Bring your own

Free plugins to get started

Reagent hosts your own VST3/AU instruments and effects. Here's a hand-picked set of genuinely free ones — not trials, not crippled demos — to fill it out fast. Everything here runs on macOS.

Synths

Vital

The standout free synth — spectral-warping wavetable with a gorgeous animated UI. The free tier makes the same sounds as the paid one.

Surge XT

Open-source powerhouse: subtractive, wavetable, FM and additive in one, with tons of filters and effects. Arguably the most feature-packed free synth anywhere.

TAL-NoiseMaker

Classic three-oscillator virtual analog, low CPU, 256 presets. The fastest way to grab a warm analog sound.

Dexed

Faithful Yamaha DX7 FM synth that loads real DX7 patches. All those 80s electric-piano and bell tones.

OB-Xd

Free Oberheim-style polysynth — lush pads and vintage brass.

Sampled instruments

Spitfire LABS

80+ beautifully-recorded free instruments — Soft Piano, Strings, Choir and more. Studio quality, new ones added regularly.

Decent Sampler

Free sample-player plugin that opens thousands of free community libraries. A huge free-content ecosystem in one plugin.

Komplete Start

Free Native Instruments bundle: Kontakt Player plus a stack of instruments and effects. The best single ‘instant content’ download for a beginner.

EQ, compression & channel

TDR Nova

Free dynamic EQ that punches far above its price — a genuine desert-island mixing plugin. The same site has the free Kotelnikov compressor and SlickEQ.

MFreeFXBundle

~37 free MeldaProduction effects in one install: EQ, compressor, saturator, reverb, delay, stereo tools and analyzers. An instant full toolkit.

Analog Obsession

Dozens of free analog-modeled EQs, compressors and channel strips (LA-2A, 1176 and Pultec vibes). Free direct download.

Reverb & delay

Valhalla Supermassive

Legendary free reverb/delay for huge, otherworldly spaces. Valhalla also give away Freq Echo and Space Modulator free on the same site.

Saturation & character

Xfer OTT

The free multiband up/down compressor every electronic producer reaches for to add that aggressive, finished sheen.

Softube Saturation Knob

Dead-simple one-knob analog saturation. Great on almost anything.

Guitar & amp

Ignite Amps Emissary + NadIR

Free tube-amp sim plus a dual impulse-response cab loader. Legit metal and rock tones for nothing.

Metering & utility

Youlean Loudness Meter

Free LUFS meter for hitting streaming loudness targets (Spotify, YouTube, Apple).

Voxengo SPAN

Free spectrum analyzer — essential for seeing what your mix is actually doing.

Tip: a few open-source plugins aren't Apple-notarized, so macOS may say a plugin “can't be opened.” Fix it once per plugin: System Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll down → “Open Anyway.”

Every plugin here is free at the time of writing; links go to the official source. Not affiliated with or endorsed by these developers.