# VST 3 and free plugins



## José Herring (May 25, 2022)

Hi, in a few weeks I'm going to start to learn how to program VST. I probably plan on cranking out a few freebees just to get experience. Does anybody know if the VST3 SDK makes it harder for indie developers to make free plugins?


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## d.healey (May 25, 2022)

José Herring said:


> Does anybody know if the VST3 SDK makes it harder for indie developers to make free plugins?


Do you mean in terms of licensing?


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## José Herring (May 25, 2022)

d.healey said:


> Do you mean in terms of licensing?


Perhaps. Like is it possible to release a vst3 version of a plugin without a license from Steinberg?


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## d.healey (May 25, 2022)

José Herring said:


> Perhaps. Like is it possible to release a vst3 version of a plugin without a license from Steinberg?


If you're releasing it under the GNU GPL v3 then yes. If you're releasing a proprietary plugin I think you need to have signed up to their license agreement but I don't know for certain.

Looks like you have to sign up to their site to find out any details about the proprietary license :( https://forums.steinberg.net/t/vst-3-sdk-license/201637


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## Nico5 (May 25, 2022)

seems to be explained here:



What are the licensing options - VST 3 Developer Portal



and more generally, there's this:



VST - VST 3 Developer Portal


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