Free plugins we recommend
Stab plays effect plugins on the Mac and on Windows: VST3 and Audio Units on the Mac, VST3 on Windows. These are free, well liked by guitarists, bassists and bands, and a good place to start. Each one is its author’s own work: download it from the author’s page linked here, which also has its installer, its manual and its terms.
Free plugins we recommend
Available on Mac and Windows. Not on Web.
This isn’t on Web.
Plugins play on the Mac and Windows only. A song that uses one still opens here, and Stab says where it may sound different.
Plugins play on the Mac and Windows only. A song that uses one still opens on an iPad, a phone or the web, and Stab says where it may sound different.
Plugins says how to add one to a song, open its editor and keep its presets.
Amps and captures
| Plugin | What it’s for | Formats | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| TONE3000 plugin | Plays Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) captures of amps and pedals, for guitar and bass | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | tone3000.com/plugin |
| Neural Amp Modeler (Steven Atkinson) | The open-source NAM player: loads a capture (.nam) and an impulse response for its cabinet | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | github.com/sdatkinson/NeuralAmpModelerPlugin |
Stab’s own amps and cabinets need no plugin, and play on every platform.
Drive
| Plugin | What it’s for | Formats | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| BYOD (ChowDSP) | Build your own drive pedal from blocks, with a focus on guitar distortion | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | chowdsp.com |
| Chow Centaur (ChowDSP) | A digital model of the Klon Centaur overdrive pedal | Mac and Windows: see its page | chowdsp.com |
Reverb and delay
| Plugin | What it’s for | Formats | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragonfly Reverb | Four reverbs: hall, room, plate and early reflections | VST3 on the Mac and Windows | michaelwillis.github.io/dragonfly-reverb |
| Valhalla Supermassive | Big reverbs and delays, for ambient guitar and long tails | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | valhalladsp.com |
| TAL-Reverb-4 (TAL Software) | A plate reverb with an 80s character | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | tal-software.com |
| Chow Matrix (ChowDSP) | A delay you grow into a tree of delays, with modulation and feedback | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | chowdsp.com |
Modulation and more
| Plugin | What it’s for | Formats | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| TAL-Chorus-LX (TAL Software) | A chorus | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | tal-software.com |
| Surge XT Effects | The Surge XT synth’s effects on their own: delays, reverbs, chorus, flanger, phaser, distortion, EQ and more. It comes with Surge XT’s download | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | surge-synthesizer.github.io |
| Kilohearts Essentials | 34 small effects: chorus, flanger, phaser, delay, reverb, distortion, filters, pitch shifter, compressor, gate, limiter and others. Free with a Kilohearts account | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | kilohearts.com |
Dynamics and mixing
| Plugin | What it’s for | Formats | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFreeFXBundle (MeldaProduction) | 38 effects for mixing, among them an equalizer, a compressor, a reverb and a delay. The download is free; an optional upgrade adds more | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | meldaproduction.com |
| Airwindows Consolidated | Hundreds of small Airwindows effects in one plugin: tape and saturation, consoles, compressors, EQs, reverbs | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | airwindows.com |
| ChowMultiTool (ChowDSP) | An EQ, a waveshaper, a band splitter and filters in one plugin | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | chowdsp.com |
| Chow Tape Model (ChowDSP) | A model of a reel-to-reel tape machine, for warmth and saturation | VST3 and AU on the Mac, VST3 on Windows | chowdsp.com |
Most of them also ship in formats Stab doesn’t load (CLAP, AAX, LV2); install the VST3 or, on the Mac, the AU. The formats here are the ones each author’s page listed in October 2026: if a page says otherwise, it’s right.
Installing them
Each author’s installer puts its plugins where plugins go:
- Mac: VST3 plugins in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 (or the same folder in your home’s Library), Audio Units in Plug-Ins/Components beside it.
- Windows: VST3 plugins in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3.
Stab finds them there.