diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 61464a5..ba933cb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ checksum = "00b0228411908ca8685dba7fc2cdd70ec9990a6e753e89b6ac91a84c40fbaf4b"
 name = "forgejo-api"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "bytes",
  "eyre",
  "reqwest",
  "serde",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index eb21559..83ad83c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ url = { version = "2.4.0", features = ["serde"] }
 serde = { version = "1.0.168", features = ["derive"] }
 time = { version = "0.3.22", features = ["parsing", "serde", "formatting"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.108"
+bytes = "1.5.0"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 eyre = "0.6.9"
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 21b0a45..e548128 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -181,6 +181,27 @@ impl Forgejo {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Like `execute`, but returns a `String`.
+    async fn execute_opt_raw(
+        &self,
+        request: Request,
+    ) -> Result<Option<bytes::Bytes>, ForgejoError> {
+        let response = self.client.execute(request).await?;
+        match response.status() {
+            status if status.is_success() => Ok(Some(response.bytes().await?)),
+            StatusCode::NOT_FOUND => Ok(None),
+            status if status.is_client_error() => Err(ForgejoError::ApiError(
+                status,
+                response
+                    .json::<ErrorMessage>()
+                    .await?
+                    .message
+                    .unwrap_or_else(|| String::from("[no message]")),
+            )),
+            status => Err(ForgejoError::UnexpectedStatusCode(status)),
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Like `execute`, but returns a `String`.
     async fn execute_str(&self, request: Request) -> Result<String, ForgejoError> {
         let response = self.client.execute(request).await?;
diff --git a/src/repository.rs b/src/repository.rs
index 966b5e3..d9a92b1 100644
--- a/src/repository.rs
+++ b/src/repository.rs
@@ -207,6 +207,52 @@ impl Forgejo {
             .await
     }
 
+    pub async fn download_release_zip(
+        &self,
+        owner: &str,
+        repo: &str,
+        release: u64,
+    ) -> Result<Option<bytes::Bytes>, ForgejoError> {
+        let release = self.get_release(owner, repo, release).await;
+        let release = match release {
+            Ok(Some(release)) => release,
+            Ok(None) => return Ok(None),
+            Err(e) => return Err(e),
+        };
+        let request = self.client.get(release.zipball_url).build()?;
+        self.execute_opt_raw(request).await
+    }
+
+    pub async fn download_release_tarball(
+        &self,
+        owner: &str,
+        repo: &str,
+        release: u64,
+    ) -> Result<Option<bytes::Bytes>, ForgejoError> {
+        let release = self.get_release(owner, repo, release).await;
+        let release = match release {
+            Ok(Some(release)) => release,
+            Ok(None) => return Ok(None),
+            Err(e) => return Err(e),
+        };
+        let request = self.client.get(release.tarball_url).build()?;
+        self.execute_opt_raw(request).await
+    }
+
+    pub async fn download_release_attachment(
+        &self,
+        owner: &str,
+        repo: &str,
+        release: u64,
+        attach: u64,
+    ) -> Result<Option<bytes::Bytes>, ForgejoError> {
+        let release = self
+            .get_release_attachment(owner, repo, release, attach)
+            .await?;
+        let request = self.client.get(release.browser_download_url).build()?;
+        self.execute_opt_raw(request).await
+    }
+
     pub async fn get_tags(
         &self,
         owner: &str,
diff --git a/tests/ci_test.rs b/tests/ci_test.rs
index 39acbd4..e5cb1c2 100644
--- a/tests/ci_test.rs
+++ b/tests/ci_test.rs
@@ -220,6 +220,14 @@ async fn repo(api: &forgejo_api::Forgejo) -> eyre::Result<()> {
         )
         .await
         .wrap_err("failed to create release attachment")?;
+    ensure!(
+        api.download_release_attachment("TestingAdmin", "test", release.id, attachment.id)
+            .await?
+            .as_deref()
+            == Some(b"This is a file!"),
+        "couldn't download attachment"
+    );
+
     api.delete_release_attachment("TestingAdmin", "test", release.id, attachment.id)
         .await
         .wrap_err("failed to deleted attachment")?;