Auto-Tune is everywhere and everyone is using it From slight pitch correction to some cool robotic sounds, pitch correction software can be extremely useful. T-Pain made this effect very popular, but it’s also been used by a lot of other artists such as Daft Punk, the Black Eyed Peas, and more. Auto-Tune can be used The 8 Best Free Auto-Tune VST/AU Plugins of 2020!
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I posted a gigantic list of free VST plugins two weeks ago, the post was awesome, and I am glad you guys loved it.
On this page, you will find a list of ten best free and paid autotune VST plugins you can download and use for free in your various Daw Software.
Before you start tweaking the knob on various autotune plugins, I think we should understand the basics of what autotune VSTS does, if you have an idea about that, skip this section, and if you are a newbie just getting into knowing how things work first, then continue reading.
Page Contents
- What is an Auto-Tune?
- 4) Melodyne (Paid)
- 2) Waves Tune (Paid)
- 1) Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)
What is an Auto-Tune?
Autotune is an audio processing VST that is used to correct an inaccurate pitch in vocal tracks or perhaps used to modify or alter pitch in performances, music instruments, and or vocals.
In a simple term, It is used for automatically tuning an off-key or off-pitch sequence, allowing vocal tracks to be perfectly tuned.
When You Should use Auto-Tune
As a singer, you would notice that when you try to sing outside of your comfortable range (range of notes you are physically capable of producing), you sing out of tune.
In this case, you might want to use an autotune plugin to fix that, if necessary. Also, you might use the tool, if you struggle to record multiple takes.
Note: Do not use an autotune plugin on too plenty of pitchy vocals; The best thing to do in this scenario is to take a lesson and practice to sing better.
In my opinion, you do not necessarily have to use an auto-tune plugin on vocal if it sounds great and less pitchy, this is just a preference!
Auto-tune can also be used on a wide load of sounds from an instrument, to getting a type of effect (T-pain effect), enhancing vocal expressiveness, and so on.
Let’s count down from the good to the best!
10) KeroVee (Free)
This is a pitch correction VST plugin tool and has strengthened to support natural pitch correction.
This tool is handy and can perform different and various types of voice effect, for example, a conversion of the male voice to a female voice and vice versa.
KeroVee comes bundled with useful parameters for the effectiveness of the auto-tuning process, Parameter includes:
- Scale Button: This is for specifying the scale you want to tune. Setting a wrong scale would result in an awful result, in a simple sentence, Know your scale before you go into this one
- TuneSpeed: This will allow you to set the speed of correcting the pitch.
- Nuance: This is one of the best and lovely parameters, you can use this to set a fine vibrato of the original sound, use this to create all sorts of weird effects.
- Amount: Set to zero (0) if you want no correction, setting to 100 will result in full correction of the pitch
- and many more parameters like Transpose option, master volume, etc.
System Requirements
- A compatible host program that supports the VST formats
Download KeroVee Auto-Tune Plugin
9) X42-Auto-Tune (Free)
This is an auto-tune plugin that is developed to correct the pitch of a voice when going out of tune.
Its main function is for the correction of tune in vocal range, although it can and may be used on some instruments.
It as a pretty cool and friendly GUI, parameters included are Tuning, Bias, Filter, Correction, offset, and pitch error meter.
Download X42 Auto-Tune Plugin
8) Graillon (Free)
This is an autotune VST plugins designed and developed by Auburnsounds. This plugin is superb in the way it handles pitch correction.
It not only supports pitch correction but supports the generation of throat sounds, making octave sounds, enriching, and enhancing vocal expressiveness.
Also, there is a pitch shift parameter that transposes vocals up and down in octaves and semitones.
System Requirements
- Available as VST, VST2, AAX, and Audio Unit plugin for macOS and Windows platform.
Download Graillion Auto-Tune Plugin
7) GSnap (Free)
This is an autotune plugin developed by Graham Yeadon of Gvst, Gsnap is one of my favorite autotune plugin, and I use it to create a specific type of effect.
GSnap was designed to automatically detects when a voice is pitchy, that is, when a note is off-key, it would indicate red, and when in tune, it would indicate green, interesting!
However, if you want to achieve a not to perfectly tuned voice, I would suggest you use it with subtle settings.
Extreme settings can create sounds like famous Daft-Punk, T-pain, or Char effects, if this is what you are looking for, go with this setting.
System Requirements
- Available as VST format (32/64bit) for windows only
Download Gsnap Auto-Tune Plugin
6) VisualVox (Free)
A lightweight intonation correction VST plugin, that comes bundled with pretty cool features like:
- Producing a perfect vibrato effect
- Know when your voice is pitchy and when you are in tune
- Ability to fit a voice into a rhythm by stretching, cutting and also a cut and paste option alongside
- Ability to create an artificial polyphony from a single voice, e.g. multiple voices,
- and many more features.
Why do we need an autotune plugin? To automatically correct off-key vocals back in-line, count on Visualvox.
System Requirement
- Compatible with a VST host system
Download VisualVox Auto-Tune VST plugin
5) MAutoPitch (Free)
With over 50,000 downloads every month, we should crown MAutoPitch the best free autotune VST Plugin.
This free pitch-correction tool is one of the most downloaded, and it is designed for vocals, and other monophonic instruments. It features a scalable and resizable GUI and also lets user chooses between knobs, sliders, and buttons.
The primary goal of a good VST plugin or tool, in general, is to deliver outstanding results in performance and also capable of handling larger processes, MAutoPitch isn’t far from that.
With the ability to handle not only mono and stereo signals but also mid/side encoding for stereo field processing.
Also, it provides high audio quality performance, and uses 64bit audio processing to handle any sample rate (e.g. 192Khz), it is not advisable to go above that, these are just tip of the iceberg of what MAutoPitch can do, it is robust and a great free autotune VST plugin you should lay your hands on.
System Requirements:
Windows
- Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
- VST / VST3 / AAX compatible host (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Intel/AMD processor with SSE2 support
- Always use 32-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts or 64-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts!
Mac Os X
- Mac OS X (10.7 and newer, 32-bit or 64-bit)
- VST / VST3 / AU / AAX compatible host (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Intel/AMD processor with SSE2 support
Download MAutopitch VST plugin
4) Melodyne (Paid)
I said this earlier, using pitch correction on a bad vocal track would give an undesirable result, great singers make mistakes and this is where the tool comes in handy if and only if needed.
Melodyne is one of the best paid autotune plugin out there. It is designed to work with vocal tracks, percussion, sound effects, and different kinds of sounds you might think of.
It features:
- Manipulation of notes, harmonies, melodies, grooves, rhythm, editing intonation, and even with polyphonic instruments (e.g. piano or guitar: each note) Crazy right!
- Automatically detect the tempo, scale and tunning of a sound
- Beautiful GUI design, and also user-friendliness,
- and many more features you should check out.
Price
Melodyne comes with a hefty price tag of €699 for the complete Melodyne bundle, Melodyne editor €399, Melodyne assistant €249 and Melodyne essential €99.
System Requirement
macOS
- Intel Dual Core processor (Quad Core or better recommended), macOS 10.6.8 and 10.11.x to 10.14
- 4 GB RAM (8 GB or more recommended)
Windows
- Intel or AMD Dual Core processor (Quad Core or better recommended), Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 (64-bit recommended), ASIO-compatible audio hardware
- 4 GB RAM (8 GB or more recommended)
Activation
- Activation Computer-based or iLok USB dongle (2nd or 3rd generation), Melodyne 4 essential only computer-based. Internet access is required for activation.
3) ReTune (Paid)
To be honest, auto-tune is mostly used for correcting pitches, some users do not even know pitch correction is a single feature in auto-tune plugins.
It can be used to create a broad sorts of effects on vocals and instruments or sound effects.
ReTune is an autotune plugin developed by zplane, and it can be used to nudge off-key notes to the nearest semitone, and also supports controls such as the sensitivity of the pitch corrections, smoothing of pitch and more useful features such as:
- Real-Time Processing: It can be used during live performances on stage and in the studio.
- Automatically detect input key using zplane’s TONART V2
- Presets for major/minor scales, chromatic scale, church modes, and gypsy
- Allows the use of controls for pitch detection sensitivity, transient levels, and pitch contour smoothing,
- and many more features.
System Requirements
Best Free Autotune Vst Mac Download
- Compatible with AAX, AU and VST host system
- A minimum of 2Ghz and 4gb ram minimum.
2) Waves Tune (Paid)
Waves Audio Ltd is one of the biggest, trusted, and leading company in audio-related software. Let’s take a brief description of the types of wave auto-tune VST plug-ins.
Waves Tune is an auto-tuning plugin developed and designed for pitch correction, and for correctly tuning to a natural taste for creative effects.
There are three types of Waves Tune:
1) Waves Tune Real-Time,
2) Waves Tune and
3) Waves Tune LT.
Waves Tune Real-Time – It can be used during a live performance on stage or performance in the studio, or perhaps for pitch-correcting pre-recorded tracks. Hence, it works in Real-time mode.
Waves Tune – It can be used for pitch-correcting pre-recorded tracks at a greater level of detail, also has a more robust tool for editing pre-recorded track, while Waves Tine Real-Time doesn’t have that.
Waves Tune LT – This is a lighter version of the Waves Tune with basic editing tools for a starter.
Prices
Waves Tune comes with a price tag of $ 119, Waves Tune Real-Time is tag $49, and Waves Tune LT is tag $29, learn more and buy here:
System Requirements:
Mac
- Intel Core i5 / i7 / Xeon
- 8 GB RAM
- 8 GB free disk space on the system drive
- Operating System – 10.11.6 – 10.14
Screen Resolution
- Minimum: 1024×768
- Recommended: 1280×1024 / 1600×1024
- USB displays are not supported as the primary display.
Windows
- Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / Xeon / AMD Quad-Core
- 8 GB RAM
- 8 GB free disk space on the system drive
Operating System
- Windows 7 with SP1 64 bit
- Windows 8.1 64 bit
- Windows 10 64 bit
Screen Resolution
- Minimum: 1024×768
- Recommended: 1280×1024 / 1600×1024
Learn more and buy here: Waves Tune
1) Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)
Auto-Tune pro is a plug-in developed by antarestech, and it has been undergoing a lot of changes for the past 20 years.
It includes auto-mode and graph mode, auto-mode is for real-time intonation correction, while graph mode is for detailed and time editing.
This program has been used by the most iconic and popular music producers – T-pain, Cher, Daft-punk, to mention few.
Auto-Tune has been more powerful with the invention of Auto-Tune Pro, more comfortable to use than ever before.
Antares added an automatic key detection with the new Auto-Key plug-in, now better and easier to use.
Also, it is designed in such a way that allows a user to naturally correct pitches, humanise for more transparent and low Latency mode so a user can perform in real-time without distracting delay.
Price: $399
System Requirements
- Requires iLok Version 2 or Version 3. not compatible with iLok Version 1
- Mac- Supports AAX Native (64-bit only), VST3 (64 and 32-bit), and Audio Units (64 and 32-bit)
- Windows – Supports AAX Native (64-bit only), and VST3 (64 and 32-bit)
Any suggestions on the Auto-tune plugins listed above? drop your messages below and let’s have discussions on what you think about this list, don’t forget to share this! 🙂
Useful Related posts:
Whether you’re a home producer or work at a major recording studio, Autotune and other pitch correction software can help deal with a weak vocal performance.
In a hurry? I love Melodyne 4 Studio from Celemony. It’s sounds incredible, leaving little to no artifacts on vocals recorded in a treated space, but are in need of a little fixing.
But Autotune isn’t reserved exclusively for pitch correction. T-Pain popularized the hard-straightened pitch, even going as far as releasing an iOS app called “I Am T-Pain.”
Pitch correction software can also be utilized for other instruments as well. I’ve even used VariAudio (the “Autotune” built into Cubase) on bass guitar parts that were slightly out of tune. The result was surprisingly excellent, with little to no audio artifacts.
There’s a lot you can do with Autotune and similar software.
With so many options for producers, how can you decide on which one to use? Fortunately, I’ve had the experience working with many pitch correction plugins to weed out the good from the bad.
I’m going to include both free and paid options, so please read on!
Have an interest in virtual instruments? Don’t miss my other roundups!
Table of Contents
1) Antares Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)
Auto-Tune is the original pitch correction software. It’s so popular that its name is synonymous and is more of a colloquial term.
Antares gives you a couple of options to pick from depending on your needs — Pro, Artist, Access, or EFX+. As you’d guess, the price moves up the more features there are.
Auto-Tune is very hands-off. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s the most straightforward plugin for correcting pitch.
Pros
- Easy to use for beginners
- Lightweight on memory
- Great-looking user interface
Cons
- AUTO mode is limited
- Difficult for beginners to use GRAPH
- A little outdated compared
When using Auto-Tune on a vocal track in AUTO mode, set the key, the retune speed, and the amount of humanization. You should be able to hit the playback button now and hear hopefully great results.
Because it’s simplicity, I find that it doesn’t perform as well as others (when using the quick settings) that require more fine-tune vocal editing.
To fix an abysmal vocal performance, use the graph mode and hand tune each note to your liking. This process is much more complicated but yields a far better result.
I am not huge on Auto-Tune (I know many are), but it can deliver exceptional results. If you take the time to learn how to use it properly, you’ll have great-sounding vocals with ease.
Auto-Tune from Antares is available at Plugin Boutique.
2) Steinberg VariAudio — Cubase Pro (Paid)
Steinberg’s VariAudio is a pitch correction software included in Cubase Pro. It’s not a standalone plugin, so you won’t be able to use it if you don’t own Cubase Pro.
But, for those of you with Cubase who didn’t realize your DAW has pitch correction, rejoice!
I love VariAudio — so much so that I couldn’t imagine switching DAWs. I’ve been on Cubase for ten years, so I know my way around, but VariAudio is the one thing that will keep me as a forever customer.
Pros
- Integrated into Cubase
- Quick to edit any clip
- Very fast and no CPU
Cons
- Audio artifacts are very noticeable if not careful
- Limited cutting resolution
- Not intuitive at first
VariAudio functions similar to Melodyne and Auto-Tune’s graph mode. Double-clicking on a clip opens up the editor, where you can choose to enable VariAudio — no plugin required.
From here, it’s simple as using Pitch Quantize and Straighten Pitch on each clip. Cutting clips also helps pitch only individual sections of a waveform.
The newest version of VariAudio introduced some incredible options for adjusting pitch that make the software even more valuable.
I highly recommend considering Cubase Pro if you plan to switch DAWs — for VariAudio exclusively!
Steinberg’s Cubase Pro is available from Plugin Fox.
3) Celemony Melodyne (Paid)
We’re moving up the price ladder, but for a good reason. Melodyne from Celemony is one of the most utilized pitch correction plugins used by professional vocal editors and producers.
Melodyne offers (to my ears) the most accurate and musical sounding algorithm, leaving no tuning artifacts that are easily recognizable to the untrained ear.
Pros
- Incredible-sounding algorithm
- Tons of flexibility when vocals sound poor
- Zero audio artifacts in most cases
Cons
- Difficult for new users
- Rather expensive
The software has incredible note detection allowing for more accurate tuning. I find that in VariAudio, there are times that the software cannot understand individual notes, so they are omitted. It’s not too often this occurs, but Melodyne does it better.
Melodyne is available at Plugin Boutique.
4) Waves Tune (Paid)
Waves Tune operates similarly to Auto-Tune and Melodyne. Before you begin tuning, the software scans the audio track and displays audio waveforms.
The process of editing is quite similar as well, though the interface is slightly dated.
Pros
- Included in many of Wave’s plugin bundles
- Relatively lightweight on CPU
Cons
- Outdated
- Difficult to use
I have never enjoyed using Waves Tune but figured it needed a mention since Waves is one of the most popular audio plugin companies.
5) Waves Tune Real-Time (Paid)
While cheaper than the regular version of Tune, Tune Real-Time offers a quick and user-friendly experience for tuning vocals. I’d compare this plugin to using Auto-Tune on AUTO mode.
Note transition is iffy at best and artifacts are present throughout (at least when I used it). The plugin isn’t smooth sounding at all, and there aren’t many parameter changes available.
I’d recommend Real-Time for two different scenarios. The first being someone new to audio production looking to fix a vocal without technical knowledge of tuning vocals. You won’t get the most professional sound, but it will be acceptable.
The second scenario is for producers working with singers in the studio who struggle to sing on pitch.
Using a pitch-correction software can boost the confidence of the singer in the booth, though I can’t say for sure if this will lead to a better sounding vocal take.
Despite the marketing of Waves Tune Real-Time, claiming instant vocal tuning, I could envision latency becoming an issue in some home studio settings.
Free Auto-Tune VST Plugins
If you’re on the fence about which one to get or want to save a little cash, try some of these free pitch correction plugins I’ve listed below.
Things To Consider When Choosing a Pitch Correction Software Plugin
Despite all the choices I’ve laid out, you still may be confused on the correct option. Here are some things to consider before making a decision.
Does the software maker provide a trial?
Best Free Autotune For Mac
If so, take the trial and check out the software! There’s nothing more frustrating than buying a plugin only to find out that it’s non-refundable.
Do you need graph editing functionality?
Graph editing, like seen in Melodyne and VariAudio, is for advanced vocal editors. If you need a quick tuning for a little enhancement of a track, you may not need to edit each note.
If you want to draw in the notes physically, a more advanced pitch correction software will be necessary.
Further features you may desire are formant control, MIDI input (for vocoder), and note straightness. These types of effects are often essential in a lot of today’s popular music.
Does your DAW already have pitch processing?
Mine does — that’s why I’ve included VariAudio in this list. Digital audio workstations like Propellerhead’s Reason and MOTU Digital Performer also come with their native pitch correction software.
Wrapping Up
Which one do I like most? If I didn’t have VariAudio included in Cubase, I’d most likely be using Melodyne exclusively. It sounds incredible, and the workflow is so intuitive.
Autotune For Mac Free Download
So there you have it — my list of the best Auto-Tune/pitch correction VST plugins. Which one do you currently use in the studio? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments. Thanks for reading!