Some might tell you that that yesterday was Black Friday plugin deals day, but judging by the mega offers that are still live today, Black Friday is clearly not isolated to just a single day! This is your page to find still-live discounts on music software from the big brands, including Plugin Boutique, Waves and Native Instruments. If you’re still on the hunt for a new compressor, you want to update your DAW, load up on soft synths or get stuck into the latest music-making apps, you'll find some amazing Black Friday plugin offers right here. Of course, if you still want more, then w're keeping tabs on the Cyber Monday plugin deals, too!
Jump straight to the deals you want...
1. Software subscription deals
2. Bundles and collections
3. Sounds and samples deals
4. Individual plugin deals
5. DAW deals
If you want to get straight to the best Black Friday plugin deals that are still up for grabs, a couple of places we'd recommend heading while there's still time are Waves, where their official Black Friday sale has plugins starting from as little as $5.99 (opens in new tab), plus massive discounts on bundles. Sweetwater's official Black Friday sale is still live too, with up to 80% off big software brands (opens in new tab).
Stock of physical products has been a little unpredictable over the last few years, so we believe software is the way to go if you're looking to get your music gear fix this around Black Friday. There's no drama with software. Spotted something you like? Download it straight away and start creating – no waiting for a delivery driver to drop it at your door!
Are you Looking for more new gear to boost your home recording rig? Take a look at our round-up of more Black Friday music deals.
Black Friday plugin deals: Quick links
Below you'll find all the best Black Friday plugin sales that you can still check out:
- Amazon: Shop Cyber Monday deals on guitars, mics & more (opens in new tab)
- Antares: Up to 75% off Auto-Tune plugins (opens in new tab)
- Avid: Up to 33% off ProTools, Sibelius and more (opens in new tab)
- Fender Play: Save 50% on an annual guitar lessons subscription (opens in new tab)
- Guitar Center: Save 15% on select items over $199 (opens in new tab)
- IK Multimedia: Save up to 85% on Max bundles (opens in new tab)
- Loopcloud: Try for two months for just £/$2 (opens in new tab)
- Musician's Friend: Up to 50% off a huge range of music gear (opens in new tab)
- Native Instruments: Up to 75% off in their best Cyber Sale ever (opens in new tab)
- Plugin Boutique: Save big on plugins from SoundToys, iZotope, SSL and more (opens in new tab)
- Positive Grid: Big Black Friday savings on BIAS and Spark (opens in new tab)
- Sweetwater: Save up to 80% with their official Black Friday sale (opens in new tab)
- Thomann: Up to 80% off Download Deals on Avid, Arturia and more (opens in new tab)
- Waves: Shop the official Black Friday sale - plugins from $5.99 (opens in new tab)
Black Friday plugin deals: Subscription deals
Black Friday plugin deals: Bundle & collection deals
Black Friday plugin deals: Sounds & samples
Black Friday plugin deals: Individual plugins
Black Friday plugin deals: DAW deals
When do the Black Friday plugin deals start?
Black Friday isn't 'officially' until Friday 25 November, but last year Waves actually kicked off their Black Friday plugins bonanza at the start of October by offering up a sneak peak at the deals they planned on launching in November.
That preview ended late in October and was replaced by their Early Bird Black Friday plugin deals (which they've just launched for 2022). Discounts 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 Black Friday plugin deals sooner than the day itself in 2022? If previous years are anything to go by, that answer is a resounding 'yes'. We'll be reporting all the latest news right here.
You can also expect the deals to continue through the weekend after Black Friday before transforming into Cyber Monday plugin deals three days after Black Friday.
Black Friday plugin deals: What to expect
Loads of plugin and music software sites will be taking part in the Black Friday plugins bonanza, so we'd recommend signing up to mailing lists of your favourite retailers now to get the jump on the best deals.
Of course, if you can’t be bothered with the stress of searching through the latest deals yourself, our experts will be pulling all-nighters across the event to uncover the very best Black Friday plugin deals and publishing them right here on this page.
We’d recommend bookmarking this page - as well as our main Black Friday music deals hub page - while you remember.
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.
Last year, Waves knocked up to 93% off some of its most popular products, while Sweetwater offered a massive 70% off select software from iZotope, Eventide, Reason, Toontrack, Baby Audio and loads more.
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 Black Friday plugin deals.
Can I get free VSTs over Cyber Weekend?
Yes! Many sites offer a free plugin for Black Friday, with Waves offering up the Waves Lil Tube free of charge (opens in new tab). Lil Tube is one of those use-it-on-everything plugins that you'll find yourself dropping into almost every channel strip. Packing satisfying analogue warmth, tone-boosting presence and rich, ear-pleasing saturation into a single, one-knob wonder, this is one of the best free plugins we've seen given away on Black Friday.
Auto-Tune masters, Antares, are giving you multiple plugins to choose from without spending a dime (opens in new tab). Choose from one of three Auto-Tune plugins and keep it forever, even after your subscription period ends. You can 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). Choose one, pay nothing and keep it forever, even after your annual subscription ends.
Black Friday plugin deals: Free plugins?
Yep, you read that right. While the Black Friday plugins bonanza is a great opportunity to bag big-name software at reduced prices, it's not uncommon to land software for free, too. Last year, Waves gave away the epic Waves LoFi Space, reverb plugin absolutely free. All you had to do was head to the Waves website and register your interest.
Elsewhere, Slate Digital released a brand new plugin, Fresh Air specifically for Black Friday, and gave it away for free. You can still pick it up for nothing today (opens in new tab).
We'll be reporting on any free Black Friday plugin giveaways for 2022 right here.
Black Friday plugin deals: How to prepare
Our biggest tip is to start your wishlist now! The most sensible way to take advantage of the best Black Friday 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.
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 Black Friday? You could start by checking out our guide to the best Waves plugins.
What are your music production goals for the next 12 months? Is there software that will help you achieve them? Or do you have an unfinished track that needs some extra sauce? Now could be the time to invest.
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.
The best Black Friday plugin deals last year
Find more epic deals on a range of music gear below
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