Best Free Download Manager

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Last updated by George.J on 14. March 2018 - 07:15

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Introduction

Everyone downloads a lot of stuff from the Internet. Be it software, videos, music, documents or images, you fill your hard drive with all of this. To track and manage all these downloads is a daunting task, and having a clean workspace to organize all these downloadable contents is the need of the hour. This is where a download manager comes to the rescue, also accelerating your downloads all the way.

Let's take a look at some download managers rated in this article. All tests were done on Windows 10, 64 bit system with 8GB RAM running the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge, Vivaldi & Opera browsers. The ratings are comparative, so when a new download manager is reviewed, the corresponding rating of others might change. After testing around 12 download managers, these are my top 5 recommendations from the list. 

Read also the Features of Download Managers at the end of this article.

 

Rated Products

Xtreme Download Manager  

The best open-source download manager that works across multiple platforms.

Our Rating: 
5
License: Free (Open source)
Good media capture ability, Private download videos, Refresh link feature to resume download from expired links, Frequent updates with good support, Perfect browser integration, Supports multiple download queues, Extremely good download speeds, Open source & works on all platforms.
UI can be improved, Heavy download size.
Read full review...

EagleGet  

The fastest download manager that even beats its commercial alternatives.

Our Rating: 
5
License: Free (Ads)
Fastest in the tests, Charming drag'n'drop UI, Skins and Themes, Supports BitTorrents, Batch download, Refresh download address, Integration with browsers, 3-way Streaming media download, Multiple queue schedules, Website login manager, Continuous updates.
Stability issues, Bundled offer during installation.
Read full review...

Ninja Download Manager  

Download manager with a dark theme that has the best & most compact UI

Our Rating: 
4.5
License: Free, $3.00 for Secure VPN
Intuitive interface, Multiple queues management, Refresh links support, Sites manager, Colorful Log viewer, Sequential downloading media to preview audio & video downloads, File shredder, Attractive float window, Clipboard monitoring
No export/import downloads, Parsing media downloads is slow & needs to support more sites
Read full review...

Free Download Manager  

This download manager gives you a bonus to download torrent files too

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free
Stable, BitTorrent support, Download tags management, Snail mode & pre-set Speed limiter with different traffic modes, GUI view of download progress, Download scheduler
Cannot refresh expired links, no multi-queue management, No Site Explorer, HTML Spider, Multi-mirror support in v5.x (FDM v.3.9.x is still better)
Read full review...

Internet Download Accelerator  

This commercial-turned-free download manager has the best customization capabilities

Our Rating: 
4
License: Free (Ads)
Advanced download scheduler, Extensive feature set, FTP explorer, Customizable interface, Multiple mirror download, History & Recycle bin, Video detection, Integrates with most popular browsers, Priority download
Dated looks, Ads on interface, Limited multi-threading, No multi-queue management, No refresh links support
Read full review...

 

Other Download Managers

I've tested these download managers and they fell short of top 5 for various reasons mentioned here but you can still try them out as an alternative.

 

Wont Be Reviewed

  1.  Orbit Downloader won't be reviewed, and users are advised to stay away from it, because not only is the product bundled with all sorts of 3rd party software, it's also classified as malware, as it turns the application into a DDOS tool. More report here at Softpedia.
  2.  Download Accelerator Plus Free & FlashGet since they haven't been updated for a long time (2014)

 

Browser Addons

  • FlashGot allows you to set your own preferred download manager and integrate it with the Firefox browser for auto download.
  • DownThemAll is another browser extension to add advanced download capabilities to Firefox. 
  • Video Download Professional can help you download videos from various streaming media sites on Chrome. 

 

Features of Download Managers

The major features that makes an external download manager extremely useful are:

  • Resume broken downloads: Downloads can be paused or resumed at will even after computer shutdowns or unexpected power outages, and it'll resume any unfinished download from the place it left off.
  • Categories: Helps to organize your downloads automatically according to their type (videos, music, documents) in different folders and also define extensions to be included in the type. 
  • Download Acceleration: A single file is split into multiple sections/segments and then using several simultaneous connections to download each segment from a single server.
  • Queueing: Start the downloads instantly or save it for later, setting up the download in a queue, and define the maximum number of concurrent downloads. Certain download manager allows you to define multiple queues.
  • Scheduler: Start and stop downloads in the queue at a predefined time on a particular day, or synchronize your downloads to run on different days of the week. Additionally you may choose to shut down/hibernate computer after downloading.
  • Browser integration: Integrate your download manager with various browsers and it'll take over the downloads automatically. Additionally clipboard monitoring, will let you capture copy-pasted direct links. Popular browsers like Firefox, IE, Chrome, Opera support is essential.
  • Media grabber: Download streaming video and audio from various sites and even preview or convert them to different types.
  • Batch downloads: Easy way to download whole ranges of files/links from a particular webpage . Also by adding a group of sequential file names of a particular type you can download multiple files from a website.

Other interesting features that I am looking in a download manager are:

  • Protocol support: Mainly HTTP, HTTPS and FTP support, also support for RTSP, MMS, Metalink, Bittorrent and RTMP would be a bonus.
  • Export/Import: At times when you want to uninstall/reinstall the program, it's useful to export/import the downloads in the list, so that it'll save you time and extra-work.
  • Inclusion/Exclusion list: Include/exclude various File Types and Websites you want to monitor.
  • Speed limiter: Set maximum download speed for a file and adjust the traffic usage for browsing and other stuff.
  • Proxy/Socks support: Work behind HTTP and FTP proxy-servers.
  • Refresh expired links: Sometimes a download link remains valid for only few hours and if not completed within that time boundary, download fails. Refreshing the link let's you resume these downloads.
  • Multiple mirrors: Search for and download files from multiple mirrors simultaneously
  • Sites manager: Certain sites require authentication for download request from internet and proxy servers
  • Virus checking: Check downloaded files with a scanner you've set up to protect users from harmful virus/spyware.
  • Float windows: Indicator to show the current downloads and its status.

 

Editor

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor George.J. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here.

I've used TechSupportAlert and the older Support Alert Newsletter for almost a decade so I have saved hundreds of hours of work and many more dollars by following Gizmo's Freeware recommendations. Thanks for the opportunity to give something back.

If you have had a similar experience then you should consider becoming a reviewer too.

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Average: 3.9 (245 votes)
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Comments

Download Ninja is a mixed bag despite an attractive interface that I really want to keep using. So far I've had the following issues: - On video sites like YouTube the media downloader displays "audio" files so you have to manually select "video" files which should be the default. - For some tasks it defaulted to the program folder rather than the download folder. - When installed it took over an half completed Firefox download but then couldn't do anything with it so I had to start a new download as it wouldn't restart either. - If I didn't want to download with it then it cancelled the download. There is probably a way to do this but I couldn't find it.
Submitted by SwanKnight (not verified) on

You stated that "Ninja Download" doesn't support IE, but according to the download page, it supports IE out of the box.

In any case, I tried briefly but it was disappointing. It has several flaws, some of which you mentioned already, but there are two particular flaws that were a deal breaker for me.

1) The automatic categorization for downloads seems to be broken, more often than not it would give me the category of "None" regardless of the extension of the file I'm downloading.

2) The integration does not work unless "Ninja Download" is running in the background. If you close it, then the integration either doesn't work or gives you an error. I shouldn't have to keep it open 24/7 in the background, I certainly don't need to do that with FDM.

In any case, it looked promising, but FDM remains my favorite still.

The category is undergoing a major update, and since writing the review, Download Ninja has been updated to include IE and Opera support. It will be corrected during the major revision.
SD Download Manager: Features: - 32 connection - Download files at maximum possible speed. - Resumes broken/dead downloads caused by connection problem or power failure. - Supports HTTP,HTTPS,FTP protocols with Authentication,Proxy Servers, Cookies, Redirection etc. - Capture downloads from Mozilla Firefox - Clipboard monitoring - Drop target - Schedule for timing downloads - Can be configured to perform Hang up modem, Exit from application, System shutdown or Force shutdown on download completion - Batch download - Easy to use (IDM interface) - Customizable user interface - Multilanguage (English & Persian) - Compatible with all types of Internet: http://sourceforge.net/projects/sddl/

I must say I like EagleGet a lot. It's missing proper Batch Download though (or I did not find it), like FDM and FlashGet (adding links with (*) and tell it to replace it with numbers or letters, like 01 to 99). And it is missing a Linux version. But other than that it works as it should and is low on resources.

To Batch Download in EagleGet, simply right-click on the webpage and click on Download all links. A window will pop-up choosing which files you want to save.

Thank you for the answer. Did not see it (your answer). Will test it later when I am back to Windows. Or do you by any chance know if it works for galleries? Or will it only download the thumbnails instead of the whole pictures (that's the reason for me for using batch download.

I am never ever going to use Download Ninja.
First it's size was double that of FDM. 15 MB compared to 7 MB
Second it's a resource eating monster. It consumes 52 MB RAM while idle and 84 MB! while downloading.
I tried to create a new category but it saved the file in 'Programs' category on it's on.
Lousy software.

Yes, Download Ninja is a little heavy on the system. But if you are having enough RAM on your system then it shouldn't be a problem. The download size varies according to different software's. Did you check whether the extensions you defined in the new category weren't the same as the one defined in the Programs category? What's the new category you created, and what extensions did you define in it?

I am comparing DN to others. I have 4GB RAM which is more than enough.

I created a category Software and mentioned .exe files to download in a specified location.
Instead DN downloaded the file (CCleaner latest download) in 'Programs' category which is default.

I have tried EagleGet. It's much better. Low RAM uses, small setup size and ...pleasing to eyes.

Since the category 'Programs' has .exe defined inside that category, and you are trying to create a new category with the same file extension, it wouldn't work. You will have to delete the extension, '.exe' defined in Programs, so that only the new category 'Softwares' has that extension defined. Download Ninja is using graphical download indicators while downloading, which could be the reason of higher memory usage. EagleGet is good, but the 2.x series is still not stable, even though they've mentioned it stable. It still has a lot of bugs to be corrected, because of the numerous features they've implemented in the new version.

EagleGet v2.0.1.6 Stable was released on 13th september

Testing the latest 2.0.1.7, released yesterday, the download speed is constant and good, and many bugs are fixed....Still a few left....But good results :D

EagleGet v2.0.1.8 Stable released.

Thanks for the info :)
Waiting for fdm to release its new version.Then we can see how they compete with others.
:D :D :D

I like EagleGet. better than DownloadNinja

The test results didn't come great. This seems to be a release that's been rushed. There are still bugs to be resolved and the download speed is not that great. We'll wait :(

Thanks for testing it.There seems to be a problem in the resume algorithm too.

Thanks for the info. I'll review it.

Today I tried Download Ninja and it seems it does not support ftp Downloads. It always added http:// before the ftp:// protocol. EagleGet works fine with ftp links.

Pray and you shall receive... :D The latest version includes FTP support and a lot of other features. One thing I noticed and given in the Changelog, the download speed is faster. Way faster!
It doesn't support FTP downloads as of now, the download manager was released to the public only 2 months back, but the rapid strides it's made is astounding.

I can't setup download ninja cuz it needs visual c++ ,everytime I'm trying to setup visual c++ I have an error "error 1935", what should I do?

Restart your PC and try installing Visual C++ again.

I did that so much times ,the same problem still found

Which Windows O.S are you using? Try re-downloading Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 from here [x86] and here [x64]. Install both of them. If that doesn't work try the solution suggested here and here.

problem solved, thanks alot.

Thank you for the reviews. I am waiting for a test for FlareGet as I want to have a replacement for Free Download Manager which is cross platform also, as I do not like the new version (version 5) of FDM.

FDM 5.0 is still in alpha stage, so there's nothing to be worried about. New features are just being added... I'll test FlareGet soon..

I did a small test of FlareGet under linux and the free version is atleast download wise limited. I only was allowed to download 10 files per day. I do not remember, if that limit is general or for batch job as I did add a batch job yesterday.

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