A plugin format is just the wrapper a plugin comes in. It does not change the sound. What matters is the one thing your host, your DAW or video editor, will actually load. Check that first, then match it. Most hosts take VST3, Logic and Final Cut take AU, and Pro Tools takes AAX.
The format decides which app can open a plugin and which computer it runs on, not how it sounds. The same reverb is identical as an AU, a VST3 or an AAX. Paths shown are macOS and Windows, called out where they differ.
They are wrappers. A plugin format is the packaging that lets a host program load a plugin, and the audio is the same across all of them. The format only decides which apps can open the file and which computers it will run on. Here is what each one is.
Steinberg's cross-platform format, for Windows and macOS. VST3 is the current version and the nearest thing to a default, since almost every DAW takes it. VST2 is the older version; Steinberg stopped issuing new developer licenses for it in 2018, so new plugins now ship as VST3. Existing VST2 plugins still load in hosts that allow them, but nobody is making new ones.
Apple's own format, built into macOS. It is Mac only. Logic Pro, GarageBand and Final Cut Pro take AU and nothing else. Because it is baked into Core Audio, an AU that works in Logic will generally work in any other Mac host that accepts AU.
Avid's format, made for Pro Tools. It runs on both Mac and Windows, but Pro Tools is the only mainstream host that uses it. If you are not in Pro Tools, you do not need AAX.
A newer open-source format from Bitwig and u-he, released in 2022 and cross-platform. A handful of hosts take it, including Bitwig, Reaper, FL Studio and Studio One. It is worth knowing about, but you only need it if your DAW asks for it.
There is no AU on Windows. Audio Units is Apple's format and it exists only on macOS and iOS. On a PC an AU file is useless to you, so you want the VST3. On a Mac you may have both an AU and a VST3 in the same download, and either one works.
Check the host, not the plugin. Every DAW and video editor takes one or two formats and ignores the rest, and there is no setting that changes that. Find your program below and install the format it reads.
| Host | Format it loads |
|---|---|
| Logic Pro, GarageBand | Audio Unit (AU) only |
| Final Cut Pro | Audio Unit (AU) only |
| Pro Tools | AAX only |
| Cubase, Nuendo | VST3 |
| Ableton Live | VST3 (AU too on macOS) |
| FL Studio, Studio One | VST3 |
| Reaper | VST3, CLAP (AU too on macOS) |
| Bitwig Studio | VST3, CLAP |
| DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro | AU and VST3 on macOS, VST3 on Windows |
The pattern underneath it: Apple's apps take AU, Pro Tools takes AAX, and almost everything else takes VST3. If your host lists more than one, any of them works and they all sound the same, so pick whichever you already have.
Each format has one standard folder, and a host scans only that folder. An installer usually drops the file in the right place for you. If you are copying one in by hand, these are the paths.
| Format | Extension | macOS folder | Windows folder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio Unit (AU) | .component |
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components |
Not supported |
| VST3 | .vst3 |
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 |
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 |
| AAX | .aaxplugin |
/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins |
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins |
| CLAP | .clap |
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP |
C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP |
On a Mac, AU, VST3 and CLAP each have a second copy of that folder inside your home folder
(~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/...) that also works and needs no admin password. AAX is
the exception: it must go in the system-level Avid folder, and a copy in your home Library will
not be seen. When a plugin will not appear, the wrong folder is the most common reason, followed
by not quitting and reopening the host after installing, since hosts scan only at launch.
Download the format your host takes. That is the whole rule. Open your DAW or editor, look at which formats it lists, and match one of them. If you still want it spelled out:
In practice you rarely choose at buy time. A good plugin ships several formats inside one download, so you install the whole thing and the host quietly picks up the format it wants.
The Collection is our three instruments together, ARGISH, SILT and REHEAT, with three separate licence keys. Every one of them ships as an AU, a VST3, an AAX and a standalone app on macOS, and as a VST3 on Windows, all signed and notarized. So whatever your host takes, from Logic to Pro Tools to Ableton, the format is already in the box and none of the trouble on this page applies.
You can hear one free in your browser first, no install and no account, then decide.
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