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The free alternative to Internet Download Manager
LOD Zephyrus Download Manager keeps the layout IDM users know, brings your IDM list over, and costs nothing: free and open source, with no trial, no ads and no sign-up. Below it, nine other free download managers people use instead of IDM, compared honestly.
In short
If you want Internet Download Manager (IDM)'s layout without its price, the free alternative is LOD Zephyrus Download Manager (Zephyrus): a free, open-source download manager for Windows 10 and 11, with macOS and Linux builds to try. It looks and works like IDM, imports your IDM download list, downloaded a 1 GiB file 5.4 times faster than IDM 6.42 in our published benchmark, and downloads torrents, magnet links and videos too.
Other free options: Free Download Manager, AB Download Manager, Motrix, Neat Download Manager, Prism, JDownloader 2, Xtreme Download Manager, Gopeed and DOWNitUP. See how they compare.
LOD Zephyrus Download Manager {{VERSION}}The free IDM alternative
- Price
- Free forever: no trial, no ads, no key
- Licence
- Open source, GNU GPL 3.0
- Layout
- IDM's: toolbar, categories, list
- From IDM
- Imports your IDM export file
- Downloads
- HTTP(S), FTP(S), torrents, magnets, video pages
- Speed
- 1 GiB in 1.0 s, IDM 5.5 s our test
- Systems
- Windows 10/11; macOS and Linux to try
- Languages
- 86, right to left included
Free IDM alternatives, compared
The free download managers people reach for instead of IDM, checked on their own websites and code in November 2026. Each is good at something. We make the first one, so judge the rest by their own links.
Free download managersChecked November 2026 · each name links to its official site
-
LOD Zephyrus Download Manager Open source · GPL-3.0- Good at
- IDM's layout and your IDM list, with torrents, video and 86 languages built in
- Systems
- Windows 10/11; macOS, Linux to try
- Latest
- {{VERSION}}
-
Free Download Manager Free · open source, its site says- Good at
- A long-running all-rounder with a full BitTorrent client, and apps for four systems
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
- Latest
- 6.35
-
AB Download Manager Open source · Apache-2.0- Good at
- A modern look with several themes, queues and schedulers, and an Android app
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
- Latest
- 1.11.43 Nov 2026
-
Motrix Open source · MIT- Good at
- A clean, simple app for HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent and magnet links, built on aria2
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Latest
- 2.2.13 Nov 2026
-
Neat Download Manager Freeware- Good at
- Small and quick to set up, with a browser extension that catches video and audio
- Systems
- Windows, macOS
- Latest
- 1.4 for Windows, 1.3 for Mac
-
Prism Open source · MIT- Good at
- Many features: video and MP3 through yt-dlp, torrents, a site grabber, AI models from Hugging Face
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Latest
- 1.2.41 Nov 2026
-
JDownloader 2 Free · open source, its site says- Good at
- Big batches of links, extracting archives by itself, and plugins to extend it
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux (Java)
- Note
- Its main installer has optional offers; an offers-free one is on its site
-
Xtreme Download Manager Open source · GPL-3.0- Good at
- Grabbing the videos its browser extension finds on a page
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Latest
- 9.0.91 Nov 2026
-
Gopeed Open source · GPL-3.0- Good at
- Runs nearly everywhere, with HTTP, BitTorrent, magnet and ed2k, and a REST API
- Systems
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, web
- Latest
- 1.9.318 Mar 2026
-
DOWNitUP Free- Good at
- Downloads and torrents in one app, stable on Android
- Systems
- Android; Windows, macOS, Linux in beta
- Latest
- 1.2.0 desktop beta25 Oct 2026
Logos belong to their owners, shown only to identify each product. PyIDM, which search results still list, is no longer developed: the copy they point to was last updated in March 2020.
Feature by feature
What each one says it offers, on its own website or in its code's README. A dash means it isn't among the features it lists, not that it can't be done.
Declaration of contentsAs each one lists it · checked November 2026 · sources below
| Download manager | Open source | Torrents | Video from pages | Browser extension | Imports an IDM list | Systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOD Zephyrus Download Manager | YesGPL-3.0 | Yes | Yesvia yt-dlp | Yes | Yes |
|
| Free Download Manager | Its site says soits site says | Yes | Yesthrough add-ons | Yes | Not listed |
|
| AB Download Manager | YesApache-2.0 | Not listed | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
|
| Motrix | YesMIT | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
|
| Neat Download Manager | Not listedclosed, freeware | Not listed | Yesvia its extension | Yes | Not listed |
|
| Prism | YesMIT | Yes | Yesvia yt-dlp | Yes | Not listed |
|
| JDownloader 2 | Its site says soits site says | Not listed | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
|
| Xtreme Download Manager | YesGPL-3.0 | Not listed | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
|
| Gopeed | YesGPL-3.0 | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
|
| DOWNitUP | Not listednot stated | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
|
| Listed by | 6 of 10 | 6 of 10 | 5 of 10 | 9 of 10 | 1 of 10 |
Listed on its site or in its codeIts site says so; no public code foundNot among the features it listsWindows released, Linux in beta or experimental
- Each product's own website, linked above, and for the open-source ones their code on GitHub: AB Download Manager, Motrix, Prism, Xtreme Download Manager, Gopeed; licences and latest releases as GitHub shows them, 4 November 2026
- Logos and names belong to their owners and are shown only to identify each product; LOD Zephyrus Download Manager has no connection to them.
- LOD Zephyrus Download Manager: its source code and our benchmark against IDM 6.42. We haven't benchmarked the others yet; until we do, this page makes no speed claim about them.
Coming from IDM?
Here's what stays the same, what's better, and what IDM still does that Zephyrus doesn't.
Why IDM users switch
- It's free, for good. No trial that runs out, no licence key, no ads. The GNU GPL guarantees it stays free.
- Nothing to relearn. The toolbar, categories, download list, progress window, queues, Scheduler and Options sit where you expect them. Even the command-line switches are the same:
/d /p /f /a /n /s. - Faster where it counts. In our benchmark against IDM 6.42 on the same computer and server, Zephyrus downloaded 1 GiB in 1.0 s against 5.5 s, and a small file in 0.03 s against 3.1 s. See every run.
- Torrents and magnet links. In the same list, with a file tree to pick from. IDM's website doesn't mention BitTorrent.
- 86 languages built in. Right to left included, chosen on the first start.
- Open source. Anyone can read the code, check what it does and build it. No adware, no telemetry.
- Linux and Mac too. Builds with every release, if you use more than Windows. From version 0.5.0, Linux is no longer experimental: it is checked on GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce and Cinnamon.
Zephyrus and IDM, side by side
| LOD Zephyrus Download Manager | Compared | Internet Download Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| Free | Price | Paid licence after a 30-day trial |
| Open (GPL-3.0) | Source code | Closed |
| Speed, in our test | ||
| 1.0 s | 1 GiB, fast link | 5.5 s |
| 0.03 s | 256 KiB file | 3.1 s |
| What it does | ||
| Classic: toolbar, categories, list | Layout | Classic: toolbar, categories, list |
| Up to 32, or 128 if you allow it; re-split as they go | Connections per file | Up to 32, re-split as they go |
| Yes | Torrents, magnet links | Not mentioned on its website |
| Yes (yt-dlp) | Video from web pages | Yes |
| Yes | FTP, FTPS, proxies, PAC | Yes |
| Yes | Queues and Scheduler | Yes |
| Not yet | Site grabber | Yes |
| Reach | ||
| 86, built in | Languages | About 40, separate downloads |
| Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, from their stores | Browsers | Chrome, Firefox, Edge and more |
| Windows 10/11; macOS and Linux to try | Systems | Windows |
| New | Maturity | Refined over many years |
Ahead on that line. Timings are medians of alternating runs on one computer and server; the bars are to scale.
IDM facts from internetdownloadmanager.com, checked October 2026; timings from our published benchmark with raw data. Spot a mistake? Tell us.
Switch in five minutes
- In IDM, choose Tasks → Export → To IDM export file and save your list.
- Download LOD Zephyrus Download Manager and install it; keep Set up browser integration ticked.
- In Zephyrus, choose Tasks → Import → From IDM export file and pick the file. Your downloads arrive with their addresses, referrers and cookies.
- Add the Zephyrus extension to your browser (how) and turn IDM's off, so only one of them takes your downloads.
What IDM still does that Zephyrus doesn't
We'd rather you knew. IDM has a site grabber that follows a whole website's pages (Zephyrus's link grabber takes the links of one page), and many years of polish and compatibility fixes. Zephyrus is new; if something you rely on is missing, ask for it.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to IDM?
If you want Internet Download Manager's layout without its price, LOD Zephyrus Download Manager: free and open source, laid out like IDM, and it imports your IDM list. If you need something else first, such as an Android app or a particular feature, the comparison above shows what each of the others is good at.
Is there an open-source IDM?
IDM itself is closed source. LOD Zephyrus Download Manager is open source (GPL-3.0) and laid out the way IDM users expect, but it's a separate program written from scratch. Anyone can read its code on GitHub.
Is it related to IDM?
No. LOD Zephyrus Download Manager is an independent project written from scratch in Rust. It has no connection to Tonec Inc. and contains none of IDM's code, artwork or text. Internet Download Manager and IDM are trademarks of their owner, named here only to compare. More
Is it really free, or a trial?
Really free, with no time limit, paid edition, ads or sign-up. More
Can I keep IDM installed too?
Yes. They don't share settings or files. Turn off one browser extension so each download goes to one program.
Does it work on Mac and Linux?
Yes: every release has builds for Linux and macOS. Today's are marked experimental; from version 0.5.0, Linux isn't, after checks on four desktops, and macOS stays experimental. Windows 10 and 11 are the main platform. More
IDM's layout. Free.
Bring your IDM list, keep your habits, and download faster. Free and open source, for good.
LOD Zephyrus Download ManagerFree and open source · GPL-3.0
Delivered1 GiB in 1.01 s