diff --git a/spacy/cli/download.py b/spacy/cli/download.py
index 4261fb830..8ab6a2997 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/download.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/download.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ def download_cli(
     model: str = Arg(..., help="Name of pipeline package to download"),
     direct: bool = Opt(False, "--direct", "-d", "-D", help="Force direct download of name + version"),
     sdist: bool = Opt(False, "--sdist", "-S", help="Download sdist (.tar.gz) archive instead of pre-built binary wheel"),
+    url: str = Opt(None, "--url", "-U", help="Download from given url")
     # fmt: on
 ):
     """
@@ -41,13 +42,14 @@ def download_cli(
     DOCS: https://spacy.io/api/cli#download
     AVAILABLE PACKAGES: https://spacy.io/models
     """
-    download(model, direct, sdist, *ctx.args)
+    download(model, direct, sdist, custom_url=url, *ctx.args)
 
 
 def download(
     model: str,
     direct: bool = False,
     sdist: bool = False,
+    custom_url: Optional[str] = None,
     *pip_args,
 ) -> None:
     if (
@@ -87,7 +89,7 @@ def download(
 
     filename = get_model_filename(model_name, version, sdist)
 
-    download_model(filename, pip_args)
+    download_model(filename, pip_args, custom_url)
     msg.good(
         "Download and installation successful",
         f"You can now load the package via spacy.load('{model_name}')",
@@ -159,12 +161,14 @@ def get_latest_version(model: str) -> str:
 
 
 def download_model(
-    filename: str, user_pip_args: Optional[Sequence[str]] = None
+    filename: str,
+    user_pip_args: Optional[Sequence[str]] = None,
+    custom_url: Optional[str] = None,
 ) -> None:
     # Construct the download URL carefully. We need to make sure we don't
     # allow relative paths or other shenanigans to trick us into download
     # from outside our own repo.
-    base_url = about.__download_url__
+    base_url = custom_url if custom_url else about.__download_url__
     # urljoin requires that the path ends with /, or the last path part will be dropped
     if not base_url.endswith("/"):
         base_url = about.__download_url__ + "/"
diff --git a/website/docs/api/cli.mdx b/website/docs/api/cli.mdx
index 09a978259..add6b1446 100644
--- a/website/docs/api/cli.mdx
+++ b/website/docs/api/cli.mdx
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ pipeline name to be specified with its version (e.g. `en_core_web_sm-3.0.0`).
 > project.
 
 ```bash
-$ python -m spacy download [model] [--direct] [--sdist] [pip_args]
+$ python -m spacy download [model] [--direct] [--sdist] [pip_args] [--url url]
 ```
 
 | Name                                       | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ $ python -m spacy download [model] [--direct] [--sdist] [pip_args]
 | `--help`, `-h`                             | Show help message and available arguments. ~~bool (flag)~~                                                                                                                                                                                |
 | pip args                                   | Additional installation options to be passed to `pip install` when installing the pipeline package. For example, `--user` to install to the user home directory or `--no-deps` to not install package dependencies. ~~Any (option/flag)~~ |
 | **CREATES**                                | The installed pipeline package in your `site-packages` directory.                                                                                                                                                                         |
+| `--url`, `-U`                              | Download from a mirror repository at the given url |
 
 ## info {id="info",tag="command"}