When comparing aria2 vs Internet Download Manager, the Slant community recommends Internet Download Manager for most people. In the question“What is the best download manager for Windows?” Internet Download Manager is ranked 4th while aria2 is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Internet Download Manager is:
You can easily tell the difference of download speed after and before IDM.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Small memory footprint
Due to aria2 being a CLI only tool it uses very little memory.
Pro Supports multiple download protocols
Has support for lots of download protocols including BitTorrent, Metalink, HTTP, HTTPS and FTP.
Pro Remote control over simple standartized RPC
XML or JSON-based RPCs can be used to control aria2 remotely with both APIs completely documented. Simplest client that uploads torrent to be downloaded is 3 Python lines long (no 3rd-party libraries, only stdlib).
Run aria2c --help=#rpc
to see more.
Pro Third parties offer a clean web interface
Some web interfaces consist of pure HTML+JS, no server-side needed (except aria2c of course). It uses the same RPC that can work even over WebSockets.
Pro Free and open source
Pro Really fast
You can easily tell the difference of download speed after and before IDM.
Pro Awesome overall
Absolutely AWSOME integration with browsers, the trial is easily bypassed by crack software, and overall i would buy it just to support the devs. Best out of all these, and JRDOWNLOADER 2 is good for a free option for those who dont like to get their hands dirty with cracks.
Pro Advanced features for power users
Pro Downloads youtube videos easily
Easy to download youtube videos on youtube and other websites. Just no option to download only m4a or converted mp3 from youtube.
Cons
Con No native graphical user interface
While there is a web-based GUI, there is no native interface.
Con No HTTP/2 support
While the developer of aria2 is developing nghttp2 library, aria2 has no support for http2.
Con Ugly interface
Con Confusing to use
Con Has issues with Google Chrome
Integration with Google Chrome is bad, extension on Chrome store is not available.
Con Commercial
30-day trial then you need to pay to use it.
Con Free alternative available called Free Download Manager
Has same functionality with IDM but it's fast, easy to use, and free.
Con No Audio only download feature
Its useful when making local library of music from youtube