Fortunately, there are some excellent free download managers for Linux out there. However, with a much smaller market than the Windows’ user base, Linux tools providers spend much less money on publicity, so they are harder to find.

Here is our list of the best free download managers for Linux:

  • Xtreme Download Manager (XDM) – EDITOR’S CHOICE A great free download manager that can convert file format types as well as accelerate download speeds. This tool includes download queuing and integrated antivirus checks.
  • uGet Open source software that can be customized by the user. Uses a multi-thread architecture to shorten download times.
  • SteadyFlow A download accelerator that is available for Linux or as a browser extension for Chrome.
  • FlareGet A download accelerator available in free and paid versions.
  • Persepolis A free, open-source download scheduler and accelerator.
  • MultiGet A free, open-source internet download manager that uses a torrent-like methodology.
  • DownThemAll A Firefox add-on that manages downloads through the browser.
  • kGet A download manager that uses file sharing techniques to speed up downloads from multiple sources.

The best download managers for Linux

We have reviews of each of these tools in the following sections.

Using this set of criteria, we looked for download managers that will run on Linux and possibly have versions for other operating systems. We looked for downloaders that are free to use both for home use and for businesses.

Our methodology for selecting a free download manager

We reviewed the market for Linux-based download managers and analyzed the options based on the following criteria:

  • Must be compatible with Linux distros
  • A multi-threaded architecture for fast download
  • The ability to circumvent site blocks on downloading embedded video
  • Pause and resume controls
  • A queuing system to line up multiple files for download
  • A free tool with no hidden charges
  • A system that is worth the trouble of installing and getting to know

1. Xtreme Download Manager (XDM)

Xtreme Download Manager is available from Sourceforge and Github. This is a free tool that also has versions for Windows, Unix, and Mac OS. This is probably the closest you will get on Linux to the speedy video download capabilities of Download Accelerator Plus. It can speed up downloads to make them five times faster. Like DAP, XDM can retry broken links and can resume interrupted downloads.

Key Features

  • Works with all major browsers
  • Stable code that is maintained
  • Windows, macOS, Linux, Unix
  • Improves speed 5 to 6 times
  • Good for video downloads

Why do we recommend it?

Xtreme Download Manager (XDM) has very powerful capabilities when scanning for downloadable files. It can identify files that other downloaders miss and so it is great for saving the embedded videos in Web pages for those who want to watch offline. Segmentation and simultaneous downloading speeds up file transfers, which is important when downloading large video files as are the pause and resume and lost link recovery features.

The downloader is great for downloading video from a wide range of sources including YouTube, Google Video, Vimeo, and Dailymotion. The XDM module can be integrated into Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Vivaldi, and Opera web browsers. The add-on will detect a video playing and offer to download it for you, exactly the same way as RealDownloader. Also, like RealDownloader, XDM has a companion file converter. You can even specify a file type that the utility will convert files to during the download session.

Like all of the free download managers on this list, XDM is more likely to be for personal use rather than as a business service. The tool is particularly geared towards downloading video and audio files. The ability to recover and resume lost connections makes this a recommended tool for downloading large video files. This tool hooks into your Web browser, so you will never need to go to the XDM utility screen.

A few great features of XDM make it a lot easier to download, especially the integrated antivirus checks. You can queue downloads and specify that the downloader shuts down the system when all actions are finished. That means you can safely leave the downloads running unattended overnight while you are asleep.

Pros:

  • Completely free
  • Multi-platform support, great for homes that have a mix of operating systems
  • Supports uncommon sources such as Dailymotion, and Vimeo
  • Built-in virus scanning keep users safe by default

Cons:

  • The interface could be improved. Having more skin options would be a welcomed change

2. uGet

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Xtreme Download Manager is our top pick for a free download manager for Linux because it is a stable and reliable system that has been around for a while so it has been thoroughly tested in the field but its developers maintain the code – unlike many other free tools. This system is able to download any streaming video in a browser five times faster than a standard browser-managed download by using a multi-threaded strategy. It is also able to resume downloads if a connection gets broken. The tool integrates into your browser as well as running as a Desktop app.

Download: FREE Download

Official Site: https://xtremedownloadmanager.com/#downloads

OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, and Unix

The uGet downloader is free and it works on Windows, Unix, and Android as well as Linux. This is an open source project, which means that anyone can download the source code, check it, or even amend and improve it.

  • Simultaneous downloads
  • Clipboard detection
  • Windows, Android, Linux, Unix
  • Resume function

The uGet system is useful for use as a background utility that you keep on all the time. By setting it up to automatically detect downloadable files in Web pages, you can cut out the fiddly business of locating a file yourself in the code and copying it into the tool. The ability to queue up downloads makes it a little like a torrent downloader and means you can set up a whole series of shows to download and then get on with other tasks.

The uGet user interface allows you to add in new download requests while others are still running. This creates a schedule queue, so you can download an entire series of videos without remembering to go back to the source and queue up the next episode later. The downloader is able to resume broken downloads; you can also pause individual downloads to give downloads lower down in the list a chance to finish. Downloads from FTP servers that require authentication can still run in uGet because in these cases, the interface will prompt you for the required username and password.

You can set the downloader to automatically kick in if you copy a URL that has a recognized video file type. The downloader keeps running in the background and asks you if you want to get a copy of a file if you put the name in your Clipboard. You can even specify that videos of a given type should download as soon as they are detected by uGet in your browser. There is a uGet plugin for Mozilla Firefox.

The uGet system is good for those who like to download videos in bulk. The queuing feature also means that it could be useful for businesses that frequently move files between sites on a schedule. Fragmenting files for multi-thread downloading is another advantage for intensive download activity.

The multi-threaded architecture helps to speed up downloads. This is the same methodology that Download Accelerator Plus uses. However, while DAP splits files into five sections for simultaneous download, uGet can divide them into 16 segments. For a free tool, you get a lot of features with uGet.

  • Can run in legacy environments as far backs as Windows XP, making it very lightweight on modern operating systems

  • Automatically resume broken links. Great for unreliable connections or large downloads

  • Open-source, anyone can build features or fix bugs

  • Interface is due an improvement

  • Limited number of plugins, currently only for Firefox

3. SteadyFlow

SteadyFlow is a straightforward downloader written specifically for the Linux GNOME environment. There is also a browser extension version available for Google Chrome. The code for this program is available for anyone to copy or amend, so you can comb through it and ensure yourself that it doesn’t represent a security threat.

  • Also available as a Chrome extension
  • Linux GNOME systems
  • Multi-threaded

SteadyFlow is a Linux tool. Most of the downloaders that you will encounter are written for Windows, while others are written for all major operating systems. So, it is nice to find a downloader that was specifically designed for use on Linux GNOME distros. This is a bare-bones system that keeps overheads low and implements multi-threaded downloading to speed up delivery.

The program has a GUI interface, but its functions are kept intentionally sparse. The aim here is to provide a fast and efficient download service using minimum CPU and memory. The downloader uses a multi-threaded architecture like DAP and you can also pause and resume individual downloads. The interface includes a queue and you can prioritize individual downloads by setting bandwidth limits on less important files.

As it is specifically written for Linux, the target user community for this free tool is people who have a GUI version of Linux (GNOME). If you want a utility that has a fuss-free front end and a powerful back end, you will enjoy using SteadyFlow.

SteadyFlow isn’t as feature-rich as some of the other downloaders on this list, but it will use up less of your computer’s resources so you can get on with other activities while your downloads progress.

  • Open-source project, anyone can view and modify the code

  • Utilizes multi-threaded DAP for fast downloads

  • Very low resource footprint

  • Barebones user interface is lightweight but quite unaesthetic

  • Missing a lot of search and management features that are offered in similar tools

4. FlareGet

FlareGet is a paid download manager, but there is also a free version. There are versions for Windows and Mac OS as well as Linux. The downloader has some great features that make it a fast client for file transfers.

  • Multi-threaded
  • Linux, macOS, and Windows
  • Optional bandwidth limiter

FlareGet operates a lot like a torrent downloader only using just one source for each file. However, it has broken link recovery, pause and resume, and multi-thread downloading, so it feels a lot like using uTorrent. This is a GUI system, so you would need to be using a GNOME distro of Linux to use it. A background process will spot YouTube videos when they load into your browser and offer to download them.

The FlareGet system divides up files and downloads all the segments simultaneously in exactly the same way as Download Accelerator Plus. Other features include a bandwidth limit to keep the internet service available for other activities on your Linux computer while downloads progress in the background. The system also includes a queuing and scheduling interface that will keep on downloading files without your intervention. If a download falters, the system will keep retrying. It also gives you the opportunity to pause and resume individual downloads and it can also resume downloads that were interrupted by system failure.

FlareGet is very similar to uGet and Persepolis (below) so it would be difficult to choose between them. As the Free edition works well, there is little reason to upgrade to the Pro version. Try Persopolis, uGet, and FlareGet to decide on your own favorite.

A background process that starts up with the FlareGet interface will monitor for any YouTube videos appearing in your browser and offer to download them. This feature is active for all browser types. The downloader will also monitor your Clipboard and load copied URLs automatically without you having to paste them.

  • Has one of the better user interfaces among its competitors

  • Has a queuing and scheduling option that can initiate downloads without a user present

  • Works on nearly all browsers

  • Some features are locked behind a paid version

  • No open source like similar tools, giving you limited transparency into the tool

5. Persepolis

Persepolis is a free, open source system that is available for Linux, Unix, Windows, and Mac OS. The interface opens multiple windows for downloads. The base window is a scheduler that allows you to cue up several files for download.

  • Queues multiple downloads
  • Linux, Unix, macOS, and Windows
  • Multi-threaded

Persepolis lets you queue up downloads and leave the tool to progress through its tasks. The style of the interface is a lot like using a torrent client but behind the scenes, you are only transferring the file from one source. This is a multi-threaded downloader.

Once each download completes, the next in the queue begins. The progress of each download is shown in an overlay window.

You would find it difficult to choose between Persepolis, uGet, and FlareGet. Persepolis has one feature that its two free rivals don’t offer, which is an automatic video detector that runs constantly in the background. Whenever you open a Web page that has a downloadable file in it, Persepolis will ask you if you want to download it. This is similar to the operations of XDM. However, some might find those constant popups irritating.

The Persepolis downloader operates a multi-thread architecture, speeding up downloads by copying over segments of files simultaneously. A background process monitors browsers for video players and prompts you if it detects a video.

  • Transparent and open-source project

  • Cross-platform for Linux, Windows, and Mac making it a great option for families and multiple devices

  • Automatic video detection makes collecting media fast and easy

  • Interface could be designed better

  • Can have a slight learning curve for those who have never used similar tools

6. MultiGet

MultiGet is available for Linux, Windows, Unix, and Mac OS. This is a free program and the code is open source. The downloader is accessed through a GUI interface that has a great progress meter depicted in its lower section. The upper section of the window shows a queue of scheduled downloads.

  • Lines up a queue for download
  • Linux, Unix, macOS, and Windows
  • Multi-threaded

MultiGet is much closer to a torrent downloader than the other tools on this list. The system can supplement the download of a file from one location by finding other sources of exactly the same file. This isn’t a torrent-based system, but it uses a similar mechanism, which the MultiGet creators call P2SP – Peer to Server and Peer.

The current download file gets split up for simultaneous download of segments in a multi-thread architecture.

MultiGet is a halfway strategy between torrent downloading and a straightforward multi-threaded architecture to copy a file from one source. As the P2SP system isn’t widely used, it remains to be seen how often the MultiGet system can actually source an alternative copy of the same file for download. If you only transfer your own files between devices, the P2SP feature won’t e much use.

The latest version of MultiGet operates like a torrent client. It is able to seek out segments of the same file from different sources. Those segments will be downloaded simultaneously and assembled into one file. The system allows you to pause and resume individual downloads and it will also load URLs directly from the Clipboard.

  • Transparent and open-source project

  • Can pull file segments from other sources when a download get interrupted or removed, similar to how torrent software works

  • Can use URLs to automatically download media on a webpage

  • More features make it less beginner-friendly

  • The automatic media detection feature could use improvement

  • Lacks out-of-the-box visual customization

7. DownThemAll

You don’t need to worry about which operating system this downloader will work on because it is an add-on for Firefox, so it will work on any system that can host that web browser. The add-on format makes the interface for this tool browser-based. The main screen shows a list of downloads in a schedule and you get details on an individual download by clicking on that file’s entry in the list. Those details appear in a popup window.

  • Simultaneous downloads
  • Firefox add-on
  • Pause and resume

DownloadThemAll was developed for Firefox but it is also available as an add-on for Chrome, Edge, and Opera. This tool is very similar to XDM because it scans each Web page as it loads into a browser and identifies downloadable files. Select a listed file to download it and it will transfer in a multi-threaded process. You can run several downloads simultaneously through this tool.

You can pause and resume downloads and also try to resume broken links. The settings of DownloadThemAll allows you to specify a number of simultaneous file downloads, so you are not limited to downloading one file at a time – although you can enforce that method if you want. The downloader will detect the presence of videos in the browser and offer to download them. It will also appear as an option in the context menu when you right-click on a link to a video file.

As it is a browser-based system, this tool will appeal to the same home users as Xtreme Download Manager. This tool is designed for personal use rather than as a business service.

DownloadThemAll is free of charge.

  • Has one of the best interfaces among its competitors

  • Open-source project leaves room for custom-built features and community improvements

  • Is one of the most popular download managers for Linux, meaning better community support

  • Handles multiple downloads better than other tools

  • Could have more browser plugin options

  • URL clipboard feature can sometimes not download the right media

8. kGet

The KDE group develops a range of products for Linux computers, including the Plasma Desktop. The software bundle available for Linux from KDE includes the kGet Download Manager. he downloader grabs files from HTTP and FTP sources.

  • Multi-threaded
  • Linux only
  • Queues multiple files

Like the other downloaders on this list, kGet uses a multi-threaded strategy to download files quickly. The kGet interface also enables multiple files to be downloaded simultaneously and you can specify in the settings the maximum number of fires that can be downloaded at the same time.

Even if you are not downloading with torrents, the downloader has the capability to source segments of files from different servers, download them all simultaneously and assemble them all into one unified file. The multi-thread architecture will automatically divide any file into segments and download those sections simultaneously even if they are all coming from the same server. A series of files can be scheduled into a download queue that is shown in the kGet interface.

If you want to use KDE tools, you will want to use kGet. If you aren’t particularly interested in the Plasma Desktop for your Linux computer, you won’t have such a strong incentive to use kGet and you could easily decide that Persepolis, uGet, or the Xtreme Download Manager interest you more.

You can pause and resume large downloads and retry file transfers that were interrupted. This Linux download manager is free to use.

  • Uses multiple protocols to detect and download media, giving your more sources to download from

  • Utilizes multi-threaded architecture to improve download speeds and bulk download performance

  • Is completely free

  • Can be confusing for new users who haven’t used torrent style downloaders before

  • Some options and features are nested inside menus, which might take time to find

  • While the interface is better than most, there is room for improvement

Downloading files

A couple of these download managers can also be used as torrent clients. There is nothing illegal about downloading with Peer-2-Peer (P2P) networks or sourcing segments of files from different servers. So, you won’t get into trouble for having a torrent client on your computer. Problems only occur if you download files from unofficial sources without the permission of the copyright holders.

Copyright holders are becoming particularly active in suppressing illegal downloads and your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is obliged to cooperate with copyright lawyers if served with a court order. All of your internet activity has to pass through your ISP, so that company can easily see what you are doing and store records of your activities. So, be very careful about what you download. Entertainment files, such as video and music are particularly risky.

You might not realize when you start a download that you are breaking the law. However, in court, ignorance is not regarded as a credible defense and you will be charged or fined whether or not you knew what you were doing. As a rule of thumb, if you have to pay to download a file, you are probably getting permission to copy it. However, even then, you have to be careful because there are some unscrupulous websites and online services that will charge you for accessing pirated video.

Choosing a download manager for Linux

All of these internet download managers work through the Desktop versions of Linux and not at the command line. It is possible to download with commands, but then you don’t get the display of the queue, progress monitors, or other accessible features of GUI interfaces that make downloading easy.

These Linux-based download managers have all of the great features that you can get from download managers written for Windows. Enjoy your downloading activity but remember to be cautious about where you download files from.

Do you have a favorite download manager for Linux? Do you use a download manager that isn’t on our list? Are you a regular user of the downloaders that we have featured here in this guide? Leave a message in the Comments section below and let the community learn from your experience.

  • Xtreme Download Manager
  • uGet
  • Steadyflow
  • FlareGet
  • Persepolis