cURL for Mac

Moving data across the network with cURL

Countless everyday devices — from cars and televisions to smartphones and other consumer electronics — exchange data, sometimes in very small amounts. Many of these gadgets rely on cURL inside command lines and automation scripts to perform those transfers. cURL is free and open-source software maintained by a broad community of contributors.

Notable features and capabilities

• Set a custom cap on transfer speed to control bandwidth usage
• Send multiple files in a single command invocation
• Use range “globbing” to request byte ranges or sequences of resources
• Supply several URLs in one command line for batch operations
• Load options from configuration files for reusable setups

Things to consider before using it

cURL is powerful, but that power comes with complexity. To use it reliably you should understand how URL-based transfers work (HTTP, FTP, headers, authentication, etc.) and read the documentation or examples for the specific protocols you’ll handle.

Alternative option

Recommended alternative: WinRAR (free)