13 Best Country VST Plugins 2024

Today’s top 40 country probably has more in common with pop and southern rock than it does with its much twangier roots.

That doesn’t change production techniques for the most part, though, because country music has a distinctive and identifiable sound that artists become known for and fans love.

That means you still need the right tools to get the job done, and we’re here to help. In this guide, you will discover the best country VST plugins.

Vintage Country by Big Fish Audio – Best Overall

Big Fish Audio’s Vintage Country is an instrument bundle featuring all the essential 50s and 60s country instruments. If you’re looking to emulate the sounds of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, and other legends, this is your kit.

Remember – it’s vintage. You will not find any clean, pristine, digital miracle dream modern sounds here. These are gritty, dirty, real, organic, and full of character.

The VST features a very easy-to-use and minimal GUI for picking your sounds and adjusting to taste.

The patch list includes banjo, dobro, Telecasters, fiddle, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, drum kits, upright piano, arranger tools, multis, and much more.

In total, you get 13 guitar and string instruments, five rhythm and bass instruments, two upright pianos, 11 arranger tools, and 11 multis.

To take advantage of Vintage Country, you will need Kontakt 7 or Kontakt 7 Player.

This is our best overall selection because everything is conveniently in one place.

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Acou6tics by Vir2 Instruments – Best Premium Option

The sound of the acoustic guitar is essential in country music. There are other virtual guitars and even virtual amps or effects in this guide, but if you think you might need a specialty acoustic guitar plugin that sounds great, Vir2 Instruments’ Acou6tics is where it’s at.

Acou6tics features steel-string, 12-string, and nylon-string guitars, and even ukulele, guitalele, and mandolin. All sounds have at least one if not two playing styles (a mix of plectrum, fingerpicked, and fingernail picked), and there are 4,000 to 8,000 samples per instrument.

There are also multiple articulations, including sustain, muted, legato, slides, releases, harmonics, chucka-chuckas (scratching), and various FX (slaps, body knocks, pick noises, etc.).

Acou6tics comes with other great features too, like a virtual room with adjustable mics, physical correct sympathetic resonance, advanced strum engine, picking engine, chord detection, string and fretboard positioning, guitar noises, and vibrato.

Acou6tics requires Kontakt to work, but fortunately, it already comes with Kontakt Player 5.

Have a listen for yourself – I think you’ll be impressed with how Acou6tics sounds. This is our best premium selection.

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EFEKTOR OD3603 Overdrive by Kuassa – Best Budget Option

So, you’ve got a virtual amp. Do you want a virtual overdrive to go with that? Then Kuassa’s EFEKTOR OD3603 Overdrive is bound to be right down your alley. It pairs nicely with Kuassa amps too, just as you’d expect.

Whether you need a bit of extra bite for those fills, or you want to make those rhythm guitars cook, adding some overdrive can take things over the edge.

EFEKTOR OD3603 Overdrive is simple and low-cost. But it sounds great. And it comes with five vintage and modern overdrive styles, a dry/wet control, and oversampling.

Do you need it in your arsenal? There’s only one way to find out. Have a listen to this baby and see if it’s what you need. This is our best budget selection.

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BIAS FX 2 Pro by Positive Grid

For those who aren’t looking for a one-trick guitar pony and would rather ride on the back of a sturdier horse that can go just about anywhere, there’s Positive Grid’s BIAS FX 2 Pro multi-effects solution.

“In-the-box” recording is becoming increasingly popular, and today’s guitar solutions make it possible for you to customize and get amazing guitar tones without having to dig out your most expensive tube amp, dial it in, mic it up, and tweak it endlessly in post-production.

BIAS FX 2 Pro will give you mix-ready tones out of the box, as well as the ability to tweak to your hearts’ content. This baby gives you access to countless amps, effects, HD racks, presets, MIDI and automation, IR loader, looper, recorder, Guitar Match, and more.

From the twangiest of all country guitar tones over to the funkiest of synthesizer-style sounds, BIAS FX can help you dial in just about any tone you can think of.

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Amplifikation Vermillion by Kuassa

Kuassa is known best for its virtual guitar amplifiers and effects pedals. The guitar tone is an obsession in any genre, and in country music, it’s all about that spanky, twangy tone that snaps and pops percussively.

Amplifikation Vermillion is a vintage guitar combo style amp. For those in roots and Americana, it provides the ideal tone, and it even comes with tremolo and spring reverb.

For being low-cost, the plugin still comes with plenty of power – three amp types, clean and lead amp channels, effects, five cabs, four mics, dual-mic settings (with mono / stereo), noise gate, limiter, IR loader, A/B switches, and a straightforward graphical user interface.

The A channel is a balanced, responsive channel. Channel B offers vintage tones with pushed mids and tamer lows. And channel C delivers modern sounds with enhanced lows.

If you’re looking for a low-cost virtual amp you can use in country music and a wide array of other genres like blues, rock and roll, and even rock and metal, Amplifikation Vermillion is worth a look.

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EFEKTOR RV3604 Reverb by Kuassa

This stompbox-style reverb is in keeping with Kuassa’s EFEKTOR series. The EFEKTOR RV3604 Reverb was tailor-made for guitar tracks requiring a little more space.

RV3604 Reverb includes five models – room, hall, plate, spring, and shimmer, all of which can come in quite handy. Many country players will no doubt be drawn to the spring setting, mind you.

There are only four key parameters to keep things simple – reverb, tone, wet level, and dry level. These make it possible to dial in the ideal reverberation settings fast.

From placing a guitar in a “room” to giving it a rich atmosphere to pushing it further back in a mix, reverb can be a miracle worker in several capacities.

EFEKTOR RV3604 Reverb sounds great, especially for the price!

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Addictive Keys: Trio Bundle by XLN Audio

The sound of the piano is a staple in most styles of music. You may not use it in every song, but as you’re making more and more country tracks, the time will probably come to embrace the versatility of piano in your projects too.

So, why not get everything you need in a convenient three-in-one bundle like Additive Keys: Trio Bundle?

Addictive Keys features four instruments – Studio Grand, Modern Upright, Mark One, and Electric Grand. With the Trio Bundle, you can choose the three that appeal to you most.

The Studio Grand was based on a Steinway Model D concert grand piano. Steinways are well known for their beautiful sound and are the first choice for many professional pianists across the world.

The intimate sound of an upright piano is a go-to in country music. The Modern Upright instrument was based on a Yamaha U3 upright piano. Modern Upright comes with presets suited to an array of genres, from pop to jazz.

Mark One was based on the Rhodes Mk. 1 electric piano. Developer XLN Audio fed the piano through a vintage tube combo amp and used hard-to-find vintage microphones to capture its sound. From dreamy to barky, it does it all.

Electric Grand takes after a vintage CP-80 Electric Grand Piano. This versatile entry can handle pop, indie rock, R&B, house, and more.

The Addictive Keys interface features plenty of effects, envelopes, and other tweakable parameters you can use to achieve desired tones.

If you’re after realistic piano tones, there are few plugins better than Addictive Keys.

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BFD3 by BFD

BFD3 is known for one thing – huge drum sounds! And this baby is a powerhouse out of the box.

Now that multiple competitors have found their footing in the same market, BFD is sometimes overlooked in favor of the flashy and new. But this is still one of the best-rated drum VSTs out there and for good reason.

BFD3 includes plenty of new or updated features including tom resonance / cymbal swell modeling, a new browser and workflow, a more efficient audio engine, new effects, more presets, an improved groove engine, a rudiments tool, and more.

If you don’t already have a killer drum VST in your collection, BFD3 is sure to blast you away and give you all the power you need to give your musical projects some serious backbone.

With a bit of tweaking, you can probably find the ideal drum sound for your country projects. That said, if you’re serious about country and want sounds that have been tailor-made for Americana genres, it’s recommended that you pair BFD3 with the BFD Horsepower expansion pack.

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VI.ONE by Vir2 Instruments

Accordion, bass, banjos, acoustic pianos, and a great deal more. Vir2 Instruments’ VI.ONE won’t necessarily thrill you with its sound quality. Sure, it has its moments. But its huge library of instruments is its chief strength.

Some virtual instruments are a little hard to find. They are out there if you go looking for them, but it can get to the point where you’re not even sure what you’re buying and from whom.

VI.ONE can fill many gaps in your virtual instrument toolkit. If there’s a sound you’re looking for, it’s probably got it. It doesn’t specialize in any one thing, but in this case, that’s its strength.

VI.ONE can be an excellent addition to your library if there are certain instruments you can’t get or don’t have.

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Mandolin v1.5 by Cinematique Instruments

The mandolin is a versatile rootsy instrument. Its presence has been requested in country, bluegrass, folk, singer-songwriter, and more. Its double-course strings offer a distinctive higher-pitched tone that cuts nicely through a mix. And it’s very complementary to guitar, banjo, and other instruments too.

Cinematique Instruments’ Mandolin v1.5 brings this timeless sound to your studio. The instrument features two plucking sounds (one of which comes with a tremolo feature), and an easy-to-use strumming engine, as well as effects and editing features.

Mandolin v1.5 requires the full version of Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher.

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FabFilter Pro-Q 3 by FabFilter

FabFilter Pro-Q 3 is an easy-to-use, versatile, and powerful equalizer with a visually oriented workflow.

It’s a guarantee that you will need EQ during your country music mixing sessions. Unless you’ve already got a premium EQ solution at your disposal, you will find that FabFilter Pro-Q 3 will outclass most. And chances are you will use it on just about everything.

Pro-Q 3 is also feature-rich. We won’t be covering everything here, but it comes with 24 EQ bands, LP and HP filters, spectrum grab, EQ Match, phase invert, and much more.

From vocals and guitars to piano and drums, you can dial in the ideal curves using FabFilter Pro-Q 3.

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FabFilter Pro-R by FabFilter

FabFilter Pro-R is another superb entry in the FabFilter line of plugins. More than a mere reverb plugin, FabFilter Pro-R can be used to generate just about any kind of space you can think of.

Reverb is yet another mixing essential, and of course, that goes for country music too. From vocals to drums, most tracks require some processing, especially if the tracks were recorded in a dry environment.

As with most if not all FabFilter entries, Pro-R is highly visual. The parameters have also been given easy-to-understand names to make quick work of the dialing of settings.

If you’re looking for a reverb that will behave in a mix, and you aren’t already using a premium reverb solution, Pro-R is well worth a look.

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FabFilter Pro-C 2 by FabFilter

Compression is another mixing and mastering essential. And FabFilter Pro-C 2 is one of the best virtual compressors available.

This highly visual and versatile compressor can do just about anything you need it to, whether it’s making a vocal track pop, adding glue to the drums, or making that dance track pump.

And that’s not just talk. Pro-C 2 comes with eight compression styles, five of which are new additions to Pro-C 2. You’ve also got great features like sidechain EQ, customizable filters, smooth lookahead, external sidechain triggering, and much more.

If you don’t have a premium compressor already, it’s quite likely that FabFilter Pro-C 2 can handle whatever job you’re looking to take on with a virtual compressor.

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What Should I Look For In The Best Country VST Plugins?

We’ve covered several types of plugins in this guide. Here are the main things you need to know about shopping for your country music project:

• Virtual instruments. Virtual instruments will come in especially handy if you won’t be recording with a band, or if you don’t have all the instruments you need.
• Guitar VSTs. From virtual amps and effects pedals to comprehensive multi-effects solutions, getting the guitar sound right is top of mind for most country producers. Tools like Amplifikation Vermillion, EFEKTOR OD3603, or BIAS FX 2 Pro will help you get there.
• Virtual effects. Most if not all Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) come with built-in effects. If greater quality effects are desired, it may be worth upgrading.
• Budget. Always check your budget before making any purchase. Overspending is discouraged, and we don’t recommend going into debt for musical project-related purchases.

Top Country VST Plugins, Final Thoughts

And now you should have everything you need to make your country music projects sound amazing. If you aren’t clear on how to use any of the tools, there are plenty of tutorials out there, so don’t hesitate to look.