Plug-in Bench
The ultimate plug-in testing tool for indie developers.
Make testing plugins easy
OVERVIEW
What is Plug-in Bench?
Plug-in Bench is a plug-in loader and testing platform. It is specifically designed to make the life of a indie developer easier. With key features like auto reload, bulk parameter moving, detailed insights and fast startup times makes this every plug-in makers best friend.
01Main section
Load any plugin, instantly
Because Plug-in Bench hosts your VST3 and AudioUnit plugins in a clean, dedicated environment, you get 80% of the way to a proper test the moment you drop a plugin in. No DAW project to set up, no track routing to untangle — just the plugin, your signal, and everything you need to hear it clearly.
02Sidechain section
Hot-reload without losing your place
Because Plug-in Bench captures the full state of your plugin before every reload, you can rebuild, tweak, and re-instantiate without ever resetting your parameters. It even watches the binary on disk and reloads the moment it changes, so your edit-build-listen loop stays unbroken and instant.
03Envelope filter section
One signal path, every source
Because live input, audio files, MIDI, and a built-in noise generator all feed the same routing engine, you can throw any source at your plugin in seconds. Route mic input, loop a reference track, play a MIDI file, or send pink noise straight into the sidechain — all without leaving the window.
Features
- Crash-safe plugin scanningBecause scanning happens in a separate subprocess, a single badly-behaved plugin can't take the whole app down with it. Plug-in Bench records exactly what it was doing before any crash, survives it, and tells you which plugin to blame on next launch — then blocklists it automatically so scanning always finishes.
- Built-in signal generatorBecause you don't always have the right test source to hand, Plug-in Bench includes a full generator: sine, square, triangle, white, pink, and brown noise. Set the level in dBFS and add a tempo-synced pulse envelope to characterise filters, distortion, noise floors, and gating behaviour without reaching for an external tool.
- Flexible sidechain routingBecause any of the three sources — live input, file player, or noise generator — can be diverted to the plugin's sidechain bus, testing a compressor's ducking or a gate's keying takes seconds. The routed source is kept out of the main sum, so what you hear is exactly what the sidechain is doing.
- Host tempo and transportBecause Plug-in Bench emulates a real host playhead, tempo-synced LFOs, delays, and sequencers behave just as they would in your DAW. Set the BPM by hand or tap it in, drive the transport with a single button, and the plugin sees play state, position, and tempo throughout.
- Plugin misbehaviour detectionBecause Plug-in Bench watches for API abuse behind the scenes, it flags unbalanced gesture calls, out-of-range parameters, and NaN values the moment they happen. Each issue lands in the Activity log with an unread badge, giving developers a clear signal that something's wrong long before a user ever notices.
- Full audio and MIDI playbackBecause you can load WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC, and OGG files alongside standard MIDI files, real-world material is always one click away. Play, pause, loop, and seek freely — the MIDI player stays tick-accurate even when you change tempo mid-playback.
- Precise per-channel routingBecause every device input and output channel can be routed independently, awkward interface layouts are no obstacle. Send channels to Center, Hard Left, or Hard Right, group them into stereo pairs, and get your plugin fed correctly no matter how your hardware is wired.
- Live monitoring and meteringBecause Plug-in Bench meters output level, plugin CPU, process CPU, memory, and latency in real time, you always know what a plugin is costing you. The plugin's own processing load is measured separately from everything else, so the CPU figure reflects the plugin — not the bench around it.
- Output recordingBecause the post-plugin output can be captured straight to 24-bit stereo WAV, printing a result or grabbing a before/after is effortless. File writing runs on a background thread, so recording never interferes with clean, glitch-free playback.
- Smart device handlingBecause Plug-in Bench can follow your system's default audio device and remembers the ideal buffer size per interface, switching setups just works. Plug in a different device and your preferred buffer is restored automatically — no diving into settings every time your rig changes.
System & License
What you need. What you get.
System requirements
- macOS 11 Big Sur or later. Apple Silicon native.
- Windows 10 or later.
- Hosts -
- Formats VST3 & AU - 64-bit only.
- RAM 4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended.
License & activation
- Lifetime license — Pay once, yours forever.
- Free updates — Every future incremental version included.
- 3 machines — Transferable without support needed.
- No iLok — Activates with a simple license key.
- Offline use — Activates via internet. No connection needed ever after activation.
Own your
sound.
One price. Yours forever. Free incremental updates. No recurring fees.
€27 €39
VST3 · AU | MAC & WINDOWS | INSTANT DOWNLOAD