Plugin comparison
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which effect to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
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Contenders
RIPPLES Pulse is a free sidechain, gate, and LFO volume shaper with five drawable shapes, Sync or Trig, and 16 presets. VST3 and AU for macOS and Windows.
Effect / Cableguys
ShaperBox 3 by Cableguys is a multi-effect plugin combining 11 effect processors, each driven by drawable LFO waveforms with optional 3-band processing.
Technical matrix
| Signal | RIPPLES Pulse | ShaperBox 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | — |
| Dubspot Score | — | 8.7 |
| Formats | VST3, AU | VST 2, VST 3, AU (Mac only), AAX |
| Type | Volume shaper (sidechain, gate, LFO) | — |
| Shapes | Pump, Soft, Tri, Saw, Gate, each with Flip | — |
| Timing | Sync (9 rates, 1/16 to 4 bars) or Trig | — |
| Controls | Depth, Curve, Smooth, Sens, Mix, Out | — |
| Presets | 16 factory | — |
| OS requirements | macOS 11+ or Windows 10+ via RIPPLES Tap | — |
| Price | Free | — |
| Included effects | — | 11 Shapers: Pitch, Reverb, Time, Drive, Noise, Liquid, Filter, Crush, Volume, Pan, Width |
| Multiband | — | Every Shaper can be split into 3 bands, each with independent LFO and envelope follower controls |
| Modulation | — | Drawable LFO waveforms plus envelope follower per band |
| Mac formats | — | VST 2, VST 3, AU, AAX (Intel and Apple Silicon) |
| Windows formats | — | VST 2, VST 3, AAX (64-bit) |
| System requirements | — | macOS 10.15 or later; Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.