The best new plugins this week, free and paid

Every week, we round up the most exciting new plugin releases — from virtual instruments and creative effects to mixing tools and workflow upgrades. There are tons of plugins released every week, both free and paid-for, so be sure to check back here every Friday to find out the software worth adding to your plugin folder. This week’s new and noteworthy virtual instruments, effects and mixing plugins (Last update: 13 March 2026) Klevgrand – OneShot 2 Klevgrand has released an update to its OneShot drum plugin, a sampler that aims to bolster the realism and nuance of your rhythmic arrangements. The primary addition is the new Motion Engine, letting producers and sound designers modulate their one-shots and craft everything from cymbal swells and brushed textures to rhythmic gated effects. OneShot 2 also comes with an expanded library of multi-sampled sounds, complete with velocity layering and round-robin playback. For Mac users, the plugin even comes with an optional Motion Controller app for iPhone, letting you add movement and expression using your device’s built-in accelerometer. OneShot 2 is available from Klevgrand for introductory pricing of $119.99 (usually $199.99). Safari Audio – Meaw: Assist Safari Audio is stepping into the world of AI with its latest plugin, Meaw: Assist. Taking on the persona of a handy cat assistant, Meaw aims to unblock creators, from getting new sessions rolling with a little inspiration to suggesting specific tweaks when you’re stuck with a mix. Meaw can be set to Producer Cat for creative direction or Engineer Cat for focused mix decisions — simply enter a prompt to get started, or feed in your audio to get tailored suggestions. Reassuringly, Safari Audio also notes that Meaw: Assist’s custom model is not trained on user audio. Meaw: Assist is available from Safari Audio for intro pricing of $39.99 (usually $99.99). Lese – Teuri For those looking to saturate their sounds this week, Lese has released its ‘cellular distortion’ plugin, Teuri. The plugin features a broad spectrum of distortion, including pushed tubes, germanium fuzz, and aggressive bitcrush. The secret sauce is Teuri’s XY pad, letting users morph between different distortion models to organically mangle their audio in undiscovered and exciting ways. Once the core sound is dialled in, users can explore further with a resonator module, tweak controls like biasing and coloration, or use the syncable envelope generator to modulate parameters. Teuri is available from Lese for $55. iZotope – Tonal Balance Control 3 iZotope has released Tonal Balance Control 3, touted as an all-in-one referencing tool for professional mixes. To start, users choose a target profile — either from a reference track, their own audio, or over 30 target genres — to compare their mix to using four different meters. The original Tonal Balance meter, which shows the frequency weighting of a mix, has now been supplemented by three new meters. Vocal Balance helps visualise how your vocals are sitting, while the Dynamics meter analyses energy and impact and Stereo Width completes the picture. There’s also a built-in EQ for on-the-fly changes, but the plugin integrates with other iZotope tools like Ozone, Neutron, and Nectar. Tonal Balance Control 3 is available from iZotope for £119. Scaler Music – Scaler 3 for iPad Scaler 3, the award-winning music theory and chord progression assistant, has been released on iPad, putting an expansive harmonic roadmap at the fingertips of mobile music producers. The app includes over 1,000 chord sets, keys, and modes, plus an extensive Motions library for transforming said chords into melodies, basslines, and arpeggios. The app also acts as an AUv3 plugin host, letting users plug their new progression into their favourite soft synths. Throw in a full arranger and mixer, and Scaler 3 could be the perfect solution for both on-the-go sketches to fully-fledged writing sessions.\ Scaler 3 is available from Scaler Music and can be downloaded via the App Store for $14.99. Last week’s plugins Rast Sound – Soren 1.5 [products ids=”6ETdxDnq8I2n1dGZm7XPqt”] Rast Sound has announced the 1.5 update to Soren, its AI-driven mastering application. Unlike cloud-based AI mastering tools, Soren runs locally on your computer and processes audio offline instead of in real time. The 1.5 update adds a new Mix Agent, which analyses your premaster mix to suggest adjustments like resonance reduction and tonal balancing, plus a Smart Reference Library with 27 built-in references that can be used to guide the tool towards your desired results. There are also numerous other quality-of-life improvements and tweaks. Soren 1.5 is available from Rast Sound at an intro pricing of €149 until 15 April (usually €249), and the 1.5 update is free for existing owners. Devious Machines – Duck 2 [products ids=”7Id0DWF86Etiwqas0fexon”] Devious Machines has released Duck 2, a major update to its envelope-shaping plugin — originally released in 2019 — that