Here Are The Best Download Accelerators For A Fast And Convenient Download Experience
It’s a fact that most people download several files on a daily basis. However, the time required for the downloads to complete, as well as their organization afterwards can be really inconvenient.
Here are the best free download accelerators for organizing your downloads and providing you an even safer and faster download experience.
- The features of a good download accelerator
- Free Download Manager (FDM)
- JDownloader 2
- Ninja Download Manager
- EagleGet
- Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)
- uGet Download Manager
The features of a good download accelerator
A good download accelerator is not only useful for fast downloading. It also allows you to pause downloads and resume them later.
In addition, some good download accelerators can and automatically convert media files, and save you valuable time. Moreover, they allow you to play video files before the download is complete.
So, let's take a look at their most useful features:
- Start and stop downloads at any moment
- Downloads can be paused and resumed even after a shutdown
- High download speeds
- Browser interaction
- One-click download
- Can download files at the same time
- Downloads can be scheduled to begin at a specific time and day
- During download, the files are split into multiple pieces
- Can be setup to use a proxy server for downloads
- Checks if downloads are harmful or not
- Downloads are organized automatically into different folders, depending on their type (video, music, documents, etc.)
Free Download Manager (FDM)
FDM is considered to be the top download accelerator and manager. It is open source software and provides all its features for free. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS.
Downloading the application won’t take more than a couple of minutes, and does not hide any dangers of installing unwanted third-party applications. Once FDM is installed in your computer, and depending on the browsers you are using, you will be automatically asked to add the corresponding FDM extension for better integration of the application with the browser. Extensions are available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera.
In addition, FDM supports the BitTorrent protocol, providing a fast torrenting experience along with direct downloads.
FDM has several powerful features, such as scheduling downloads, as well as remote management of downloads from other devices connected to the internet.
It should also be noted that this open-source program has an active support team as well.
Free Download Accelerator also features a built-in media player. In addition, it also comes in a Lite version, which is ideal for less powerful computers.
Pros
- Is open-source software
- One-click download of media files
- Support for downloading torrents
- Allows scheduling future downloads
- Allows pausing and resuming downloads at any time
- Automatically organizes in different folders downloads according to file type
- Can automatically shut down the computer when downloads are complete
- Remote management features
- Allows anonymous downloading through proxy server
- Supports seeding torrents
- Technical support through a ticket system
Cons
- Browser extension can sometimes be buggy
JDownloader 2
JDownloader 2 is another open-source software with advanced capabilities for managing your downloads. It is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. The program is ideal for power users who wish to have fast downloading speeds and like advanced settings that open-source software usually provide.
This download accelerator is based solely on Java. So, before you run the program, you need to make sure that you have Java SE Runtime Environment 8 installed in your system.
Installing JDownloader 2 requires a bit of attention, since it comes with other, 3rd-party applications like McAfee WebAdvisor. If you do not need them you can click Decline on the corresponding step during the setup procedure.
This download manager has a large open community that consists of users and developers, where you can find a huge list of plugins.
One unique feature of this particular download manager is that the user can control downloads remotely, by simply registering on the product's website.
JDownloader 2, apart from its fast download capabilities, also allows you to decompress archives with its built-in tool.
One of the most useful features of JDownloader 2 is automatic separation of the audio and video streams in video files. This requires downloading FFMpeg though, which will be taken care of automatically by JDownloader the first time you try to perform this action.
Moreover, this great download manager allows you to backup all of its settings and import them to another computer so as to avoid configuring them manually.
Pros
- Open-source download accelerator
- Ability to separate audio and video streams in video files
- Can download multiple files simultaneously
- Allows you to schedule future downloads
- You can pause and resume downloads
- Has remote control features
- Has plenty of plugins for advanced users
- Has built-in file decompression tool
Cons
- Doesn’t support downloading torrents
- Compared to other managers, JDownloader 2 is bigger in size (270MB)
Ninja Download Manager
Ninja is one of the newest and most powerful download accelerators. At the same time, it is distinguished by its advanced download management features and especially for its excellent design. It is available for Windows, and you should note that the download link for the free version of the program is located at the bottom of the website. Its installation process won’t ask you to install any unnecessary 3rd-party programs.
The appearance of Ninja differs significantly from the rest of the programs in this article, making it the most beautiful download accelerator.
Downloading files can become even easier with the use of the corresponding extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
This download manager also includes a built-in media conversion tool, as well as an antivirus app.
Pros
- Attractive and neat interface
- Picks up download files easily
- Allows you to schedule future downloads
- Has a graphical representation of download speeds
- Supports pausing and resuming downloads at any time
- Has built-in media conversion tool
- Can perform virus scans
Cons
- Doesn’t organize downloads on different folders depending on file types
- Doesn’t support torrent downloads
EagleGet
EagleGet is considered to be one of the most powerful download managers and one of the best for integration with Chrome.
Its setup package has the smallest size among the ones included in this article (17MB); however, you need to be careful when installing it since it asks to install three additional 3rd-party programs. Once the app is installed, it will automatically install the Chrome extension.
EagleGet is distinguished by its attractive interface, in which you can change the background color. The program also has a built-in virus scan feature for the downloads, as well as automatic shutdown on download completion.
Pros
- Attractive interface
- Has built-in virus scanner
- Can schedule future downloads
- Can download multiple files at once
- Provides the most efficient browser extension
- Allows pausing and resuming downloads
- Has automatic organization of downloads on folders depending on their type
- Is one of the smallest download managers
Cons
- Is unstable sometimes (installer would constantly crash)
- Doesn’t support downloading torrents
Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)
Download Accelerator Plus is a well-known download manager and is considered a veteran this area, since it has been around for several years.
However, it does not have its past glory currently, and many believe that newer, especially open-source programs, have surpassed it. In the recent years, DAP does not have the magnificent reviews and high scores it used to have.
What’s “impressive” though is the threat notifications that your antivirus software might signal, stemming from the application, probably due to the large amount of ads it contains.
Pros
- Extremely fast download accelerator
- Can download multiple files at once
- Allows scheduling future downloads
- Allows pausing and resuming downloads
- Includes built-in media converter
- Has a video preview feature, which allows you to watch a video once a download begins
Cons
- Doesn’t support downloading torrents
- Free version has a lot of ads
- Some antivirus applications might treat it as adware
uGet Download Manager
uGet is another open-source download accelerator, which is especially popular among the open-source enthusiasts.
The application is famous for its capabilities in Linux distributions, and provides several packages for its users. Additionally, it is considered as the most lightweight software for fast downloads, offering equally significant features in Windows, Mac OS and Android.
Regarding its Windows version, the download accelerator is available only in a portable version, making its usage even more convenient.
However, the program is not as automatic as the rest of the presented applications. It is mostly directed to a special category of users who are enthusiastic fans of open-source software.
uGet is not very easy to use- this is also confirmed by the fact that the program requires the GTK + Runtime Environment to be downloaded and installed separately.
One of its most important features that make it stand out is that it can also be run via the command line.
Pros
- It is open-source software
- Can download multiple files at once
- Allows scheduling future downloads
- It lightweight download accelerator
- Supports downloading torrents
- Can be used via the command line
- Available on Android
Cons
- Is not very user-friendly; it’s directed towards Linux users and open-source fans
- Requires separate installation of GTK + Runtime Environment for Windows users
Are you using a download manager yourself? If so, which one? Let us know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below!
