Alternatives to Internet Download Manager
The Windows speed-segmenting veteran
Internet Download Manager ranks #2 of 11 in Download managers, with an Alt Score of 80. It is proprietary, sold as a one-time purchase from €21.50 and available on Windows. 8 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Windows users who download large files regularly (installers, media, archives) and want faster, more reliable downloads than their browser's built-in manager provides.
A Windows download manager that splits files into segments to download them in parallel, claiming up to 8x faster speeds. It resumes broken or interrupted downloads, integrates with Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari, includes a scheduler, and can grab video/audio from web players. It's shareware: a 30-day free trial, then a paid license is required to keep using it.
IDM installs a browser extension that intercepts downloads and hands them to its engine, which breaks each file into multiple segments and downloads them concurrently over separate connections, then reassembles them, using saved connection state to resume after drops.
Why people leave Internet Download Manager
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Download Master, developed by WestByte, is a free Windows download manager that accelerates transfers via multi-threaded file segmentation, resumes broken downloads over HTTP/HTTPS/FTP, and grabs stre.
Xtreme Download Manager (XDM) is a free, open-source download accelerator for Windows, macOS, and Linux that splits files into segments for multi-threaded downloading and captures video/audio links fr.
yt-dlp is an open-source command-line tool for downloading video and audio from YouTube and over a thousand other sites, with format selection, playlist handling, and post-processing via ffmpeg.
Folx is a paid macOS-native download manager and BitTorrent client from Electronic Team (formerly Eltima) that splits downloads into up to 10 threads, schedules tasks, and includes browser integration.
Persepolis is a free, open-source download manager built as a graphical front-end for the aria2 download engine, available on Linux, Windows, and macOS.
4K Video Downloader is a commercial desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux that downloads videos, full playlists, channels, and subtitles from YouTube and other sites in up to 8K resolution.
Feature comparison
How Internet Download Manager compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Download managers checklist | Internet Download Manager | Download Master | Xtreme Download Manager (XDM) | Free Download Manager | yt-dlp | aria2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Segmented downloading | ||||||
| Browser integration | ||||||
| Video grabbing | ||||||
| Scheduler | ||||||
| Resume support | ||||||
| Open source | ||||||
| No bundled adware | ||||||
| Speed limits | ||||||
| CLI |
Sources & verification
13
Every fact and feature listed for Internet Download Manager is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary verified 2026-07-08
Internet Download Manager has NO spyware or adware inside of it
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
Pricing model One-time verified 2026-07-08
Lifetime license … €21.50
https://secure.internetdownloadmanager.com/buy.html -
Starts at €21.50 verified 2026-07-08
One-time lifetime license; a cheaper time-limited 1-year license (€10.25) also exists.
Lifetime license … €21.50
https://secure.internetdownloadmanager.com/buy.html -
Platforms Windows verified 2026-07-08
The current version of IDM does not support Mac, IPad/IPhone, Android or Unix/Linux operating systems.
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/register/new_faq/functions2.html -
Status active verified 2026-07-08
Added the ability to download MP4 files from web sites where previously only TS videos were available
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/news.html -
Segmented downloading Yes verified 2026-07-08
IDM divides downloaded file on file segments dynamically
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
Browser integration Yes verified 2026-07-08
IDM integrates seamlessly into Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari … and all other popular browsers to automatically handle your downloads.
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
Video grabbing Yes verified 2026-07-08
Grabs videos from web players.
Added the ability to download MP4 files from web sites where previously only TS videos were available
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/news.html -
Scheduler Yes verified 2026-07-08
Internet Download Manager can connect to the Internet at a set time, download the files you want, disconnect, or shut down your computer when it's done. … It's possible to create and schedule several
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
Resume support Yes verified 2026-07-08
Internet Download Manager will resume unfinished download from the place where they left off.
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
Open source No verified 2026-07-08
Commercial proprietary product; no source available.
Internet Download Manager has NO spyware or adware inside of it
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
No bundled adware Yes verified 2026-07-08
Internet Download Manager has NO spyware or adware inside of it
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html -
Speed limits Yes verified 2026-07-08
Progressive downloading with quotas feature limits downloading to defined number of megabytes per hour.
https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/features2.html
FAQ
Yes. Xtreme Download Manager (XDM), Free Download Manager and yt-dlp have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Xtreme Download Manager (XDM), yt-dlp and aria2 — every license claim links its source.