Audio Plugin Formats
VST3, AU, CLAP, LV2, AAX, LADSPA — what your plugins actually are and where they run.
A working understanding of plugin formats saves a lot of confusion when buying or installing audio plugins. The 2024-26 story is: VST3 is universal, AU is Mac-only, CLAP is the open challenger picking up steam, LV2 is the Linux native, and AAX is Pro Tools jail.
For DAW choice see daws-overview. For plugin hosts that run plugins outside a DAW see audio-plugin-hosts. For frameworks to build your own plugins, see audio-dsp-frameworks.
The formats
- ★ VST3 — Steinberg's spec; closed-but-publicly-documented (GPL3 reference SDK with proprietary additional licensing options). Cross-platform. Universal — every major DAW except Pro Tools loads VST3. The default plugin format in 2026.
- VST2 — legacy; Steinberg stopped issuing new VST2 SDK licenses in 2018, but existing plugins still load in most DAWs. Slowly fading; new plugins ship VST3 + CLAP.
- ★ AU (Audio Unit) — Apple; Mac-only. Universally supported by Mac DAWs (and required by Logic / GarageBand). All Mac plugin developers ship AU alongside VST3.
- AUv3 — App Store sandboxed Audio Units for iPad / iPhone (and macOS). The path for in-app instruments / effects on iOS.
- ★ CLAP — open standard from u-he and Bitwig (2022). MIT-licensed; no royalties; technically modern (per-voice modulation, polyphonic parameter automation). Supported in Bitwig, Reaper, FL Studio, Studio One, Cakewalk, Ardour, Qtractor, MultitrackStudio, MIXBUS. The fastest-growing open standard in 2024-26. Many new OSS plugins ship CLAP first.
- ★ LV2 — open Linux-native plugin standard (ISC / BSD / MIT). The default on Linux; supported by Ardour, Carla, Reaper, Bitwig, Qtractor, Zrythm. URI-based, with
.ttl(Turtle) manifests. - LADSPA — Linux legacy; very basic, predates LV2. Still used by some classic effects. Most LADSPA plugins are wrapped as LV2.
- AAX — Avid; Pro Tools-only. Closed, paid SDK access, expensive to certify. Why Pro Tools users pay double for plugins.
- RTAS / TDM — legacy Pro Tools formats; effectively dead in 2026.
- JSFX (Jesusonic) — Reaper-only text-source DSP plugins; tiny, fast, hackable.
Format support per DAW
| DAW | VST3 | AU | CLAP | LV2 | AAX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reaper | ✅ | Mac only | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Bitwig | ✅ | Mac only | ✅ (★) | ❌ | ❌ |
| FL Studio | ✅ | Mac only | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Ableton Live | ✅ | Mac only | (added 2024) | ❌ | ❌ |
| Logic Pro | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Pro Tools | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Cubase | ✅ | Mac only | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Studio One | ✅ | Mac only | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Ardour | ✅ | Mac only | (planned) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cakewalk | ✅ | - | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Wrappers / bridges
- CLAP-as-VST3 wrappers (e.g. clap-wrapper by free-audio) — let you ship one CLAP and auto-generate VST3 / AU. Many open-source plugins use this.
- JBridge / JBridgeM (Mac) — paid; bridge 32-bit plugins into 64-bit DAWs.
- LinVst / lv2vst — wrap Win VST plugins to run on Linux via Wine.
- yabridge — GPL Linux Wine-based VST3 / VST2 / CLAP bridge for using Windows plugins on Linux. The default on modern Linux audio rigs.
Plugin manifest / scanning quirks
- VST3 plugins live in OS-specific paths (
%CommonProgramFiles%\VST3on Win,/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3on Mac,~/.vst3on Linux). All DAWs scan these by default. - AU plugins live in
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components(system) or~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components(user) on Mac. - CLAP plugins live in
~/.clap,/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP,%CommonProgramFiles%\CLAP. - LV2 plugins live in
/usr/lib/lv2or~/.lv2.
Pick this if…
- One format covers most DAWs: VST3.
- You're on Mac and your DAW only loads AU: AU.
- You're on Linux: LV2 (native) + VST3 (universal) + CLAP (modern OSS).
- Pro Tools shop: AAX (no other choice).
- Building a new OSS plugin: CLAP first, wrap to VST3 / AU.
- Running Win plugins on Linux: yabridge.