Cyber Monday plugin deals 2025: All you need to know before the biggest sale of the year

Waves plugins: 5 for $99
Waves plugins are some of the most popular plugins of all time, making them a great place to start your plugin collection or stock it up. With an excellent selection of plugins available including 2 for $49.99, or 5 for $99.99, this Black Friday sale is a great way to get more for your money.

This bundle features more than 60 UAD plug-ins, including new additions like Ocean Way Studios Deluxe, A-Type Multiband Dynamic Enhancer, Anthem Analog Synthesizer, Showtime ’64 Tube Amp, Woodrow ’55, plus classic favourites like the 1176, LA-2A, API Vision, Studer A800 and more. It’s a deep-dive toolbox covering compression, EQ, reverb, tape, synths and guitar, and might be everything you need in one tidy place.

The one plugin I've seen in every professional studio I've been to, FabFilter's Pro-Q 4 is the industry standard for EQ. Ultra versatile with a fantastic UI and loads of clever features, it allows you to sculpt your tones exactly to your liking. A $49 discount at Plugin Boutique makes this a must-have for your surgical EQ needs.

Vocalign is on my shopping list this year, having recently used the trial. It's great for making your vocal editing more efficient, allowing you to quickly and easily synchronize vocal doubles and harmonies to get a really professional sound. It's currently got a hefty $80 discount at Plugin Boutique, and you can use it on other instruments too, making it an amazing tool for speeding up the editing of your productions.

Read more: Synchro Arts Vocalign Ultra review

Another bit of outboard gear I’m very familiar with, the Avalon BT-737 Tube Channel Strip can be characterised with a single word - clean. Seemingly no matter how hard you push it them the preamps still remain incredibly transparent, delivering a glossy sheen to whatever signals you feed it. With preamp, opto-compressor, and EQ I use it a lot for vocals, but it’s versatile enough to take a shine to pretty much any instrument.

The ultimate drum software just got a massive $130 discount over at Sweetwater. Packed full of ultra-realistic drum tones with endless tweakability, whether you're recording entirely in the box you're looking to sample replace, or backup real-world drum recordings, Superior 3's offering is unparalleled.

If you want to add realistic drum sounds to your productions for less, this awesome deal on BFD 3.5 at Plugin Boutique is well worth a look. With a massive $160 reduction, you're getting quality drum sounds straight into your DAW for well below $50. With a massive 51 kits there's plenty to get stuck into, and if you like tweaking your drum sounds then you'll love the depth of offer here.

The API 500 series is one of my favourite bits of outboard in the studio I work in, so when I’m at home the EQ plugin is one of my top choices. An engineer friend of mine described it as ‘revealing’ and I can’t put it any better than that. Even when you start getting into boosting frequencies in the realm of 12dB it still somehow manages to sound good, and despite being initially confusing, I find the two-tiered knobs really quick and easy to use once you get used to them.

Read more: Universal Audio API 500 Series EQ review

Packing 67 bundles into one all-encompassing package, the Waves Platinum Bundle is the perfect place to start your producing journey. Bought individually at full price they'd total a massive $1,999, but a ginormous $1,800 discount brings them back into the reach of the majority of music makers out there.

Another bit of outboard gear I’m very familiar with, the Avalon BT-737 Tube Channel Strip can be characterised with a single word - clean. Seemingly no matter how hard you push it them the preamps still remain incredibly transparent, delivering a glossy sheen to whatever signals you feed it. With preamp, opto-compressor, and EQ I use it a lot for vocals, but it’s versatile enough to take a shine to pretty much any instrument.

Antares Auto-Tune Pro: 60% off subscription
Probably the most famous vocal plugin of all time, Antares has slashed a massive 50% off Auto-Tune subscriptions for the all-encompassing tuning software. Nearly every modern record uses vocal tuning in one form or another, and so should yours.

Vocalign is on my shopping list this year, having recently used the trial. It's great for making your vocal editing more efficient, allowing you to quickly and easily synchronize vocal doubles and harmonies to get a really professional sound. It's currently got a hefty $80 discount at Plugin Boutique, and you can use it on other instruments too, making it an amazing tool for speeding up the editing of your productions.

Read more: Synchro Arts Vocalign Ultra review

The API 500 series is one of my favourite bits of outboard in the studio I work in, so when I’m at home the EQ plugin is one of my top choices. An engineer friend of mine described it as ‘revealing’ and I can’t put it any better than that. Even when you start getting into boosting frequencies in the realm of 12dB it still somehow manages to sound good, and despite being initially confusing, I find the two-tiered knobs really quick and easy to use once you get used to them.

Read more: Universal Audio API 500 Series EQ review

I've used the Scheps Omni Channel on pretty much every instrument at some point, whether adding a light touch of vibe or totally transforming the properties of an audio source. It's a 5-module channel strip that features preamp, EQ, de-essing, compressor, and gating, making it a proper Swiss-army knife tool for your productions. There are loads of great presets built into it that make a good starting point for beginners, and if you know your stuff, plenty of options to tweak and shape your sounds.

Another unmissable deal on perhaps the ultimate EQ control room. With parameters for fine-tuning your frequencies beyond most other plugins on the market. You shouldn't miss this one.

A fantastic deal on an intelligent and easy-to-use EQ that will point out where you're going wrong, and fix your problems without breaking a sweat. Sonnox has a wealth of experience in this field and Claro is built on their expert knowledge.

Gullfoss is an intelligent EQ plugin that forensically diagnoses what's going wrong in your mixes - and can correct those issues at will. It's a recommended pick-up.

The one plugin I've seen in every professional studio I've been to, FabFilter's Pro-Q 4 is the industry standard for EQ. Ultra versatile with a fantastic UI and loads of clever features, it allows you to sculpt your tones exactly to your liking. A $49 discount at Plugin Boutique makes this a must-have for your surgical EQ needs.

While I don’t have an actual one of these to use, it doesn’t stop me from putting the SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor on pretty much all of my productions. It works amazingly on a drum bus for adding punch, as well as on the master bus for helping add that final touch of cohesion in the mix-down phase. I love how it’s really easy to get a good sound out of it, and the built-in presets give you a strong starting point even if you’re not an expert in compression.

Read more: Universal Audio SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor review

One of the all-time classic compressor plugins, Waves CLA-76 is many producers' go-to for drum busses. It can add a specific character that will make your drums sound like they're being hit harder, without drastically increasing your peak levels. It's not just viable on drums, though; it really is a Swiss-army style comp that can do the job on guitars, vocals, pianos, and pretty much anything else, so well worth picking up at this bargain price point.

Even if you already own a 76-style compressor plugin, this is one of the best Black Friday plugin deals I've ever seen. Normally retailing at $299 it's got a humongous 90% discount, taking the price down to less than your average family takeaway. Capturing all the characteristics of the original hardware units, I reach for these plugins a lot when I'm mixing.

If you want to instantly amp up your home recording efforts, you should buy this plugin right now. It's got a huge $199 reduction over at Plugin Boutique and is designed to be placed at the very end of your mix bus. The Sonnox Oxford Limiter will hugely increase the loudness and clarity of your mix without clipping. We've just bought one ourselves, and it's had an instant effect on our mixes, helping bring our tracks to life at the mixdown stage.

With its excellent selection of analog-flavored delay tones, Baby Audio's Comeback Kid is a great choice if you're in the market for a delay plugin. It's already pretty cheap by plugin standards, but a $40 discount at Plugin Boutique has brought it down to just $29, an absolute steal.

Read more: Baby Audio Comeback Kid review

Probably my all-time favorite delay plugin, Soundtoys EchoBoy has been used at one point or another on pretty much all of my productions, and I regularly see it appearing in professional studios too. Packed full of lush analogue delay tones and with unparalleled flexibility in tweaking, with $150 off at Plugin Boutique it's a must-have for your plugin folder.

I already own UAD Sound City Studios and it's quickly become one of my most used plugins. I use it to liven up drum room sounds, add space to guitar tracks recorded via plugins, and give a sense of space to vocals. It's already cheaper than it was last year, so well worth picking up if you want to add better depth to your mixes.

Expanding hugely on the original Pro-R, the mark II version of FabFilter's reverb plugin significantly ups its game. Available with a tasty $49 discount at Plugin Boutique, like FabFilter's other plugins you get loads of versatility in how you shape your tones with ducking, auto-gate, saturation, and freeze controls all built-in directly.

This reverb goes beyond stereo and has been tailor-made for 3D and spatial mixing. With support for up to 7.1.6 channels, this particular reverb/space-shaper is a real boon for making those mixes sound even bigger.

I love using the Thermionic Culture Vulture on my bass guitar tracks, but it’s a versatile saturation plugin that can be easily utilized across the full depth and breadth of your productions. It can do everything from subtle to thickening to full-on sonic destruction, and the plugin includes some features you don’t get on the hardware, including a mix knob and stereo link function.

Read more: Universal Audio Thermionic Culture Vulture review

If you've got an instrument track that just isn't quite sitting right, or you want to add some extra texture to the whole mix, Waves Kramer Master Tape is a fantastic analogue tape emulation. It adds a really punchy sound and is based on a machine that has featured on loads of classic records. There are plenty of controls for tweaking it to your exact specifications, which makes it super versatile in the mix.

Another plugin I use on pretty much everything, the Oxide Tape Recorder is a regular customer on my drum bus, adding punch and low end warmth to the overall kit sound. It’s super easy to use unlike an actual tape machine, meaning you can apply it effectively with a minimum of fuss. It’s great for getting that final bit of warmth onto any instrument, and is really effective used on buses to help glue everything together.

If the thought of a plugin with a million options on it brings you out in a sweat, you'll love Baby Audio's Super VHS. Simple, yet powerful, it's capable of subtle character changes right through to all-out mangling of whatever sound you want to feed it. Down to just $9.99 from $69, you're saving yourself a hefty $60, brilliant value.

One of the most popular saturation plugins in the industry, Soundtoys Decapitator is a standard in studios across the globe. Versatile enough to cover a light dusting of vibe all the way through to all-out sonic destruction, this is one plugin that should be in every producer's arsenal. A $150 discount over at Plugin Boutique makes it a fantastic early deal to take advantage of.

Ultra-affordable yet incredibly realistic, Aberrant DSPs SketCassette II is honestly one of the best cassette emulators I've ever used. Even at full price it's an absolute bargain, but an extra $12 saving doesn't hurt. Perfect for lo-fi lovers or those who just want some extra character on a boring sound.

Containing stunningly accurate recreations of the holy trinity of guitar amp tone in the Fender Deluxe Reverb, the Marshall Plexi, and the Vox AC30, this guitar bundle is great if you want iconic tube tones from the comfort of your DAW. I use these regularly to back up recorded guitar tones from the studio, and they do a scarily convincing job of replicating the real thing. It now also contains the Woodrow 55 amp, which while lesser known is still a great tone to have in your arsenal.

If you want to add realistic drum sounds to your productions for less, this awesome deal on BFD 3.5 at Plugin Boutique is well worth a look. With a massive $160 reduction, you're getting quality drum sounds straight into your DAW for well below $50. With a massive 51 kits there's plenty to get stuck into, and if you like tweaking your drum sounds then you'll love the depth of offer here.

The ultimate drum software just got a massive $130 discount over at Sweetwater. Packed full of ultra-realistic drum tones with endless tweakability, whether you're recording entirely in the box you're looking to sample replace, or backup real-world drum recordings, Superior 3's offering is unparalleled.

An ultra-powerful way to increase the punchiness of your drum recordings - or replace them entirely - Steven Slate Drums Trigger 2 is used by many pro engineers to augment their drum tracks. It's incredibly accurate bleed suppression needs to be heard to be believed, and it comes loaded with loads of great samples too. A $70 discount at Sweetwater makes it a must-have if you want to add some pro sheen to your drums.

Avid Pro Tools: Up to 40% off
It may get a lot of flak online, but it doesn't change the fact that most professional studios run on Pro Tools. If you want to work in real world studios, this is the DAW you need to know. Right now at Avid, you can bag yourself up to 40% off annual subscriptions, saving yourself up to $208 versus the regular pricing.

The most comprehensive version of Ableton has got a gigantic $187.25 reduction over at Sweetwater. Jam packed with 20 software instruments, 58 effects, and over 71GB of content, this is the ultimate DAW for the music maker who likes to do things differently.

Universal Audio Spark gives you access to a full 60 different UAD plugins, and more are being added all the time. It's a great value way to jump into the UAD ecosystem, or just try out a huge range of their plugins to pick out the ones you love. With everything from EQs, compressors, saturation, reverb, delay, and even amp modellers, this is an all encompassing subscription that will cover all of your needs and then some.

Containing a humongous 240+ plugins, this subscription to Waves Ultimate has every plugin you'll ever need and then some. It includes plugin updates, regularly added plugins, Waves Stream remote collaboration, premium mixing courses, and plenty more.

Waves Black Friday: Free plugin
We can reveal that Waves will be giving away a brand new free plugin this Black Friday, so if you want to be the first in line to get yours you can sign up right now. Last year they gave away IDX Intelligent Dynamics, a plugin designed to improve the overall sound of your mix by applying frequency-dependent compression. It retails for $79 now, so it's well worth signing up to this years offer, because who doesn't love free gear?

Valhalla DSP Supermassive: Free
Once you've used Valhalla's Supermassive reverb plugin it's honestly difficult to believe it's free. Packed with larger-than-life sounds it is perfect when you want to add some ultra-spacious tones to your recordings. I regularly use it on ambient tones in my recordings, and it's great for vocals too.