4K Video Downloader Plus is a proprietary commercial YouTube downloader with a permanent free starter plan and paid Lite, Personal, and Pro licenses. Arroxy is a free, MIT-licensed, open-source desktop GUI built on yt-dlp with no paid tier and no upsell. This post compares them feature-by-feature so you can pick the right one.
TL;DR
- Pick Arroxy if you want a free, open-source app with no paid feature gates, full control of formats, and built-in SponsorBlock for local copies.
- Pick 4K Video Downloader Plus if you want its built-in browser, YouTube subscriptions, proxy support, or commercial Pro license.
- 4K Video Downloader’s starter plan is quantity-limited. Arroxy’s free app is the whole app.
Definition blocks
4K Video Downloader Plus — Proprietary commercial app from InterPromo GMBH. Starter plan is free with quantity limitations. Paid plans on the official buy page list Lite at EUR15/year, Personal at EUR25/lifetime, and Pro at EUR40/lifetime at the time of this refresh. Available on Windows 11+, macOS 12+, and Ubuntu 22.04 GNOME 64-bit or newer. Uses its own internal download engine.
Arroxy — Free, MIT-licensed open-source desktop app from antonio-orionus. No paid tier, no bundled offers, no paid feature gates. Available on Windows 10/11, macOS 11+ (Intel + Apple Silicon), and Linux (AppImage, Flatpak, tar.gz). Built on top of yt-dlp, so it inherits yt-dlp’s 2000+ supported sites and regular upstream compatibility updates.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | Arroxy | 4K Video Downloader (Free) | 4K Video Downloader Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, forever | Free, quantity-limited | Lite EUR15/year; Personal/Pro lifetime |
| License | MIT (open source) | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Account / login | No account by default; optional cookies for restricted content | No account by default; in-app login for private content | Same |
| Free-tier quantity limits | None | Yes | No |
| YouTube | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2000+ other sites (via yt-dlp) | Yes | Limited subset | Limited subset |
| 4K / HDR / high frame rate | Yes (where source provides) | 4K | 4K + 8K per vendor copy |
| Playlists | Yes, unlimited | Quantity-limited | Yes, unlimited |
| Channel batch download (paste URL → grab every video) | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Channel subscription (auto-download new uploads) | Not yet (roadmap) | No | Yes |
| Audio extraction (MP3 / M4A/AAC / Opus / WAV) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subtitle download (sidecar + embed) | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| SponsorBlock built-in | Yes | No | No |
| Cookies.txt import for authorized signed-in access | Yes | Limited | Limited |
| Queue persistence across app restarts | Yes | No | No |
| Auto-retry on transient failures | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Apple Silicon native | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | AppImage + Flatpak + tar.gz | AppImage only | AppImage only |
| Install channels | Winget, Scoop, Homebrew, AppImage, Flatpak, direct | Winget, direct | Winget, direct |
| Telemetry | Anonymous aggregate OpenPanel; opt-out; no URLs/titles/paths | Check vendor policy | Check vendor policy |
| Engine refresh cadence | Auto-fetches yt-dlp at runtime; yt-dlp compatibility updates arrive independently | Tied to app release cycle | Tied to app release cycle |
Pricing
| Plan | 4K Video Downloader | Arroxy |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free, quantity-limited | Unlimited, all features |
| Lite | EUR15/year, 1 device | None. No paid tier exists |
| Personal | EUR25/lifetime, 3 devices | None |
| Pro | EUR40/lifetime, 3 devices, commercial use | None |
Pricing varies by region and promo cycle. Verify the current amounts on the 4K Download buy page before quoting. Personal and Pro are lifetime product licenses; Lite is annual.
Total cost of ownership over five years: 4K Video Downloader Plus is a paid license unless the Starter limits cover your usage. Arroxy is $0 across any number of devices.
How to switch from 4K Video Downloader to Arroxy
If you have a 4K Video Downloader library and want to preserve folder structure:
- Install Arroxy.
- Match the default folder. 4KVD defaults to
~/Videos/4K Video Downloader. Set Arroxy’s default in Settings → General → “Default download folder” to the same path if you want existing files alongside new ones. - Reproduce 4KVD’s filename pattern. 4KVD names files as
<Channel> - <Title>.mp4by default. Arroxy uses yt-dlp’s output template — to match, set Settings → Advanced → “Filename template” to:%(channel)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s - Replace Smart Mode with format presets. 4KVD’s Smart Mode remembers your format choice and applies it to every download. Arroxy’s equivalent: pick a format preset in Settings → Defaults → “Default format” (Best quality / Balanced / Small file). Same outcome, one extra config step on install.
- For channel subscriptions: Arroxy doesn’t yet auto-watch a channel for new uploads. Today, re-run the channel URL on whatever cadence 4KVD’s subscription was running it. yt-dlp’s download archive (Arroxy uses it under the hood) skips entries already downloaded, so the re-run only fetches new videos.
When to pick which
- Pick Arroxy if: you want the whole app for free, you care about open source / auditability, you use SponsorBlock to skip sponsored segments at download time, you’re on Linux beyond AppImage (Flatpak / tar.gz), or you want a tool that ships YouTube fixes within hours of yt-dlp doing so.
- Pick 4K Video Downloader Plus if: you already paid for it, you specifically want the “Smart Mode” automation, or you specifically rely on the channel-subscription / auto-download-new-uploads feature (Arroxy can download a whole channel from a URL today, but doesn’t yet watch a channel for new videos).
- Pick 4K Video Downloader Starter: only if its free quantity limits cover your normal use and you prefer the 4K Download UI.
Notable limitations
Arroxy does not yet ship channel subscription (auto-watch a channel and pull new uploads as they post). One-shot channel batch download from a pasted URL works today via yt-dlp. Arroxy also doesn’t ship native mobile builds or a built-in media library. The runtime yt-dlp fetch requires one-time network access on first launch.
4K Video Downloader Starter is quantity-limited, and some features are gated behind paid plans.
What users say
The 4K Video Downloader Plus product page advertises 62+ million users and a 4.6 rating from 3,561 user reviews. That is real category gravity. The trade-off is the same one you see in the pricing table: 4K Download sells a polished commercial app, while Arroxy ships the focused open-source path.
The common Arroxy fit cases are simpler: users want SponsorBlock without a second tool, source they can audit, or a Linux build with more options than AppImage.
FAQ
Is 4K Video Downloader free?
There’s a permanent free Starter plan with quantity limitations. Paid plans on the current official buy page are Lite, Personal, and Pro. Verify the current plan table on 4kdownload.com before quoting prices.
Is there a free open-source alternative to 4K Video Downloader?
Arroxy is the closest match in workflow (paste-a-URL desktop GUI on Windows + macOS + Linux), MIT-licensed, with no usage caps and no paid tier. Other open-source options include the yt-dlp CLI directly, Tartube, and Parabolic.
Does Arroxy have a free-tier download cap?
No. Arroxy has no product-tier daily cap, no paid unlock, and no batch-size cap on playlists or channels. Parallel downloads are configurable in Settings -> Downloads.
Does Arroxy support 4K and HDR like 4K Video Downloader Plus does?
Yes. Arroxy’s README advertises 4K UHD, 1080p60, HDR, and high-frame-rate streams where the source provides them. 4K Video Downloader Plus separately advertises 8K support.
Does either app support SponsorBlock?
Arroxy supports SponsorBlock at download time. Sponsor segments can be skipped or chapter-marked in the output file. 4K Video Downloader does not advertise built-in SponsorBlock support on its product page.
Methodology
Data compiled 2026-05-14 and refreshed 2026-06-15 from each project’s official site, public documentation, and a direct install of both apps on Windows 11, macOS 14 (Apple Silicon), and Ubuntu 24.04. Pricing reflects published list price; check the vendor page for current pricing in your region. Apps ship — corrections welcome via GitHub issue.
Related
- Arroxy vs Stacher — head-to-head with the other major yt-dlp GUI.
- Arroxy vs yt-dlp.app — disambiguation for another open-source yt-dlp GUI.
- Download Arroxy