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Try Folx as Perfect Free IDM Alternative for Mac

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Replace IDM for Mac with These Apps

The most popular download manager for computers running Windows is Internet Download Manager (IDM). It is not available for Mac, however, there are plenty of alternatives that do the same thing and offer even more options. One IDM alternative for Mac that you can rely on is the Folx download manager. It's easy to use and intuitive, and packed with handy features, making it a must-have for most Mac users.

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Folx
4.6 Rank based on 1889+ users, Reviews(796)
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Read about top IDM alternatives for Mac below.

Not every downloader can match up to IDM. To get the same functionality, you need a download manager for Mac. A built-in scheduler and bandwidth settings are a must for apps like these. IDM Mac alternatives focus on providing these features, along with their own unique ones. Let’s take a look at the choices that macOS users have.

Content list:

  1. Folx - Your IDM for Mac
  2. Alternatives to IDM on Mac
  3. Why Should Anyone Use Download Manager?
  4. Why is Folx the Best Choice for an IDM for Mac?
  5. What is IDM in Windows World?

Folx - Your IDM for Mac

Folx
4.6 Rank based on 1889 + users Reviews(796)
Requirements: macOS 10.12+
Version: v5.27.13991, Released 5 Oct, 2022 Release notes
Category: Downloaders
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Folx is a download manager for Mac that provides all the important features that an Internet download manager for Mac should possess. The app can handle both direct downloads and torrents.


Folx is among IDM Mac alternatives.


First of all, it’s multithreaded, so you can have several downloads going on at the same time to make better use of your bandwidth. Secondly, it provides speed controls, if there’s ever a need to turn it down and leave some spare bandwidth to browse and watch online videos. Finally, the management aspect is very developed in Folx, letting you schedule downloads ahead of time, store passwords, and more.

Folx is the best download manager for Mac.

There are Two Variants of Using Folx

There are 2 editions of Folx you can get - free and PRO. The PRO version has several advantages. A detailed comparison of their features can be found in the table below.

Free Version PRO Version

One Download at a Time

Run or pause a single download without speed limits.

Multithreading

Up to 20 downloads at once. Useful if you’re getting throttled!

Manual Management

Folx provides an option to adjust download speed and make room for your browser and other network apps.

Smart Speed Control

Folx PRO can change your speed automatically, depending on your Internet usage.

Control Downloads in Real Time

Add and sort downloads, whether it’s an HTML address or a torrent magnet link.

Schedule Downloads

Delay your downloads to start them at the right time.

Use Links and Magnets from Anywhere

It doesn’t matter which platform you choose - Folx can handle them all!

Accounts and Passwords

Store your login info to access password-protected websites.

Select Files and Proxies for Torrents

Folx supports partial downloads - leave out the files you don’t need. You can even choose a proxy server.

Find Torrents in the App

When you want to start a torrent, Folx PRO is with you every step of the way. It’ll even help you search!

Tag Your Downloads

Tags let you categorize and find downloads easier.

Use the Tags for Apple Music

Folx PRO can automatically upload downloaded files to Apple Music, and it will utilize your tags to organize them.

icon pros Pros:

  • Works for any type of download, including Peer2Peer
  • Allows a lot of control over downloads
  • Runs natively on Mac, fast and stable.

icon cons Cons:

  • Exclusive to macOS
  • Full functionality only available in Folx PRO.

Supported OS: macOS

Conclusion: Folx is the best alternative to IDM for macOS. If you can afford Folx PRO, go for it. But even the free version is great - you won’t lose anything by trying it. Test it on several downloads, and you’ll see what we mean. It’s smooth, quick, and there’s a lot to configure.

Alternatives to IDM on Mac

There’s plenty to take into account when you consider which IDM download for Mac alternative to use. An obvious question is whether or not you have to pay for the program. Some Mac IDM alternatives require payment if you want to get the most out of them. Another question is whether or not your browser of choice is supported by a certain download manager. It’s also worth thinking about ease of use.

Some programs provide the basics and are easy to understand. Others may offer more complicated tools, which might not be exactly what you’re looking for. You should also consider the speed at which a program downloads - obviously, you’ll want downloads to run as quickly as possible.

Top Apps Alternative to IDM for Mac

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Folx PRO
Folx PRO
Free Download Manager
Ninja Download Manager
Neat Download Manager
Progressive Downloader
Xtreme Download Manager
iGetter
JDownloader
Persepolis Download Manager
Multithreading
Multithreading
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Download Scheduling
Download Scheduling
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Apple Music Integration
Apple Music Integration
 
 
 
yes (through Automator)  
 
 
 
 
Speed Control
Speed Control
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bandwidth Optimization
Bandwidth Optimization
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proxy Support
Proxy Support
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Browser Integration
Browser Integration
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Password Management
Password Management
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Torrent Client
Torrent Client
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Auto-continuation
Auto-continuation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
macOS 10.15+
macOS 10.15+
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$19.95
$19.95
free
$19
free
freeware
free
$25
free
free
Try Folx Downloader for Mac
IDM Alternative for Mac
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Free Download Manager

Free Download Manager is a torrent and download management utility with queueing, speed adjustment, and categorization. As an IDM alternative for Mac, FDM has nearly the same feature set. The tag system is particularly useful for separating torrents from ordinary downloads. There’s a special feature that can potentially speed up your downloads by breaking them up and loading the fragments at the same time. But this technique is very niche and will only matter if the speed is limited by the file host, and not by your bandwidth.

FDM can be integrated with the browser of your choice, in which case it will handle downloads instead of the browser’s built-in download manager.

FDM is a free app with set useful features.

icon pros Pros:

  • Fully free
  • Convenient tag system
  • Handles torrents
  • Can be embedded in your browser.

icon cons Cons:

  • Lacks scheduling
  • Limited as a torrent manager.

Latest version of macOS is supported.

Supported OS: macOS, Windows, Linux, Android

Conclusion: FDM is quite valuable for a free app, and it easily competes with shareware or paid solutions. The tag system is something we wish we’d see in the other entries - it’s just that innovative. Otherwise, it’s an ordinary, decent tool.

Ninja Download Manager

Ninja Download Manager is a popular IDM alternative for Mac that has recently become compatible with macOS. It offers a simple, clean interface and an extensive list of features, with no adware.

Popular IDM alternative for Mac that offers media previews mid-download.

icon pros Pros:

  • Ninja DM offers multi-queue management with the option to refresh expired links
  • Offers media previews mid-download
  • Claims to download files 10x faster than when using a standard Internet downloader.

icon cons Cons:

  • You can’t import/export downloads
  • Parsing media downloads is laggy and very slow
  • Some websites are not supported.

Reported to work great as an IDM macOS latest version.

Supported OS: macOS, Windows

Conclusion: All in all, this is a pretty good IDM for MacBook alternative. They claim to provide download speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional programs, which is a massive draw. They’ve also got good management tools, and let you preview files in the middle of a download, helping ensure that you get exactly the files you’re looking for.

However, the lack of import/export tools is annoying, and it’s not guaranteed that it will work with all websites.

Neat Download Manager

Neat Download Manager is another IDM alternative for Mac. It is lightweight and offers a simple to use interface for its clients, but don’t be fooled, because this software packs a punch.

Neat Download Manager is a lightweight app that offers browser extensions.

icon pros Pros:

  • Neat DM uses a dynamic segmentation algorithm that allows it to accelerate your downloads significantly
  • Offers browser extensions for downloading audio and video content from a wide variety of websites.

icon cons Cons:

  • Relatively new software, so bugs are not uncommon
  • Limited capabilities when it comes to organizing your files.

Neat Download Manager works as an Internet download manager macOS latest version.

Supported OS: macOS

Conclusion: There’s quite a lot on offer here, and this isn’t a bad download manager. It provides consistently good speeds for downloading, which is mainly thanks to the algorithm it uses. You can also use it on a wide range of websites thanks to extensions.

However, it’s a new program so there are still some issues that need to be ironed out in future updates. It’s also not ideal when it comes to organising files, and falls short of what we’ve seen in many of the other programs we’ve reviewed.

Progressive Downloader

Progressive Downloader can do some unique things, such as restoring interrupted downloads, or searching for mirrors for a download you’ve added. These features make it a great IDM Mac substitute. This is somewhat undermined by the shaky privacy policy, which states that PD will "transfer the data, including Personal Data, to Russian Federation and process it there". If you’re willing to take the risk, it’s a fine tool.

Progressive Downloader is free IDM alternative for Mac with some unique features.

icon pros Pros:

  • Free to use
  • Browser integration and automation
  • Supports many different web protocols, including FTP and SFTP.

icon cons Cons:

  • Only 3 parallel threads
  • Terrible privacy policy
  • Unwieldy interface.

Progressive Downloader supports latest version of macOS.

Supported OS: macOS

Conclusion: Progressive Downloader is a massive success when it comes to free software, but a failure in regards to privacy. An admirable feature set will tempt you to use it nonetheless. And it’s worth noting that the app is still being developed - more improvements can be expected in the future.

Xtreme Download Manager

Xtreme Download Manager is an IDM on Mac that boasts that its software has the capability to increase your download speed by 500%. Many have tested this claim, and they have mostly come up short, but it is still worth a mention.

It’s IDM alternative for Mac that can increase download speed.

icon pros Pros:

  • Clean and intuitive user interface, lightweight and easy to use
  • Allows user to pause and resume downloads, as well as schedule downloads and recurring tasks.

icon cons Cons:

  • One shortcoming of Xtreme is that it does not automatically resume interrupted downloads, and generally requires that you start over if a download fails
  • Some also complain that the user interface is not very easy to cope with for beginners.

Xtreme Download Manager is not yet available as an IDM for latest version of macOS.

Supported OS: macOS, Windows, Linux

Conclusion: This download manager offered a few decent features, but didn’t quite follow through on them. For instance, it offers users the ability to pause and resume downloads, which is useful if you need to use your bandwidth for other things.

However, it doesn’t automatically reconnect to interrupted downloads, which is irritating as it can easily go unnoticed. Also, their promises of up to 500% faster don’t quite ring true. An accessible interface, however, does make it a very easy program to use.

iGetter

iGetter is commonly known as the most popular IDM on macOS. Its popularity is primarily due to the fact that it is completely free and has been around for a while.

One of the most popular IDM alternative for macOS, but does not currently work on latest version of macOS.

icon pros Pros:

  • It’s completely free and fully customizable
  • Also offers easy integration with multiple Internet browsers and accelerated downloading and scheduling.

icon cons Cons:

  • iGetter does not generally support updated versions of the Chrome Internet browser
  • User interface is dated and difficult to navigate.

iGetter does not currently work as an IDM for macOS latest version.

Supported OS: macOS

Conclusion: For many people this is the go-to Mac download manager, mainly because it’s free. While that is definitely a major plus, it does however lack the usability that has defined some of the best managers that we’ve looked at.

It supports a number of different browsers, though it does encounter some difficulties with the latest versions of Chrome. A poor interface is the main issue, and this download manager could be far more easy to use than it is.

JDownloader

JDownloader is another internet download manager for Mac. It is a free open-source download manager that allows downloading from websites, social media platforms, and file hosting sites. The app offers multi-parallel download, CAPTCHA recognition, batch downloading and can extract downloaded archives automatically.

On top of that, Jdownloader supports Click'n'Load. That means it crawls all links and then finds downloadable content based on those links. JDownloader compatible with multiple platforms.

JDownloader is free open-source Internet download manager for Mac.

icon pros Pros:

  • Fills in CAPTCHA forms for you
  • Compatible with multiple operating systems
  • Has scheduling options.

icon cons Cons:

  • Sometimes is quite slow
  • The installation file may contain malware.

This is a Java-based app. Platform support is dependent on JDK or JRE. Currently, complete support for M1/M2 and latest version of macOS is available only through the testing version of JDK16.

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, macOS

Conclusion: Since JDownloader is open-source, you can alter the program by re-writing the source code. However, this is only attractive to those familiar with coding. The remote access option is especially noteworthy. JDownloader has a lot of useful features and is cross platform. But it is worth drawing your attention to the fact that the app may run slightly slower than other IDM for Mac alternatives due to its Java usage.

Persepolis Download Manager

Continuing our list of IDM Mac alternatives, we would like to mention Persepolis Download Manager. It is a cross-platform download manager that allows saving videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion and other services.

It was created as a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for Aria2. Being an open-source, Persepolis is compatible with GNU/Linux Distributions, macOS and Windows. Using Persepolis Download Manager you can schedule downloads, sort the list of your downloads, and benefit from multi segment downloading.

Persepolis Download Manager is a cross-platform download manager that allows saving videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion and other services.

icon pros Pros:

  • Persepolis is reported to be cross-platform
  • You can make adjustments to the code since the app is an open-source
  • Supports multi-segment downloading.

icon cons Cons:

  • May be vulnerable to malware as it can only be downloaded from GitHub website.

Persepolis hasn’t been updated recently, with the last update dating back to 2019. It’s likely to cause issues with latest version of macOS and does not support M1/M2.

Supported OS: Windows, Linux, macOS

Conclusion: Persepolis can’t be attributed to regular downloaders. It is a GUI for Aria2 - a cross-platform, lightweight open-source command line utility that allows you to download files from multiple sources and protocols. So, if you are not proficient in software development, you will probably find it difficult to use.

Leech

Essentially, Leech does the same things as IDM. It queues up downloads, allows users to pause and continues, and controls download speed. It has some neat tricks up its sleeve, such as multi-threaded downloading and queueing. Leech, however, is not a free app. Inexpensive, but not free. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the price tag.

Leech

icon pros Pros:

  • Updated to the latest macOS
  • Speeds up downloads with concurrent threads.

icon cons Cons:

  • Paid app
  • No way to organize the downloads.

Supported OS: macOS

Why Should Anyone Use Download Manager?

Browsers are not enough

Most modern browsers have a built-in download manager that offers you some basic control over what you download and the options you have. For some users, that might be enough as they don’t download so many files and don’t feel the need for a full-power IDM for Mac.

However, if you want full control when downloading multiple files at once, easy management, and the resume of any download plus other functions, you need to go with Folx. A good download manager will cut hours from the time you spend downloading the content you need and even if you’re not a massive downloader, with the proper software you can make the entire process a lot more efficient.

Bandwidth usage is optimized

If you download multiple files at once, you know how annoying it can get because the bandwidth is automatically allocated in equal shares throughout the files you download. With Folx, the best IDM alternative for Mac, you can manually set the bandwidth allocation for each file or even let the software decide based on levels of urgency each download has.

Downloads are organized

Like the name suggest, the main task of a download manager is to allow you to easily manage your downloads. However, Folx is much more than that because with it you can schedule and prioritize the files you download.

You can download big files overnight so that the bandwidth doesn’t get split affecting your day-to-day work on the computer. Also, you can choose to schedule downloads for files that you know are updated the first thing in the morning.

No need to wake up in the middle of the night when you can have this IDM alternative for Mac do it for you. After the work is done, you can command Folx to shut down the computer to avoid using up energy when you don’t need to. Also, with a download manager you can save files in multiple different destinations for a better organization of what you keep on your hard disk.

Speed is accelerated

Perhaps the biggest advantage you get when using a download manager is the extra speed you get for your downloads. Unfortunately, the concept of download acceleration is used by all download managers out there, without any solid proof.

Folx IDM for Mac free download can actually accelerate your download by removing the limitation some browsers and Internet servers place on the download speed. Another way of boosting the download speed is by finding the file you wish to download and getting it from several sources, similar to the torrent file sharing.

Why is Folx the Best Choice for an IDM for Mac?

Folx was made by Mac users, for Mac users. Its interface is designed to be used on a Mac computer, and thus navigating the application is very intuitive for Mac users. There are plenty of competitors out there, but we think Folx stands apart from others as an alternative for Internet download manager due to the amount of features you get not only with the PRO version, but also with the free one.

There are many reasons why PC users switch to Mac, but some of the primary reasons are that the macOS is simply easier to use than Windows, the macOS is faster and less prone to crashing, and viruses generally are not an issue with Macs. So, if you’re one of those former PC users who made the switch to Mac for some of these reasons and are looking for an app like IDM, Folx will not disappoint in its ease of use, quality, and speed.

So, if you're one of those former PC users who switched to Mac for some of these reasons and are looking for an app like IDM, Folx won't disappoint with its ease of use, quality, and speed.

What is IDM in Windows World?

Internet Download Manager (IDM) is a multifunctional download manager, developed by Tonec, Inc. It features download speed acceleration, download resume, download scheduling, and the list goes on. IDM downloader is compatible with the Windows operating system. But still, there are ways to get around the compatibility issue and run Internet Download Manager on Mac.


Internet Download Manager is compatible with Windows operating system.


How to Launch Windows IDM on Mac

To run IDM downloader on Mac, you can try one of the below solutions.

Start Windows along with macOS

If you don't want to reboot your Mac every time you need to switch to OS X, you can use Parallels and virtualize your Windows environment. This software makes it easy to run Windows inside your Mac. It is worth noting that the solution is resource intensive, so the whole system may freeze and slow down when running IDM tool on macOS X.

Conclusion

At some point, Internet Download Manager may have been the industry leader, but the key features have become the norm a long time ago. Now, it’s hard to find an app that doesn’t implement bandwidth throttling. Fast download managers have become as convenient and useful as a torrent client - in fact, they are often compatible with torrents as well. If you aren’t sure which of these apps you need, start with Folx. It’s free to try, and can always be upgraded to be better than the average downloader.

Frequently Asked Questions:

No, Internet Download Manager or IDM is only compatible with PCs. IDM is not available for Mac, but there are plenty of IDM alternatives Mac users can rely on.
Folx is a free download manager for Mac. The free version comes with lots of handy features such as integration with popular browsers, simultaneous multiple downloads, and proxy support. However, upgrading to Folx PRO will offer you more managing options. One of the features is scheduling downloads at specific times. This way, you can schedule your downloads when you are away from your computer.
The best downloader for Mac is the download manager that best suits your personal needs. You can try Folx. This download manager is suitable for all levels of Mac users, from beginners to professionals. It has a simple and neat interface, but it is a very powerful tool that offers many features. It's customizable and fast.
Internet Download Manager (IDM) is one of the most popular and best download managers for Windows. It provides something you won’t find in browsers - speed control, pausing, a priority system, and even scheduling. But Internet Download Manager is not unique by any means. There are plenty of Mac apps that do the same thing.
Although IDM is not available for Mac, there are several solutions to launch it on your Mac. You can run Windows on Mac, start Windows alongside macOS, or transform Windows apps into Mac apps. However, these methods can be troublesome, so we recommend finding an IDM alternative to Macs instead of trying to run IDM on Mac.
Unfortunately, the current version of IDM is not compatible with iOS devices.
Folx
Requirements: macOS 10.12+ , 17.89MB size
Version 5.27.13991 (5 Oct, 2022) Release notes
Category: Utilities
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