§ 01
The original promise
When FluxDown launched we promised a free, open-source download manager. That promise stands: the app is AGPL-3.0 licensed, the full source code stays public, and the downloader you use today keeps working without paying anything.
Introducing paid plans does not mean putting the downloader behind a paywall. It means giving the project a sustainable way to keep shipping.
§ 02
Why charge at all?
Some upcoming features cannot run on your machine alone: account sync, cross-device task dispatch and CDN-backed delivery all need servers that cost real money every month. Development time is also finite — sustainable funding keeps updates coming.
Paid plans cover exactly those server-backed capabilities. Donations and sponsorships helped us get here, but they don't scale with server bills.
§ 03
Will free users lose anything?
No. The principle is simple: everything that runs locally stays fully free — every protocol, unlimited threads, the browser extension, themes, plugins and the local API. There will never be artificial limits like capping free users to 8 threads — not now, not ever. Paid plans only add cloud-backed services on top.
| Capability | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Protocols (HTTP / FTP / BT / HLS / ed2k) | All included | All included |
| Threads per task | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Browser extension, themes, plugins | Included | Included |
| Cloud config sync | Not included | Included |
| Cross-device task dispatch | Not included | Included |
| Support | Community | Priority |
| Future premium features | Not included | Included as they ship |
In other words, free and premium download exactly the same way. The differences are only services that run on our servers — cloud sync, cross-device dispatch, priority support — plus more premium features we'll keep adding over time. And FluxDown stays open source: nothing about the license changes.
One more promise: a self-hosted path, wherever we can
You'll never be forced onto our servers. Wherever a feature depends on the cloud, we'll do our best to keep a self-hosted alternative open: webhook notifications already work with your own endpoint on any plan, and multi-device connectivity can be built on your own tunnel or private network (e.g. frp or Tailscale) pointing at your own headless server. What paid plans buy is convenience — it works out of the box and we run the servers for you — never a lock-in.
§ 04
Help decide
Price points are still open. The poll and discussion feed directly into the final decision — every vote and comment is recorded publicly in a GitHub issue.