diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 61a3123..48c670d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ rz-pm
 rz-pm
 
 coverage.txt
+
+__debug_.*
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3a3d698..8735e53 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -16,7 +16,18 @@ Download the rz-pm binary for your system on the [latest release page](https://g
 | **GithubCI**  | [![Go](https://github.com/rizinorg/rz-pm/actions/workflows/go.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/rizinorg/rz-pm/actions/workflows/go.yml) |
 
 # Available packages
-The official database is available [here](https://github.com/rizinorg/rz-pm-db).
+
+The official database is available [here](https://github.com/rizinorg/rz-pm-db). You can change the repo by supplying a custom `RZPM_DB_REPO_URL` environment flag like this:
+
+```
+$ RZPM_DB_REPO_URL=https://github.com/bunnyfoofoo/my-custom-rz-pm-db rz-pm install rz-custom-plugin
+```
+
+Furthermore, to aid with debugging, you can disable auto-updating the `rz-pm-db` upon each command execution by adding `-update-db=false` flag, like this:
+
+```
+$ rz-pm -update-db=false install rz-custom-plugin
+```
 
 ## Package example
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index e8e6444..f86a165 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -16,7 +16,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 )
 
-const debugEnvVar = "RZPM_DEBUG"
+const (
+	debugEnvVar     = "RZPM_DEBUG"
+	flagNameDebug   = "debug"
+	flagSkipUpgrade = "skip-upgrade"
+	flagUpdateDB    = "update-db"
+)
 
 func setDebug(value bool) {
 	if value {
@@ -32,7 +37,7 @@ func listPackages(c *cli.Context, installed bool) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("wrong usage of list command")
 	}
 
-	site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir())
+	site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir(), c.Bool(flagUpdateDB))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -79,7 +84,7 @@ func infoPackage(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("wrong usage of info command")
 	}
 
-	site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir())
+	site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir(), c.Bool(flagUpdateDB))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -203,7 +208,7 @@ func installPackages(c *cli.Context) error {
 			cli.ShowCommandHelp(c, "install")
 			return fmt.Errorf("wrong usage of install command")
 		}
-		site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir())
+		site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir(), c.Bool(flagUpdateDB))
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -241,7 +246,7 @@ func uninstallPackages(c *cli.Context) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("wrong usage of uninstall command")
 		}
 
-		site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir())
+		site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir(), c.Bool(flagUpdateDB))
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -271,7 +276,7 @@ func cleanPackage(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("wrong usage of clean command")
 	}
 
-	site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir())
+	site, err := pkg.InitSite(pkg.SiteDir(), c.Bool(flagUpdateDB))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -295,9 +300,6 @@ func cleanPackage(c *cli.Context) error {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	const flagNameDebug = "debug"
-	const flagSkipUpgrade = "skip-upgrade"
-
 	cli.VersionFlag = &cli.BoolFlag{
 		Name:    "print-version",
 		Aliases: []string{"V"},
@@ -324,6 +326,11 @@ RZ_PM_SITE:
 			Name:  flagSkipUpgrade,
 			Usage: "skip auto-upgrade on start",
 		},
+		&cli.BoolFlag{
+			Name:  flagUpdateDB,
+			Usage: "should update the DB?",
+			Value: true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	app.Before = func(c *cli.Context) error {
diff --git a/pkg/database.go b/pkg/database.go
index 92dfd05..318bee6 100644
--- a/pkg/database.go
+++ b/pkg/database.go
@@ -24,12 +24,14 @@ var ErrRizinPackageWrongHash = errors.New("wrong hash")
 
 const dbPath string = "db"
 
-func InitDatabase(path string, rizinVersion string) (Database, error) {
+func InitDatabase(path string, rizinVersion string, shouldUpdateDB bool) (Database, error) {
 	d := Database{path}
 
-	err := d.updateDatabase(rizinVersion)
-	if err != nil {
-		return Database{}, fmt.Errorf("could not download the rz-pm database")
+	if shouldUpdateDB {
+		err := d.updateDatabase(rizinVersion)
+		if err != nil {
+			return Database{}, fmt.Errorf("could not download the rz-pm database")
+		}
 	}
 
 	return d, nil
diff --git a/pkg/package.go b/pkg/package.go
index ff627ad..0dcbbb4 100644
--- a/pkg/package.go
+++ b/pkg/package.go
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ func (rp RizinPackage) downloadGit(artifactsPath string) error {
 
 // Download the source code of a package and extract it in the provided path
 func (rp RizinPackage) Download(baseArtifactsPath string) error {
+	log.Printf("Downloading package %s...\n", rp.PackageName)
 	artifactsPath := rp.artifactsPath(baseArtifactsPath)
 	err := os.MkdirAll(artifactsPath, os.FileMode(0755))
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/site.go b/pkg/site.go
index c62f295..9c7d301 100644
--- a/pkg/site.go
+++ b/pkg/site.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -25,7 +26,17 @@ func SiteDir() string {
 	return filepath.Join(xdg.DataHome, "rz-pm", "site")
 }
 
-const RZPM_DB_REPO_URL = "https://github.com/rizinorg/rz-pm-db"
+var RZPM_DB_REPO_URL string
+
+func init() {
+	dbURL := os.Getenv("RZPM_DB_REPO_URL")
+	if dbURL != "" {
+		log.Printf("Using custom rz-pm-db Git repo: %s\n", dbURL)
+		RZPM_DB_REPO_URL = dbURL
+	} else {
+		RZPM_DB_REPO_URL = "https://github.com/rizinorg/rz-pm-db"
+	}
+}
 
 type Site interface {
 	ListAvailablePackages() ([]Package, error)
@@ -64,7 +75,7 @@ const dbDir string = "rz-pm-db"
 const artifactsDir string = "artifacts"
 const installedFile string = "installed"
 
-func InitSite(path string) (Site, error) {
+func InitSite(path string, shouldUpdateDB bool) (Site, error) {
 	// create the filesystem structure
 	dbSubdir := filepath.Join(path, dbDir)
 	artifactsSubdir := filepath.Join(path, artifactsDir)
@@ -90,7 +101,7 @@ func InitSite(path string) (Site, error) {
 		return &RizinSite{}, err
 	}
 
-	d, err := InitDatabase(dbSubdir, rizinVersion)
+	d, err := InitDatabase(dbSubdir, rizinVersion, shouldUpdateDB)
 	if err != nil {
 		return &RizinSite{}, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/site_test.go b/pkg/site_test.go
index d0221a5..458620e 100644
--- a/pkg/site_test.go
+++ b/pkg/site_test.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func TestEmptySite(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpPath, err := ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), "rzpmtest")
 	require.NoError(t, err, "temp path should be created")
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpPath)
-	site, err := InitSite(tmpPath)
+	site, err := InitSite(tmpPath, true)
 	require.NoError(t, err, "site should be initialized in tmpPath %s", err)
 	assert.Equal(t, tmpPath, site.GetBaseDir(), "site path should be tmpPath")
 	_, err = os.Stat(filepath.Join(tmpPath, "rz-pm-db"))
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ func TestExistingSite(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpPath, err := ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), "rzpmtest")
 	require.Nil(t, err, "temp path should be created")
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpPath)
-	_, err = InitSite(tmpPath)
+	_, err = InitSite(tmpPath, true)
 	require.Nil(t, err, "site should be initialized when dir is empty")
-	_, err = InitSite(tmpPath)
+	_, err = InitSite(tmpPath, true)
 	assert.Nil(t, err, "site should be initialized even when dir is already initialized")
 	_, err = os.Stat(filepath.Join(tmpPath, "rz-pm-db", "README.md"))
 	assert.Nil(t, err, "rz-pm-db repository should be downloaded")
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func TestListPackages(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpPath, err := ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), "rzpmtest")
 	require.Nil(t, err, "temp path should be created")
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpPath)
-	site, err := InitSite(tmpPath)
+	site, err := InitSite(tmpPath, true)
 	require.Nil(t, err, "site should be initialized when dir is empty")
 
 	packages, err := site.ListAvailablePackages()
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func TestListInstalledPackages(t *testing.T) {
 	tmpPath, err := ioutil.TempDir(os.TempDir(), "rzpmtest")
 	require.Nil(t, err, "temp path should be created")
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpPath)
-	site, err := InitSite(tmpPath)
+	site, err := InitSite(tmpPath, true)
 	require.Nil(t, err, "site should be initialized when dir is empty")
 
 	pkg := FakePackage{myName: "jsdec"}