Deck Lite - a free plugin host for one pedal at a time

One plugin at a time, played properly. Deck Lite is a free host for a single audio plugin - plug in, pick a card, play. Choose your audio device and start playing, without building a chain or setting up a DAW session.

Deck Lite hosting Alara, with the plugin's own interface on the left, its details on the right, and a hand of plugin cards dealt along the bottom — Deck Lite hosting Alara. Development screenshot; the current release has an updated card bar and parameter panel.

The hand

Your plugins, dealt out

Every plugin you have installed becomes a card, and every maker gets its own suit - a colour and a mark, so you find things by sight instead of reading a list. Audio Unit and VST3 versions of the same plugin fold into one card; you pick which one opens.

Untamed Audio … and one for every other maker you have

Room to play

Big windows, small screens

Plenty of plugins are built at a fixed size, and some are built bigger than the screen you own. Deck Lite fits supported plugin editors into the panel, with an enlarged view when you want more room.

Some plugins impose a fixed editor size or use drawing methods that cannot be scaled reliably. Deck Lite provides scrolling when a plugin cannot fit.

Your view

Browse, then enlarge

Browse your plugins in the card bar, play in the editor panel, or double-click a card to enlarge the editor. Return to the browser when you want to try another sound.

Hardware

Keyboard, MIDI and gamepad

Navigate the host with the keyboard and map exposed parameters to MIDI controls. Compatible gamepads work on Mac and Windows; Linux gamepad support is still to come. Native plugin editors may handle their own keyboard shortcuts.

The details panel beside a running plugin, listing maker, format, version, type and channel count — Plugin details include maker, format, version and channel count. Development screenshot.

What you need

Mac: Apple silicon · macOS 11 or later
Windows: x64 · tested on Windows 11
Linux preview: x64 · Ubuntu 22.04 or newer · X11/XWayland
Plugins: VST3 · Audio Units on Mac · installed separately
Plugins at once: One
Audio: Choose a compatible audio interface in the app
Control: Keyboard and MIDI · gamepad on Mac/Windows

The price

$0.00 · Free Free account required to download. No subscription or app activation. Works offline after download.

Get Deck Lite free →

Linux is an early preview: automated checks have passed, but physical audio testing is still pending. See the download page for current files and release notes.

Deck Lite hosts one plugin. Deck, the full version, builds the whole board - and is still in the workshop.

Why it looks like this

A plugin folder is a filing cabinet, and nobody enjoys opening a filing cabinet. Cards you can spread out, recognise by colour, and pick up. So that is what Deck Lite is: a hand of cards, a panel to play them in, and nothing else in the way.