These Are the Best New Free VST Plugins (October 2025 Edition)
One of the coolest things about making music in 2025 is that the line between “paid” and “free” plugins keeps blurring. Every month, new releases arrive that don’t just imitate premium tools—they are premium tools, generously offered for nothing. October’s batch continues the streak, with major developers like Universal Audio, Eventide, and Splice dropping legitimately great freebies alongside indie creators pushing out weird, inventive experiments. This isn’t a massive dump of every freebie on the internet—it’s a curated selection of the ones that actually feel worth installing. Whether you’re after lush reverbs, analog-style tone shapers, or inspiring virtual instruments, these are the standout downloads that can easily earn a permanent spot in your plugin folder.
Black Rooster Audio VPRE-73 Halloween Edition
Black Rooster Audio is offering a limited-time free edition of VPRE-73 Halloween Edition, a spooky twist on their classic preamp emulation. The plugin gives you a drive knob, a “crank multiplicator” that can push the gain up to five times harder, plus high-pass and high-shelf filters for shaping tone. It’s minimal, crunchy, and dramatic — ideal for pushing tracks into overdriven coloration quickly.
What makes this edition stand out is its extra bite. The crank control lets you push into grittier, more aggressive territory than the standard VPRE-73, adding weight and presence without needing a separate distortion unit. It’s perfect for guitars, synths, or even drums when you want to inject a bit of darkness and attitude. The interface stays simple and direct, keeping the focus on sound rather than tweaking. The only catch: you’ll need to complete a quick three-step process to claim your free copy.
Free from Black Rooster Audio
Splice INSTRUMENT
Splice has launched INSTRUMENT, a new virtual instrument plugin that now serves as the home for the beloved LABS library. It’s free to download and gives you access to a rotating collection of instrument presets drawn from Spitfire Audio’s extensive soundware, all within a single, streamlined interface. The plugin works in both DAW and standalone modes across macOS and Windows, letting you preview, tweak, and layer sounds effortlessly.
What’s compelling here is how Splice is trying to reframe LABS as part of a more scalable, modern system. Free users still get access to a library of quality instruments, while paying subscribers unlock expanded catalogs, artist packs, and additional features. If you liked LABS for its character and the surprises in its sound drops, INSTRUMENT feels like a reboot — more capable, more organized, and ready to evolve with you.
Free from Splice
AmateurTools Plucks
Plucks is a free, open-source plucked string synth built in the spirit of classic physical modeling designs. It’s a modern reimagining of the old “Plucked!” style synths, using a fork of SuperRiley64’s Lucky Plucker as its foundation, while introducing refinements of its own. What sets it apart is the smart decay algorithm (to avoid abrupt cutoffs), the ability to stretch the release up to 60 seconds, and a velocity-sensitive exciter width that makes quieter notes thinner and brighter, while strong hits push into richer, fuller tones.
The plug-in is capable of a broad sonic range—everything from delicate harp-like plucks to aggressive, harpsichord-style textures—and it feels expressive under the fingers. Because it’s open source, it’s also a playground: you can dig into its code or watch how the physical modeling is implemented, which appeals to tinkerers and modular minds alike. Plucks comes in AU and VST3 formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux, making it highly accessible across platforms.
Free from AmateurTools
Safari Pedals Hawk Phaser
Safari Pedals and Karanyi Sounds are giving away Hawk Phaser, a vintage-style modulation effect, for free (for a limited time). This phaser offers everything from gentle shimmer to deep, swirling textures, giving you flexible control over the movement in your sound. You get classic LFO-driven phasing with extra tools: an Input Drive to introduce warmth and grit before modulation, a Filter to isolate which frequencies are affected, a Feedback control for resonant sweeps, and a Width knob to spread the effect across stereo space. There’s also an Auto Gain feature that helps maintain levels as you push harder.
The beauty of Hawk Phaser lies in its flexibility: you can dial in subtle motion to breathe life into pads or backing layers, or crank it for more dramatic, psychedelic effects on guitars, drums, or sound design elements. Because of its clean and intuitive layout, it’s approachable whether you’re just testing a modulation idea or doing deep tweaking. The plugin comes in VST3, AU, and AAX formats for macOS and Windows, and the free deal uses a special code (KARANYIHAWKFREE) at checkout.
Free from Safari Pedals with code KARANYIHAWKFREE
Excite Audio Lifeline Lite Bundle
The Lifeline Lite Bundle from Excite Audio gives you two high-impact multi-effect plugins—Lifeline Expanse Lite and Lifeline Console Lite—for absolutely no cost (for a limited time via Plugin Boutique). Expanse Lite is your creative engine: modular effects including Re-amp, Dirt, Format (bitcrusher/granular), Width, and Space, each rearrangeable in any order. It’s great for adding texture, grit, spatial character, or adventurous coloration to sounds without forcing you into a fixed chain.
Console Lite, by contrast, leans into mixing and analog coloration. Inside it you’ll find modules like Preamp, EQ, Compression, Modulation, and Wear for dust/noise/aging effects. It’s not overstuffed, but it gives you enough controls to push your tracks toward that warm, lived-in sound. Both plugins come with 100 presets, zero latency performance, resizable UIs, and broad format support (VST, VST3, AU, AAX) on both macOS and Windows.
The nice thing is how the two complement each other: use Expanse to sculpt substance and depth, then run it through Console for tonality and “glue.” The offer is unlocked by entering coupon PSLifeline at checkout on Plugin Boutique, so it’s quick to grab while it lasts.
Free from Plugin Boutique with code PSLifeline
TapeFi Fail
Fail is a free cassette-tape emulator plugin built by TapeFi as their debut release. It captures the subtle and chaotic imperfections that make vintage tape so beloved, letting you inject nostalgic texture into any track. The design is clean and retro-tinged, focusing on usability rather than flashy visuals.
Under the hood, Fail gives you six distinct tape modes, each with its own character in tone, wear, and stability. The controls include Hiss, Heat, Drop, Mix, and Melt—so you can dial in everything from subtle saturation to glitchy warble. “Heat” drives a distortion engine that can push you into crunchy territory; “Drop” triggers occasional signal interruptions or volume dips; and “Melt” introduces pitch drift (wow & flutter). It’s versatile enough to add tape-style grit to drums, vocals, synths, or anything that needs character.
Free from TapeFi
SynthMaster 3 Free Player Version
KV331 Audio offers SynthMaster 3 Free Player, a preset-focused version of their flagship synth, giving you access to 500 factory presets with limited parameter edits. While the full SynthMaster 3 is deeply modular, the Free Player version is designed for people who like to explore sounds rather than build them from scratch. You can tweak 12 “easy” parameters and bypass layer/global effects according to how the preset was programmed.
It’s an ideal entry point if you’ve wanted to get into the SynthMaster ecosystem without paying upfront. You get a taste of what the full version offers—tons of sonic range and tone—while staying in a performance-oriented zone. Because the Free Player is lighter on CPU and simpler to use, it works well for sketching ideas or layering presets without overloading your system.
Free from KV331 Audio
VMPC2000XL (JUCE version)
VMPC2000XL is an unofficial emulation of the classic Akai MPC 2000XL, now rebuilt on the JUCE framework and available as a free plugin. The update delivers a snappier user experience, more stable performance, and a GUI that captures the vintage aesthetic—showing “wear and tear” on the pads, realistic backlit visuals, and a layout faithful to the hardware.
In terms of features, you’ll find the familiar MPC workflow: pad banks, note repeat, full-level, a dynamic low-pass filter per pad/program, and sample editing. While it doesn’t aim to completely replicate every aspect of the original signal path, it leans into the charm and limitations as part of its character. If you’re someone who enjoys stripped-down workflows or nostalgia-driven beatmaking, this plugin offers a neat way to bring old-school MPC vibes into your DAW without needing the hardware.
Download here
Eventide Temperance Lite
Eventide’s Temperance Lite is a fresh take on reverb that blends musicality with ambient depth. Rather than mimicking physical spaces in the usual way, this plugin introduces a “modal reverb” approach: you can accentuate or attenuate specific notes inside the reverb tail, sculpting how the resonance behaves in harmony with your track. The core “Temper” knob shifts between traditional reverb behavior (when centered) and emphasizing or softening select notes when turned either direction.
You get three main modal modes (Bright Room, Large Studio, Synthetic Space), a NoteScape visualizer showing which notes are sustaining or fading, plus standard controls like Mix, Decay, Size, Pre-delay, and a spectrum-based focus tool. It runs with under 1 ms latency, so it’s usable in tracking situations. It’s free through December 31, 2025, but you’ll need to register by March 31, 2026. An iLok account is required (no dongle needed). Supported formats: VST3, AU, AAX; macOS and Windows.
Free from Eventide
UAD Showtime ’64 Tube Amp
Universal Audio has released Showtime ’64, a free native amp-simulation plugin (no UAD hardware required) available for macOS and Windows. It’s modeled after the iconic 100-watt Fender Showman amp—a player in surf, rock, early R&B, and classic pop tones—bringing its distinctive cleans, vibrato, and grit into your DAW.
What makes it compelling is that you can claim it for free (through UA Connect) between October 1 and October 31, 2025. Once claimed, you keep it permanently. The plugin supports VST3, AU, and AAX formats, and includes features like a Room control to position the amp in the mix, mic-switching options, and a built-in vibrato circuit. It handles both sparkling cleans and crunchier tones with character, making it a versatile tool not just for guitars, but for any track that could benefit from tube amp coloration and presence.
Free from Universal Audio
Hot Deals Too Hot to Miss
SSL Native X-Saturator by Solid State Logic – 80% off
If you’ve been chasing that polished, analog-style warmth SSL is famous for, the X-Saturator is an easy win. It delivers smooth, musical saturation that ranges from subtle harmonic enhancement to aggressive drive. The dual-stage design blends even and odd harmonics for precise tone shaping, while the mix and trim controls make it easy to keep your balance. It’s a rare chance to grab SSL’s premium tone at a deep discount.
Offer ends October 15, 2025.
Download here
RC-20 Retro Color by XLN Audio – 60% off
RC-20 Retro Color is your shortcut to lo-fi texture and warmth—adding tape hiss, vinyl crackle, wobble, bit reduction, and analog grit in seconds. Its six modular effects work beautifully together, letting you go from subtle vibe to total retro chaos. Perfect for keys, drums, or mix bus color, it’s one of the most versatile creative FX plugins around. At this price, it’s an easy buy.
Offer ends October 13, 2025.
Download here
Tekno by Baby Audio – 70% off
If you’re diving into electronic or techno production, Tekno is a compact drum synth that nails punch and flexibility. It gives you deep control over tone, envelopes, and modulation while keeping everything intuitive. Build kicks, claps, and percussive FX from scratch and layer them fast. At 70 % off, it’s a killer deal for producers who love sound design.
Offer ends October 31, 2025.
Download here
VocalSynth 2 by iZotope – 70% off
VocalSynth 2 lets you twist vocals into anything—from robotic harmonies to lush ambient layers. Its five engines (Biovox, Vocoder, CompuVoc, Talkbox, Polyvox) can run in parallel, blending for futuristic textures or gentle polish. Add Drive, Shred, and modulation for expressive movement that stays musical. One of the most creative vocal tools out there.
Offer ends October 31, 2025.
Download here
Excite Audio Bundle – 50% off
The Excite Audio Bundle packs the company’s best work into one deal—Bloom, Motion, Vision 4X, Lifeline, KSHMR Chain, and more. These plugins cover instruments, effects, and analysis tools, all designed for modern producers. At $279 instead of $558, you’re getting serious depth and polish for roughly $15 per plugin.
Offer ends October 31, 2025.
Download here
Cover credit: Jp Valery
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