Antares has announced a major overhaul of its vocal tuning tool AutoTune, unveiling an updated product line-up that discontinues the existing AutoTune Access and AutoTune Artist plugins and replaces them with a single product: AutoTune 2026.
Antares says AutoTune 2026 is "the most significant update in the software's history", rebuilding the plugin "from the ground up" to meet the needs of today's music-makers.
The plugin introduces an optimized vocal tuning algorithm that the company claims is 35% more efficient at 48kHz, while offering up to 2.3x faster CPU performance at high sample rates. This means users can now run twice as many instances per project without leaning too heavily on their system's resources.
AutoTune 2026's interface has been completely redesigned in an effort to create a streamlined and simplified UI that places the core tuning controls front and centre. This is enhanced by a new visual feedback indicator that displays the level of Flex Tune being applied to an incoming vocal signal.
The plugin arrives with a library of presets devised by a list of notable artists and producers that includes Zedd, DJ Swivel, Major Seven and Jean-Marie Horvat, a Grammy-nominated mixer and producer best known for his collaborations with Michael Jackson, The Weeknd and Justin Timberlake.
Introduced in 2019, AutoTune's Access and Artist versions represented the lower tiers of the company's product line-up, below the more powerful AutoTune Pro ($459). AutoTune Artist ($349) delivered most of Pro's functionality without a handful of the more advanced features. Priced at $49, AutoTune Access offered music-makers an ultra-affordable way to utilize AutoTune's basic vocal tuning without any of the bells and whistles found in the premium editions.
At $300 for a perpetual license, AutoTune 2026 delivers largely the same functionality as AutoTune Artist – and a significantly improved algorithm – at a cheaper price point. However, with the discontinuation of AutoTune Access, Antares has limited the accessibility of its core vocal tuning to those unwilling or unable to fork out several hundred dollars or pay a monthly subscription. The most affordable option in the product line-up is now AutoTune EFX+, an alternative edition oriented towards creative effects processing that's priced at $199.
AutoTune 2026 is also available as part of Antares' AutoTune Unlimited subscription plan, which gives you access to the company's entire suite of vocal production tools for $24.99/mo or $249.99 annually. A free 14-day trial is available.
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