The roots of music can be explained in no greater way than with the piano. If there was one instrument’s influence that could not be replaced in music it is the piano. From the classical beauty of Beethoven and Brahms to the rock and roll era with Elton John and Freddie Mercury, the piano is irreplaceable.
Every advancement of music has been built around how available music was to the public. It has progressed from townsfolk only hearing what a person could play in a tavern, to public concerts, to the availability of sheet music, and so on. When more people had the creative abilities available, it opened up the chances of more prodigies and skillful players to enter the scene. The same can be said in modern times where it is almost impossible for someone to get the sounds of a concert piano in their 2 bedroom apartment, but with the amazing advancements in piano VSTs professional-grade sounds are available to everyone.
Quick Look At The Best Piano VSTs
- TruePianos 4Front
- EZ Keys – ToonTrack
- Grand Rhapsody Piano – Waves
- The Grandeur – Native Instruments
- The Maverick – Native Instruments
- The Gentleman – Native Instruments
- Mini Grand – Air Music Tech
What To Look For When Choosing a Piano VST
For the list of the Best Piano VSTs we wanted to focus on real piano sounds, shying away from electric pianos, organs, and synthesizers. With that in mind please feel free to use our methods of finding plugins by using the same requirement selection we do.
Pricing
While amazing pianos and emulators have been made available to the public, they still can cost a little bit more than the average plugin. That being said, in comparison to synths VSTs and other violin VSTs, the price of these piano VSTs is even.
Compatibility – System Requirements
As long as your computer is up to date you should have no issue running these plugins. Many of them will even work without a DAW as a stand alone instrument, so make sure your computer can handle it.
DAW Compatibility
Like with the system requirements, you want to make sure your system is up to date and can handle anything you throw at it. That being said, make sure there are no random conditions that could bar you from being able to use any of these plugins.
Frequency of Use
Think about how often you plan on using a plugin such as this. If you are in a small studio or bedroom studio this allows you to have a large assortment of sounds at your disposal without having to go elsewhere and spend even more money.
Skill Level
I don’t think that skill level will play a role in how useful these plugins will be as long as you are able to turn on your computer and open the program. These are great for children and adults alike to learn piano without feeling subconscious of others hearing mistakes by wearing headphones to listen while you play.
7 Best Piano VSTs
Without further ado, here in no particular order is our choices of the Best Piano VSTs
1. TruePianos – 4Front
TruePianos looks like a basic piano vst, nothing that sticks out. However, once you click on the options button it opens up a new space of opportunity with controls to control the velocity, dynamics, pitch, and even the natural reverb, and even comes with presets, The TruePianos sound is accurate and beautiful for your next session. If you are a Cakewalk customer, you can receive a discount on TruePianos here.
- Who’s it for? Beginner Players and Above
- Price: $69.99
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for Cakewalk
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 256 MB | 256 MB |
Operating System | 10.10 or Newer | Windows 7 or newer |
2. EZ Keys – ToonTrack
ToonTrack is well known for their product EZ Drummer, but the EZ Keys line is easily equal in quality (if not surpassing it). There is a long list of sounds and piano styles that can all be purchased at any point. When you initially buy a piano from them, it is more expensive to get the driver and initial setup. One thing that really sticks out about EZ Keys is you don’t have to know how to play piano with the chord selection that even allows you to choose a fourth extension note.
- Who’s it for? No Experience and Above
- Price: $179
- Expansion – $89
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for Logic
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 2 GB | 2 GB |
Operating System | 10.6 or Higher | Windows 7 or Newer |
3. Grand Rhapsody Piano – Waves
The Grand Rhapsody Piano from Waves is sampled from the Fazioli F228 at London’s Metropolis Studios. This plugin is sampled from the exact piano that was used on the hit “Hello” by Adele. Beyond the magnitude of this amazing instrument, you have editing capabilities for eq, reverb, compressor, you can even choose the microphones used on it.
- Who’s it for? Intermediate and above
- Price: $79
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for Pro Tools
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 8 GB RAM8 GB free disk space on the system drive | 8 GB RAM8 GB free disk space on the system drive |
Operating System | 10.12.6-10.15 | Windows 10 64 bit |
4. The Grandeur – Native Instruments
When it comes to a piano that can fit with every style, a classic concert piano is always the go to. The Grandeur from Native Instruments has adjustment options to fit your sound into whatever genre you are playing with. All of the Native Instrument Pianos we are looking at can be purchased separately or as a bundle in the Definitive Piano Collection.
- Who’s it for? Beginner and above
- Price: $99.00
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for Reaper
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 4 GB RAM | 2 GB RAM |
Operating System | OS 10.12 through latest update | Windows 7, 8, or 10 |
5. The Maverick – Native Instruments
One of the most perfect Jazz piano VSTs of course comes from a 1905 grand piano that has been through the best periods of jazz in history. One of my favorite aspects of the Native Instrument pianos is the control of the lid. The opening or closing of the lid can control the dampness and dullness of the sound of the piano in a way that simply doesn’t work with eq and compression.
- Who’s it for? Beginner and above
- Price: $99.00
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for Reason
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 4 GB RAM | 2 GB RAM |
Operating System | OS 10.12 through latest update | Windows 7, 8, or 10 |
6. The Gentleman – Native Instruments
The Gentleman is the ideal piano for the transient yet warm sounds of Rock and Roll. Listening to the demos, I was waiting for a sound like Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis slamming some soul on the keys. The piano that was sampled for this VST is a vintage 1908 piano that has been incredibly well maintained. I love the ability to control the space you are in to match the style and sound you are going for.
- Who’s it for? Beginner and above
- Price: $99.00
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for FL Studio
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 4 GB RAM | 2 GB RAM |
Operating System | OS 10.12 through latest update | Windows 7, 8, or 10 |
7. Mini Grand – Air Music Tech
This is one of my most used piano plugins seeing as it comes with Pro Tools. However, in this format, it has been made available to all platforms. Just remember that this form is NOT compatible with Pro Tools and you will have to go to Avid’s site for that version. There is a great list of sounds that all have their own unique feel and the room can be tweaked as well to provide a natural-sounding reverb.
- Who’s it for? Beginner and above
- Price: $79.99
- DAW Support: All popular DAWs supported, good for Cubase
System Requirements:
Mac | Windows | |
Memory | 1 GB RAM (2 GB or more recommended) | 1 GB RAM (2 GB or more recommended) |
Operating System | OS 10.8.5 – 10.15 | Windows 7, 8, or 10 |
Practice Makes Perfect
Anyone can learn music theory off of a piano. If you put in the time and effort you will start to learn theory more easily when you have a basic understanding of piano. Take the time once you have one of these VSTs to practice your playing and theory and watch as your skills and knowledge grow. This will allow you to appeal to more professional clients.
If you would like to learn more about other VSTs and plugins, check out our catalog of information here.
Jarrett is a hardcore Lover-Jazz Lover-Rock Lover-Blues Lover-just a music lover. He has the hair to match — Jarrett and provides in-depth insight into all things guitar and music engineering.