Get the 200 best free VST plugins ever made. From synth VSTs and drum VSTs to VST effects, this huge list has only the best of the best plugins. The Future Music/Computer Music/MusicRadar Best in music tech 2018 polls received thousands of votes, and we're now ready to roll out the winners. The nominees were what we considered to be the personalities and gear that have excelled in 2018. Here, we present the best new effects plugins of 2018.
Ready to become a Photoshop power-user? Good, because the Photoshop plugins, add-ons, and extensions we list in this post will supercharge the already impressive capabilities of Adobe's preeminent software.
Yes, Adobe Photoshop CC is outstanding on its own. But there are plenty of features that users wish they had access to but don't. Plus, there's no way that Adobe could've packed in every add-on, extension, or plugin and still kept the software at its current price point.
Lucky for you, not all of the plugins you'll read about today cost money!
That's not to say that you should only look for free plugins. Some of the premium Photoshop plugins we list are so good, you'll want to buy them immediately — if you're really serious about upping your Photoshop game, that it. But before we get into the best free and premium Photoshop plugins for 2020, let's quickly cover how to install Photoshop plugins:
How to Install Photoshop Plugins
Here's a simple way to install Photoshop plugins:
- Open Photoshop.
- Select Edit from the dropdown menu, and select Preferences > Plugins.
- Check the 'Additional Plugins Folder' box to accept new files.
- Download a plugin or filter to your desktop.
- Open your Program Files folder and select your Photoshop folder.
- Open your Plugins folder, found inside your Photoshop folder.
- Drag your new Photoshop plugin from your desktop into the Plugins folder.
- Reopen Photoshop and find your new plugin under Filters in the dropdown menu.
Now that you know how to use Photoshop plugins, let's take a look at some of the best free and premium Photoshop plugins available in 2020.
Note, if you prefer Sketch, check out our guide to the best Sketch plugins.
Best Free Photoshop Plugins
As the old saying goes, 'the best things in life are free.' Of course, these plugins may not be 'the best things in life' (unless Photoshop IS your life), but they're pretty good and can be used completely free of charge.
1. Camera Raw
Camera Raw is a Photoshop plugin that lets you edit and enhance raw files from your digital camera, along with JPEG and TIFF files. If you're unfamiliar with a raw file, it's simply the unprocessed picture data from your digital camera.
With the Adobe Camera Raw plugin, you can sharpen raw pictures, set white balance, and adjust the contrast among many other features.
The best part is, Camera Raw uses non-destructive editing, which means it doesn't alter the original picture file in case you want to revert back to it after you've finished editing. This plugin has been a must-have tool for photographers and should definitely be in your editing toolkit.
2. Ink
Ink is one of the best free Photoshop plugins on this list. It allows designers to create useful mockups and user interfaces, which lets an inexperienced Photoshop user — like a developer, for example — understand the design elements within a coding framework.
In other words, Ink makes it easy to communicate your design by generating full specs such as text formatting, layer styles, and dimensions.
This is especially helpful if you have to hand off work to a developer on GitHub and want to ensure that he or she will accurately interpret your design. Fortunately, this handy app can be accessed and used for the low price of zero dollars!
3. Texture Anarchy
Texture Anarchy is a Photoshop plugin that offers its users a library of different filters and textures to edit their photos with. What sets it apart from similar plugins like ON1 Effects is the fact that the textures it produces are based on fractal noise, which makes it easy to create natural images like fire, smoke, or marble.
If you're new to Photoshop, or photo editing in general, and the above paragraph sounds confusing, don't worry. Texture Anarchy is actually pretty easy to use. It even comes with presets to help you get started on the right foot.
4. FlatIcon
FlatIcon is a Photoshop plugin that will give you access to thousands of free vector icons, which can be downloaded in multiple formats such as SVG or PNG.
With FlatIcon installed, you can search through its database of icons from within Photoshop and insert them directly into your design panel. What kind of icons are we talking about? Just about anything! FlatIcon has millions of icons available for use.
Now, FlatIcon does have thousands of icons available for free. But, they require attribution to use legally. Alternatively, you can sign up for a FlatIcon subscription and get access to many more, attribution-free icons and priority support. FlatIcon plans start at $8.25 a month.
Best Premium Photoshop Plugins
As Warren Buffett once said, 'Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.'
While these premium Photoshop Plugins come with a price tag, they pack a serious punch and provide artists, photographers, and casual Photoshop users alike with tons of value. Here are the six paid plugins that we believe will make the biggest impact on your output and workflow:
1. RH Hover Color Picker
RH Hover Color Picker is a Photoshop color plugin that isn't ugly or cumbersome (unlike the color picker built into Photoshop) and gives you more control over the colors you pick with its set of customizable sliders.
It's aptly named the 'Hover' Color Picker because it only reveals itself when you hover over its minimized version, and then conceals itself once you're done using it. Convenient!
RH Hover Color Picker is really easy to use and will speed up your Photoshop workflow dramatically. Luckily, it can be had for just $16. Make the process of picking colors much easier and more enjoyable with this premium plugin.
2. ON1 Effects
ON1 Effects is a Photoshop plugin that gives you access to hundreds of built-in presets, filters, LUTs, textures, and borders. These effects can then be combined, blended, and otherwise customized to create a unique look for each of your photographs.
If you're looking for an all-in-one tool for adding complex effects to your photos, ON1 Effects is the solution you need. Get it for a one-time payment of $59.99.
3. Fluid Mask 3
Fluid Mask 3 is a Photoshop plugin that can be used to remove backgrounds and perform cutouts — a necessity for most modern photographers and graphic artists.
Top Free Plugins 2020
Masking, i.e. making part of a layer invisible, is a delicate and often difficult process. Fluid Mask 3 is one of the few plugins that will give you a clean and accurate mask, especially with problem areas like hair and fur.
Even though Fluid Mask 3 costs $99, its ability to detect edges, blend layers, and simplify painstaking tasks makes the high price tag worth it. That's why big companies like Disney, NBC, and Macy's use it on a regular basis.
4. Noiseware
Noiseware is an award-winning Photoshop plugin for noise reduction. Noise is the colorful grains or discoloration found in Photographs that give it a splotchy or blurry look. In simple terms, it's the part of your photographs that you usually don't want.
Noiseware removes graininess from images and sharpens them simultaneously, allowing you to clean up your photos quickly and professionally.
Although it costs $79.95, it justifies its premium price tag with unparalleled targeted noise reduction that few other plugins can even come close to matching.
5. PortraitPro
Have you ever taken a picture of yourself and thought, 'Oh no, is that what I really look like?' Don't be ashamed, it's happened to all of us. The camera can be quite unkind at times. When you're not happy with the results of your latest portrait, get PortraitPro.
PortraitPro is a Photoshop plugin that helps users retouch and edit portraits without giving them a 'Photoshopped' finish. It prides itself on being a software built to enhance human beauty without making faces look plastic or fake.
PortraitPro accomplishes this feat by using a slider interface to sculpt and refine a subject's features. Use this editing tool to smooth skin, apply makeup, correct poor lighting, change hair color, and more.
Whatever aspect of your portraits that you need to adjust, PortraitPro can help you do it for a one-time payment of $89.90.
6. Machine Wash Deluxe
Last, but certainly not least, we have Machine Wash Deluxe, which is a Photoshop plugin that adds scratchy, weathering effects to your photos. When you want your images to have that cool, retro vibe, Machine Wash Deluxe is the app you need.
The plugin comes with over 3,500 presets, which can be used to texturize and alter photographs in thousands of different ways and make them look old, vintage, or otherworldly.
Machine Wash Deluxe is an incredibly fun plug-in to play with and will help you create unique images that stop viewers in their tracks. It will cost you $99 to access. But if you have a little extra cash to spend, you'll love the abstract photo transformations you can make with it.
Honorable Mention: CloudApp
CloudApp isn't technically a Photoshop add-on, plugin, or extension — at least not yet. But it will help you get the 'raw materials' you need to create great photos.
Our free screen recorder lets you record videos and take screenshots on mac and win of virtually anything, edit them in Photoshop, and then pass them on to your developer. If your developer has questions, they can take a screenshot of your finished product, annotate it, and send it back to you. You'll then be able to comment on those annotations and easily make the required changes.
CloudApp is available as a Mac App, a Windows App, and as a Chrome Plugin. This means that just about anyone can create visual content from their desktop device of choice!
If you want to streamline your Photoshop workflow and easily create the stunning visual materials needed to get the job done, consider signing up for CloudApp — it's free.
In Conclusion:
There you have it, the 10 best photoshop plugins in 2020. If you regularly use Adobe's legendary software, these tools will help you supercharge your workflow and create better visual content. Now you just have to decide which ones you want to use!
And don't forget about CloudApp! Our visual communication software is a great way to create the raw materials you need to edit inside of Photoshop. From screenshots to annotated images, use CloudApp to capture anything on your computer screen. Get started today for free!
Autotune and pitch correction has a variety of uses, from fixing subtle imperfections in a vocalist's performance to extreme effects such as the famous sound popularized by T-Pain and utilized by Daft Punk, Black Eyed Peas, Cher, and many more.Furthermore, you can even record organic instruments and give them a natural, flowing, and gliding sound!
As a result, there are tons of possible uses to consider with an autotune VST.
However, many of the popular autotune plugins will burn hundreds of dollars out of your wallet, and with the wealth of available autotune and pitch tuning plugins, finding the right one for your specific needs can be overwhelming.
So to help you out, we've compiled a list of seven completely free autotune VST's that still have incredible functionality!
To get started, let's briefly go over what to consider when searching for these crucial plugins.
Things To Consider When Searching for a Free Autotune VST
There are a few points to go over before deciding on which autotune and pitch-correction plugins are the right ones for you.
Most importantly, what do you need these tools for?
If you produce a genre outside of EDM that might call for more organic sounds, you'll want an autotune plugin that's designed for smoother and more subtle pitch-correction.
This way, you're simply making minor corrections that likely won't be heard by your audience and will still sound natural.
Thus, to keep the organic feel of your sound, you should search for a pitch correction plugin with a transparent audio engine that won't color your sound too much, so that it guarantees a seamless, smooth, and untouched sound for your acoustic needs.
On the other hand, if you produce hip-hop, trap, or certain electronic genres, you'll have to consider an autotune plugin that allows you to draw in the notes you want the singer or instrument to hit.
Additionally, you might need effects that allow you to further customize the voice, such as formant control, MIDI input, and others. That way, you can jump up and down in volume and pitch as you please!
So, there are a lot of things to consider before choosing which plugin is right for you.
Now that you have a better idea of what to look out for, let's jump right into the 7 best and completely free autotune plugins available in 2018!
1. MAuto Pitch
MeldaProduction, a renowned audio plugin company used and promoted by Deadmau5, was kind enough to create a completely free and fully functioning autotune plugin!
This plugin give you options such as depth, detune, and speed, which are standard on most pitch correctors.
Depth controls how much effect the VST has on the entire sound. Detune will push the pitch of the sound up or down by cents for sharp fine-tuning purposes.
The speed knob will control how fast MAutoPitch will respond to out-of-tune notes. If you're looking for a smoother sound, using a low speed value will ensure that transitions between notes aren't jumpy and fake-sounding.
Otherwise, if you want something closer to the T-Pain effect, you'll want to turn the speed up very high so that it skips quickly from one note to the next.
What's great about this plugin is that, like a lot of Melda's works, there are a wealth of bonus features that come along with it!
For example, MAutoPitch includes an effects rack. With this, you can control how heavy the effects work on the sound with the dry-wet knob, spread the stereo image with the width function, and even shift the formants.
Shifting formants will make your sound deeper and more 'masculine' sounding or higher and more 'feminine' sounding, but you need to be careful with this. If you alter the formant way too much you might also alter its pitch.
This is achieved trying to imitate how the human vocal tract works and even the shape of the singer's mouth while singing, through complex filters. Formant shifting will also have a huge influence on vowel sounds and certain consonants, and if you are interested in this topic, we really recommend you reading this article. This subject is too complex and outside of the scope of this article.
A visual detector displays what notes are being detected by the plugin, and a scale function enables you to select what scale of music you're on. This way, MAutoPitch only shifts pitch to the perfect notes according to the key your track is in!
Also included is a limiter, which helps keep your sound below the 0 db threshold so it doesn't clip.
The wealth of features available on MAutoPitch, along with the high functionality and easy interface, makes this free VST something you'll want in your autotuning arsenal.
Download it here.
2. GSnap
One of the original free pitch correction plugins, Graham Yeadon's GSnap, still is among the elite.
That's partially because of its unique ability to adjust notes according to MIDI that you can feed into it!
For example, if you want to correct a vocalist's notes, you can play their part on a piano, feed the MIDI notes from the piano into the plugin, and GSnap will use those notes as a guide to where it will correct.
Not many other plugins can do this, and it's an incredibly powerful and advantageous tool to use!
An easy visual interface on the left of the VST shows exactly how GSnap is fixing the sounds.
The original sound is in red, and the adjusted notes are highlighted in green. This is perfect for figuring out exactly how to fine-tune the sound and to know what's going on. Twelve fully adjustable knobs allow for precise editing of the effect.
Furthermore, this plugin enables you to add vibrato and adjust the speed of it! This is something not seen in other plugins like MAuto Pitch, for example.
Vibrato is an up-and-down pitch and volume effect that essentially makes the singer sound a lot more organic and talented, and it works across multiple genres when used correctly.
Also included in the detection section is a gate, which is a unique way of controlling how much GSnap has an effect on the sound. It can be adjusted so that GSnap only has an effect on the loud or quiet parts, if needed.
As GSnap is well-known among experienced producers for its versatility, MIDI feed options, and easy interface, it's easy to see why this free plugin is worth a grab!
Get it here.
3. Graillon 2
No list of autotune plugins, free or otherwise, would be complete without the recently released free version of Auburn Sounds' Graillon 2!
From first glance, you'll notice a beautiful vintage-looking interface with large fonts and a standout color scheme that makes it easy to navigate. An easy central waveform display shows where the current note of your sound is, as well as exactly where Graillon 2 is correcting it.
Behind the eye-catching and functional design is a well-programmed plugin that can perform both heavy autotune and fine pitch correction functions flawlessly!
For easy and quick use, simply adding it as an insert on your desired channel and turning on the correction will suffice in most cases. To adjust, use the critical 'inertia' knob as a 'speed' knob mentioned previously. It reduces pitch correction jumps by helping notes 'stick'.
You should be careful with this function, however, as some notes may 'stick' for too long, hence altering the melody altogether.
If you're looking for a robotic sound, adjust the 'smooth' knob in the correction module, which controls how slow or fast your sound will jump from one note to the other.
Yet another feature available on Graillon 2 is the 'bitcrusher' area on the left side. Even more, it can make a voice 'growl' as well as reinforce the bass portion of monophonic pitched sounds, a function unique to Graillon 2.
With proper adjustment of the quantize and reduction knobs, you can get sounds that are highly distorted, 'bitcrushed', or a robotic growl sound by reducing the reduction knob.
Graillon 2 can also double as a pitch-shifting plugin with a pitch wheel on the bottom left. There's also an option to keep the formants of the track along with it, which changes the singer's perceived vocal tract shape and the shape of the singer's mouth while singing. If you're looking for a smoother effect, it's often best to change both the pitch and the formants at the same rate.
Also included are convenient knobs such as dry/wet for overall effect adjustment, a low cut filter, and an adjustable output gain meter.
As Graillon 2 is a proverbial swiss army knife in the autotune realm, capable of most features, with an included bitcrusher, growl sound capabilities, and with a beautiful interface, there aren't many negatives to this one.
If you need flawless all-around functionality with a few bonus features thrown in, Graillon 2 is your best bet.
Get it here.
4. KeroVee
The Japan-based, g200kg company created KeroVee back in 2010, and it's still used for deep pitch correction adjustment today.
What KeroVee lacks in extreme robotic effects, it makes up for with ultra-precise pitch adjustment capabilities that are far better than most free autotune plugins!
Similar to GSnap, there's an easy scaled interface on the left side so you can see exactly what KeroVee is doing and respond accordingly.
Just to the right of this block, you can click which notes of the scale you want KeroVee to adjust to. Selected notes will have a green block next to them, while deselected notes will be black.
Also similar to GSnap, you can route MIDI notes to KeroVee for the plugin to use as a guide. This is a crucial function that lets you tell KeroVee exactly what notes the singer should be on, with a large set of knobs to customize further.
Unique to KeroVee is a 'nuance' parameter that allows you to keep or ignore subtle pitch changes, such as natural vibrato from the singer.
Typical on most autotune plugins, you get a 'TuneSpeed' knob which controls how fast the VST will fix the incoming audio.
The calib function controls the overall pitch of the sound, and on the bottom are important functions such as pitch and formant shifting, fine tuning for precision work, and panning and volume knobs.
If you're looking for an autotune plugin that is tailor-made specifically for fine adjustment of vocals, rather than a harsh and noticeable effect, KeroVee will be a good place to start.
The free download can be found here.
5. X42 Auto-Tune
X42 Auto-Tune is a simple autotuner based on the zita-at1 by Fons Adriaensen. It's much better if you use it as a light tonal fixer over a full-on robotic autotuner.
It works by resampling the material fed into it and then looping the signal. It does not have any formant correction capabilities.
As a result, its uses don't come from transposing a track, but from subtle adjustments to vocals.
Even though the X42 has a specific set of sounds it can perform on, when you use it correctly, it does a goob job!
As with the GSnap and KeroVee, it can be fed MIDI from which it adjusts the vocal notes to. Otherwise, you can input a fixed set of notes from any musical key for the program to respond to.
Although it shares similarities with other plugins, there are some unique features the X42 has that others don't.
The 'Bias' parameter lets the vocals to stay on their current note for a longer period of time instead of moving quickly to one of your selected notes, regardless of if they're in tune or not. It allows for more off-tune and natural singing sounds.
Furthermore, it includes a unique 'offset' parameter which adjusts how far the vocalist can venture from the predesigned notes.
Like the bias parameter, this will let you to keep some of the vocalist's minor mistakes for a more organic sounding performance, if need be.
What this plugin lacks in formant features, sparkly design, and variability in sound adjustment, it makes up for with unique parameters and fine MIDI control of missed notes.
Try it out here.
6. Autotalent
Don't be fooled by the simple interface!
Autotalent by Oli Larkin is a well designed, fully functioning autotune and pitch correction VST.
You can use it for light pitch correction and full-on robotic autotune, and it even contains chiptune effects!
Top Free Plug-ins 2018
It includes all of your typical parameters needed in an autotune plugin. It allows smoothing, subtle pitch shifting to scaled notes, and a full formant editing function.
With Autotalent, you set notes on the piano scale to '-1' for notes you want to exclude, and '0' if you do want the singer or instrument on that note.
Autotalent, unlike any other free autotune VST, offers an extensive LFO and vibrato section. Use this section to add vibrato, skill, and confidence into a vocalist's performance.
The LFO can also be used to add a unique chiptune effect to the vocal or instrument! Chiptune describes a sound that appears to have come from early gaming consoles.
So despite a relatively lacking interface, Autotalent offers a wealth of both robotic and smooth autotune options, as well as unique LFO section. If you're looking for this type of versatility and want to try the plugin-specific LFO module, give Autotalent a try.
Listen to a demo of the plugin in action here.
Download it here.
7. AAS Autotune
Last, but certainly not least, we're going to include an interface-less plugin, the AAS Autotune by Arguru.
This way, you're simply making minor corrections that likely won't be heard by your audience and will still sound natural.
Thus, to keep the organic feel of your sound, you should search for a pitch correction plugin with a transparent audio engine that won't color your sound too much, so that it guarantees a seamless, smooth, and untouched sound for your acoustic needs.
On the other hand, if you produce hip-hop, trap, or certain electronic genres, you'll have to consider an autotune plugin that allows you to draw in the notes you want the singer or instrument to hit.
Additionally, you might need effects that allow you to further customize the voice, such as formant control, MIDI input, and others. That way, you can jump up and down in volume and pitch as you please!
So, there are a lot of things to consider before choosing which plugin is right for you.
Now that you have a better idea of what to look out for, let's jump right into the 7 best and completely free autotune plugins available in 2018!
1. MAuto Pitch
MeldaProduction, a renowned audio plugin company used and promoted by Deadmau5, was kind enough to create a completely free and fully functioning autotune plugin!
This plugin give you options such as depth, detune, and speed, which are standard on most pitch correctors.
Depth controls how much effect the VST has on the entire sound. Detune will push the pitch of the sound up or down by cents for sharp fine-tuning purposes.
The speed knob will control how fast MAutoPitch will respond to out-of-tune notes. If you're looking for a smoother sound, using a low speed value will ensure that transitions between notes aren't jumpy and fake-sounding.
Otherwise, if you want something closer to the T-Pain effect, you'll want to turn the speed up very high so that it skips quickly from one note to the next.
What's great about this plugin is that, like a lot of Melda's works, there are a wealth of bonus features that come along with it!
For example, MAutoPitch includes an effects rack. With this, you can control how heavy the effects work on the sound with the dry-wet knob, spread the stereo image with the width function, and even shift the formants.
Shifting formants will make your sound deeper and more 'masculine' sounding or higher and more 'feminine' sounding, but you need to be careful with this. If you alter the formant way too much you might also alter its pitch.
This is achieved trying to imitate how the human vocal tract works and even the shape of the singer's mouth while singing, through complex filters. Formant shifting will also have a huge influence on vowel sounds and certain consonants, and if you are interested in this topic, we really recommend you reading this article. This subject is too complex and outside of the scope of this article.
A visual detector displays what notes are being detected by the plugin, and a scale function enables you to select what scale of music you're on. This way, MAutoPitch only shifts pitch to the perfect notes according to the key your track is in!
Also included is a limiter, which helps keep your sound below the 0 db threshold so it doesn't clip.
The wealth of features available on MAutoPitch, along with the high functionality and easy interface, makes this free VST something you'll want in your autotuning arsenal.
Download it here.
2. GSnap
One of the original free pitch correction plugins, Graham Yeadon's GSnap, still is among the elite.
That's partially because of its unique ability to adjust notes according to MIDI that you can feed into it!
For example, if you want to correct a vocalist's notes, you can play their part on a piano, feed the MIDI notes from the piano into the plugin, and GSnap will use those notes as a guide to where it will correct.
Not many other plugins can do this, and it's an incredibly powerful and advantageous tool to use!
An easy visual interface on the left of the VST shows exactly how GSnap is fixing the sounds.
The original sound is in red, and the adjusted notes are highlighted in green. This is perfect for figuring out exactly how to fine-tune the sound and to know what's going on. Twelve fully adjustable knobs allow for precise editing of the effect.
Furthermore, this plugin enables you to add vibrato and adjust the speed of it! This is something not seen in other plugins like MAuto Pitch, for example.
Vibrato is an up-and-down pitch and volume effect that essentially makes the singer sound a lot more organic and talented, and it works across multiple genres when used correctly.
Also included in the detection section is a gate, which is a unique way of controlling how much GSnap has an effect on the sound. It can be adjusted so that GSnap only has an effect on the loud or quiet parts, if needed.
As GSnap is well-known among experienced producers for its versatility, MIDI feed options, and easy interface, it's easy to see why this free plugin is worth a grab!
Get it here.
3. Graillon 2
No list of autotune plugins, free or otherwise, would be complete without the recently released free version of Auburn Sounds' Graillon 2!
From first glance, you'll notice a beautiful vintage-looking interface with large fonts and a standout color scheme that makes it easy to navigate. An easy central waveform display shows where the current note of your sound is, as well as exactly where Graillon 2 is correcting it.
Behind the eye-catching and functional design is a well-programmed plugin that can perform both heavy autotune and fine pitch correction functions flawlessly!
For easy and quick use, simply adding it as an insert on your desired channel and turning on the correction will suffice in most cases. To adjust, use the critical 'inertia' knob as a 'speed' knob mentioned previously. It reduces pitch correction jumps by helping notes 'stick'.
You should be careful with this function, however, as some notes may 'stick' for too long, hence altering the melody altogether.
If you're looking for a robotic sound, adjust the 'smooth' knob in the correction module, which controls how slow or fast your sound will jump from one note to the other.
Yet another feature available on Graillon 2 is the 'bitcrusher' area on the left side. Even more, it can make a voice 'growl' as well as reinforce the bass portion of monophonic pitched sounds, a function unique to Graillon 2.
With proper adjustment of the quantize and reduction knobs, you can get sounds that are highly distorted, 'bitcrushed', or a robotic growl sound by reducing the reduction knob.
Graillon 2 can also double as a pitch-shifting plugin with a pitch wheel on the bottom left. There's also an option to keep the formants of the track along with it, which changes the singer's perceived vocal tract shape and the shape of the singer's mouth while singing. If you're looking for a smoother effect, it's often best to change both the pitch and the formants at the same rate.
Also included are convenient knobs such as dry/wet for overall effect adjustment, a low cut filter, and an adjustable output gain meter.
As Graillon 2 is a proverbial swiss army knife in the autotune realm, capable of most features, with an included bitcrusher, growl sound capabilities, and with a beautiful interface, there aren't many negatives to this one.
If you need flawless all-around functionality with a few bonus features thrown in, Graillon 2 is your best bet.
Get it here.
4. KeroVee
The Japan-based, g200kg company created KeroVee back in 2010, and it's still used for deep pitch correction adjustment today.
What KeroVee lacks in extreme robotic effects, it makes up for with ultra-precise pitch adjustment capabilities that are far better than most free autotune plugins!
Similar to GSnap, there's an easy scaled interface on the left side so you can see exactly what KeroVee is doing and respond accordingly.
Just to the right of this block, you can click which notes of the scale you want KeroVee to adjust to. Selected notes will have a green block next to them, while deselected notes will be black.
Also similar to GSnap, you can route MIDI notes to KeroVee for the plugin to use as a guide. This is a crucial function that lets you tell KeroVee exactly what notes the singer should be on, with a large set of knobs to customize further.
Unique to KeroVee is a 'nuance' parameter that allows you to keep or ignore subtle pitch changes, such as natural vibrato from the singer.
Typical on most autotune plugins, you get a 'TuneSpeed' knob which controls how fast the VST will fix the incoming audio.
The calib function controls the overall pitch of the sound, and on the bottom are important functions such as pitch and formant shifting, fine tuning for precision work, and panning and volume knobs.
If you're looking for an autotune plugin that is tailor-made specifically for fine adjustment of vocals, rather than a harsh and noticeable effect, KeroVee will be a good place to start.
The free download can be found here.
5. X42 Auto-Tune
X42 Auto-Tune is a simple autotuner based on the zita-at1 by Fons Adriaensen. It's much better if you use it as a light tonal fixer over a full-on robotic autotuner.
It works by resampling the material fed into it and then looping the signal. It does not have any formant correction capabilities.
As a result, its uses don't come from transposing a track, but from subtle adjustments to vocals.
Even though the X42 has a specific set of sounds it can perform on, when you use it correctly, it does a goob job!
As with the GSnap and KeroVee, it can be fed MIDI from which it adjusts the vocal notes to. Otherwise, you can input a fixed set of notes from any musical key for the program to respond to.
Although it shares similarities with other plugins, there are some unique features the X42 has that others don't.
The 'Bias' parameter lets the vocals to stay on their current note for a longer period of time instead of moving quickly to one of your selected notes, regardless of if they're in tune or not. It allows for more off-tune and natural singing sounds.
Furthermore, it includes a unique 'offset' parameter which adjusts how far the vocalist can venture from the predesigned notes.
Like the bias parameter, this will let you to keep some of the vocalist's minor mistakes for a more organic sounding performance, if need be.
What this plugin lacks in formant features, sparkly design, and variability in sound adjustment, it makes up for with unique parameters and fine MIDI control of missed notes.
Try it out here.
6. Autotalent
Don't be fooled by the simple interface!
Autotalent by Oli Larkin is a well designed, fully functioning autotune and pitch correction VST.
You can use it for light pitch correction and full-on robotic autotune, and it even contains chiptune effects!
Top Free Plug-ins 2018
It includes all of your typical parameters needed in an autotune plugin. It allows smoothing, subtle pitch shifting to scaled notes, and a full formant editing function.
With Autotalent, you set notes on the piano scale to '-1' for notes you want to exclude, and '0' if you do want the singer or instrument on that note.
Autotalent, unlike any other free autotune VST, offers an extensive LFO and vibrato section. Use this section to add vibrato, skill, and confidence into a vocalist's performance.
The LFO can also be used to add a unique chiptune effect to the vocal or instrument! Chiptune describes a sound that appears to have come from early gaming consoles.
So despite a relatively lacking interface, Autotalent offers a wealth of both robotic and smooth autotune options, as well as unique LFO section. If you're looking for this type of versatility and want to try the plugin-specific LFO module, give Autotalent a try.
Listen to a demo of the plugin in action here.
Download it here.
7. AAS Autotune
Last, but certainly not least, we're going to include an interface-less plugin, the AAS Autotune by Arguru.
Obviously, without any user interface, you're only going to have one specific set of parameters working at one time!
Use AAS Autotune to get the classic and harsh 'T-Pain' effect on vocals.
It's a robotic and fast-moving sound that's only useful in certain situations, but it works well when it's needed, such as hip-hop songs that use purposefully autotuned vocals as an effect.
It's ultra simple, but incredibly useful!
You can directly download it here.
Conclusion
Because of the overwhelming amount of music that includes some sort of vocal or tuned instruments, autotune and pitch correction plugins are an absolute necessity!
Hopefully we've been able to help you figure out what you want from this class of free plugins.
You should be thinking about whether you want the heavy, unnatural, and robotic sound, or a light and seamless touch that the listener's won't hear, most often used to put small touch-ups on a vocal performance.
Furthermore, we've gone through all of the advantages and disadvantages to the 7 free plugins we listed above as it pertains to those needs.
All of them have special features unique to the situations they're used in, and there should be many in this list that fit your autotune needs!
Have you used any of these plugins before?
Did we miss a free autotune plugin that you love to use?
Let us know in the comment section below!
(2 Ableton Project Files & 300 Drum Samples + Loops)
