When comparing aria2 vs XDM - Xtreme Download Manager, the Slant community recommends XDM - Xtreme Download Manager for most people. In the question“What is the best download manager for Windows?” XDM - Xtreme Download Manager is ranked 3rd while aria2 is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose XDM - Xtreme Download Manager is:
XDM has the ability to rip files (MP4, AVI, webm, etc.) from media sites like Youtube or Vimeo. Unfortunately, audio streaming sites like Bandcamp or Soundcloud don't seem to work with this feature.
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 Supports ripping media from sites
XDM has the ability to rip files (MP4, AVI, webm, etc.) from media sites like Youtube or Vimeo. Unfortunately, audio streaming sites like Bandcamp or Soundcloud don't seem to work with this feature.
Pro Supports multiple download queues
With XDM you can set up a number of download queues, both scheduled and unscheduled, to give you better control over what batch of files gets downloaded when.
Pro Uses download acceleration techniques
XDM intelligently and dynamically segments files as they're being downloaded, allowing it to use multiple threads per file. XDM also uses connection reuse to cut back on the amount of time it takes to establish a connection with a given server.
Pro Built in scheduler
XDM's scheduler allows you to set a specific time for XDM to begin downloading, and then disconnect or shut down your computer when it's finished.
Pro Integrated with a number of browsers
XDM is integrated with Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, and any other Chromium or Firefox clone. This integration has you installing an extension on your browser that redirects all downloads to be handled by XDM rather than the browser itself.
Pro Resumes interrupted downloads
If you have a power outage, your internet disconnects, or your download is otherwise interrupted, XDM will be able to resume from where it left off just fine.
Pro XDM is very fast for download files
XDM download speed is very fast because the internet speed on XDM is more optimized than other download managers.
Pro It can get the download link without the need for other tools
Through the browser integration extension it is able to capture multimedia download link by itself - while other download managers need the link to be sent to them.
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 Horrific project management!
There are no versioned source tarballs, no build documentation or build system, and the binaries seem to be built from a private repository as the source code does not reflect the changes.