# iPlug2/iPlug2

C++ Audio Plug-in Framework for desktop, mobile, xr and web

Repository: https://github.com/iPlug2/iPlug2
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/iplug2
Homepage: https://iplug2.github.io
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: vst, audiounit, aax, webaudio, audio, plugins, wasm, gui, audioworklet, auv3, vst3, webview, skia, iplug2, swiftui, emscripten, webassembly, clap
Last push: 2026-08-19T20:14:26+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3066, "days_push": 14, "days_rel": 665, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: prerelease_only, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2396, forks 362 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:43.605069+00:00)

## What it is
iPlug2 is a C++ framework for developing cross-platform audio plug-ins and standalone apps that target multiple plug-in APIs (CLAP, VST2/VST3, AUv2/AUv3, AAX, Web Audio Module) from one codebase. It includes IGraphics, a GUI toolkit with NanoVG/Skia backends, and can compile to WebAssembly via emscripten or use HTML/CSS and SwiftUI UIs on top of a C++ DSP layer.

## Use cases
- build a VST3 audio effect plugin in C++
- create a cross-platform audio instrument plugin for CLAP and AUv3
- compile an audio plugin to WebAssembly for the browser
- develop a standalone desktop audio app with MIDI I/O
- make an iOS audio plugin app
- build a plugin GUI with Skia or HTML/CSS

## When to choose
- you need one C++ codebase targeting many plugin formats (VST3, CLAP, AU, AAX, WAM)
- you want to ship audio plugins on desktop, mobile, and web
- you need a performant custom GUI toolkit tailored to audio plugins
- you want a permissive license usable in closed-source products

## When to avoid
- you only need a simple audio playback library rather than a plugin framework
- you prefer higher-level languages like JUCE-style managed workflows or web-only audio tools
- you need official support for plugin formats outside the targeted list

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: active
- function: game-engine, gui, audio-processing, graphics
- domain: cross-platform, web-development, desktop-applications, mobile-development
- platform: cpp, cross-platform, windows, wasm
- tags: audio-plugins, vst3, clap, audiounit, aax, webaudio, dsp, skia, nanovg, emscripten, auv3, swiftui, midi, cross-platform, audio, macos, ios, web-server

## Member repositories
- iPlug2/iPlug2 (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:43.605069+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:34:22.073504+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/iPlug2/iPlug2 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:43.605069+00:00, sha f1e113f2ddda)
  - homepage: https://iplug2.github.io (fetched 2026-08-29T10:14:50.357595+00:00, sha 4475ba80d3ec)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.