It is important to have a powerful download manager when down­load­ing a lot of files. Download managers increase the download speed of data packages and offer more features than Windows’ pre-installed down­load­er. In this post, we will provide you with an overview of free and paid Windows download managers.

What is a download manager?

Download managers offer more func­tion­al­ity for down­load­ing files and provide faster download speeds compared to the built-in Windows down­load­er. Files can be trans­ferred much faster by splitting data packages into sub-packages and down­load­ing them at the same time. Ad­di­tion­al features include custom download schedul­ing, re­sump­tion of in­ter­rup­ted downloads, offline browsing of full websites, and export functions. You can also use browser ex­ten­sions to auto­mat­ic­ally download in­di­vidu­al website elements (e.g., photos and HTML files) or multiple linked downloads.

Many download managers are freeware or are free open source programs. However, some down­load­ers offer ad­di­tion­al features that are only available in their paid pro versions.

What download managers are there for Windows?

Here are all the free and paid download managers for Windows that we have compared for you:

Free Download Manager free
JDown­load­er free
YouTube Down­load­er HD free
Ninja Download Manager (Free/Pro) As a free version and as a paid pro version
Internet Download Manager 30-day free trial period
Google Book Down­load­er free

Present­a­tion of the best Windows download managers

We will present various programs and how they work to help you decide which download manager is right for you.

Free Download Manager (FDM)

Free Download Manager is among the most popular down­load­ers for Windows and macOS. One of the best free download managers in terms of ef­fi­ciency thanks to its powerful software. The ap­plic­a­tion’s developer says that FDB can increase download speeds by up to 600%.

Features:

  • Resuming aborted download op­er­a­tions
  • Download support for Bit­Tor­rent and FLV
  • Download options for HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP as well as for RTSP and MMS
  • Automatic website downloads can be performed by importing URLs into FDM via drag & drop or the clipboard
  • Supports Chrome and Firefox
Ad­vant­ages Dis­ad­vant­ages
Open source and freeware Not com­pat­ible with all virus scanners
Increases download speed by up to 600%
Available as a browser version
Supports Bit­Tor­rent
In­teg­rated download planner
Can be expanded flexibly thanks to plugins

JDown­load­er

The free download manager JDown­load­er is a piece of open-source software that greatly improves download speeds. As a JavaS­cript app, JDown­load­er offers special support for one-click file hosts like Uploaded, cloudZer, and Share-Online. It supports container formats like CCF and DLC and offers numerous features for automated ex­tract­ing and down­load­ing of multiple files at once.

Features:

  • Custom download speeds
  • Automatic ex­trac­tion of RAR and ZIP archive files
  • Automatic solving of Captcha queries before downloads
  • Even faster download speeds with premium file host accounts
  • Link grabber to custom download multiple download links on one website
  • Plugins for ad­di­tion­al features like YouTube video downloads
Ad­vant­ages Dis­ad­vant­ages
Supports most download and one-click hosts In­stall­a­tion contains adware
Can be expanded flexibly with plugins Com­plic­ated user interface
Supports remote function Important in­teg­rated ex­ten­sions must first be activated

YouTube Down­load­er HD

https://www.you­tubedown­load­er­hd.comYouTube Down­load­er website">YouTube Down­load­er HD is a free download manager spe­cific­ally for YouTube videos.

Features:

Ad­vant­ages Dis­ad­vant­ages
Available as a browser and mobile version May contain adware
Video downloads in HD and 4K Adware it comes with may be marked as malicious by virus scanners
Easy to use

Ninja Download Manager (NDM)

Ninja Download Manager is a download manager available in free and pro versions. The software segments downloads into different packages and downloads them at the same time over various con­nec­tions. This means that you can expect tre­mend­ous download speeds, and enjoy the ability to control, pause, resume, or restart download progress yourself.

Features:

  • Custom download man­age­ment, including con­cur­rent downloads via queues, custom download speeds, and the ability to pause, resume, and restart downloads
  • Shred function for deleting/removing meta data and an­onymised down­load­ing
  • Easy to use by copying links to the download manager
  • In­teg­rated media converter for HD video downloads
  • More ad­di­tion­al features in the pro version
Ad­vant­ages Dis­ad­vant­ages
Modern, at­tract­ive, and clear design Many functions only available in the paid pro version
Intuitive UI to operate and manage down­load­ing features
Media converter for streaming video
For multiple devices sim­ul­tan­eously

Internet Download Manager (IDM)

Internet Download Manager multiples your download speeds by five and offers flexible, custom download control, as well as a schedul­ing feature for down­load­ing files at set times. In addition, you can download entire websites or the contents of in­di­vidu­al websites and view them offline without any re­stric­tions.

Features:

  • Custom download man­age­ment with queues for sim­ul­tan­eous downloads and the ability to flexibly start, pause, and resume multiple downloads
  • Practical schedul­ing of downloads at specified times
  • Download speeds increased fivefold with file seg­ment­a­tion via Smart Download Logic
  • Site grabbing to download and view entire websites or website contents offline
  • Down­loaded files are scanned for viruses
  • ZIP preview and download quotas
  • Can be used as a browser extension, separate ap­plic­a­tion, or command line command
  • Supports all popular servers and file hosts
Ad­vant­ages Dis­ad­vant­ages
Five times faster download speed Only free for 30 days, after which a paid license is necessary
Practical schedul­ing feature for planned downloads
In­teg­rated antivirus feature
Supports VPN, FTP/HTTPS, proxy server, and download quotas

Google Books Down­load­er

As the name suggests, the Google Books Down­load­er is freeware that works spe­cific­ally as a download manager for Google Books. Depending on the country, the copyright of books is limited to a fixed period (in the United Kingdom it is usually 70 years after the author’s death, but this may vary) and expires at the end of the pro­tec­tion period. Once the in­tel­lec­tu­al property rights have expired, authors’ works enter the public domain and can be made available to the public free of charge. Google also takes advantage of this provision and publishes millions of works in the public domain in its Google Books online col­lec­tion. The Google Books Down­load­er makes it easy to download online books as PDFs.

Features:

  • Download online books available on Google Books as PDFs, PNGs, or JPGs for computers, print, or e-book readers
Ad­vant­ages Dis­ad­vant­ages
Easily download Google Books in PDF, PNG, or JPG formats Contains adware and pre­in­stalled software that must be disabled during in­stall­a­tion
No current version available
Tip

Special programs to improve workflow don’t exist only for downloads. File managers can also help you organise your hard disks, storage devices and devices, delete duplicate files and free up disk space.

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