Pluginize! — new macOS plugin manager with Waves & UAD bundle-level control (developer here)

[SonicReplublic]

After two years of solo development I've just released Pluginize!, a native macOS plugin manager. Sonic Republic is the studio, May 2026 launch.

Site: https://www.sonicrepublic.net

What it does

Pluginize! scans, catalogs, and organizes installed plugins across AU, VST, VST3, AAX, CLAP, UAD (DSP + Spark), and Waves. The differentiator: it's the first plugin manager that handles individual Waves
bundles and individual UAD plug-ins as separate items, rather than only operating at the vendor-folder level. You can enable/disable a single Waves bundle or one specific UAD plug-in without going
through Waves Central or UAD Connect — and a whitelist + auto-restore system protects your organization across vendor updates.

Other features

• Cross-format awareness — AU/VST/VST3/AAX of the same plugin treated as one entity
• Plugin Sets — saved active-library configurations switchable in one click
• 40+ auto-detected subcategories (Synth, Drum Machine, Reverb, Saturator, Vocal Tuner, etc.)
• Storage breakdown with charts (per vendor, format, processing type)
• Plugin Catalog Pro — visual catalog with editable icons and previews
• Setup Assistant — first-run guided configuration
• Menu bar integration
• Email-based activation, no serial keys
• Non-destructive by design — plugin files are moved, never deleted

Platform & technical

• macOS 14 Sonoma or later
• Universal Binary (Apple Silicon + Intel)
• Apple Developer ID signed and notarized, Hardened Runtime
• Standalone application (not a plugin itself)

Pricing

• €49 early-adopter (limited time) / €69 regular
• Rent-to-Own option available
• 2 Mac activations per license
• Free 15-day standalone evaluation app — no signup, no serial codes

Honest disclaimer of what it does NOT do (since it'll come up):

• No update tracker that scans vendor websites for new versions
• No iLok license activation management (Pluginize! detects iLok-protected plugins, but doesn't manage iLok licenses)
• No Windows version (macOS only by design)
• No price comparison / shop integration

Happy to answer any technical questions, design choices, or "why didn't you do X" — I'm reading this thread daily. If anyone wants an early NFR copy to test, just reply or DM and I'll sort one out.

For some context, the press release was just picked up by rekkerd.org: https://rekkerd.org/sonic-republic-rele ... for-macos/

Thanks for reading, and thanks to this forum for years of knowledge that made building something like this possible.

Michele
Sonic Republic
https://www.sonicrepublic.net

[qtheerearranger]

this looks super clutch to figure out that problem plugin that is causing your project to not open in a daw or to find one thats crashing your project repeatedly. (cough cubase)

[burkek]

Too bad it doesn't scan vendor sites and compare versions. Trying to figure out which plugins have been updated is the bane of all musicians. I don't need to disable individual plugins. I don't need Waves and other similar "banks" of plugins managed individually. Cubase manages at the vendor folder level, and segregates by plugin type. Mac users use TimeMachine to back up restore things like plugins. So its too much money for basically just providing a list. I think you need to ask people what they _want_ in such a utility. And what they don't want (like you collecting plugin info from users).

[pekbro]

Hmm, I have 2000+ plugins yet no real desire to catalog them.

Unless it can auto-create preset directories for them?

[SonicReplublic]

Closing from my side: I built this for myself first. I'm a musician, and the way DAWs classify and order plug-ins has always frustrated me — vendor folders are too coarse, alphabetical sort stops being useful once you cross a
couple of thousand entries. That's the gap it fills, for the people who feel the same.

If it doesn't match your workflow, fair enough — different setups want different tools.

It's closer to a manager than a catalogue. With 2000+ plug-ins the
point is to move what you're not currently using into a parallel
"Unused" folder, so DAW menus stay short and load faster. Toggle them
back when you need them. Files never get deleted.

On data: it runs locally. Nothing about your installed or disabled
plug-ins leaves your Mac — the only network call is for the licence
check, which doesn't include any of that.

On version checking against vendor sites — fair point, and a separate
problem to solve well; not in this version.

On preset directory auto-creation — not in scope. Preset conventions
vary a lot vendor by vendor, so a generic solution would be unreliable.

thx for listen!

[pekbro]

Ok thanks, I was only talking about dir's for vst3 presets created by the DAW independently of the plugins. As for the rest, yea I guess I don't really get it myself. The plugins I use vary a lot, in fact that's part of the process, trying different effects or whatever. The pool I prefer to have at all times, is everything. YMMV.

-Cheers

[Gamma-UT]

Can the manager disable individual Waves plugins if supplied within a bundle? The site says disabling CLA in VST3 is possible, but is that only if it's an individual licence rather than when it's included in something like Diamond?

To be honest, I'd be pleasantly surprised if it were possible though the whole Waveshell thing probably makes that tricky, vs the UADs where they're genuinely individual plugins. But if it's all or nothing on the bundles you might want to change the wording on this site to one of the Abbey Road plugins, like Chambers, as the bundle for that isn't like the others – and I'm guessing those can be culled individually even if bought as a bundle.

Looks interesting. I've used AudioFinder in the past for this but found that a bit too clunky. The Waves thing isn't a dealbreaker for me, just nicer to have.

[SonicReplublic]

Ok thanks, I was only talking about dir's for vst3 presets created by the DAW independently of the plugins. As for the rest, yea I guess I don't really get it myself. The plugins I use vary a lot, in fact that's part of the process, trying different effects or whatever. The pool I prefer to have at all times, is everything. YMMV.

-Cheers

Got it — preset folders are a separate thing, not something it touches.

And your workflow makes sense: if you want the whole pool live at all times because variety is the process, there's nothing to manage — you're already set up the way you want. Different needs, different tools.

Cheers.

[SonicReplublic]

Can the manager disable individual Waves plugins if supplied within a bundle? The site says disabling CLA in VST3 is possible, but is that only if it's an individual licence rather than when it's included in something like Diamond?

To be honest, I'd be pleasantly surprised if it were possible though the whole Waveshell thing probably makes that tricky, vs the UADs where they're genuinely individual plugins. But if it's all or nothing on the bundles you might want to change the wording on this site to one of the Abbey Road plugins, like Chambers, as the bundle for that isn't like the others – and I'm guessing those can be culled individually even if bought as a bundle.

Looks interesting. I've used AudioFinder in the past for this but found that a bit too clunky. The Waves thing isn't a dealbreaker for me, just nicer to have.

Good news: it works at the individual plug-in level, regardless of how Waves licensed it to you.

Waves installs every plug-in as its own bundle in the Plug-Ins folder — whether it reached you as a standalone CLA licence or inside Diamond, the files on disk are identical. The licence controls what you're authorised to run,
not the file layout. So CLA can be disabled the same way either way — it's not all-or-nothing on bundles.

The WaveShell isn't an obstacle: it exposes whatever bundles are present in that folder. Move one out and it stops showing up; move it back and it returns — the Waves registration utility runs afterwards so DAWs pick up the change. Abbey Road plug-ins like Chambers work the same — individual, however they were bought.

On the site wording — fair point. The CLA-in-Diamond assumption is common enough that it's worth spelling out, so nobody has to ask.

[Gamma-UT]

Thanks. I will give it a go.

[SonicReplublic]

Pluginize! 1.1 is live

A big update — here's everything new in 1.1.

Universal Audio
• Fixed UAD DSP plugins occasionally showing in the wrong category or format
• Disabled UAD DSP plugins are now recognised on launch, whichever folder they were left in
• Clearer naming throughout: UAD Native and UAD DSP

Enable / Disable
• One consistent flow everywhere — plugin list and vendor view: select → Apply → Save as Set
• The Enable / Disable / Apply controls now appear in the vendor view too
• Fixed a toggle occasionally getting stuck after using the status text

Catalog & artwork
• More plugin previews (6,500+) with smarter name matching
• Icons, previews and vendor logos download automatically and self-heal if anything goes missing
• Interrupted downloads resume on next launch

Interface
• Redesigned sidebar — clean two-page layout (Browse vs My Stuff), livelier colours, bolder labels
• Cleaner toolbar and crisper notification badges, fresh 1.1 look
• "Hide to Menu Bar" now tucks the whole app away (Settings/About/Log included), and returns after a reboot

Also
• Waves 17 support
• Plugin update detection
• A new uninstaller that restores your plugins first — disable something, change your mind, uninstall, and your library is exactly as it was
• Plenty of fixes and polish

[SonicReplublic]

Pluginize! to v1.2 update released:


Universal Audio:
Fixed UAD DSP plugins occasionally showing in the wrong category or format.
Disabled UAD DSP plugins are now recognised on launch, whichever folder they were left in.
Clearer naming throughout: UAD Native and UAD DSP.
Enable / Disable:
One consistent flow everywhere — plugin list and vendor view: select, Apply, Save as Set.


The Enable / Disable / Apply controls now appear in the vendor view too.
Catalog & artwork.
6,500+ plugin previews with smarter name matching.
Icons, previews and vendor logos download automatically and self-heal if anything goes missing.
Interrupted downloads resume on next launch.


Interface:
Redesigned sidebar with a clean two-page layout (Browse vs My Stuff).
Cleaner toolbar and notification badges; improved Hide to Menu Bar.


Also:
Waves 17 support and plugin update detection.
A new uninstaller that restores your plugins first — disable something, change your mind, uninstall, and your library is exactly as it was.


Plenty of reliability and stability fixes.

The 1.2 update is free for existing users. Pluginize! requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, is a Universal Binary (Apple Silicon + Intel), and is Apple Developer ID signed and notarized. A free evaluation is available.

[SonicReplublic]

Pluginize 1.2 — Maintenance update (build 45)

This one is all about reliability and accuracy. Here is everything that changed.

Fixed — the "please close your DAW" warning when Logic was already closed
Pluginize always checks whether a DAW is running before it moves a plugin, because moving a plugin your DAW has loaded can crash a session. That check was a little too eager: it also picked up the background helper processes Logic leaves running after you close its window, so it would ask you to close Logic when Logic was already gone. That is fixed. Pluginize now counts only real foreground apps, so you can enable and disable plugins the moment you quit your DAW, no phantom warning.

Improved — plugin category accuracy
Category information coming from the community is now applied more precisely. Corrections for categories like Dynamics, Vocal and Post Production land correctly instead of falling back to a generic Effect label, so your library reads truer to what each plugin actually is.

Improved — vendor attribution
A pass of vendor name cleanup means more plugins are grouped under the correct maker, keeping the vendor view and sorting tidier.

Under the hood
A few smaller refinements to keep everything smooth.

How to update
Open Pluginize and choose Check for Updates, or it will update itself shortly. And as always, nothing is ever deleted, only moved, so you are always safe to experiment.

Thank you for the reports that made this update happen. More improvements are already in testing.