SiteSucker for Windows: The Right Alternative for Your PC

There is no SiteSucker for Windows. SiteSucker is built for Apple's operating systems, and there has never been a Windows, Linux or ChromeOS version. Everything SiteSucker does has a direct equivalent on a PC, though. It follows links, stays on one site, saves images and stylesheets, and rewrites links so the copy works offline. For a program with a window, use HTTrack or Cyotek WebCopy. If you're comfortable in a terminal, use wget. If you can't install anything at all, use a browser-based downloader. This guide matches each one to your situation and translates SiteSucker's settings into each tool.

Is there a SiteSucker for Windows?

No. SiteSucker is a native Apple app that depends on Apple's frameworks, and it isn't a web app you could open in a browser. Download sites that offer "SiteSucker for Windows" or "SiteSucker Windows free" are offering something else at best and malware at worst.

Can I run SiteSucker on Windows through an emulator or virtual machine?

Technically people try, but it is rarely worth it.

• Licensing: Apple's macOS licence only allows macOS to run on Apple hardware. A macOS virtual machine on an ordinary Windows PC falls outside that.
• Effort: Unofficial macOS VMs on Windows are fiddly to set up, run slowly without graphics acceleration, and tend to break with updates.
• Wine works the other way round: Wine lets Linux and Mac run Windows programs. It does not run Mac apps on Windows.

You would spend an afternoon getting a VM to boot so you can run a tool that free Windows programs already replace. If you have a real Mac nearby, use SiteSucker there. Our guide to downloading an entire website on Mac covers that route. Otherwise, pick one of the alternatives below.

SiteSucker settings and their Windows equivalents

If you already know SiteSucker, the quickest way to switch is to find where your usual settings live in the new tool. SiteSucker's main controls are a levels limit for depth, a path constraint that keeps it on one host or folder, file-type filters, and localize, which rewrites links so pages point at each other on disk. Here is where those jobs live elsewhere:

Which SiteSucker alternative fits your Windows PC?

HTTrack: the closest all-rounder

HTTrack is free, open source, and has been the default SiteSucker alternative on Windows for years. WinHTTrack, its Windows version, walks you through a wizard: name the project, paste the address, choose "Download web site(s)", and start. It handles large sites with no page cap and offers as many options as SiteSucker does, or more. The downsides are a dated interface and settings that take some trial and error. It's the right pick if you want a desktop program and don't mind tweaking.

Cyotek WebCopy: the friendliest Windows GUI

WebCopy is a free, Windows-only website copier like SiteSucker with a cleaner interface. After a crawl it shows what it found, which helps when you're working out why a section is missing. Like SiteSucker and HTTrack, it reads HTML and doesn't run JavaScript, so sites that build their content in the browser come out incomplete. It's the right pick for non-technical Windows users who still want a local program.

wget: the command-line equivalent

On Windows you can run wget inside WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) or as a standalone Windows build. The command that does what SiteSucker does is:

wget --mirror --convert-links --page-requisites --adjust-extension --no-parent https://example.com/

• --mirror: follow links recursively with no depth limit and keep timestamps.
• --convert-links: the equivalent of SiteSucker's localize. It rewrites links to point at the local files.
• --page-requisites: fetch the images, CSS and scripts each page needs.
• --adjust-extension: save pages with an .html ending so they open in a browser.
• --no-parent: don't climb above the starting folder.

Add --wait=1 to be gentle on the server. wget is the right pick if you script things, work on servers, or want a repeatable job. For a deeper comparison, see wget vs HTTrack vs an online website downloader.

A browser-based downloader: nothing to install

Website Downloader does the crawl on its own servers and hands you a single ZIP file. Nothing is installed, so it works the same on Windows, macOS, Linux, Chromebooks and tablets. Your computer doesn't need to stay on while the site downloads. It's the right pick when you can't or don't want to install software, or when you just need one copy without learning a tool. Our guide to downloading an entire website on Windows walks through all four methods side by side.

No install allowed? Copying a site from a work PC, Chromebook or tablet

Managed work laptops often block installers. Chromebooks can't run HTTrack or WebCopy without the Linux environment, which many schools and companies switch off. Tablets can't run any of them. In all three cases a browser tool is the practical SiteSucker for Chromebook or locked-down PC:

1. Open the download form and enter the site's address, for example https://example.com.
2. Watch the live progress as subpages, images, stylesheets, scripts and fonts are collected. You can close the laptop. The crawl keeps running.
3. Download the finished ZIP and open it on any machine.

The free plan needs no account and covers up to 100 subpages, with the archive kept for 1 day. Bigger sites need a paid plan. Single Site is a one-time 7.99 EUR for up to 5,000 subpages. The monthly plans run from 2,000 to 30,000 subpages per download and can be cancelled any time. Details are on the pricing page. Chromebook-specific options, including the Linux route, are compared in Download Entire Website on Chromebook.

Limits every website copier shares, SiteSucker included

Switching tools won't fix these, because they come from how websites work, not from any one program:

• Pages behind a login. A crawler sees what a logged-out visitor sees. wget and HTTrack can sometimes be given cookies from your own browser session, but that is fragile. Website Downloader does not download pages behind a login.
• Sites built entirely in JavaScript. Some React, Vue or Angular single-page apps send an almost empty HTML shell and fill it in the browser. Tools that read HTML, whether SiteSucker, HTTrack, WebCopy, wget or Website Downloader, may save the layout without the content.
• Sites that refuse automated downloads. Some servers answer crawlers with a 403 error. Desktop tools sometimes save a folder of error pages. Website Downloader reports the refusal instead of producing an empty archive.
• Features that need a server. Search boxes, contact forms, shopping carts and comments call back to the server. A static copy keeps their appearance but not their function.

If the site you want is already gone, no crawler can reach it, but an Internet Archive capture may still exist. The Wayback Machine downloader rebuilds a site from those captures.

How to check your copy offline

1. Extract the archive fully. On Windows, right-click the ZIP and choose "Extract All". Opening pages from the ZIP preview breaks relative links and makes a good copy look broken.
2. Open index.html in your browser and click through the main navigation.
3. Turn off Wi-Fi and reload. Anything that still works is truly local. Anything that breaks was still loading from the live site.
4. Check a deep page, such as an old blog post or a product page three clicks in, not just the home page.
5. Look for unstyled pages or missing images. Usually a stylesheet or image sat on another domain or CDN, or a link wasn't localized.

Fixes for the common cases are in Downloaded Website Missing Images and CSS?

FAQ

Is SiteSucker available for Windows?

No. SiteSucker only runs on Apple's platforms, and there is no official Windows version. Treat any "SiteSucker for Windows" download with suspicion. HTTrack, Cyotek WebCopy, wget or a browser-based downloader do the same job.

What is the free Windows equivalent of SiteSucker?

HTTrack and Cyotek WebCopy are both free Windows programs with a graphical interface, and wget is free on the command line. If you'd rather not install anything, Website Downloader's free plan copies up to 100 subpages with no account. The archive is kept for 1 day.

Which wget command does the same job as SiteSucker?

wget --mirror --convert-links --page-requisites --adjust-extension --no-parent https://example.com/ mirrors the site, fetches the images and CSS, and rewrites links for offline use. Add -l 3 instead of unlimited depth to mimic SiteSucker's levels limit, and --wait=1 to slow the crawl down.

Can SiteSucker or its alternatives download password-protected pages?

Generally no: crawlers see what a logged-out visitor sees. Some command-line tools can reuse your browser's session cookies, which works on some sites and fails on many. Website Downloader does not download pages behind a login. For content you own, export it from the platform's admin area instead.

Is it legal to copy a website with a tool like SiteSucker?

Copying your own site, or saving a public site for personal offline reading, is usually unproblematic. Republishing someone else's content is a different matter, because copyright and the site's terms still apply. The rules vary by country and situation, so this isn't legal advice. Ask a lawyer before using a copy commercially or in a dispute. If you need a copy as evidence, see Archive a Website for Legal Evidence, and check the FAQ for more on how the service works.