aria2 vs jq
aria2
aria2.github.iojq
jqlang.orgSide by side
| Figure | aria2 | jq |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Cli Tools | 8.4 (#5) | 8.6 (#4) |
| License | The program is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or, at the user's option, any later version. | jq code is licensed under the MIT license, while its documentation is licensed under CC-BY-3.0. |
| Platforms | The official site says source and binaries are available for OS X, Windows, and Android; the project describes itself as cross-platform. | The download page links standalone executables for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and describes building jq for nearly any platform. |
| Purpose | aria2 is a lightweight command-line utility for downloading files over multiple protocols and from multiple sources. | jq is a lightweight, flexible command-line JSON processor for slicing, filtering, mapping, and transforming structured data. |
| Security | The project README says aria2 checks HTTPS server certificates by default and describes using a CA bundle when the system trust store is unavailable. | SHA-256 checksums are provided for release and pre-release binaries, and release artifacts are signed by a jq release key. |
Plans
In their own words
jq
jq is a free command-line processor for selecting and transforming JSON data. A jq filter takes an input and produces output; filters can be combined to access nested attributes, construct objects, gather results into arrays, or make other transformations. It reads whitespace-separated JSON values and writes serialized results separated by whitespace. Each expression runs on each input value and may produce zero or more outputs. For very large inputs, the --stream option parses incrementally. Output options include compact, raw, ASCII, sorted-key, and colored forms. Written in portable C, jq has no runtime dependencies, and a standalone binary can be copied to another machine of the same type. Standalone executables are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with packages listed for Linux distributions and package managers including Homebrew, MacPorts, winget, Scoop, and Chocolatey. A Docker image is also available. Release binaries have SHA-256 checksums, and signed release artifacts use jq release keys. The code is licensed under MIT; the documentation uses CC-BY-3.0.