Hi ! I'm the maintainer of OwlPlug, an open source audio plugin manager. It's basically an appStore like Steam, but for musicians and filled with audio effects and virtual instruments. The main feature is plugin download and install automation through Stores. I've started to work on it 2 years ago when i was studying CS. It's an early Beta release, it may have bugs and there still a lot of interesting features to implement. More than a place to download a given VST, I want to create a tool to discover plugins made by the community.
Key Features
- Plugin explorer. OwlPlug handles VST2 and VST3 plugins installed on your system folders. It's already compatible with previously installed plugins. You can still organize your plugins as you want with a file explorer or with your favorite DAW.
- Stores. Plugin download and installation automation from remote sources. OwlPlug serves few free open source plugins by default, but it works with third party stores like Vst4Free. It works in a decentralized way since any distributors / developers can set up a compatible API and let OwlPlug interact with it.
- Links allows you to create and manage symlinks across your filesystem and plugin directories. You can access directories anywhere on your filesystem (Hard drive, usb keys, custom directories...) through your default plugin directory
I already have some ideas, so i've created a general Roadmap.
Installation
Requirements: Windows 7 (64 bit) or later, macOS Sierra or later.
Download and install the latest version from here.
Mac users, unfortunately, there are no packages available for now. I want to build a release for OSX and fix some compatibility issue but I don't have a mac so it's complicated...
I haven't the time to write a full user documentation. There are few explanations on the Github repository page.
Update (Jan 2020): I've packaged a native macOS executable. You can download the dmg file from Github
Update (May 2021): OwlPlug supports AU format.
Update (May 2022): OwlPlug can be run on Linux. You can download the pkg file from Github
Update (Sept 2022): OwlPlug supports subcomponents and LV2 format
Update (Nov 2023): OwlPlug can analyze some DAW project files to extract plugins
Patreon
I'm working on OwlPlug during my free time so I've opened a Patreon page for the project. Contributions will help me to maintain and develop new features. You will find the latest news and also a list of things to get involved in the project.
If you are interested in a tool like this, feel free to download and run it. As i said, i'm actively looking for feedbacks. I hope you will enjoy it
- OwlPlug Website: https://owlplug.com
- Github: https://github.com/DropSnorz/OwlPlug
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/owlplug
@dropsnorz