bpb Freeware Studio: Best Free VST Host Applications

By Tomislav Zlatic // Updated on February 20, 2017 VST Plugins

bpb Freeware Studio: Best Free VST Host Applications
After covering numerous free VST plugins so far in our bpb Freeware Studio series (aka Free VST Plugins Directory), now would be the right time to take a look at the best free VST host applications currently available.

Various different types of VST host apps were included in the list, from fairly basic ones useful for plugin testing, to modular DAWs, trackers, and some full-featured live performance hosts.

Free VST Host Applications

Follow the links for screenshots & download info:

Ableton Live Lite 8 [DAW] by Ableton (Mac, Windows) // Ends May 31st!
Aodix [Tracker] by Arguru Software (Windows)
Ardour [DAW] by Ardour (Linux, Mac)
asHost [Live Host] by Asseca (Windows)
BeRoTracker [Tracker] by Benjamin Rosseaux (Windows)
Buzz [Tracker] by Jeskola (Windows)
Cantabile Lite [Live Host] by Topten Software (Windows)
DarkWave Studio [DAW] by ExperimentalScene (Windows)
HostX [Live Host] by MTsoftware (Mac OS X)
Jost [Sequencer] by Jucetice (Linux)
KRISTAL Audio Engine [DAW] by KristalLabs (Windows)
LiveProfessor [Live Host] by ifoundasound (Windows)
LMMS [Sequencer] by LMMS (Linux, Mac, Windows)
Macaw [Sequencer]by Robin Holmes (Windows)
MiniHost [Live Host] by Tobybear Productions (Windows)
Minihost Modular [Live Host] by Image Line (Mac, Windows)
MuLab FREE [DAW] by MuTools (Mac, Windows)
MultitrackStudio Lite [Sequencer] by Bremmers Audio (Mac, Windows)
Music Studio Producer [DAW] by Frieve (Windows)
OpenMPT [Tracker] by ModPlug Central (Linux, Windows)
Pedalboard2 [Live Host] by Nial Moody (Mac, Windows)
Podium Free [DAW] by Zynewave (Windows)
Psycle [Tracker] by psycledelics (Windows)
Qtractor [DAW] by Rui Nuno Capela (Linux)
Rack Performer [Live Host] by LiveFactory (Windows)
Rax’n’Trax [Sequencer] by Nassen Software Development (Windows)
Reaper v0.999 [DAW] by Cockos (Windows)
Rosegarden [DAW] by Rosegarden Project (Linux)
SAVIHost [Live Host] by Hermann Seib (Windows)
Samplitude Silver [DAW] by MAGIX (Windows)
Scooty [Sequencer] by YK (Windows)
Tunafish [Sequencer] by Bram Bos (Windows)
Usine Free [Live Host] by Sensomusic (Windows)
VstBoard [Live Host]by CtrlBrk (Windows)
VSTHost [Live Host] by Hermann Seib (Windows)
VstSeq [Sequencer] by PQN AUDIO (Windows)

People often mention Reaper as a free VST host, but please note that Reaper is actually commercial software with a 30-day trial period. Although the actual software installation never expires, you should purchase a licence if you use it longer than 30 days (there is however Reaper v0.999 which is still available for free, many thanks to vian for sharing the info in the comments!).

MuLab FREE is my favorite freeware VST host application. Even with the 4-track limit of the free version, it is still a very powerful modular VST host which will let you create some crazy FX and instrument chains using your favorite VSTs.

Podium Free is without a doubt your best choice if you’re looking for a full-featured freeware DAW. The only serious limitation of the free version is that it uses a single CPU core, but the amount of features available at no cost is simply insane. It is very stable, perfectly designed, and definitely worth checking out (as well as the Pro version).

Podium FREE by Zynewave.

Usine Free, LiveProfessor, Rack Performer, VstBoard and Cantabile Lite are VST hosts suitable for live use, Usine currently being the most popular one.

Psycle is a free tracker which also works as a VST host. I must admit i’m not very experienced with trackers, but I know there are many people who don’t use sequencers at all and go for trackers instead, so this one’s for them.

SAVIHost, MiniHost and VSTHost are lightweight and easy to use VST host applications, perfect for quickly testing new VST plugins.

KRISTAL Audio Engine is an interesting 16-track sequencer which can load VST effects, but unfortunately doesn’t support MIDI, hence no VST instruments can be used.

Feel free to leave comments suggesting other free VST host applications I may have missed and I’ll include them in the list.

http://youtu.be/ChYL5Y5M7zs

Many thanks to Ronnie for suggesting LMMS, a free cross-platform VST host application which is a great alternative to commercial loop-based programs like FL Studio, Greg for suggesting Jeskola Buzz and DarkWave Studio, two pretty awesome free VST hosts (and also Scooty!), bonzo for suggesting OpenMPT, Alex_HS for suggesting Macaw, and gropkcor for suggesting Rax’n’Trax! Finally, a big thank you to satt for suggesting Tunafish, a lovely old school sequencer!

About Author

Tomislav Zlatic

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

51 Comments

satt
on August 16, 2011 1:59 pm

How about Tunafish from brambos? http://www.brambos.com/archive.html

Reply
- bedroom producers blog
  on August 17, 2011 9:47 pm
  
  wow, thanks so much for the suggestion! completely forgot about Tunafish somehow. cheers!
  
  Reply
Alex_HS
on September 14, 2011 6:50 pm

Another free DAW in collection – Macaw (formerly called Oscillastation, Rocktave and DeltaSP) is
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Macaw/
http://code.google.com/p/macaw/

Reply
- bedroom producers blog
  on September 14, 2011 7:48 pm
  
  thanks, i’ll check it out!
  
  Reply
Jazzigula
on October 11, 2011 12:01 am

Mulab is the one I started with. It is especially comfortable for rookies…Fancy exspensive softwares can learn much about some great concepts inside of Mulab (sequence on a track does’t have to be send on same chanel as that track etc.)…

Reply
rusk
on October 11, 2011 6:51 pm

qtractor becomes more and more useful DAW with VST support.

Reply
Windows
on December 12, 2011 11:08 pm

i enjoy this post greatly. ill be coming laterfor future readsthanks.

Reply
João Camacho on January 24, 2012 2:57 pm

hello,

great list some i didn’t know and are incredibly good as liveprofessor and cantabile.

You might like also:
Bidule: http://www.plogue.com/products/bidule/ (modular audio)
AudioMulch: http://www.audiomulch.com/ (modular audio)
energyXT: http://www.energy-xt.com/ (VST host)
Renoise: http://www.renoise.com/ (tracker)

not all are free as some on your list, but they deserve a look

Reply
- bedroom producers blog
  on January 25, 2012 6:58 pm
  
  thanks for the tips! XT Software has recently announced that the Core version of energyXT will we available for free for a limited time.
  
  Reply
Tracing Arcs on January 26, 2012 10:57 am

I was able to d/load a free version of Samplitude Silver Soundcloud edition last year from the apps section at Soundcloud. Comes with vst effex etc, and seems pretty comprehensive (with limitations ) for a freebie.
http://soundcloud.com/apps/samplitude-soundcloud

Reply
Rose Holiday
on September 25, 2012 2:36 am

Hi: I just purchased an Akai Professional LPK25. I only want to use it as a keyboard (for now anyway.) Can you tell me which freebie would be the best choice for me? I am completely brain dead when it comes to midi, so the easiest one to learn would be great!!! Thx in advance!!!

Reply
- Bedroom Producers Blog
  on September 25, 2012 3:11 pm
  
  if you want to be able to record your performance, i’d suggest MuLab Free. the limitation of the free version is that you can have a maximum of 4 VST plugins per project, but that’s more enough for starters. it’s the first VST plugin host i ever used. :)
  
  it’s extremely simple to set up, btw. just point it to your VST folder and add an instrument to a track.
  
  have fun!
  
  Reply
Godly
on May 23, 2013 4:38 pm

I’m missing BloXpander in the list, seems very promising also?
http://www.eareckon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=54&lang=en

Reply
bmovie
on June 6, 2013 8:54 pm

The latest version of Giada Loop Machine, an open source live sampler/looper/drum machine/VST host, added a VSTi support and a new piano roll module:
http://www.giadamusic.com/
Looks cool!

Reply
Doug Cox on November 13, 2013 4:06 pm

My free Windows MIDI Sequencer (almost a DAW) PianoRollComposer is at
http://jdmcox.com/

Reply
Arnerd
on April 23, 2014 6:16 am

Nice blog! Im looking for something like this, but i need some advice …

I run dj software Traktor on my windows laptop
I want to host some VSTs to route my audio in from traktor.

Preferably i want to change the values in the VST with an iPad, is this possible?

Thx!

Reply
gray
on August 2, 2014 10:12 pm

http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/us/resources/vst_scanner/vst_scanner.htm

this is a bit old but looks pretty interesting, not only will it scan vst plugins on windows but it’ll let you test them out

Reply
Aelfric
on September 22, 2014 3:47 am

As a free DAW for Mac, I’m surprised Apple’s Garageband isn’t listed—Apple made it free some time ago.

Also a coupple of updates to the Mastering Tools page (the comments are closed on that page):

• Photosounder SplineEQ is now available on the Mac.
• Pleasurize Music Foundation TT Dynamic Range Meter now requires a US$30 membership to access the download. Technically the download is still free, but requiring a paid membership first isn’t really in the spirit of free software.

Reply
Diego
on November 3, 2014 11:40 pm

Just to say that MACAW is an excelent DAW from the last versions. Is portable, support VST/i, has a goo wave editor and plugins. It has also a little whiff of pro application.
https://sites.google.com/site/turboloops/home

Reply
Petersen
on December 15, 2014 9:48 pm

Please note that for VSTHost any commercial (in your studio?) or public (a public performance?) use is strictly forbidden by the licence. I also don’t see any way to buy a commercial license. An excerpt from the license:

This free VSTHost is intended exclusively for private use. You may copy the complete program package and pass it on to others for private use only.

The free VSTHost may not be used for commercial or professional purposes.

Reply
- Ano
  on September 20, 2018 6:10 am
  
  Hi,
  There is also a Open source variant of VSTHost under the LGPL License>
  http://www.hermannseib.com/programs/vsthostsrc.zip
  Application located in folder; /Release/
  
  “Open Source Variant
  
  Originally, I made VSTHost available including the complete source code. Since I had to find out that (parts of) it made their way into other people’s programs, and that without even mentioning my contribution, the open source variant has been frozen. I continue to add bug fixes to the existing code base, but new features won’t make their way into it any more. Starting with V1.16k, this program is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser GPL.”
  http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html
  
  Reply
Breakoutbox
on February 16, 2015 1:12 pm

Please also see:

Macaw DAW Portable at
http://breakoutbox.de/software/macawportable/macawportable.html

Reply
Wolfgang
on May 30, 2015 8:19 am

In your blog about “What is a VST plug-in” you write: “Assuming that you’re happy with your hardware setup”. Can you spend some words about a typical / good hardware setup? Windows / Mac ? Many thanks.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on May 30, 2015 8:21 pm
  
  Hi Wolfgang, such an article is planned for the future!
  
  Reply
Frank
on July 30, 2015 8:30 am

Samplitude Pro X Silver is a wonderful free DAW. It has a great set of effects, as well as Revolta synth, and of course, there’s VST/VSTI support. The only serious limitation is that it only allows up to 8 tracks per project.
Please update the link: http://pro.magix.com/en/samplitude/miditech-english.730.html

Reply
Wing Yee
on March 20, 2016 3:50 am

Cantabile Version 1.2 Full is now Free! Though this version only support 32 bits but it has many of the main features as their latest Version 3 minus a few fancy extras you can do without.

https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/download/

Reply
Joseph
on March 24, 2016 1:29 am

VstHost is great, you can get really low latency even without an ASIO audio interface (for use as a guitar amp, in my case). You have to set the sample rate really high (oddly enough) and then set it to process 6400 samples a second or something like that. Works great as an amp that you can just open up and not have to wait for load times like in a DAW such as MuLab or Reaper. Great for a low budget.

Reply
Rek Jakkar
on April 8, 2016 5:30 am

I am loving IL’s Minihost Modular and I don’t even use FL Studio.

Reply
Stern
on July 5, 2016 12:33 pm

Tracktion 4
None freeware ever supported rewire function. But tracktion 4.

Reply
Szin Napalm
on October 17, 2016 3:21 am

Ive been running Mixcraft 7 professional and pardon my french but “****” I know after 10 years of creating and producing my own music I should start having pro sounding tracks, but some things were a struggle (exess bg noise balence peaking volume after mixdown on other devices, and i was getting there. Then i got mixcraft 7 (yeah i torrented it) but it turned my audio quality of soungs (start to finish) from 4-7 ish to 7-9 ish now i dont know what it is but i just got the proversion a new pc and ive been collecting tons of vst to narrow down to a perfect set! gl everyone, my you find what your looking for
Szin Napalm
“Napalmbats”
Guitarist / Side kick vox / drums machines and keys

Reply
Narcotica
on October 27, 2016 6:38 am

OpenModPlug Tracker can also handle VST

Reply
Rob
on February 2, 2017 6:52 am

hey Tomislav: i’m relatively new here. fantastic site!
one suggestion: on this issue of vst hosts, it might be worth another look to take into account more recent improvements.
thanks, rob

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on February 2, 2017 1:24 pm
  
  Thanks, Rob! And yes, the entire Free VSTs section will get a major overhaul this year. Do you have any specific suggestions for this article?
  
  Reply
Mirko
on February 18, 2017 4:41 pm

Hi! This blog is fantastic! Every time I get here I find the answer I’ve been looking for. But I need some advice. I’m looking for a free vst host that helps me to create a list that I can quickly browse with program change: I’ve already tried cantabile 1.2 (released for free) and VSTHost but though they are both good I’ve experienced several issues like crashes and driver conflicts so I’d like to try something new. Can you help me?
Many thanks.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on February 20, 2017 3:15 pm
  
  Hi Mirko, thanks for the kind words! I often used MuLab for live performances. You can save different patches in it (with different plugins and mixer settings) and flick through them using keyboard shortcuts. Not sure if it can be done via MIDI in the latest version of MuLab. Also worth checking out: Pedalboard2 (you can queue up a number of patches and switch between them), LiveProfessor, and VstBoard (I used this one a lot, but it is discontinued).
  
  Reply
  - Mirko
    on February 20, 2017 6:10 pm
    
    Hi Tomislav! Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll check them out in the next few days!
    
    Reply
    - Tomislav Zlatic
      on February 20, 2017 6:22 pm
      
      Sure, no problem!
      
      Reply
Paule
on April 11, 2017 6:08 pm

The Hermann Seib home page isn’t available any more. Are he closed his office?
Tobybear got a new home page http://www.tobybear.de/files.html

Reply
fred
on September 23, 2018 2:27 pm

many of these are not simply “VST host applications,” they are DAWs. the same mistake was made with the “audio editing software” category. it would be nice if you folks cleaned those 3 up.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on September 25, 2018 6:57 pm
  
  Hi Fred, this is a more general category than DAWs. In other words, we included all different kinds of VST plugin hosts here, such as digital audio workstations, platforms for live performance, and audio editors. But this particular page will definitely be updated soon.
  
  Reply
Gordon Langballe
on September 11, 2019 6:02 pm

Nanohost from Tone2.com is the simplest by far. Too simple though.

Reply
João Camacho
on September 15, 2019 9:30 pm

More hosts available:
Free
– Komplete Kontrol from Native Instruments (works very well with Minihost Modular from Fruity Loops for more channels. Only has 1 midi channel and no audio in).
– Element LT https://kushview.net/
– Gadwin Rockmer https://www.gadwin.com/rockmer/
– Camelot https://camelotpro.com/
– SoundBridge x64 1.12 (didn’t work on mine). https://soundbridge.io

Paid
– Gig Performer 3
– BloXpander
– Patchwork from Blue Cat
– FruityLoops 20
– FreeStyle
– Element Pro
– Akai VIP 3.1

Reply
- João Camacho
  on October 1, 2019 1:43 am
  
  I forgot NanoHost from Tone 2. It’s only for one VST. But with a plugin like Modular or other, it’s very stable. As filters and some nice features as patches, etc. https://www.tone2.com/nanohost.html
  
  Reply
Maro
on February 24, 2020 10:42 am

+1 for Element by Kushview. Works flawlessly to me on every live gig.

Reply
- Tomislav Zlatic
  on February 24, 2020 4:12 pm
  
  Yes, Element is fantastic. This article is getting a full update very soon and Element will be the #1 pick.
  
  Reply
Eric
on December 6, 2020 9:24 am

Which of the lightweight hosts will listen to midi clock from the controller and pass it on to the plug-ins? I really need a common clock between my synth and my plugins. Thanks!

Reply

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