Rough Rider 3

Disclaimer: I've tested RoughRider vers. 1 & 3 (the latest version).

Not a usual compressor, because it adds distortion. Sometimes the sound of the effect reminds me on a transient shaper. You can not use it on every signal, but I really like this one for it's "rough" flavor. Can bring many things to live. For the reason that someone might say it distorts too much, I would refer to take a look at the plugin's and developer's name. This company is not known for clean effects, and that's perfect.

Vers. 2 is not available anymore, but since the developer made many of its plugins legacy in spring 2022, you can get vers. 1 and the "Pro" (3-band multiband) version (both as well in 64-bit) of it for free, too. Very nice addition because they not only have difference in features but also the sound, so you might even prefer vers. 1 over vers. 3 in some cases.

Vers. 3 is the latest and still developed plugin, which has many new features like dedicated knobs for input & output level, a Sidechain high-pass filter, which you even can feed by external input, and a resizable GUI even in the VST 2 version.

Only downside is that you don't have a numerical input for parameter values. That means you need to click and drag to set the parameters, but that is not a big dealbreaker for me.

I can recommend this plugin for everyone who is looking for a more "kick-a$$" compression than you will get on clean and transparent compressors.