JDownloader
Ranked 3 of 3 download managers by recommenders
Free download manager that resumes downloads, fetches in parallel, and keeps going unattended until files succeed. Critics cite closed-source parts, bundled installer offers, and cluttered defaults.
Free download manager that resumes downloads, fetches in parallel, and keeps going unattended until files succeed. Critics cite closed-source parts, bundled installer offers, and cluttered defaults.
15 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 40%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs unattended until downloads succeed
“JDownloader makes sure it eventually succeeds without me having to baby-sit the process”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” “With jdownloader you just set it and it'll do it's thing.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Closed-source parts despite open-source claims
“There's some shady stuff about JDownloader, afaik mainly that building it from source requires some java binaries that don't have their source available anywhere.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Making big downloads resumable in Firefox” “Some of them are included in the jdclosed dependency which is just a blob.”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” “JDownloader pretends to be GPL, but parts of it are closed source.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” Cluttered defaults and too many settings
“It’s the epitome of nonsensical defaults, features that maybe 1% of the user base would want and care about but toggled on by default.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” “so annoying having to change 50 different more or less accurately labeled and named color settings”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” “It works the same without all the bloat.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Making big downloads resumable in Firefox” Slow and high CPU use
“It feels like an absolute hog. Slow to open, slow to process links, slow to start downloading”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Making big downloads resumable in Firefox” “for some reason it always has high cpu usage even when no downloading anything”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” Installer bundles extra software, past malware
“Hasn't JDownloader already served malware with the default installer for years”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “Hackers breach JDownloader website to serve malware-laced downloads” “They also do shady things with bundled software in their installer.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Making big downloads resumable in Firefox”
Other download managers people recommend
The two most recommended other download managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 3 download managers, rankedWhat people said
All 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“There's some shady stuff about JDownloader, afaik mainly that building it from source requires some java binaries that don't have their source available anywhere.”
“it makes up for the lag in user friendliness.”
“It works the same without all the bloat.”
“They also do shady things with bundled software in their installer.”
“It feels like an absolute hog. Slow to open, slow to process links, slow to start downloading”
“It not only downloads the file and lets you resume the download, but can also download multiple pieces in parallel.”
“Some of them are included in the jdclosed dependency which is just a blob.”
“You can clone it from the SVN, even the MyJdownloaderClient and all plugins are open-source.”
“There are plugins for every popular file-sharing site that automate navigating download pages”
“winget install AppWork.JDownloader”
“With jdownloader you just set it and it'll do it's thing.”
“JDownloader makes sure it eventually succeeds without me having to baby-sit the process”
“for some reason it always has high cpu usage even when no downloading anything”
“so annoying having to change 50 different more or less accurately labeled and named color settings”
“JDownloader pretends to be GPL, but parts of it are closed source.”
“Hasn't JDownloader already served malware with the default installer for years”
“It’s the epitome of nonsensical defaults, features that maybe 1% of the user base would want and care about but toggled on by default.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.