cURL vs Wget: Key Differences Explained

In the world of web command-line tools, two names frequently come up: cURL and wget. Whether you're a web developer, system administrator or just want to automate your daily tasks you might wonder which tool should you choose — cURL or wget?

Both tools are commonly used for interacting with the web, though they serve slightly different purposes. cURL is a versatile web client designed for sending complex requests and interacting with a wide range of protocols, while wget specializes in downloading web files, making it ideal for simpler retrieval tasks.

This guide will dive into the key differences between these two powerful utilities and help you decide when to choose cURL and when to opt for wget.

What is cURL?

cURL, short for "Client URL," is not only a highly adaptable command-line tool for transferring data via URLs but also a powerful HTTP library known as libcURL.

Libcurl library powers many HTTP client libraries in various programming languages, making cURL a fundamental building block in web communication. It's widely popular due to its support for multiple protocols such as HTTP, FTP, and SMTP.

Developers particularly favor cURL for its large feature set, including HTTP header manipulation, form handling, and SSL and proxy support. It is indispensable for making complex requests, interacting with APIs, and performing secure file transfers.

To give you some perspective, here are some tools and libraries powered by libcURL:

• pycURL and curl_cffi in Python
• HttpClient in C#/.NET
• libcURL and Guzzle for PHP
• cURLHandle in Java

These are just few examples which highlight how widely libcURL is used in HTTP communications across different languages and environments.

Basic cURL Example:

# Downloading a file with cURL, -o flag specifies the output file
cURL https://web-scraping.dev/assets/pdf/tos.pdf -o sample.pdf

This cURL command downloads a file from https://web-scraping.dev/assets/pdf/tos.pdf and saves it locally as sample.pdf.

What is wget?

wget, short for "World Wide Web Get," is a GNU tool primarily focused on downloading files from the web.

Unlike cURL, which is designed for versatility across a wide range of protocols, wget specializes in retrieving content recursively from websites (aka crawling). It excels at automating file retrieval over HTTP and FTP, making it ideal for users who need to download large sets of files or entire websites.

One of wget's standout features is its ability to mirror websites. In this context, "mirroring" refers to recursively downloading all the assets of a website, such as HTML pages, images, stylesheets, and scripts, and preserving the site structure. This is especially useful for creating backups, archiving websites, or offline browsing of web content.

Basic wget Example:

# Downloading a file with wget, -O flag specifies the output file
wget https://web-scraping.dev/assets/pdf/tos.pdf -O sample.pdf

This wget command downloads a file from https://web-scraping.dev/assets/pdf/tos.pdf and saves it locally as sample.pdf.

Now that we understand what each tool offers individually, we can compare them directly and see which one fits what use case.

cURL vs wget – What’s the Difference?

At first glance, both cURL and wget seem to perform similar tasks: transferring data over the web. However, there are key differences in how they function, their use cases, and their unique strengths. Let's break it down.

1. Availability

When it comes to availability, both cURL and wget are widely accessible, but they differ slightly in their distribution and protocol support. cURL is already comes installed with most operating systems while wget usually needs to be installed separately. See this table for more:

Protocols Supported by cURL:

cURL supports a wide range of protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, SCP, SFTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, LDAP, SMB, TELNET, GOPHER, and MQTT. This extensive protocol support makes cURL a versatile tool for handling a variety of data transfer tasks and what makes libcurl so powerful.

By contrast, wget focuses on a smaller set of protocols, primarily HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP, making it more specialized in web file retrieval tasks.

2. Speed and Scaling

When comparing wget vs cURL in terms of speed, both tools excel in different areas.

• wget is optimized for bulk downloading and can recursively download entire websites. It’s excellent for large-scale downloads, like crawling and backing up web content.
• cURL, on the other hand, is optimized for making multiple, individual requests, and it send requests in parallel.

Here's a quick comparison overview:

So while cURL is great for general web requests in parallel wget is better for buld downloads and crawling:

# Download an entire website recursively
wget --mirror --convert-links --adjust-extension --page-requisites --no-parent https://httpbin.dev/

This command will crawl the entire website at https://httpbin.dev/, adjusting all links for local browsing and ensuring any necessary files (like images or stylesheets) are downloaded as well. The output will produce a directory with HTML files and their dependencies, making it ideal for offline browsing or backup.

--2023-10-22 13:00:00--  https://httpbin.dev/
Resolving httpbin.dev (httpbin.dev)... 104.21.65.102
Connecting to httpbin.dev (httpbin.dev)|104.21.65.102|:443... connected.
...
Saving to: ‘index.html’

index.html                  100%[================================================>]  5.01K  --.-KB/s    in 0s

2023-10-22 13:00:01 (19.5 MB/s) - ‘index.html’ saved [5023/5023]

This results in a folder containing the entire site's content, ready for offline viewing.

Using cURL for parallel downloads:

# Download multiple files in parallel using cURL
cURL -O https://httpbin.dev/file1.txt -O https://httpbin.dev/file2.txt
% Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                             Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  5023    0  5023    0     0   243k      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  243k
100  4024    0  4024    0     0   184k      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  184k

Here, cURL downloads two files (file1.txt and file2.txt) in parallel, saving them with their original filenames. Parallel downloads are an advantage when you need to fetch multiple individual files quickly. cURL is best suited for these kinds of tasks, where concurrency matters more than recursive downloading.

Parallel downloads allow cURL to fetch multiple files efficiently in one go.

Concurrency vs Parallelism

Related: for more on concurrency and parallelism in web requests see our introduction article

3. User Experience

The user experience varies depending on your needs. cURL offers more flexibility, but wget's simplicity makes it more accessible for straightforward tasks.

• cURL is highly customizable, making it ideal for developers and technical users who need fine control over HTTP requests, such as managing headers, cookies, and POST requests.
• wget is easier for users who just want to download files without worrying about other complexities.

For users who want cURL's flexibility but with a more modern interface, tools like Curlie are attempts to improve and simplify the cURL user experience.

Some Examples

cURL is great for interacting with APIs, where specific HTTP methods or headers are needed:

# Sending a POST request with cURL
cURL -X POST -d "username=user&password=pass" https://example.com/login

In this example, cURL is used to send a POST request to an API, including a data payload (username and password). It allows for fine control over the HTTP method.

wget is straightforward for downloading files:

# Downloading a file using wget
wget https://example.com/sample.pdf

This wget command downloads a file directly from a URL and saves it locally. wget is simpler to use for downloading files with minimal configuration.

4. Proxy Support

Proxy support is crucial when accessing restricted networks or scraping behind firewalls. Both tools offer proxy capabilities, but they differ in the types of proxies they support:

cURL supports both HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 proxies, which provides additional flexibility for web scraping or interacting with APIs behind different proxy configurations.
wget while supporting HTTP and HTTPS proxies, lacks support for SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 proxies, limiting its usability in some environments. Though, wget works with tools like proxychains which can add SOCKS proxy support.

5. Blocking Bypass

When it comes to bypassing blocks (like rate limits or web scraping restrictions), cURL generally has the upper hand.

cURL supports features such as proxying, user-agent spoofing, and cookie handling. With the help of tools like curl-impersonate which can mimic browser requests, helping bypass HTTP2 and TLS fingerprinting.

wget can handle basic blocking mechanisms like user-agent spoofing, but it doesn't have the full range of bypass techniques that cURL offers and can be easily identified by anti anti-bot system.

Here's a quick summary for more:

Examples

To bypass blocks with wget start with setting User-Agent header that will bypass User-Agent based bot blocks:

# Using wget with a custom User-Agent
wget --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)" https://httpbin.dev/headers

To bypass blocks with cURL you can also update the User-Agent header and import your existing cookies from a real web browser:

# Sending a request with a custom User-Agent and cookies using cURL
cURL -A "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)" --cookie cookies.txt https://example.com

In this example, cURL uses a custom User-Agent string to simulate a real browser and sends cookies from a file (cookies.txt).

Use Curl Impersonate to scrape as Chrome or Firefox

Related: learn more how cURL impersonate prevents scraper blocking

FAQ

To wrap up this guide, here are answers to some frequently asked questions about cURL and wget.

Can wget send POST requests?

Yes, wget can send POST requests, but it is primarily designed for downloading files. It lacks the flexibility that cURL offers for handling multiple HTTP methods like PUT, DELETE, and PATCH, making cURL the preferred tool for API interactions or complex HTTP requests.

Which tool is better for web scraping: cURL or wget?

cURL is generally the better option for web scraping due to its advanced features like cookie handling, managing HTTP headers, and submitting complex forms. wget, on the other hand, is more suitable for scraping static sites or downloading entire webpages, especially when using its recursive downloading feature.

Is wget faster than cURL?

The speed depends on the task. wget is typically faster when downloading multiple files or entire websites recursively, as it’s optimized for bulk downloads. cURL excels in handling single requests, making it faster for tasks like API calls or making several requests in parallel.

Summary

Choosing between cURL and wget ultimately depends on the specific task at hand:

cURL is ideal for interacting with APIs, managing complex HTTP requests, or bypassing restrictions. It supports a wide range of protocols, offering:

• Advanced control over headers and methods.
• Features like user-agent spoofing, cookie handling, and parallel downloads.
• Broad protocol support beyond just HTTP, making it versatile for developers and web scrapers.

wget excels in scenarios involving large-scale file downloads, especially when you need to:

• Recursively download entire websites or files.
• Mirror web content for offline use.
• Utilize a simple, efficient tool without needing extensive configuration.

By understanding these strengths, you can choose the right tool to match your specific requirements, whether for API handling, web scraping or web archiving.