By Will Betts, May 07 2025

Looking for the best synth VST to upgrade your sound? Whether you’re a beginner or a music production pro, third-party synth plugins can spark creativity, get you making great music faster, and help you design ear-catching sounds.

While the stock synths that come with your DAW can be powerful, third-party synth VSTs often offer deeper sound design tools, iconic presets, and more inspiring interfaces.

Most synth VSTs come in one of two flavours: Vintage emulations of legendary hardware synths, or modern instruments that harness the power and flexibility of working digitally

In this list of the best synth VST plugins, we’ll cover:

• Key features and strengths of each synth
• The types of sounds you can create
• Famous producers who use them
• Pros and cons to help you decide what to buy
• Pricing

These are the best synth VST plugins in 2025:

• u-He Diva (Best synth VST for flexible analogue emulation)
• Arturia Pigments 6 (Best synth VST for modern sounds)
• Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2.8 (Most inspiring presets) 
• Arturia V Collection 11 (Best vintage synth emulation bundle) 
• Xfer Serum 2 (Best all-rounder synth VST)
• u-he Repro (Best Prophet-5 and Pro-One emulations)
• Vital (Best free synth VST)
• Kilohearts PhasePlant (Best synth VST for infinite sound design)
• LennarDigital Sylenth1 (Most CPU efficient synth VST)
• Honourable Mentions: ABL3, Trillian

u-He Diva

Diva has been around since 2011, and is still one of the most authentic-sounding analog emulation synth VST plugins money can buy. Diva isn’t a top-to-bottom emulation of a single vintage synth. Instead, it recreates the oscillator, filter, and envelope modules of well-known subtractive synths. These include the Minimoog, Jupiter-8, Korg MS-20, Oberheim SEM, Alpha Juno, and more. That means you can mix and match modules to make the ultimate analog synth of your dreams.

What is Diva good for? Diva is fantastic for any part where you want an analogue synth sound. So, it’s great for basses, arps, plucks, stabs, and rich leads. Plus, because it has 16 voices of polyphony it’s also an excellent synth pad plugin. Just because it’s an analog emulation plugin doesn’t mean it has to sound vintage either. It has an extensive modulation matrix that’s perfect for complex sound design, and futuristic patches that work in tracks today.

Who is Diva great for? Producers looking for a super flexible analog synth VST that covers a lot of sonic ground without breaking the bank. It’s also ideal if you want synth sounds with character, but don’t want to be limited by the sonic profil of a single synth.

What else is cool about Diva? It’s immediate. Thanks to a huge bank of excellent presets and a relatively simple UI, you can be making – and tweaking – your synths to perfection in no time. Per-voice detune also means you can make extra wobbly synth sounds, like real world out-of-tune hardware.

What are the downsides of Diva? It is a processor hog. So if you have an older computer, and want several instances, or to use all 16 voices of polyphony, you may need to render MIDI parts to audio. It also only has two effects slots available, and a limited choice of effects: chorus, phaser, reverb, delay and rotary speaker.

Which artists use Diva: Josh Baker, John Summit, Robby East, OCULA

Price: 179€

Learn more about making great bass patches with Diva in our Best Bass Plugins video.

Arturia Pigments 6

If there are two camps of synth VST, where one emulates classic hardware synths, and the other is flexible and forward-looking, Pigments is purely the latter. You won’t find any skeuomorphic design here – no fake wood or scratched paint. No, Pigments is a beautifully modern synth VST. Its clean UI and live modulation visualisation make sound design easy to get your head around.

Also, because it has six synthesis engines, it gives you a massive range of sounds, from simple analog through to digital wavetable, sample, granular, additive and modal synthesis. 

What is Pigments good for? It’s killer for sound design, whether you’re adding a little movement to your bass synth, or programming bizarre, multi-layered evolving FX. Pigments is so versatile, you can make virtually any sound you can imagine. It can be aggressive, which works for Drum & Bass, Dubstep and EDM leads and basses. But it also excels at clean, atmospheric textures. If you want to keep it simple, you can use its analog engine, and ignore the more unusual flavours of synthesis, but if you buy Pigments, you won’t want to.

Who is Pigments great for? Producers who want futuristic sounds, regular preset releases, and anyone who loves getting granular about their sound design. Pigments is also ideal for producers who want one plugin to do everything, and improve their sound design skills in the process.

What else is cool about Pigments? It has a powerful sequencer and arpeggiator, plus 19 effects including chorus, shimmer reverb, a vocoder, two distortions and more. A huge plus is that Arturia releases monthly preset packs so your sound library can develop over time. Currently they have various preset packs for Deep House, Techno, Ambient, Drum & Bass and loads more. It also tends to go on sale periodically for 99€, which is a steal.

What are the downsides of Pigments? If you’re just starting out, it might feel a little overwhelming. If you’re just looking to grab a quick Minimoog bass sound, its plethora of options could give you option paralysis.

Which artists use Pigments: Nicky Romero, Alexis Taylor, Jamie Lidell, Solee 

Price: 199€

Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2.8

Omnisphere is a fantastic (and enormous) VST synth known for its incredible library of production-ready presets that can form the basis of your tracks. What’s different about Omnisphere is that it blends a traditional synth engine with layered samples, giving you a huge palette of sounds. It also has 58 built-in effects so you don’t need to worry much about sweetening raw sounds with more third-party plugins. 

What is Omnisphere good for? Synth leads, pads, atmospheres, synth FX, basses – all of it. Omnisphere’s presets work for many electronic genres and beyond. It’s a particular favourite among soundtrack composers because of its cinematic, ambient patches. 

Who is Omnisphere great for? If you’re someone who wants to start making music fast and you have some cash, Omnisphere is ideal. It’s an extremely approachable and playable synth VST. Electronic artist Tourist calls Omnisphere “one of the most inspiring instruments” and he’s really on to something. It also has loads of pro features making it a fantastic choice for experienced producers, too (more on that below).

What else is cool about Omnisphere? If you get through all of Omnisphere’s 14,000 stock patches, there are expansion packs for virtually every conceivable genre. Navigating that huge library is easy, too, with Sound Match which serves up alternate patches ranked by sonic similarity. Oh, and it has a built-in sampler, and you can control it from a hardware synth. Honestly, it’s a lot.

What are the downsides of Omnisphere? The price. And how much of your system resources it uses – it has a big CPU footprint, and the library takes up over 60GB of hard drive space.

Famous Omnisphere users: Fred Again, Josh Baker, Fourtet, KSHMR

Price: $299/249€

Arturia V Collection 11

If you care about recreating the sounds of vintage synths, Arturia V Collection 11 is likely the only synth VST bundle you’ll ever need. It has 45 different instruments, making this a cost-effective deal, despite its high price tag.

What is V Collection 11 good for? V Collection 11 probably has the best range of vintage, analog and hardware synth emulations on the market today. If you want to recreate a specific classic synth sound, this is the instrument for you. It emulates vintage dream synths including the Juno-106, Minimoog, Prophet 5, Jupiter-8, Yamaha CS-80, the Buchla Easel, ARP 2600, Oberheim OB-Xa, Yamaha DX7, Korg MS-20, Roland TB-303, Jupiter-8000 and more. The latest version also has plugin versions of Arturia’s modern MiniFreak and MiniBrute synths which take you into more experimental territory, along with a bunch of electric and acoustic pianos, a wobbly lo-fi synth and more acoustic-sounding instruments for sound design.  

Who is V Collection 11 great for? If you want a range of analog synth VSTs, V Collection 11 is a great option. Or if you just love the nostalgic look of these old machines. If the different user interfaces and control layouts inspire you to explore, then this is also a must-have bundle. 

What else is cool about V Collection 11? The V Collection is constantly growing, and now has comprehensive built-in tutorials to get you started quickly. It also comes with Analog Lab Pro for navigating sounds from many synths at once, instead of exploring each synthesizer one by one.

What are the downsides of V Collection 11? The headline price is high, although it works out as only 15€ per instrument. The learning curve is pretty steep, too, because there are so many different instruments, even with its built-in tutorials. Plus, It can make your plugin folder overwhelming to navigate.

Famous V Collection 11 users: Prospa, Disclosure, Yaeji, Trent Reznor, Deadmau5

Price: 699€ (with big discounts on Black Friday)

Xfer Serum 2

The original Serum was a powerful but easy-to-use wavetable synth VST made by Deadmau5 collaborator Steve Duda, and has been a dance music mainstay for the last 10 years. The brand new Serum 2, released March 2025 is even more powerful with five synth engines (wavetable, granular, sample, multisample and spectral).

What is Serum 2 good for? The original serum was known for its enormous number of wavetables that could sound analog and warm, through to rough, digital and futuristic. Just the wavetables – along with easy-to-interpret modulation (envelopes, LFOs) and great-sounding filters, were enough to make it a brilliant all-rounder and a staple among producers in all electronic genres. In version 2, it’s more powerful than ever, with true FM, tight control over unison voices for thickening sounds, and more. 

Who is Serum 2 great for? Any electronic producers looking for one modern-sounding synth to cover all bases. 

What else is cool about Serum 2? It has three oscillator slots instead of Pigments’ two, two filter slots, a powerful new sequencer, arp, and a piano roll. LFO swing is new and lets you add that Fred again-esque stutter house sound all from within one synth plugin. Add to that new effects like frequency shifter, convolution reverb, and frequency splitter so you can distort your high frequencies while leaving the low-end untouched. 

What are the downsides of Serum 2? Some users report high CPU usage for the granular and spectral synth modes, but if you have a relatively new computer, you should be fine. For beginners, it can be a lot to take in, and if you’re looking to make more old-school styles of electronic music, you might find yourself yearning for a traditional subtractive synth like Diva, or Repro.

Which artists use Serum: James Hype, Martin Garrix, and literally everyone else.

Price: $249 (currently $189)

u-he Repro

Repro is a faithful plugin emulation of two vintage analog synths from American synthmaker Sequential. Repro-1 is based on the Pro-One monophonic synth, and Repro-5 is based on the revered Prophet-5 polyphonic synth. 

What is Repro-1 good for? Repro-1 is an incredible synth for bass. It sounds fantastic, is easy to program, and has great presets (and preset descriptions). Syntho tutor Brandon Darby recommends it for its snappy envelopes, and controlled grit. 

What is Repro-5 good for? Repro-5 is far more versatile, and – because it has 8-voice polyphony – can do everything from lush pads, to plucks, house organ bass sounds, unison leads/basses and FX. 

Who is Repro great for? If you want to keep your synth programming simple, and want familiar but versatile subtractive synth sounds, there’s no better combo than u-he Repro-1 and Repro-5. 

What else is cool about Repro? The emulations are as faithful as you can get. They genuinely sound like analog synths. They both have five built-in stompbox-style effects. Repro-5 also has a polyphonic distortion that means when you add notes to a chord it doesn’t get dirtier, just fuller – perfect for clean-sounding synth pads.

What are the downsides of Repro? They don’t have all the different sound generation capabilities of more future-focused synths. 

Which artists use Repro? Tinlicker, Josh Baker

Price: 149€

Watch ‘The Best Bass Plugins’ video on Syntho to learn how to make great bass synths with Repro-1 and Repro-5. 

Vital

Like the original Serum, Vital is also a wavetable synth VST (but with a spectral morphing). And there’s even a free version.

What is Vital good for? Vital is great for modern wavetable synth sounds, if you’re willing to put in a bit of work exploring it. It’s great for sound design, for the same reason as Pigments – it has helpful animations of sound elements so you can keep track of what you’re doing.

Who is Vital great for? Producers who want the best free synth VST for making modern synth sounds. 

What else is cool about Vital? It is more CPU efficient than Serum 2 or Pigments. You can unlock all the features, and get 400 presets and 150 wavetables for only $80, making it the most affordable synth VST on this list. There’s also a healthy community sharing skins, presets and wavetables. 

What are the downsides of Vital? The interface isn’t quite as beautiful as Pigments and Serum 2, but it still gives you a lot of information. If you’re on a tight budget, you may not want to pay for new presets, and the bundled presets aren’t the most inspiring. But it’s still a massively powerful synth VST for free!

Which artists use Vital? Robby East

Price: Free / $25 (Plus) / $80 (Pro)

Kilohearts Phase Plant

Phase Plant is a semi-modular sound design synth VTS that lets you build your own synthesizer from scratch. Other synth plugins have a limited number of sound generation sources, filters and envelopes, but Phase Plant lets you add up to 32 modules. And it has regular waveforms, wavetables, samples, granular synthesis, plus FM. 

What is Phase Plant good for? Phase Plant is incredible if you just want a single synth, and you don’t want to face any sound design limitations whatsoever. It can do vintage sounding synths with ease, right through to the most twisted sounds you can imagine, and beyond.

Who is Phase Plant great for? This is a synth VST for sound design geeks, and is favoured by fanatical Drum & Bass producers such as Noisia.

What else is cool about Phase Plant? Phase Plant has a drag-and-drop interface so you can build your own synths exactly as you want them. And the interface remains relatively easy to understand, even then. Helpfully, the presets are fantastic and convert a super broad range of styles. Also, once you buy a license, you get free lifetime updates.

What are the downsides of Phase Plant? If you thought Pigments or Serum were overwhelming, Phase Plant is another level more complicated. Not for beginners. The ecosystem of ‘snapin’ plugins is also a little more complex than most competitors. The stock effects outstrip most other synths on this list, but you still have to pay for premium effects. If that sounds a bit over-complicated, that’s because it is.

Which artists use Phase Plant: Virtual Riot, Noisia, Alignment, Morgan Page, NetskyPrice: $199 (10-day trial available)

LennarDigital Sylenth1

Sylenth1 is a true OG in the synth VST world. This subtractive synth with built-in effects been around for nearly 20 years, and was a go-to for artists like Skrillex, Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten back in the day. It doesn’t sound as good as Diva, or have the flexibility of Serum or Pigments, but its CPU usage is incredibly low. If you have an old computer and want to run many instances without freezing tracks, Sylenth1 still gets the job done. Just expect to make your own patches, because no sound designers still release patch libraries for it.

What is Synlenth1 good for? It’s known for its saw leads, making it a decent choice for old-school Trance, Progressive House, and Future Bass. Sylenth1 is also infamous for how good its detune sounds. 

Who is Synlenth1 great for? Sylenth1 is perfect for anyone with an older, underpowered computer, because it’s so CPU efficient. You can load instance after instance and not run out of processing power. Also, if you’re leaning into that old-school Trance sound, then look no further – its supersaws are legendary. It has some classic hardstyle lead patches, too, if that’s your thing. 

What else is cool about Synlenth1? You can get different skins for it, if you don’t like its looks. And Even though developers first released it in 2006, they have updated it for the latest Apple Silicon processors, so it lives on. 

What are the downsides of Synlenth1? Even with the skins, there’s no escaping the fact the UI lacks the bells and whistles of a modern synth VST like Pigments. There are no modern sound packs for it, either. And, while its sound is decent, there are other synths that can do most of what it does (and much more).

Which artists use Synlenth1? Stonebank, Zedd, The Chainsmokers

Price: 139€ (9.95€ monthly)

Honourable Mentions

AudioRealism Bass Line 3

If you need squelchy acid bass, AudioRealism Bass Line 3 (ABL3) is for you. It’s the best synth VST emulation of a Roland TB-303 going, relying on accurate circuit modelling for its authentic tone. Its straightforward pattern interface also makes it super easy to program the accents and slides you need for convincing acid bass. It is expensive for a VST that essentially does one thing. But, my god, it does it well.

Price: £89

Watch Syntho founder Josh Baker’s tutorial on how to use ABL3 on YouTube. 

Spectrasonics Trilian

Trilian isn’t exactly a synth VST, it’s a bass virtual instrument with some well-chosen synth bass sounds. But Syntho’s Josh Baker is a die-hard user, and he loves its Minimoog Model D bass patches. Beyond the Moog, it features over 3,000 production-ready presets and enough control to tweak to your track’s needs. Just make sure you have some space on your hard drive for its 30GB+ samples.

Price: £89

Watch producer Josh Baker use Trilian to make the bass synth for his Beatport #1 track ‘Back It Up’ (jump to 7m19s). 

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