Updated: 4 November 2026 · Applies to: GNU wget and curl on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 9
A large download can use all of a server’s bandwidth and slow down your websites. wget --limit-rate caps the speed. We tested it on Ubuntu 24.04 and AlmaLinux 9.
wget --limit-rate=500k https://example.com/big.iso # 500 KB per second wget --limit-rate=2m https://example.com/big.iso # 2 MB per second
k means kilobytes and m megabytes per second (bytes, not bits: 2m is about 16 Mbit/s).
Other ways to be gentle
wget -c --limit-rate=1m https://example.com/big.iso # resume and limit wget --wait=2 --limit-rate=300k -i urls.txt # pause between files nohup wget -q --limit-rate=1m https://example.com/big.iso & # keep it running after logout
With curl
curl -L --limit-rate 1M -O https://example.com/big.iso
Save the file to another folder: how to download files to a specific directory with wget.
