VCV+ is a new subscription plan that gives users unlimited access to digital modular synth environment, VCV Rack Pro, and its comprehensive library of modules.

The subscription comes in at $29 a month, or $19 per month for a yearly subscription, amounting to $228 a year. Online fans of the brand have so far shown that they aren’t best pleased with the non-rent-to-own subscription model.

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For many, VCV Rack is an accessible, free way to toy with a digital modular synth. The open-source, cross-platform software has a VCV Rack Pro upgrade – however, the premium version of the software still costs less than the yearly cost of VCV+.

It costs $149 to buy VCV Rack 2 Pro outright, which also includes access to a library of high-quality modules. Crucially, VCV+’s FAQ page notes: “If you cancel your VCV+ subscription, you’ll no longer be able to use premium modules from VCV+.”

With this in mind, users could pay a full yearly subscription of $228, cancel, and have nothing to show for it, when they could have just bought it outright in the first place and owned it forever for $149.

The subscription model has become infamous amongst professional producers and budding synth fans in recent years. In 2023, Waves shifted from selling individual plugins to a subscription-only model, before quickly backtracking on its decision only days later following user backlash.

Minimal Audio also had similar plans, introducing its own subscription-only model for its Current soft synth. The company came under fire, and the backlash resulted in it shifting to a rent-to-own system.

While some users will no doubt welcome the option of gaining access to VCV Rack 2 Pro for a more manageable monthly cost, others have voiced their opposition to VCV’s new subscription-only model.

“At least make it a lease-to-own model,” one user says. “I would happily pay $300 for Pro 2 to own it before I paid $20 a month to rent it,” another user notes.

If you had to subscribe from the initial 2017 release, VCV Rack would have costed you $2,436 and you wouldn't own a single thing. pic.twitter.com/LlGPxHzvdp

— Benn Jordan (@bennjordan) September 7, 2024

"as low as $19/month." – at least make it a lease to own model. $240 per year and having nothing to show for it if you stop paying is wild.

— Tangent Moon (@TangentMoon) September 7, 2024

On Reddit, users are also disappointed by the news. “I’m all for people and artists making a profit for their work, but we’ve seen time and time again that subscription services are, in the long run, a rip-off and pretty anti-consumer,” one user writes.

Learn more about VCV+ and VCV Rack.

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