Plugin comparison
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which drums to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
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Contenders
Addictive Drums 2 is XLN Audio's multi-sampled virtual drum instrument and standalone app for building, mixing, and playing customizable acoustic drum kits.
Drums / Toontrack
EZdrummer 3 is Toontrack's virtual drum software with seven kits recorded at Hansa Studios, around 15 GB of sounds, 2,500+ MIDI grooves, and songwriting tools.
Editorial analysis
Both are approachable acoustic drum instruments pitched at songwriters who want convincing, mix-ready drums without the mic-bleed homework of a flagship sampler. XLN Audio's Addictive Drums 2 and Toontrack's EZdrummer 3 land in almost identical territory, which is exactly why producers pit them against each other before spending. The scores are close (8.4 vs 8.6), so the decision comes down to how you actually work.
Decisive signal
The core split is preset-punch versus songwriting engine. Addictive Drums 2 bakes EQ, compression, transient shaping, and reverb into every kit piece, so its presets sound produced and punchy the instant you load them, and its per-piece mixer is fast to nudge. EZdrummer 3 puts its weight into the writing itself: the Song Creator, a tagged library of 2,500+ played grooves, drag-and-drop against your own bass track, and the ability to hum or tap a rhythm and get matching grooves back. In short, Addictive gets a great-sounding kit sitting in the mix faster, while EZdrummer helps you build the actual drum arrangement faster. That distinction, not raw sound quality, is what decides it for most people.
Choose Addictive Drums 2 if
Choose Addictive Drums 2 if you want the punchiest, most mix-ready kit in seconds at a fixed, honest price, and you'd rather tweak a preset than build an arrangement.
Open plugin file →Choose EZdrummer 3 if
Choose EZdrummer 3 if you write songs from scratch and want its Song Creator, 2,500+ grooves, and hum/tap-to-groove tools to hand you a convincing drum arrangement.
Open plugin file →Buying verdict
For a beatmaker or producer who already knows the part and just wants it to slap out of the box, Addictive Drums 2 is the more immediate, punchier tool and, at a clear $169, the more transparent value. For a songwriter staring at a blank arrangement who wants help writing verses, choruses, and fills that fit their track, EZdrummer 3's Song Creator earns its slightly higher score, though its list price isn't published here and its most convincing tones often lean on paid EZX packs. Neither replaces Superior Drummer 3 for deep mixing.
Technical matrix
| Signal | Addictive Drums 2 | EZdrummer 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $169 | — |
| Dubspot Score | 8.4 | 8.6 |
| Formats | VST, AU, AAX (64-bit), Standalone (Windows & macOS) | VST 3, AU (Audio Units), AAX, Standalone |
| Custom Collection contents | Base Addictive Drums 2 software plus 3 ADpaks (drum kits), 3 MIDIpaks (beats/grooves), and 3 Kitpiece Paks | — |
| Presets | Hundreds of mix-ready presets included | — |
| Expandability | Expandable via ADpaks (drum kits), MIDIpaks (beats), and Kitpiece Paks | — |
| macOS requirement | macOS 10.13 or later (64-bit) | — |
| Windows requirement | Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) | — |
| Installation | Internet connection required during installation | — |
| Drum kits | — | Seven full kits recorded at Hansa Studios |
| Sound library | — | Approx. 15 GB of drums, cymbals and percussion |
| Individual sounds | — | 14 kicks, 24 snares, 30 toms, 6 hi-hats, 6 rides, 16 crashes |
| Mic rooms | — | Three rooms (Main, Bright, Tight) |
| MIDI grooves | — | More than 2,500 individually played grooves/fills |
| System requirements | — | 64-bit Windows 10+ or macOS 10.13+ (Intel or Apple silicon), 4 GB RAM (8 GB+ recommended), 64-bit host |
Quick reference
EZdrummer 3 has the edge for total beginners because its Song Creator and groove-suggestion tools help you write drum parts, not just play them, which matters if you can't program beats yet. Addictive Drums 2 is also very approachable, but it assumes you know roughly what part you want and just need it to sound good fast. If arranging is your weak spot, lean EZdrummer; if playing or programming is fine and you want instant polish, Addictive is just as friendly.
Addictive Drums 2 has a clear, published price of $169 and its punchy presets deliver usable sounds with no add-ons required, making its value easy to judge. EZdrummer 3's realism often leans on paid EZX expansions, so the true cost tends to climb beyond the base purchase. Both have deep, affordable expansion ecosystems, but Addictive is the more transparent value if you want everything you need in the box.
No. Addictive Drums 2 runs a closed sample engine, so you cannot load your own recordings, and EZdrummer 3 is similarly built around its own core library rather than user samples. If importing custom samples or building hybrid kits is essential, both fall short and you'd want a full scoring tool like Superior Drummer 3 instead.
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.