A list of open-source VST (and other format) plugin/app projects. The intention of this list is to catalog open-source plugins or apps which are either fully featured or are useful examples which have non-trivial features.
https://openaudio.webprofusion.com
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Table of Contents
| Plugin | Description | Type | Framework |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADLplug | FM Chip Synthesizer — OPL & OPN | Instrument | JUCE |
| ampli-Fe | Cross-platform VST2 plugin written in Rust | Effect | Rust VST |
| andes | Sound synthesiser plugin based on Perlin noise | Instrument | JUCE |
| Airwindows | Various small and experimental effect plugins | Effect | |
| amsynth | Analog-modelling (virtual analog) synthesizer | Instrument | GTK |
| Argotlunar | Real-time delay-line granulator | Effect | JUCE |
| Audio Effects | Plugins implemented from the explanations in the book “Audio Effects: Theory, Implementation and Application” | Effect | JUCE |
| Bespoke | Node-based modular synth with live coding | Instrument | JUCE |
| BinAural VST | Mono-to-stereo plugin that positions sound in a 3D space using Head-Related Transfer Functions | Effect | JUCE |
| BlackBird | Analog-inspired software synth with its own voice | Instrument | JUCE |
| C1Bitcrusher | Experimental and accurate bit reduction | Effect | |
| Calf Studio Gear | Many LV2 and Jack audio plug-ins | Effects | GTK |
| CHOW | Maximally truculent distortion effect | Effect | JUCE |
| Cloud Seed | Algorithmic reverb for emulating huge, endless spaces and modulated echoes | Effect | |
| Cocoa Delay | Warm and lively delay | Effect | WDL-OL |
| Convolver | Impulse-response reverb | Effect | VSTGUI, JUCE |
| Dexed | DX7 FM plugin synth | Instrument | JUCE |
| Digits | Phase-distortion synth inspired by Casio CZ series | Instrument | VSTGUI |
| Distrho glBars | OpenGL bars visualization plugin (as seen in XMMS and XBMC/Kodi) adapted from jack_glbars | Effect | DPF |
| Distrho Juice Plugins | Misc | DPF | |
| Distrho Kars | Simple karplus-strong plucked string synth based on the karplong DSSI example synth | Instrument | DPF |
| Distrho Mini-Series | Collection of small plugins based on LOSER-Dev Plugins | Effect | DPF |
| Distrho MVerb | DPF-based version of MVerb | Effect | DPF |
| Distrho ndc Plugs | DPF-based versions of some of ndc Plugs | Effect | DPF |
| Distrho Nekobi | Simple single-oscillator synth based on Roland TB-303 | Instrument | DPF |
| Distrho ProM | Music-visualizer plugin based on projectM | Effect | DPF |
| Dragonfly Reverb | Hall-style reverb based on Freeverb3 algorithms | Effect | DPF |
| Drops | Single file audio player | Instrument | DPF |
| Element | Advanced Audio Plugin Host | Misc | JUCE |
| Eurorack | Diverse set of physical modeling sources, organic processors, wavetable oscillators, waveshapers, granular synths, and utility modules | Misc | |
| Flutterbird | Simple pitch fluctuation | Effect | iPlug 2 |
| Gverb/Gigaverb | Reverb | Effect | VSTGUI |
| Helm | Polyphonic synth with lots of modulation | Instrument | JUCE |
| hexter | Yamaha DX7 modeling FM synth for DSSI | Instrument | DPF |
| HiLoFilter | Simple hipass/lopass filter controlled with a single knob | Effect | JUCE |
| JuceOPLVSTi | FM synth based on Yamaha OPL2/3 emulation from DOSBox | Instrument | JUCE |
| Juno 6 | Roland Juno 6/60 Synthesizer | Instrument | |
| keithhearne/VSTPlugins | Collection of VST plugins | Effect | JUCE |
| K-Meter | Implementation of a K-System meter according to Bob Katz’ specifications | Effect | JUCE |
| Key Repeat | Beat repeat sampler | Instrument | JUCE |
| KickMaker | Synth specifically to create kick-drum sounds | Instrument | VSTGUI |
| LameVST | LameMP3 as an effect | Effect | |
| Magical8bitPlug 2 | Old 8bit game console style synth | Instrument | JUCE |
| mda | FX and virtual instruments for PC and Mac | Misc | (no GUI) |
| Mika Micro | Simple subtractive synth | Instrument | WDL-OL |
| MVerb | Studio-quality reverb using the Dattorro’s figure-of-eight reverb structure | Effect | VSTGUI |
| Ninjas 2 | Sample slicer, rewrite of Ninjas | Instrument | DPF |
| NotNotchFilter | Performance-oriented filter designed to replace the mid-EQ found in a standard 3-band DJ mixer | Effect | JUCE |
| ndc Plugs | VST plugins for Windows and OSX | Misc | |
| OctaSine | VST2 frequency modulation synthesizer written in Rust | Instrument | Rust VST |
| Odin2 | Polyphonic Synth | Instrument | JUCE |
| OwlBass | Additive bass synth | Instrument | JUCE |
| OB-Xd | Based on the Oberheim OB-X | Instrument | JUCE |
| Oxe FM Synth | Multitimbral 8-operator FM synth (VST 2.4; Windows, Linux, macOS) | Instrument | VSTGUI |
| PulseDelay | Timed delay effect | Effect | (no GUI) |
| QtVST | VST plugins with a Qt interface | Effect | Qt |
| Regrader | Degenerative delay | Effect | VSTGUI |
| Roth-AIR | Mixing tool for easily adding airy, crispy presence to audio | Effect | JUCE |
| ScorchCrafter Guitar FX | Audio DSP FX and plugins, mostly for guitar (amp sim) and other FX | Effect | VSTGUI |
| sfizz | SFZ parser library and instrument plugins | Instrument | VSTGUI |
| ShoutVST | VST for streaming sound into Icecast/Shoutcast directly from VST hosts | Effect | VSTGUI, FLUID |
| SmartGuitarAmp | Guitar amplifier-style plugin, that uses machine learning for emulating real world hardware | Instrument | JUCE |
| SmartGuitarPedal | Guitar pedal-style plugin, that uses machine learning for emulating real world hardware | Effect | JUCE |
| Sound Analyser | Real-time audio analysis to allow anyone to quickly set up and experiment with different algorithms | Effect | JUCE |
| SPARTA | Spatial audio focused plug-in suite (Ambisonics encoders/decoders, 3-D panners/spatialisers, etc.) | Effect | SAF, JUCE |
| Surge | Subtractive wavetable synth | Instrument | VSTGUI |
| Synister | Subtractive synth | Instrument | JUCE |
| Syntage | VST 2.4 .Net Study Synth | Instrument | |
| Temper | Digital distortion targeting VST, VST3, and AU for OS X and Windows | Effect | Faust, JUCE |
| Tunefish | VST virtual analog synthesizer | Instrument | JUCE |
| traKmeter | Loudness meter for correctly setting up tracking and mixing levels | Effect | JUCE |
| VCV Rack | Virtual modular synth | Misc | RtAudio |
| Vital | Spectral warping wavetable synthesizer | Instrument | JUCE |
| VSTSID | SID synthesizer instrument | Instrument | |
| VST2413 | FM synth based on emulator of YM2413 (OPLL) chip used in Sega Master System and FM-PAC MSX expansion | Instrument | (no GUI) |
| Wolf Shaper | Waveshaper plugin with spline-based graph editor | Effect | DPF |
| YK Chorus | Chorus audio effect plugin based on DSP code by TAL | Effect | DPF |
| zam-plugins | LADSPA/LV2/VST/JACK audio plugins for high-quality processing | Effect | DPF |
| zynaddsubfx | Additive/Subtractive AM/FM synthesizer with effects | Instrument | FLTK |
- Linux Synths — list of linux based synths, some of which are open-source
- OpenAV — collection of instruments, effects, and development tool kits for Linux.
- SFZ Instruments — list of SFZ instruments, most of which are free
- StudioRack — open-source audio plugin registry, app and command line tools
- VCV library — library of plugins compatible with VCV Plugin Manager
| Software | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ardour | Ardour/ardour | DAW |
| ASIO2WASAPI | levmin/ASIO2WASAPI | Universal ASIO driver for Windows |
| Audacity | audacity/audacity | Audio editor |
| Carla | falkTX/Carla | GNU/Linux Plugin Host |
| Element | Kushview/Element | Advanced Audio Plugin Host |
| FlexASIO | dechamps/FlexASIO | Universal ASIO driver for Windows |
| Giada | monocasual/giada | Loop machine |
| Guitarix | SourceForge → guitarix | GNU/Linux Virtual Amplifier |
| Helio Workstation | helio-fm/helio-workstation | Sequencer |
| HISE | christophhart/HISE | Cross-platform framework/application for building sample-based virtual instruments (VST, AU, AAX) |
| Hydrogen | hydrogen-music/hydrogen | Drum machine |
| NewMixer | jatinchowdhury18/NewMixer | Mixing Software |
| LMMS | LMMS/lmms | DAW |
| OpenMPT | OpenMPT/openmpt | Popular tracker (formerly ModPlug Tracker) for Windows with support for IT, XM, S3M, MOD modules, VST plugins and ASIO |
| OwlPlug | DropSnorz/OwlPlug | Audio plugin manager |
| orDrumbox | SourceForge → ordrumbox | Drum machine |
| Psycle | SourceForge → psycle | Modular music tracker |
| SampleScanner | psobot/SampleScanner | Tool for auto-sampling hardware instruments |
| Sonic Pi | sonic-pi-net/sonic-pi | Code-based music creation and performance tool |
| StudioRack | github.com/studiorack | Audio plugin manager |
| VCV Rack | VCVRack/Rack | Modular synth |
| yabridge | robbert-vdh/yabridge | Linux bridge for Windows VSTs |
| Zrythm | zrythm/zrythm | DAW |
| Library | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cabbage | rorywalsh/cabbage | Framework for developing audio plugins and standalone instruments with Csound |
| Csound | csound/csound | Programming language for sound and music synthesis |
| DawDreamer | DBraun/DawDreamer | An audio-processing Python framework supporting core DAW features written with JUCE |
| DPF | DISTRHO/DPF | C++ framework for creating cross-platform audio plugins. DPF can build for LADSPA, DSSI, LV2, and VST formats. |
| Dplug | AuburnSounds/Dplug | Dplug lets you create audio plug-ins with unmatched simplicity and speed, using the D language. |
| Elementary | nick-thompson/elementary | A JavaScript runtime for writing native audio applications, as well as a library and framework for composing audio signal processes. |
| Faust | grame-cncm/faust | Functional programming language for real-time signal processing |
| FluidSynth | FluidSynth/fluidsynth | Real-time synth based on the SoundFont 2 specifications |
| Heavy | Wasted-Audio/hvcc | The heavy hvcc compiler for Pure Data patches. With generators for Bela, Fabric, js, pdext, Unity, Daisy, DPF, and Wwise frameworks. |
| iPlug 2 | iPlug2/iPlug2 | Simple-to-use C++ framework for developing cross-platform audio plugins/apps |
| JUCE | WeAreROLI/JUCE | Cross-platform C++ framework for developing desktop and mobile apps and audio plugins |
| jVSTwRapper | SourceForge → jvstwrapper | Wrapper to write audio plugins in Java (VST 2.4, AU, LADSPA; Windows, Linux, macOS) |
| libopenmpt | OpenMPT/openmpt | Cross-platform C/C++ module-playback library based on OpenMPT |
| libspatialaudio | videolabs/libspatialaudio | Cross-platform C++ library for Ambisonic encoding and decoding, filtering and binaural rendering |
| PortAudio | Assembla → portaudio | Cross-platform audio I/O library |
| RtAudio | thestk/rtaudio | C++ classes for cross-platform real-time audio I/O |
| rust-vst | rust-dsp/rust-vst | VST 2.4 API implementation in the Rust language |
| SAF | leomccormack/Spatial_Audio_Framework | Cross-platform framework for developing spatial audio related algorithms and software in C/C++ |
| SOUL | soul-lang/SOUL | SOUL (SOUnd Language) is an attempt to modernise and optimise the way high-performance, low-latency audio code is written and executed. |
| Soundpipe | PaulBatchelor/Soundpipe | Lightweight music DSP library written in C; over 100 modules, many ported from Csound |
| tracktion_engine | Tracktion/tracktion_engine | Tracktion Engine module. You can build anything from a simple file-player or sequencer to a full blown DAW. Tracktion Engine is supplied as a JUCE module so it can easily fit in to an existing JUCE application. |
| VSTGUI | steinbergmedia/vstgui | User-interface toolkit mainly for audio plugins |
| WDL-OL | olilarkin/wdl-ol | Simple-to-use C++ framework for developing cross-platform audio plugins (superseded by iPlug 2) |
- KlangFalter — convolution audio plugin (e.g. for usage as convolution reverb)
- FFTConvolver — audio convolution algorithm in C++ for real-time audio processing
- py-modular — modular and experimental programming environment with basic DSP routines in Python
- OpenAIR — the Open Acoustic Impulse Response Library (Convolution Reverb Impulse Responses to recreate reverb character of space and equipment/recordings)