prism-download-manager README

The project's README from github.com/FortoGraphy/prism-download-manager. As one markdown file: README.md.

Prism

Prism

One beam. Many rays.
The fast, beautiful, open-source download manager for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Latest release Downloads CI Chrome Web Store MIT License Platforms

⬇ Download · Website · ▶ Watch the film · Install guide · Browser extension · ☕ Buy me a beam

Prism in motion: one beam splits into many connections

Prism splits every download into up to 32 parallel connections, keeps them all busy until the last byte, and survives crashes, sleep and pulled cables. Click a link in your browser and Prism takes over; hover a video and grab it as MP4 in the quality you want — or just the MP3. All of it in a calm, liquid-glass interface with dark and light themes.

Free, open source, no ads, no accounts, no telemetry.

✨ Why Prism
⚡ Up to 15× faster On servers that throttle each connection, Prism's multi-connection engine is up to 15× faster than a normal browser download (benchmarks).
🔁 Never start over Pause, close the laptop, lose power — Prism resumes exactly where it stopped and checks that the file on the server hasn't changed.
🌐 Lives in your browser Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi and Firefox. Downloads jump into Prism in about a quarter of a second.
🎬 Video & music YouTube and 1,800+ sites: MP4 up to 8K/HDR or MP3 only, with subtitles, chapters and SponsorBlock.
🧲 Every protocol HTTP(S), FTP/FTPS, HLS and DASH streams, BitTorrent and magnet links.
🤖 AI models Download models from Hugging Face by name, link or search. Prism picks the files you need (one GGUF version, the weights in one format), downloads them over many connections and checks each against its SHA-256. Gated models, mirrors like hf-mirror.com and LM Studio's folder work too.
🗂 Organised Categories, queues with schedules and speed limits, "shut down when done", site grabber, batch downloads, clipboard monitor.
🌍 Your language English, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Indonesian, Turkish, Simplified Chinese and Arabic. Prism follows your system's language, or pick one in Settings.
🎨 Gorgeous Liquid-glass design, dark & light themes, six accent colours, a mini window — and fast with thousands of downloads.

Prism download details: 16 live connections, file map and speed graph

⬇ Download

Grab the file for your system from the latest release:

System File
Windows 10 / 11 Prism_<version>_x64-setup.exe — recommended, no admin rights needed
…_x64_en-US.msi for all users · …-windows-x64-portable.zip for USB sticks
macOS 11+ Apple Silicon Prism_<version>_aarch64.dmg
macOS 11+ Intel Prism_<version>_x64.dmg
Ubuntu / Debian / Mint Prism_<version>_amd64.deb
Fedora / openSUSE Prism-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm
Any Linux Prism_<version>_amd64.AppImage

First start: the installers are not code-signed (certificates cost money). Windows: More info → Run anyway. macOS: run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Prism.app once (or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway). Step-by-step for every system: Installation guide.

🌐 Browser extension (1 minute)

Add Prism from the Chrome Web Store — Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi and Helium. Click Add to Chrome, pin the Prism icon, and it says Connected. The store keeps it up to date.

Prism also walks you through this on first start (and any time from Settings → Browser integration). Firefox, Edge/Opera notes, troubleshooting and privacy details: Browser extension guide.

📸 Screenshots
Download File dialog Video: MP4 or MP3
Click a link — Prism asks where to save it Grab a video — MP4 + quality, or MP3 only
Scheduler Browser integration
Queues & scheduler — download at night, then sleep Browser integration — status and one-click repair
Download complete Mini window
Done — open, show in folder, verify Mini window — stays out of your way

📊 Benchmarks

Same files, same machine, every result verified by SHA-256 (method & full results):

Scenario curl (1 connection) aria2c Prism
1 GiB from a server that throttles each connection 4.0 MiB/s 61.0 MiB/s 60.9 MiB/s
2 GiB, no network limit 672 MiB/s 324 MiB/s 1029 MiB/s
Server allows only 4 connections 2.0 MiB/s 8.0 MiB/s 8.0 MiB/s (max)
Server that randomly drops connections — ✘ gave up 37.7 MiB/s ✔
Real internet, ≈ 200 Mbit/s line 25.9 MiB/s 25.2 MiB/s 25.1 MiB/s (line speed)

🧠 How it works

One beam, many rays

Deep dive: ARCHITECTURE.md.

🛠 Build from source

git clone https://github.com/FortoGraphy/prism-download-manager
cd prism-download-manager
npm ci --prefix app && npm ci --prefix extension
npm run build --prefix extension
cd app && npm run tauri:build

Prerequisites and platform notes: BUILD.md (Windows, Linux) · docs/BUILD_MACOS.md (macOS).

crates/prism-engine       download engine: segmented HTTP/FTP, HLS/DASH, resume, speed limiter
crates/prism-core         app logic: manager, SQLite, queues, scheduler, grabber, browser IPC
crates/prism-video        yt-dlp / ffmpeg management, quality choices, muxing
crates/prism-torrent      BitTorrent / magnet
crates/prism-native-host  browser ↔ app bridge (native messaging) and browser registration
crates/prism-testserver   configurable HTTP server for tests and benchmarks
app/                      React UI + Tauri 2 shell
extension/                MV3 extension (Chromium + Firefox)
site/                     prismdl.site

❓ FAQ

Is it really free?

Yes. MIT-licensed, no ads, no trial, no account, no telemetry. The extension talks only to the app on your own computer.

Windows / macOS says the app is unsafe.

The installers aren't signed with a paid certificate. The code is all here and every release is built by GitHub Actions from this repository, with SHA256SUMS.txt to verify your file.

Can I use it together with IDM or another download manager?

Yes, but disable their browser extension — two extensions fighting over the same download means neither works reliably.

Which sites can it download video from?

Every site supported by yt-dlp, which Prism installs and keeps up to date for you (together with ffmpeg). Please download only content you have the right to download.

How do I download a model from Hugging Face?

Click the model button in the toolbar (or paste a model's name like Qwen/Qwen3-8B, or its link, into Add URL). Pick a version if the model has several, and click Download: the files go into the Hugging Face queue. For gated or private models, add an access token in Settings › AI models (Prism also uses the one hf auth login saved). The token is sent only to Hugging Face, never to the servers the files come from.

Does it work on Linux Flatpak/Snap browsers?

Flatpak browsers can't talk to desktop apps (a sandbox limitation). Use the deb/rpm version of your browser for full integration.

🤝 Contributing

Bug reports, ideas and pull requests are very welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md. If Prism saves you time, a ⭐ on this repo helps more people find it.

Star history

📄 License

MIT for Prism's own code. Bundled and downloaded components keep their own licenses — see THIRD_PARTY.md.

Prism is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or derived from Internet Download Manager or Tonec Inc.; all names are trademarks of their respective owners.

prism-download-manager (FortoGraphy/prism-download-manager)

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713 ·GitHub
Prism-download-manager
What is this?A free, open-source download manager for Windows, macOS and Linux that splits each file into up to 32 parallel connections and resumes after crashes.
Is it a standalone app or a browser add-on?Both: a desktop app built with Rust and Tauri, plus a browser extension that hands clicked downloads over to the app.
How do I get it running?Download the installer for your system from the latest release; on Windows the x64 setup.exe is recommended and needs no admin rights. Then add the extension from the Chrome Web Store (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Helium). Firefox has its own steps in the guide.
Do I need to install anything else first?No separate tools for video: Prism installs yt-dlp and ffmpeg itself and keeps yt-dlp up to date.
Will Windows or macOS block the installer?Probably, because the installers are not code-signed. On Windows choose More info then Run anyway; on macOS allow it in System Settings or remove the quarantine flag once with xattr.
Which systems are supported?Windows 10 and 11, macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel, and Linux via deb, rpm or AppImage.
Does it send my data anywhere?No telemetry and no accounts; the browser extension talks only to the app on your own computer.
Is it really free?Yes: MIT-licensed, with no ads, no trial and no account. Bundled and downloaded components keep their own licenses.
Can it download AI models from Hugging Face?Yes: paste a model name like Qwen/Qwen3-8B or its link, pick the files you need, and Prism checks each one against its SHA-256. Gated models need an access token in Settings.
Does it recover after a crash or a power cut?Yes: progress is saved only after data is flushed to disk, and on resume Prism checks the file's size, ETag and Last-Modified before continuing.
Which sites can it grab video from?YouTube and over 1,800 sites, as MP4 up to 8K/HDR or MP3 only, with subtitles, chapters and SponsorBlock support.
Can I use it alongside IDM?Yes, but disable the other manager's browser extension, because two extensions fighting over one download means neither works reliably.
What are similar projects?rayburst, Ghost-Downloader-3, Motrix, Ketch, streamfirefly, xdm, Youtube-Pro-Plus, downvid
Which topics is it in?liquid-glass, youtube-downloader, bittorrent, download-manager, firefox-extension, downloader, chrome-extension, tauri, browser-extension, ffmpeg, multilingual, video
Creator
FortoGraphy
Size
99.3 MB
Stars
713
Updated
CommitNov 01Releasev1.2.4Nov 01
Age
18d
Commits · 90 Days