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Free tape stop plugins, compared

Guides · October 13, 2026 · 4 min read

A tape stop is a solved problem. There are more good free ones than you need. This is what each does, where it falls short, and what you would get for $9 instead.

The ones to use

Kilohearts Tape Stop. Kilohearts. Free with an account, as part of Kilohearts Essentials. Windows and Mac; VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, and as a snapin inside Phase Plant, Multipass and Snap Heap. A Play button, Stop time, Start time and a Curve. It does both the stop and the start, it is maintained, and it is the baseline most people already own. No CLAP that we could find. The account is the price.

cStop. Cal Goheen. Free and open source (GPL-3.0 on GitHub; KVR's listing says MIT). Windows and Mac; VST3, CLAP, AU. Three modes, Start, Stop and Bypass; times in milliseconds or synced up to two bars; an automatable Mode parameter and an Auto Bypass that returns to bypass when the motion is done. Version 2.0.1 (July 2026) rewrote the DSP and the interface; version 2 projects don't open version 1 settings. The cleanest of the set, and the only free one with CLAP.

TapeFi STOP. TapeFi. Free for an email address. Windows and Mac; VST2, VST3, AU, 64-bit only. A large STOP button, pitch range of -12, -24, -36 or -48, a curve, tempo sync, and four extras: vinyl noise, a Step mode for stuttered stops, Digi for a downsampled slowdown, Wash for a reverb and delay tail. Released September 2025. The most features. No CLAP.

Sotto Spindown. Sottovoce DSP. Free, through a checkout that asks for an email. Windows and Mac; VST3, AU. You draw the curve with two anchor points, up to 10 seconds, with an optional fade and presets. A spindown rather than a stop: there is no start, and presets can't be changed mid-motion. Released August 2025. Best when the shape of the slide matters.

Wavesfactory Cassette Transport. Wavesfactory. Free. Windows and Mac; VST, VST3, AU, AAX, 64-bit. Play and stop times up to 8 seconds, syncable to the host, plus the button and motor noises of a cassette deck with their own levels. Older (2020) but still listed. The one to pick if you want the clunk.

iZotope Vinyl. iZotope. Free, no account. Windows 10 and 11, macOS 14 and later; VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, 64-bit. A record-noise plugin with a Spin Down button that stops the record. Fine when you also want the crackle; limited if you only want the stop.

The ones to know about

EAS Audio TapeStop. Free, VST3. BPB (2023) says Windows only; KVR lists Mac, Windows and Linux. Start and stop times up to 2 seconds, snapped to the beat, and it keeps the track aligned after a start. It adds about a second of latency, and KVR's page notes loading problems in some hosts (Ardour, Bitwig). Version 1.0.2, no update since.

dBlue TapeStop (Illformed), TbT Tapestop, WokWave Tapebrake. Free, Windows, 32-bit VST only. They need a bridge in a 64-bit host and aren't supported. Historical now.

Logic users have Tape Stop and Scratch as pads in Remix FX, which ships with Logic Pro.

What they all have in common

Every one of them is a knob or a button: set a time, set a curve, press stop or draw it in automation. The stop happens at the speed you typed. Most do a start as well, and a start is always "ramp back to normal speed", not "rejoin the track where it should be". That is fine for a drop at bar 17. It is less fine if you want to play the effect.

tapespin, $9

tapespin is a tape stop you play by hand. Its window is a record.

If you want a stop at a known point, use cStop or Kilohearts and keep the $9. If you want to grab the track, scratch it and let go on the beat, that is what tapespin is for. $5 for the first 14 days after release, $9 after, never on sale otherwise.

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