Yes, REAPER loads third-party plugins, and it takes more formats than almost any host: VST2, VST3, on a Mac Audio Units, plus CLAP and LV2, and its own built-in JSFX. The confusion is that REAPER does not always notice a plugin the moment you install it, and when one does not appear there is no error telling you why.
This covers REAPER on macOS and Windows. Paths shown are the defaults; the table has both platforms, and Windows notes are called out where they differ.
Yes, and it is one of the broadest plugin hosts there is. On macOS, REAPER loads VST2, VST3, Audio Units, CLAP and LV2. On Windows it loads VST2, VST3, CLAP, LV2 and the older DirectX format. Audio Units is Apple's own format, so it does not exist off the Mac and you will not find AU on Windows or Linux. REAPER also ships its own effects format, JSFX, but that is separate from anything you buy.
You do not need a particular edition for this. REAPER is a single application, not tiered editions, and the downloadable evaluation hosts plugins in exactly the same way a licensed copy does. Nothing about plugin support is locked behind a paid tier.
Because REAPER accepts so many formats, almost anything a developer ships will load. When you are buying, the format worth checking for is the one that also covers your other apps. On a Mac, AU covers REAPER, Logic and Final Cut. On Windows, VST3 covers REAPER and nearly every other DAW.
A plugin file is a VST2 (.dll on Windows, .vst on Mac), a VST3
(.vst3), or, on a Mac, an Audio Unit (.component). An installer usually
drops it in the right place for you. These are the default folders REAPER scans.
| Format | File | Default folder REAPER scans |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Unit (Mac only) | .component |
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components |
| VST3 (Mac) | .vst3 |
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 |
| VST2 (Mac) | .vst |
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST |
| VST3 (Windows) | .vst3 |
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 |
| VST2 (Windows) | .dll |
No fixed standard; add a custom folder (see below) |
On a Mac, REAPER finds Audio Units on its own. macOS keeps the list of installed AU plugins, so REAPER just asks the system for it, and you never set a path for AU. VST2 and VST3 work differently: REAPER scans a list of folders you can see and edit. Open Options, then Preferences, then Plug-ins, then VST. The VST plug-in paths field is that list. The standard Mac and Windows VST3 folders are usually on it already; if a plugin installed somewhere else, in particular a VST2 on Windows, add that folder to the list.
Installing a plugin while REAPER is open does nothing until REAPER scans again. In
Preferences, Plug-ins, VST, press Re-scan to pick up new plugins. If one still
does not appear, or it failed a scan once, use the option to clear the cache and
re-scan all paths, which throws away the stored results and tests every plugin again.
Quitting and reopening REAPER triggers a scan too. REAPER keeps its results in a cache file
(reaper-vstplugins64.ini on a 64-bit install); deleting that file forces a full
rescan on the next launch, which can take a few minutes if you have a lot of plugins.
REAPER scans plugins and quietly leaves out anything it cannot load, with no message. Work through these in order.
REAPER picks up new plugins on a scan, not the instant they land on disk. Open Preferences, Plug-ins, VST and press Re-scan, or just quit and reopen REAPER. This alone fixes most cases. Audio Units on a Mac appear the same way, after a scan or a restart.
This is the usual cause for a VST2, and for anything that installed to a folder off the standard list. In Preferences, Plug-ins, VST, look at the VST plug-in paths and make sure the folder the plugin installed into is on it. If not, add it, then re-scan. AU on a Mac does not need this, since macOS hands REAPER the list.
REAPER remembers the result of the last scan. A plugin that failed to load once, or that you
have since fixed or updated, can stay hidden because the old result is cached. Choose the option to
clear the cache and re-scan all paths, which forces REAPER to test every plugin again. If that
still does not do it, quit REAPER, delete the reaper-vstplugins64.ini cache file, then
reopen.
On Windows and Linux there is no Audio Units, so an AU will never appear there. Make sure you
installed the VST3 or VST2 build on Windows, and on a Mac either the .component, the
.vst3 or the .vst.
On an Apple Silicon Mac, the native build of REAPER loads plugins built for Apple Silicon. An Intel-only plugin may not load into it. You can run the Intel build of REAPER under Rosetta for the widest compatibility with older plugins, or check a plugin is Universal: select its file in Finder, press Cmd+I, and look under General. On Windows, 64-bit REAPER runs 32-bit plugins through a built-in bridge on its own, so an old 32-bit plugin usually does still appear; if it does not, the cause is almost always the path or the scan above, not the bridge.
On macOS, an unsigned or unnotarized plugin can be blocked by Gatekeeper before REAPER ever sees it. If you got a security warning during install, that is the cause. Anything from a real developer will be signed and notarized and will install with no warning.
Every REAPER track has an FX button. Click it to open the FX browser, or use the Add button in that window. Plugins are listed by type and by developer down the side, so you can narrow to just VST, VSTi, AU, CLAP or JS and scroll to the maker's name rather than the product name. The i in VSTi and AUi marks an instrument.
An instrument goes at the top of a track's FX chain and turns incoming MIDI into sound. An effect goes after it, or on any audio track, and processes whatever plays through it. REAPER does not have fixed return tracks the way some DAWs do, but you can make any track a bus, send several tracks to it, and put one reverb or one effect there instead of loading the same plugin over and over.
REAPER ships a full set of its own effects, the ReaPlugs, plus the JSFX library, so EQ, compression, reverb, gating and a lot more are already in front of you. Most people do not need a bundle on top. The honest answer is that you need one or two things REAPER does not do, rather than a shelf of plugins. One that comes up: taking a clean loop and letting it age into something else, instead of it sitting there exactly as you played it.
SILT is a generative tape-loop instrument. You play something in, a phrase, a chord, a few bars, and it wears the loop out with wow, flutter, dust and dropout until it drifts into a different piece. It is not a static effect you set once; it keeps moving. In REAPER you load it as a VST3 on Windows or Mac, or as an Audio Unit on a Mac. It also ships as AAX for Pro Tools and as a standalone app.
Universal, signed and notarized, so none of the trouble on this page applies to it. Hear the whole thing free in your browser first, no install and no account.
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