Plexo

1. What is Plexo?

Plexo is a free, open-source (MIT licence) download manager for Windows, macOS and Linux. Its twist: it downloads one file over several internet connections at the same time. If your PC has your home Wi-Fi and a phone sharing its mobile data over a USB cable, Plexo uses both for the same download, so the speeds add up. It handles direct download links, magnet links and .torrent files, with a queue, a downloads list, pause and resume, and speed and data limits for each network.

If you have used a paid download manager such as Internet Download Manager (IDM) to fetch big files faster, Plexo is a free tool for the same kind of job. The project does not present itself as an IDM clone, so do not expect every detail to match.

Good for you if:

• You often download big files (installers, videos, ISO images) and want speed plus pause and resume.
• You have two independent networks, for example home Wi-Fi plus a phone's 4G/5G over USB, and want to combine them.
• You want one place to manage ordinary downloads and torrents.

Not for you if:

• You have only one internet connection. Plexo adds speed only when each network reaches the internet through its own connection. The project says plainly that Wi-Fi and Ethernet plugged into the same router share that router's single connection, so the total stays the same.
• You want a browser add-on that grabs video links automatically. The Plexo documentation does not mention one; you paste links into the New download window.
• You need a finished, stable release. Current versions are release candidates (1.0.0-rc), so bugs are possible.

2. What do you need?

• Windows 10 or 11 (x64 and ARM64 builds exist), macOS (Apple silicon and Intel) or Linux (AppImage and .deb, x86_64 and ARM64). This guide focuses on Windows.
• Disk space: the Windows installer is about 225 MB (measured 9 Oct 2026). The documentation does not state the installed size.
• Enough free space for the files you download: Plexo writes a staging file next to the destination, so room for one copy of the file is needed.
• No account, no API key, no cost. According to the documentation, Plexo needs no administrator rights, virtual adapter or VPN.
• To combine networks: two genuinely independent connections (see section 4).
• No Node.js, Git or developer tools are needed when you use the prebuilt installer.

3. Step-by-step install

Download from the project's official pages: https://getplexo.app/#downloads or https://github.com/anmolkapil/plexo/releases. The latest version at the time of writing is 1.0.0-rc.14 (7 Oct 2026). The project updates very often; file names carry the version number. Download only from these two pages to avoid fake copies.

Note: On the Releases page every current version is marked "Pre-release", so GitHub's "Latest" badge may be empty. Just open the list and take the top entry.

On Windows

Step 1: Download the installer

On the Releases page, scroll to Assets of the top release and download the file ending in -setup.exe (for example plexo-1.0.0-rc.14-setup.exe). Or use the Windows download at https://getplexo.app/#downloads.

Step 2: Run the installer

Double-click the file. The documentation says Plexo is not code-signed yet, so on first launch Windows may show a blue "Windows protected your PC" box. Only if you are sure the file came from one of the two pages above, click More info and then Run anyway.

Step 3: Open Plexo

When setup finishes, find Plexo in the Start menu and open it. If you see a downloads window with an empty list and a New download button, it worked.

On macOS

Download the .dmg that matches your chip (arm64.dmg for Apple M1 and later, x64.dmg for Intel Macs) and drag Plexo into Applications. Because it is not signed, macOS may say the app is "damaged". According to the documentation, open Terminal, run this, then open Plexo again:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Plexo.app

On Linux

Download the .AppImage (or the .deb for Ubuntu/Debian), make it executable and run it. Use the actual file name you downloaded:

chmod +x plexo-*.AppImage
./plexo-*.AppImage

4. Your first run

Download a simple file

1. Copy a direct download link (a link straight to a file, such as a program's installer).
2. Open Plexo and click New download. The documentation says the box fills in the link you just copied.
3. Confirm to start. The file appears under Downloading with a speed chart and time left.
4. When it finishes it moves to Finished. You can Pause and Resume at any time.

Combine two networks for more speed

Plexo adds speed only when each network reaches the internet through its own connection:

• Works: home Wi-Fi plus a phone sharing its data over a USB cable (USB tethering).
• Does not work: Wi-Fi and Ethernet both plugged into the same router. They share one exit, so the total does not grow.

Two situations need an extra step (per the documentation):

• Windows turns Wi-Fi off when Ethernet is plugged in. Open gpedit.msc (Group Policy Editor), go to Computer Configuration › Administrative Templates › Network › Windows Connection Manager and set "Minimize the number of simultaneous connections to the Internet or a Windows domain" to Disabled. gpedit.msc is normally missing on Windows Home; if your PC lacks it, this step is hard to do.
• The phone does not appear in the network list. Install the driver from the phone's maker.

A network showing up in Plexo does not guarantee it reaches the internet (VPN and virtual adapters show up too). Check each network's latency and speed inside Plexo.

Torrents

Paste a magnet link or open a .torrent file in Plexo, and choose which files to download before it starts.

Speed and data limits

Open Speed & data limits… from the networks menu. You can set a total limit, a limit for each network, Slow mode (a quick lower speed for when you are on a call, 2 MB/s by default) and a daily, weekly or monthly data allowance per network. This helps when one of your networks is a capped mobile connection.

5. Common problems and fixes

Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" Cause: Plexo is not code-signed, so SmartScreen warns. Fix: if the file came from getplexo.app or the Releases page of anmolkapil/plexo, click More info then Run anyway.

macOS says the app is damaged Cause: the app is unsigned. Fix: run the xattr command from section 3 and open it again.

Combined networks but no speed gain Common cause: both networks actually share one exit (the same router). Fix: add a truly different source such as a phone over USB. Check each network's speed inside Plexo.

The USB phone does not appear in Plexo Cause: missing driver or USB tethering is off. Fix: switch on "USB tethering" in the phone's hotspot settings and, on Windows, install the phone maker's driver if it does not appear in Network Settings. On macOS an Android phone needs an extra driver (the project points to TetherKit in its documentation).

A download fails or will not resume The link may have expired. According to the documentation, paste a fresh link to the same file and it continues where it stopped (the Fix link button). If the server changed the file mid-way, Plexo refuses to resume to avoid a corrupt file; choose Download again.

Some servers refuse many streams Plexo automatically uses fewer streams when a server answers 403, 429 or 503, then raises them again gradually. Nothing for you to do.

6. Uninstall and update

Update: the documentation does not mention a built-in updater. The safe way is to download the newer installer from the Releases page and install it over the old one.

Uninstall: Plexo installs like an ordinary app. On Windows go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Plexo and click Uninstall. On macOS drag Plexo from Applications to the Trash. On Linux delete the AppImage or remove the .deb package. Files you downloaded stay in the folder you chose. Plexo's own download list is kept in the operating system's app-data folder; the documentation does not give details.

7. Frequently asked questions

Does it cost anything? No. Plexo is free under the MIT licence. The author has an optional sponsor button on GitHub.

Can it download torrents? Yes. Plexo accepts magnet links and .torrent files. According to the documentation, v2-only torrents are not supported yet.

Does it help with only one connection? The project says the speed-up comes from combining several connections. With a single connection your gain is mainly splitting a file across several streams, queue management, pause and resume. The real effect depends on the server hosting the file, and I did not benchmark it.

Does it need administrator rights? According to the documentation, no.

Is it safe? The source code is public on GitHub, so it can be inspected. The current build is a release candidate and not code-signed, so download only from the official pages and do not rely on it for anything important before trying it yourself.