Cyber Monday plugin deals 2025: The biggest plugin sale of the year is over
Cyber Weekend has officially ended, but there are still some last-minute savings to take advantage of on music software
1. Quick links
2. Editor's picks
3. Vocals
4. EQ
5. Compression
6. Delay
7. Reverb
8. Saturation
9. Guitars
10. Drums
11. Instruments
12. DAWs
13. Subscriptions
14. Free plugins
So that's it, the Cyber Monday plugin deals are officially over. That doesn't mean you can't pick up a nice saving on software if you're late to the party. There's still loads of ongoing sales at the moment, but I can't guarantee how long they'll be around for.
Plugins like those from Oeksound, Sonnox, ROLI, and Toontrack's Superior Drummer 3 have all come off sale now, but over at Plugin Boutique there's still plenty of savings available. Their Cyber Week sale has extended the window of opportunity, with discounts still hitting up to 96% off.
Over at Universal Audio their Holiday sale continues too, so you can get your hands on awesome deals on UA plugins. For now, you can still bag plugins at just $29, create your own bundle with 10 plugins for a lowly $99, and even bag a free plugin.
Universal Audio has launched a fresh Holiday Sale today, and many of the deals we've seen over the past week are still available there. That means you can bag top-notch plugins for just $29, create your own custom bundle with 10 plugins for just $99, and you can still pick yourself up a plugin completely free of charge.
Below, you'll find all the best deals on plugins still going post Cyber Weekend. If you've got your eye on something I'd advise you to act fast however, as there's no guarantees they'll be around much longer.
⚡ Cyber Monday plugin deals: Quick links
If you want a quick link to the hottest plugin deals right now, here's what I recommend you go check out:
- FabFilter Pro-Q 4: Save 24%
- Soundtoys 5.5: Massive $360 off
- UAD Mixtape: 10 plugins just $99
- Ableton Live 12 Suite: $187 reduction
- Melodyne 5: Better vocals 74% off
- Vocalign Pro: 40% discount
- Neural DSP Tone King: Half price amp sim
- Waves Platinum: 67 plugins $129.99
- Plugin Boutique Bundle:
$1,820.97, $69 - BFD Drums: Huge $160 off
If you already know what you're looking for, here are some links to all the Cyber Monday sales that are live right now:
- 📈 TODAY'S MOST POPULAR
- Sweetwater: Huge up to 80% off sale
- Universal Audio: 10 plugins $99
- 🛒 MORE OPTIONS
- Plugin Boutique: Up to 96% off
- Waves: 5 plugins $99.99
- Native Instruments: Up to $173 off
- IK Multimedia: Save on Max software
- Loopcloud: Save 40%
- Loopmasters: 50% off samples
- Guitar Center: Up to 40% Cyber Monday sale
Cyber Monday plugin deals: Editor's picks
UAD Mixtape: 10 plugins for $99
This bundle deal lets you pick ten of your most wanted Universal Audio plugins, all for the low price of just $99. It includes some amazing plugins like the Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor, API Vision Channel Strip, SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor, Manley Massive Passive EQ, and loads more, so if you need to stock up, this is the place to do it.
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
Universal Audio: Free plugin
Choose from one of ten different plugins free of charge with this amazing deal over at the Universal Audio website. From classic compressors to tape saturation, there’s something for everyone here, but you’ll need to act fast because they’re only available from November 27 to December 1.
89% Off: This huge suite of analog gear emulations, amps, effects. An exclusive collection for Plugin Boutique, it sports the vintage-flavored Amp Room: Vintage Suite, the unmistakable character of British Class A, and the punchy precision of FET Compressor Mk II.
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.
Includes Timeless 3, Saturn 2, Twin 3 and Volcano 3. This bundle is great for ambient, electronic or cinematic work, and far more flexible than buying each separately.
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
🎤 Vocal plugin deals
For a lot of working producers, Melodyne will be amongst their most used plugins. Pretty much every vocal nowadays is tuned, to the point that most big live shows you go to will have some form of tuning on the vocal. I use Melodyne all the time, and I love its straightforward workflow that enables me to speedily tune vocal takes and get to the important stuff more quickly. With a massive $74 off at Plugin Boutique, this is one Black Friday plugin buy I guarantee will improve the quality of your music.
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.
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
An AI-driven noise removal tool built for vocal isolation and cleanup. It strips background noise while keeping the voice intact, making it valuable for producers who rely on samples, field recordings or less-than-ideal takes. A genuine time saver for anyone handling spoken or sung audio.
A specialist tool that automatically removes or reduces breaths in vocal recordings. Perfect for podcasters, narration producers and vocal-heavy mixes where cleanup usually eats time. Set it, fine tune it, move on. Not glamorous, but absolutely essential once you’ve used it.
Antares Auto-Tune Pro: 70% off subscription
Probably the most famous vocal plugin of all time, Antares has slashed a massive 70% off Auto-Tune annual subscriptions for the all-encompassing tuning software. Nearly every modern record uses vocal tuning in one form or another, and so should yours.
🎛️ EQ plugin deals
Whether you use this AI-powered beast as the starting point for your mastering journey, or just let it handle the whole thing, you'll be more than satisfied with its punchy results - which offer ample room for fine-tuning
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 $50 discount at Plugin Boutique makes this a must-have for your surgical EQ needs.
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
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.
Read more: Soundtheory Gullfoss 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.
📉 Compression plugin deals
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.
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 $199 it's got a humongous 75% 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.
🔁 Delay plugin deals
This vintage-inspired tape delay is one I actually reach for ahead of some of the more guitar-friendly alternatives in my arsenal. It’s full of warmth, flexible modulation, filter sweeps and true stereo delay. At this price, it’s a no-brainer if you want lush echoes or experimental textures.
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.
Read more: Soundtoys 5.5 review
🌌 Reverb plugin deals
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.
A hybrid reverb with deep editing, modulation, advanced damping control and sophisticated shaping tools. It fits cleanly into everything from cinematic tails to tight mix spaces. Ideal for producers who want tweakable ambience instead of the usual set-and-forget algorithmic wash.
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.
📼 Saturation plugin deals
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.
🎸 Guitar plugin deals
If you're not so much into the heavier side of guitar playing, the Neural DSP Tone King plugin is the one you should go for. It models the boutique tones of the Tone King Imperial MKII tube guitar amplifier, giving you clean and dirty tones that not only sound incredibly realistic, but inspiring too. I own a lot of Neural plugins, and this is the one that gets the most use from me as I primarily play rock, punk, indie, and other, softer styles.
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.
IK Multimedia's Amplitube 5 is currently a RIDICULOUS 73% off over on IK Multimedia’s official site. It’s the ultimate all-in-one package for guitar players wanting to jack into the software-production universe without compromise. If that sounds like you, then this is probably the number one thing I’d stress you to get over this weekend.
IK Multimedia was the first to create a perfectly modelled bass instrument, and MODO Bass 2 is still the gold standard for instant live-sounding low-end as far as I'm concerned. At 75% off you shouldn't miss this
A complete virtual guitar rig with amps, cabs, stomps and routing options. It delivers fast workflows and versatile tones without fuss. Whether you track guitars daily or just need a reliable all-rounder for writing, GTR3 covers a surprising range for the price.
🥁 Drum plugin deals
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.
33% off this remarkable drum-stem separator that can enable deep editing of legacy drum recordings via the power of AI. You see, it's not all bad!
A huge saving on this collection of top-tier drum (and a few nifty effect) plugins. Beat Scholar and MINDst Drums are the real draw here, and provide versatile control over every element of a drum performance
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.
🎹 Instruments
Native Instruments: Komplete bundles up to 50% off
NI's Komplete bundles round up the best of the company's synths, effects, sampled instruments and expansions, along with highlights from iZotope's mixing and mastering tools. It makes for a very well-rounded package, and a bargain given these Black Friday deals.
An incredibly quirky and surprisingly dense creative synth, sampler and instrumental toolkit, you'll be amazed at how much CUBE can bring to your tracks. Get it cheap now!
45 exquisite soft synths modelled on some of music technology's heavy-hitters. It's a premium suite of instruments and one of the most desired bundles around.
An incredible sounding analog-modelled soft-synth beauty. Diva has become a modern classic for its authentic retro sounds which stem from its studiously designed inner workings, and its zero-delay feedback filters
The authentic sound of five analog giants that you’d have to pay an arm-and-a-leg for (literally, probably) are accessible for probably the cheapest price they’ve ever been. These are some truly legendary instruments, albeit in software form (I mean, in my book - that’s a pro, not a con!)
The Digital Polysynth Collection is a bundle of four Roland instruments from its 40 year-history. Backed by Digital Circuit Behavior (DCB) technology, these iconic synths are brought to life with breathtaking realism and authenticity, and right now they're extraordinarily cheap!
For the Black Friday period only, this low-cost, three-item bundle features a sublime recreation of a JUNO-106 and two legendary drum machines. It's seemingly too good to be true, and will undoubtedly pay for itself in spades if you choose to grab it
Containing four of the best orchestral sample instruments money can buy, including the award-winning Hollywood Orchestra, Hollywood Fantasy Orchestra, Hollywood Strings 2 and Hollywood Choirs, you'll be dishing out the Oscar-winning soundtracks in no time
🖥️ DAWs
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 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.
Read more: Ableton Live 12 Suite review
🖊️ Subscriptions
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.
🆓 Free plugins
Universal Audio: Free plugin
Choose from one of ten different plugins free of charge with this amazing deal over at the Universal Audio website. From classic compressors to tape saturation, there’s something for everyone here, but you’ll need to act fast because they’re only available from November 27 to December 1.
Audio Plugin Deals: Free bundle
This incredibly generous bundle from Audio Plugin Deals gives you $211 worth of content for absolutely nothing, making it one of the best value deals around for Black Friday. It includes 7 Kontakt libraries that comprise instruments and samples, making it a boon for anyone who makes music in the box. Bear in mind that this won’t work with the free version of Kontakt however, so you’ll need the full version in order to get the most out of this deal.
Antelope Audio MG4+: Free plugin
Based on the Maag Audio EQ4, this EQ plugin from Antelope Audio is available completely free of charge until November 30. It may look like any other EQ, but the MG4+ does a really neat trick that very few other EQs have in their locker. The 'sky' band allows you to add a high frequency shelf to the 30k and beyond band, which can have a marked effect on your mix or on your vocal tracks. While most humans can't hear beyond 20k, adding this air band gives a perceptible lift to your tracks, and for nothing it's well worth adding to your tone locker.
AIR Tape Double-Track: Free tape plugin
If you’re tired of double-tracking your guitar and vocal takes, this awesome plugin from AIR gives you the feel of tape double-tracking without the endless onslaught of punching in and recording separate takes. AIR Tape Double-Track creates the illusion of multiple takes by using varispeed and modulation to cut down on time recording and speed up your productions. It’s available completely free of charge at the AIR website.
Plugin Boutique: Free with paid purchase
Okay so this isn’t strictly 100% free, but if you buy anything in the Plugin Boutique Black Friday sale you can bag yourself one of five plugins completely free of charge. With some deals at the PB site in the single figures, this is a great value way to get more for your money, even if you’re just buying a simple utility plugin to help elevate your mixes. You can choose from Lunacy Time, IK Multimedia MixBox, Universal Audio UAD Galaxy Tape Echo, Native Instruments Massive, or Excite Audio Bloom Vocal Edit Lite when you check out.
Neural DSP Nano Cortex: Free plugin
The Neural DSP Nano Cortex is ideal for players who don’t want to fully commit to a floor modeler but want the convenience of amp modeling for playing live shows. It’s jam-packed with some of the most incredible captures we’ve ever heard, and you can make your own captures with it too – impressive for such a small unit. With this deal, if you buy a Nano Cortex from an approved retailer between November 21 and December 3, you can bag yourself any Neural DSP plugin completely free of charge!
iZotope Vocal Doubler: Free vocal plugin
This one is actually available year-round, but if you’re on the hunt for free plugins I can highly recommend iZotope’s Vocal Doubler. It’s a great way to add that subtle depth you get from multiple vocal takes when you’ve only got a single take to work with. The super clean UI makes it really easy to use, and you can add stereo separation or more variation between the real take and the simulated one.
Kiloheartz Essentials: 35 free plugins
The KiloHeartz Essentials Bundle is insane value for money, and perfect for producers who are just taking up the craft for the first time. Featuring a full 35 totally free plugins, it covers everything from EQs, compressors, delays, reverbs, transient shapers, filters, and pretty much any other type of plugin. They’re super simple to use, making them great for learning your craft on and with so many available for nothing, it’s one of the best value plugin deals you can get.
Native Instruments Supercharger: Free compressor
Native Instruments’ Supercharger is a tube compression emulation that not only tames transients but adds a characterful drive to your sounds. This free version works with a single knob, making it another great one for beginners to dive into compressing sounds. I’ve found it works great on vocals and drums in particular, and the mix knob is a really handy way of doing super quick parallel compression when you don’t want to smash the life out of your tracks.
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.
❓ Cyber Monday plugin deals: FAQ
When do the Cyber Monday plugin deals start?
Cyber Monday isn't 'officially' until Monday 2 December, but last year things kicked off much earlier than that, so it pays to be prepared. Waves got the wheels in motion with a sneak peak at the deals they planned on launching in November, followed by a natural segue into their Early Bird plugin deals at the start of November. Discounts were applied to a mixture of Waves classics, sought-after analogue outboard emulations as well as signature plugins from some of the world’s biggest producers, including Chris Lorde Alge, Joseph Jack Puig, Butch Vig and Andrew Scheps to name just a few.
Will we see more Cyber Monday plugin deals sooner than the day itself? Judging by previous years, that's a strong horse to back. Whether we see more brands than just Waves jumping on the early doors bandwagon remains to be seen.
You can also expect the deals to continue well into the week following Cyber Monday.
If you're using Cyber Monday to save money on Christmas gifts, our guide to the best Christmas gifts for musicians is great for inspiration.
What deals should I expect?
Loads of music software sites will be taking part in the Cyber Monday plugins bonanza, so we'd recommend signing up to mailing lists of your favourite retailers now to get the jump on the best deals when they do come around.
Of course, if you'd rather not deal with the stress of searching through endless deals yourself, as we get closer to the event our experts will be pulling all-nighters to uncover the very best Cyber Monday plugin deals and publishing them on this page.
We’d recommend bookmarking this page - as well as our main Cyber Monday music deals hub page - while you remember.
So we know there will be deals. But what should you be looking out for? We've covered enough of these events to know a thing or two about what to expect. Seeing as plugins are downloads rather than physical products, they won’t sell out. A more realistic consideration is that some of these deals might be time-limited to just a day or two, or perhaps only a few hours, so we’d recommend you don’t ponder a purchase for too long.
Discounts can range from a few $/£ off a cool sample pack to massive percentage discounts off huge swathes of music production software.
Great deals come in all shapes and sizes. There are a few key types to look out for:
- Single item - A single product or plugin with a great discount
- Site-wide discounts - A single discount percentage on a large range of products across a site
- Discount codes - Load your basket to a certain value and redeem a discount code for money off your basket contents
- Added value deals - These include multi-buy discounts, or additional products or software for free when you buy certain items
Whichever deals you go for, you can guarantee there will be silly savings up for grabs, so if you’re planning on updating your studio or adding to your collection to boost your music production set-up, it’s well worth marking your diary for this year's Cyber Monday plugin deals.
Can I get free plugins on Cyber Monday?
Yes! Many sites offer a free plugin to celebrate Cyber Monday and as a way to tempt you onto their sites, so you could feasibly take advantage of the Cyber Monday hysteria without spending a thing.
Once again, Waves is a sure bet when it comes to free stuff and last year they gave customers the Lil Tube Saturator plugin completely free. Usually all you have to do is provide them with an email address to get your freebie.
And Auto-Tune masters Antares gave customers multiple plugins to choose from without spending a dime. You could choose from one of three Auto-Tune plugins and keep it forever, even after your subscription period ends. You could pick either Auto-Tune Slice (a hybrid synth and sampler), Auto-Tune Vocal EQ (an EQ designed specifically for singers), or Auto-Tune Vocodist (for that Daft Punk/Kraftwerk vocoder effect).
Elsewhere, Slate Digital released a brand new plugin, Fresh Air specifically for Cyber Monday, and gave it away for free. You can still pick it up for nothing today.
Which sites are best for software deals on Cyber Monday?
We have personal experience shopping software at a varity of retailers and we know the ones we trust and where we've had a great experience. These are the places we will always recommend first.
For us, on Cyber Monday there are a small handful of places that we would point your towards and it's a mix of software developers and retailers.
Developers we trust include Waves, IK Multimedia and Native Instruments. They all run great sales and we know they're above board. Buying software from them is a breeze and they all offer fantastic customer service.
Special shout out to Plugin Boutique who sell plugins from hundreds of fantastic brands.
Specialist online music retailers have become better on the software front, too. Where you used to only be able to buy physical copies of DAWs, it's now easy to access direct digital downloads at places like Sweetwater, Guitar Center and Thomann of all your favourite plugin brands. And the best thing is that, because software is a download rather than a physical product that needs shipping, you can go for the seller that has the best price!
🛒 How to prepare for this year's Cyber Monday plugin deals
1. Create a wishlist early - The most sensible way to take advantage of this year's Cyber Monday plugin deals is to know in advance what you’re looking for. This will make searching much easier, rather than having to trawl through loads of deals you don’t want to find the ones you do, or pondering title you don't need.
2. Work out what you actually need - Check out your favourite brands, see what you need and will genuinely use - don’t waste your cash and fill your basket with stuff you'll never load. Has there been a raft of new software launches lately? If so, perhaps the old version will be massively discounted for Cyber Monday? You could start by checking out our guide to the best Waves plugins.
3. Consider your music production goals - What do you want to achieve with you music production goals for the next 12 months or so? Is there software that will help you hit them? Or do you have an unfinished track that needs some extra sauce? Now could be the time to invest.
4. Clear some space - Something else you should consider ahead of time is whether you have enough space on your machine to account for all these additional downloads! Get rid of any unnecessary bloat on your laptop or PC now, or you might want to consider picking up one of the best external hard drives in our guide.
🧐 How we choose which plugin deals to cover
Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music-making, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products we recommend.
First and foremost, we are players and creators, and we want to match like-minded folk with the right products for them, at the best prices.
For us to recommend a deal on music software or anything else it has to be a product we rate that’s a genuinely great price or part of a truly fantastic bundle. It’s also important that we only recommend retailers where you will have a positive shopping experience.
🤔 Why you can trust our choices
We spend a lot of our time scouring software retailers for fantastic deals on our favorite plugins. Not only is it our job to research and recommend the best gear in our buyer’s guides and reviews, but we’re also dedicated to helping musicians get the best deals on the stuff they need, too. After all, the only thing better than new gear day is a hearty discount.
We cover a lot of the big sales events throughout the year, including Memorial Day, 4th of July sales and Amazon Prime Day, and we have a good view on which products are likely to receive the biggest discounts and when, the prices they’ve been in the past and which deals are genuinely worth a look.
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Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at MusicRadar. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on audio interfaces, studio headphones, studio monitors, and pretty much anything else recording-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for various music sites including Guitar World, Guitar Player, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and producing bands, he's also an alumnus of Spirit Studios, where he studied studio engineering and music production.
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