PluginHub
PluginHub
No. PluginHub tells you which plugins have updates and links you to each vendor's official download page, or their installer hub. You download and run each installer yourself, so you stay in full control of what lands on your machine.
Yes. Students and teachers working in audio are eligible for a 30% discount on PluginHub. Send us proof of enrollment (such as a student or faculty ID card) at support@pluginhubapp.com and we'll respond with a discount code you can use at checkout.
Nope. PluginHub will never load your iLok licenses, or prompt you for license information for individual plugins. All licensing stays between you, your DAW and the vendors.
PluginHub checks for updates by reading each vendor's public version source: a manifest, a downloads page, or a changelog. Two buckets hold plugins we couldn't confirm:
Manual check: Vendors that require a manual check. Either their site doesn't publish version data PluginHub can read, or they deliver updates through their own installer app. We're working to move vendors from this tab into active checker status. This can be a temporary issue (a page that didn't respond this refresh, retries automatically next time) or an ongoing limitation. As we find better sources, or as vendors make their versions available to us directly, these move back into the Updates / Up-to-date tabs.
Unchecked: A vendor we don't yet cover at all. Usually smaller developers, boutique makers, sample libraries, or anyone without a public version page. We add new checkers in almost every release. If there's a vendor you'd like prioritized, email us at support@pluginhubapp.com and we'll add it to the queue!
PluginHub tracks live updates for roughly 5,000 plugins across more than 130 vendors. Each vendor publishes version information differently. Some have clean download pages with a single canonical version number. Some bake the version into installer filenames. Some run an old "version history" page that lists releases the actual installer no longer ships. Some bump a "kernel" or "platform" version on their downloads page that never makes it into the plugin file on disk. Some have legacy products that share a name with a current product but live on a separate version sequence. Pro Tools (AAX) wrappers in particular are notorious for carrying a stale internal version number even after the underlying plugin is current.
When any of those vendor-side details shifts, a "phantom update" can surface in PluginHub: the app flags an update that doesn't actually exist, or shows you behind a version you've already installed.
When we hear about one, we fix it fast. Most fixes go out the same day, and most don't require an app update because they're pushed to PluginHub's servers and reach you the next time you press Refresh. The fixes we can't push that way ship in the next app release.
Real talk: we'll never get this to zero. The plugin world is too sprawling, and vendors change how they publish version information without telling anyone. What we can promise is that when you flag a phantom update, we treat it as a real bug and move on it quickly. If you spot one, please tell us via email or the Send feedback link in the menu bar. A screenshot of the dashboard plus the plugin name is enough, you don't need to write a long report. Most of the phantom-update fixes shipped this month came from user reports exactly like that.
Partial support today, with full support on the roadmap.
PluginHub recognizes installed Spitfire Audio libraries (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hans Zimmer Strings, Albion, Originals, LABS, and the rest of the plugin-based lineup) and groups them on your dashboard under the Spitfire Audio vendor card. What it doesn't do yet is automatically flag when a Spitfire library has an update available — they sit in Manual check status for now.
That's also true for most other sample-library vendors. Libraries from vendors we haven't covered yet are filtered out of your Unchecked tab so they don't add noise.
If you're a composer, orchestrator, or scoring artist and there's a specific library vendor you'd love to see next, email support@pluginhubapp.com.
Yes please! Email us at support@pluginhubapp.com and we'd be glad to get you in the system. Ideally we would love to create a simple JSON code pipeline to access future product and version numbers quickly and easily.
Yes! The lowest priced tier covers two activations. Higher tiers allow for 5, or 10 activations.
Yes, our license system allows for deactivation and reauthorization on a new machine. Select License in the PluginHub menu bar to manage your activation. If you run into any issues, email support@pluginhubapp.com.
Nope! Simply press refresh and PluginHub will rescan your installed plugin folders.
Updates push straight to the app. PluginHub will notify you when there's a new version available. We recommend updating whenever there's a new version, as the app is always getting smarter and acquiring new vendors and products, as well as fixing issues with current products.
PluginHub is a standalone app for macOS. Windows coming (hopefully) soon!
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/, ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/, /Library/Application Support/Avid/).