Team Soft Suggester have updated this list. We have re-tested added and tested other IDM alternatives and going to share the pros and cons in this article.
All of the suggested programs are safe to use and free of adware, malware, and other harmful things
Even It would be no exaggeration to say that Internet download manager is used widely after Microsoft Windows all over the world, No matter which Windows version you use.
Internet download manager indeed deserves all the praise and admiration as a powerful tool to download all types of digital content, i.e. audio, videos, movies, text files, software, E-books, and other types of content.
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The Internet download manager has been serving its users since 1998.
There are loads of advantages of using Internet download manager that the default download manager of web browsers and other download managers lack.
For example, It can accelerate the download speed by up to 5 times.
One of the worth-mentioning features of it is the ability to resume any download session that is interrupted by any reason.
For example, your internet frequently goes down, or your PC was accidentally shut down due to power failure, or any other reason while downloading.
In addition to the huge popularity and usefulness of Internet download manager, There is also another side of the coin.
Internet download manager tops the list of software that are downloaded from file sharing websites containing pirated and full of security threats programs.
Because this is a paid download manager and most of the internet users either cannot afford to buy it or don’t want to shell out quite a bit of money from their bank and prefer to use the pirated copy of Internet download manager.
As per cybersecurity experts, Using pirated software is not a wise approach, You invite hackers to get into my PC by installing a pirated software.
There is a very popular saying that everything has an alternative.
There are also numerous free to use yet feature-rich alternatives to IDM available out there.
You can use a free to use software like IDM to get rid of having to use a pirated copy of Internet Download Manager.
Taking this into consideration, After testing a dozen of software like Internet Download Manager, I’ve managed to compile a list of 5 free, best, and feature-rich alternatives to Internet Download Manager.
Let’s go through today’s list of 4 free, best, and safe to use IDM alternatives.
Ant Download Manager
Free / Paid ✏ No Ads ✏ No Unwanted Programs
Ant Download Manager is one of the fantastic Windows applications like Internet Download Manager.
Ant Download Manager is offered in paid and free versions. The paid version comes with a few additional useful features that IDM lacks.
The free version of Ant Download Manager does not work for 4K and other high-resolution videos.
The premium version offers a built-in video to MP3 audio converter and allows 4K and other high-resolution videos.
Ant Download Manager is easy to integrate into the browser of your choice.
This download manager supports Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Without having to manually search for its browser extension/Add-on.
You just need to click on the Chrome or Firefox icon. It will install and then It will ask you to enable it.
If the extension is not installed or not working, You can copy and paste the download link into it to download your desired online content/videos.
After you install and enable the extension/Add-on. A download button will show up at the corner of videos.
You can copy and paste the video URL to download videos If the button does not show up due to any reasons.
To establish a balance between browsing, and downloading, You can use the speed limiter feature to limit the speed for downloads.
Like Internet Download Manager, You can resume interrupted downloads in Ant Download Manager.
It features an additional tool that you can use to download movies, photos, games, and other types of digital content via Torrents.
The free version of Ant Download Manager is free of bloatware, adware, malware, and other harmful things.
Find more details at the official website
Xtreme Download Manager
Free Open Source ✏ No Ads ✏ No Unwanted Programs
The Xtreme Download Manager is an open-source download manager to download digital content.
The good thing about this Internet Download Manager alternative is that Xtreme Download Manager is available to use for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
There are shortcuts in it to download and install XDM extension, But The links are dead embedded in shortcuts.
You have to manually search for the extension in Google and then install it.
You may download Xtreme Download Manager for Google Chrome from here.
I tested it on YouTube and It works great. But the downside is that Xtreme Download Manager is not good at detecting video resolution.
For example, You want to download 1080p resolution, First, you have to switch to 1080p, and then it detects.
But It still does not show the resolution name. All you need to do is guess by file size.
Xtreme Download Manager has a built-in MP4/MP3 converter.
Before you begin the download, You can choose to download an MP3 copy of the video of your choice.
Back in 2015, Xtreme Download Manager was not an easy to use software.
But now, the People behind XDM have improved it a lot over the last few years.
This open-source software like IDM is no less than IDM, If its extension is properly installed and you keep your web browser and The Xtreme Download Manager updated. It offers all the features, You find in Internet Download Manager.
Find more details at the official website
Free Download Manager
Freeware ✏ No Ads ✏ No Unwanted Programs
This alternative to IDM is a free download manager to download digital content.
Free Download Manager is a freeware software and It’s available to use for the users of Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android.
It supports browser integration and the extension is easy to available and install. Its extension works flawlessly.
But the downside is that It can download online videos, But its extension does not show a download button on videos. You have to manually copy and paste the URL in it.
Free Download Manager gives you the option to choose the resolutions of your choice before you begin download.
Free Download Manager lets you control the speed limit and resume downloads.
Besides, It offers a built-in tool to download digital content via Torrents.
Free Download Manager is lightweight and free of adware, malware, and other such things and It does not show advertisements.
Find more details at the official website
Internet Download Accelerator
Free / Paid ✏ No Ads ✏ No Unwanted Programs
This alternative to IDM is offered in paid and free versions to Microsoft Windows users.
Though, The paid version of Internet Download Accelerator comes with some additional features than the free version.
But its freeware version is still worth using to download all types of digital content.
The free version of Internet Download Accelerator doesn’t let you resume interrupted download sessions.
It needs two additional components to make this software like IDM work on YouTube and other video sharing websites.
You need to let it download and install youtube-dl.exe and ffmpeg.exe.
Internet Download Accelerator does not require you to manually integrate or install its extension.
It automatically integrates the extension into the web browser of your choice.
I put Internet Download Accelerator on the test to download videos from YouTube and other websites and it worked great.
I found no suggestions to install any toolbars and bloatware software while installing, But It keeps on suggesting to buy its Pro version while using it.
Find more details at the official website
Not Recommended To Use
Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)
Back in old days, Download Accelerator Plus, also known as DAP, was considered a number 1 alternative to IDM. It is offered in freeware and paid versions.
I heard a lot of praises for Download Accelerator Plus, But the reality is quite the opposite. This software like IDM is of no use.
It seems that the owner of Download Accelerator Plus has abandoned this project.
It has not been updated since 2014, and now things have changed, It does not work at all.
I could not find its extension/Add-on on the official website and Chrome web store.
EagleGet (Do Not Use It)
Back in 2015, EagleGet was an ads-free, lightweight, safe, and free to use software like Internet Download Manager to download digital content.
But now things have changed, EagleGet can be used for free though, But still, there is a price, You have to pay to use it.
You are provided with two options if you want to use it. After the installation is complete, you are asked to go with advertisements.
If you don’t like to see ads then you will have to let people behind EagleGet use your PC and internet connection, When you don’t use your PC and internet.
It is called idle resources sharing with Luminati’s Proxy Network.
This could be a reason that the Chrome web store and Firefox Add-on store have deleted EagleGet extension / Add-on.
That’s why EagleGet does not work properly in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Besides, You are asked to install a few unwanted programs. This program changes the homepage and other settings in your web browser.
This program runs in the background and changes desktop and other settings.
Team Soft Suggester recommends non-techie or inexperienced users not to use it.
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Final Words:
I tested many other well-known programs like Internet Download Manager while compiling this list.
But I could not find more than the previously mentioned download managers. They are full of adware, toolbars, bloatware and even my antivirus detected malware, adware, and other such things.
Do let me know in the comment, what’s your favorite one, or you know about any other good Internet Download Manager alternatives.
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