Looking for a Downie alternative that's free to start and costs less? Here's the full comparison.
Star Video Downloader vs Downie — side by side.
| Feature | Star Video Downloader Winner | Downie |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free + $5 one-time Pro | $19.99 one-time (no free tier) |
| Free tier | ✓ Yes — 5 downloads/day free | ✗ No free tier, paid only |
| Supported sites | ✓ 1000+ via yt-dlp | ~1000 via yt-dlp (same engine) |
| Max video quality | ✓ Up to 8K (Pro) | ✓ Up to 8K |
| Video format conversion | ✓ Built-in (MP4, MKV, MOV, WebM…) | Limited |
| Video repair tool | ✓ Pro — fixes corrupted files | ✗ Not available |
| SponsorBlock | ✓ Pro | ✗ Not available |
| Chapters & metadata | ✓ Pro | ✓ Yes |
| Batch URL input | ✓ Pro | ✓ Yes |
| Playlist downloading | ✓ Pro | ✓ Yes |
| Built with Swift (native) | ✓ Yes — fully native | ✓ Yes |
| Apple Silicon optimized | ✓ Native ARM build | ✓ Universal binary |
| Download history | ✓ Built-in | ✓ Built-in |
| Macs per license | ✓ Up to 3 | 1 (additional licenses cost extra) |
Downie costs $19.99 upfront with no free tier — you pay before you even know if it works for you. Star Video Downloader has a genuinely useful free tier (5 downloads/day) and the Pro upgrade is just $5 one-time. That's 75% cheaper than Downie for full access. Both are one-time payments with no subscriptions, but the price gap is hard to ignore.
Both Downie and Star Video Downloader use yt-dlp as their download engine, which means they support roughly the same set of 1000+ websites. The difference is in the features built on top of the download engine and what you pay for access.
Video Repair — Star Video Downloader Pro includes a multi-stage video repair tool that fixes corrupted, truncated, or unplayable video files entirely offline. Downie has no equivalent feature.
SponsorBlock — automatically removes sponsored segments from YouTube downloads. Not available in Downie.
Full conversion suite — convert between MP4, MKV, MOV, WebM, AVI, and extract audio as MP3, M4A, FLAC, WAV, AAC directly within the app.
Downie has been around longer and has a more polished UI in some areas. If you're already a Setapp subscriber, Downie is included at no extra cost — in that case there's no reason to switch. But if you're paying separately, Star Video Downloader Pro at $5 is a much better deal.
For new users, Star Video Downloader is the clear choice: free to try, 75% cheaper for full access, and includes features Downie doesn't have. Download it free and upgrade if you need more.
No account needed. Free tier available. Pro upgrade is $5 one-time — 75% less than Downie.
macOS 14+ • Apple Silicon & Intel • No subscription