VST3 audio plugin format is now MIT

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Licensing Change and Immediate Impact

  • VST3 moving from GPLv3/commercial to MIT removes major barriers for GPL2, MIT/BSD and distro-packaged software, especially on Linux.
  • Previously, VST2 required signing a restrictive proprietary agreement (often including giving up VST2 rights when adopting VST3), and VST3’s GPLv3-only option blocked many projects.
  • Several commenters expect more open‑source plugin hosts and plugins to ship VST3 builds now, and note this could legitimize previously “legally gray” open-source VST work.
  • Steinberg also opened the ASIO SDK under GPL3; some are puzzled it’s not GPL2‑compatible like the Linux kernel.

CLAP, Competition, and Motivations

  • Many see the move as a competitive response to CLAP, an open C‑API plugin standard with simpler design, polyphonic modulation, and broad Linux support.
  • Some argue “CLAP is way better” and say the world should move off VST3; others point out downsides (multiple MIDI representations, no manifest, unspecified parameter interpolation).
  • CLAP adoption is described as small but growing, helped by frameworks (e.g., JUCE) and several high‑profile and open‑source plugins.

Technical Design: VST3 vs Alternatives

  • VST3 is criticized as COM‑inspired, interface‑heavy, and sprawling, with tricky state machines, threading rules, and ABI assumptions about C++ vtables.
  • MIDI handling in VST3 (treating CCs as parameters, no native MIDI stream) is widely called a design mistake; workarounds require thousands of dummy parameters and lead to poor MIDI behavior.
  • Sample‑accurate automation via parameter queues and linear interpolation is viewed by some as elegant, by others as slow, complex, and rarely implemented correctly.
  • AU is described by one participant as more open‑ended/graph‑oriented, but others counter that in practice all major formats reduce to similar “process()” models; host limitations matter more than spec.

Ecosystem, Adoption, and Tooling

  • VST remains the universal lowest common denominator; CLAP is far from AU‑level adoption and has no CLAP‑only DAW pushing it.
  • Hosts and frameworks (notably JUCE) are key: once they support CLAP or new VST3 features, plugin support tends to follow.
  • Some hope this change, plus open standards like CLAP and LV2, will finally reduce format fragmentation and overcommercialization, especially for Linux users.

Community Sentiment and History

  • Reaction is strongly positive (“huge and wonderful change”), but tempered by anger over past VST2 SDK takedowns and license pressure.
  • Several call it “too little, too late” unless VST2 is also relicensed freely.
  • Yamaha/Steinberg are generally praised for long‑term support and occasional “doing the right thing,” though mistrust remains.