OBS
Feels native in OBS
Add VST 3.x Plug-in from the normal Filters window. Installed and manual VST3 workflows stay inside the standard OBS properties experience.
Public stable v0.5.0 · Windows x64
VST3 for OBS Studio, without putting third-party plug-in code inside OBS.
OBS Safe VST3 Host is a native OBS filter plug-in for modern VST3 audio effects. Pick an installed effect, open its real vendor interface, tweak it normally, and keep the VST3 runtime isolated from obs64.exe.
✓ Native OBS filter
✓ Real VST3 vendor GUI
✓ Crash-isolated helper
✓ Open source
Filters for Desktop Audio
Installed plug-ins⌄
Choose your VST3 audio effect⌄
3. Open Plug-in Interface
Ready · vendor editor available
Why this exists
OBS gets a familiar VST3 workflow. The risky code gets a separate process.
Many modern effects are VST3-only. This project makes them practical in OBS without deliberately loading the third-party VST3 binary into the OBS process itself.
UI
Use the real plug-in GUI
Open the vendor interface you already know from your DAW. The editor is brought to the foreground so knob tweaking does not turn into an Alt-Tab workflow.
SAFE
Built around containment
VST3 DSP, vendor UI and scanning run outside obs64.exe. Recovery and dry fail-open behavior are designed around keeping OBS responsive.
Three-step workflow
Install once. Choose an effect. Open the knobs.
No Class ID entry, no routing graph and no separate DAW required for the normal single-effect workflow.
Install the OBS plug-in
Close OBS, run the official Windows installer, choose your OBS root and reopen OBS. The installer remembers the validated location for later updates.
Select a VST3 effect
Add VST 3.x Plug-in to an audio source. Installed effects are discovered automatically, or you can browse to a non-standard .vst3 bundle.
Open and tweak
Click Open Plug-in Interface. The native vendor editor appears in front, and the host preserves plug-in state for recovery and future sessions.
🛡
Crash isolation by architectureA plug-in problem is handled in an external helper boundary rather than intentionally putting third-party VST3 code in OBS itself.
Trust before marketing
What “safe” means here
“Safe” is not a promise that every computer can never crash. It describes a concrete process boundary and failure strategy.
✓
Third-party VST3 code stays outside OBS. The VST3 module and vendor editor run in
obs-safe-vst3-host.exe.✓
Scanner probing is isolated too. Plug-in discovery does not intentionally load candidates into
obs64.exe.✓
Audio fails open to dry. When a valid wet result is unavailable in time, the filter is designed to keep the original audio instead of blocking the realtime path.
✓
Recovery is bounded. Helper failures use watchdog detection, state restoration and bounded backoff instead of an uncontrolled restart loop.
Crash isolation is not a malware sandbox. Only install VST3 software from vendors you trust. Read the exact safety boundary →
VST3 compatibility
Built for audio effects, tested with real commercial plug-ins.
The host is not tied to one vendor or a hand-written name whitelist. v0.5.0 targets Windows VST3 audio effects and conservatively filters explicit instrument-only classes from the OBS insert-effect list.
iZotope Ozone / RXFabFilterWavesKlevgrandNeuro AudioProcess Audio
Windows x64
Supported
OBS Studio
29.1+ compatibility floor; release builds use pinned OBS/libobs validation.
VST3 audio effects
Supported for the current mono/stereo Float32 host scope.
Instrument-only VST3 / MIDI
Not supported; instrument-only classes are intentionally excluded from the insert-effect list.
Sidechain / multiple buses
Not fully supported yet.
macOS / Linux packages
Not currently shipped.
Official download
Start with the Windows installer.
For most users, the installer is the simplest route. It validates the OBS root, installs only the project-owned files and registers a normal Windows uninstaller. A portable ZIP is available for manual or portable OBS setups.
OBS Safe VST3 Host v0.5.0
OBS-Safe-VST3-Host-v0.5.0-Setup-x64.exe
OBS-Safe-VST3-Host-v0.5.0-Windows-x64-Portable.zip
SHA256SUMS.txt
Windows packages are currently not commercially Authenticode-signed, so SmartScreen may show Unknown publisher. Keep Windows security enabled and download only from the official GitHub release.
FAQ
Questions people ask before trying VST3 in OBS
Does this add real VST3 support to OBS Studio?
Yes. It adds a native OBS audio filter named VST 3.x Plug-in and hosts compatible VST3 audio effects through the project's external helper process.
Will a bad VST3 crash OBS?
The architecture is specifically designed to reduce that risk: third-party VST3 DSP and GUI code are not deliberately loaded inside obs64.exe. A helper failure can be detected and recovered while the filter keeps dry audio. That is a strong containment boundary, not a mathematical promise of zero crashes from every driver, OS or malicious-code failure.
Does it support every VST3?
It targets VST3 audio effects, not instruments or MIDI. Many normal commercial effects work, including real-machine-tested iZotope, FabFilter, Waves, Klevgrand, Neuro Audio and Process Audio examples. Advanced multi-bus, sidechain, arbitrary multichannel and Float64-only behavior are outside the complete current scope.
Why does Windows show Unknown publisher?
The current binaries are not commercially Authenticode-signed. Download only from the official GitHub Releases page and use the published SHA-256 checksums if you want to verify the exact file. Do not disable Defender or SmartScreen globally.
Is this an official OBS or Steinberg product?
No. It is an independent open-source project. OBS and VST are trademarks of their respective owners, and no endorsement is implied.