   * @param  {Number} rate
+   */
+  throttleUpload (rate) {
+    if (!Number(rate) || Number(rate) < 0) return
+    this.throttleGroups.up.bucket.bucketSize = rate
+    this.throttleGroups.up.bucket.tokensPerInterval = rate
+  }
+
   /**
    * Destroy the client, including all torrents and connections to peers.
    * @param  {function} cb
diff --git a/lib/peer.js b/lib/peer.js
index 0ddf5359..9bba7777 100644
--- a/lib/peer.js
+++ b/lib/peer.js
@@ -142,10 +142,27 @@ class Peer {
     })
     this.startHandshakeTimeout()
 
-    conn.pipe(wire).pipe(conn)
+    if ((this.type === 'tcpOutgoing') || (this.type === 'webrtc')) {
+      this.setThrottlePipes()
+    } else {
+      conn.pipe(wire).pipe(conn)
+    }
+
     if (this.swarm && !this.sentHandshake) this.handshake()
   }
 
+  clearPipes () {
+    this.wire.unpipe()
+    this.conn.unpipe()
+  }
+
+  setThrottlePipes () {
+    this.conn.pipe(this.swarm.client.throttleGroups.down.throttle())
+      .pipe(this.wire)
+      .pipe(this.swarm.client.throttleGroups.up.throttle())
+      .pipe(this.conn)
+  }
+
   /**
    * Called when handshake is received from remote peer.
    * @param {string} infoHash
diff --git a/lib/tcp-pool.js b/lib/tcp-pool.js
index 1094c4fd..47a6f796 100644
--- a/lib/tcp-pool.js
+++ b/lib/tcp-pool.js
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ class TCPPool {
       const torrent = self._client.get(infoHash)
       if (torrent) {
         peer.swarm = torrent
+        peer.clearPipes()
+        peer.setThrottlePipes()
         torrent._addIncomingPeer(peer)
         peer.onHandshake(infoHash, peerId)
       } else {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4c7eecfd..1578928a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@
     "uniq": "^1.0.1",
     "unordered-array-remove": "^1.0.2",
     "ut_metadata": "^3.3.0",
-    "ut_pex": "^2.0.0"
+    "ut_pex": "^2.0.0",
+    "stream-throttle": "^0.1.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "airtap": "^2.0.3",