Gross Beat Alternatives for Ableton, Logic and Any DAW (2026)
Image-Line stopped selling Gross Beat as a VST or AU plugin in 2021, so outside FL Studio you need a replacement. No single plugin copies all of it. Cableguys TimeShaper or ShaperBox comes closest. Ableton and Logic already ship free tools for gating and stutters, and a halftime-only job can be one button.
You found a Gross Beat tutorial, you open Ableton or Logic, and the plugin isn't there. It isn't a scan problem. Image-Line's product page says it plainly: "NO VST version sold at this time." The old VST installers are listed as discontinued, and Image-Line's support base confirms that since 2021 its plugins are no longer sold in VST or AU format.
The one official workaround is heavy: load FL Studio itself as a plugin inside your DAW (VST on Windows and macOS, AU on macOS) and run Gross Beat inside that. You still need a Gross Beat license, which means FL Studio Signature Bundle or higher, or buying it separately. If you already own all that, it works. If you don't, read on.
First, which Gross Beat do you actually want?
Gross Beat is three tools sharing one window, and almost every "alternative" only replaces one of them. Under the hood it records two bars of audio into a rolling buffer and lets 36 time envelopes and 36 volume envelopes play with it. Forum threads asking for a replacement keep landing on the same three jobs:
- Time tricks. Halftime, stutters, repeats, reverse, scratching, tape stops. Gross Beat ties speed to pitch like tape, so its half speed also drops the sound by about an octave. The manual's wording: sloping segments "change playback speed (pitch)".
- Volume shapes. Gating, chopped pads, sidechain-style pumping without a sidechain input.
- Live switching. Firing those presets from MIDI notes while the loop plays.
A volume gate is just a step pattern for loudness, which is why it reads so naturally on a grid:
Pick the job, then pick the tool. The table near the end lines them all up.
Free: what your DAW already has
Ableton Live. Beat Repeat (in every edition) covers stutters and repeats, with a Chance control for controlled randomness and Pitch Decay so each repeat drops lower. Auto Pan-Tremolo handles LFO gating and tremolo. Live has no dedicated halftime device. You do it by hand: halve the clip tempo with the ÷2 button and use the Re-Pitch warp mode, where speed and pitch move together like tape. Beats and Complex modes keep the pitch instead.
Logic Pro. Remix FX is the closest built-in cousin to Gross Beat's performance side: a Gater slider, Reverse, Scratch and Tape Stop buttons with note-division settings, and a Repeater pad for stutters. Step FX adds three 128-step modulators that can drive gate and pan. Logic has no dedicated halftime plugin either.
Kilohearts. Trance Gate (a gate sequencer with 8 pattern slots and an ADSR) and Tape Stop (a motor spin-down and spin-up on a button) are both free with a Kilohearts account, in VST, AU and AAX on Mac and Windows.
That free stack covers gating and stutters well. What it doesn't give you is Gross Beat's one-window feel or its hand-drawn time curves.
Paid: the closest matches
Cableguys TimeShaper 3. The nearest thing to Gross Beat's time side. You draw a curve that moves a virtual playhead, and the page lists exactly the Gross Beat menu: chops, stutters, slow-downs, speed-ups, reverses, glitches, scratches, tape stops. It is multiband (different moves for lows, mids and highs), host-synced, and switchable by MIDI or audio triggers.
Cableguys ShaperBox 3. The container TimeShaper lives in, with 11 shapers including Time and Volume. Time plus Volume in one chain is the most complete Gross Beat replacement we found.
Cableguys HalfTime. One job only: half speed, plus 1.5x and 4x modes. Like Gross Beat it resamples, so pitch moves with speed. Cheapest route if halftime was the only reason you wanted Gross Beat.
Sugar Bytes Effectrix 2. A different philosophy: 14 effects painted onto a 32-step grid, including a looper, vinyl scratch, reverse and grain stretch. If you think in grids, it feels like a step sequencer for effects.
Xfer Records LFO Tool. A curve-based LFO shaper with 12 graphs per preset that you can switch by MIDI note. Producers mostly know it as the pumping tool.
Where TrapMan fits (and where it doesn't)
We make TrapMan, so here's the honest scope. TrapMan is a drum sequencer, not an audio effect. It can't process a vocal, a sample loop or your master bus, and it has no gate or stutter engine. If you need those, the tools above are the answer.
It covers one Gross Beat job very well: the slowed, halftime drum flip. Slow drops the whole pattern to half speed and pitches it down in one click, the same tape behavior Gross Beat is known for, and it prints into your audio exports. Because it lives inside the drum instrument, you can A/B the flip while the loop plays instead of bouncing and stretching. The halftime breakdown covers why that move hits so hard, and the Slow manual covers how it works. Pair it with a free gate like Trance Gate and you've rebuilt most of a Gross Beat workflow outside FL. Producers coming from FL for the channel rack itself should read FL's step sequencer in Ableton too.
Side by side
| Tool | Covers | Formats | Price model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Beat (inside FL Studio) | Time, volume, MIDI switching, scratch | FL Studio only | Paid, or included from FL Signature up |
| Cableguys TimeShaper 3 | Time: halftime, stutter, reverse, scratch, tape stop | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX | Paid, check current pricing |
| Cableguys ShaperBox 3 | Time + Volume + 9 more shapers | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX | Paid, check current pricing |
| Cableguys HalfTime | Halftime only (pitch moves with speed) | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX | Paid, check current pricing |
| Sugar Bytes Effectrix 2 | 14 effects on a 32-step grid | VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, standalone | Paid, check current pricing |
| Xfer LFO Tool | Curve LFO shaping, 12 graphs per preset | VST, AU, AAX | Paid, check current pricing |
| Kilohearts Trance Gate + Tape Stop | Gating, tape stop | VST, AU, AAX | Free with account |
| Ableton Beat Repeat + Auto Pan-Tremolo | Stutters, gating | Built into Live | Included |
| Logic Remix FX + Step FX | Gater, repeater, scratch, tape stop, step gating | Built into Logic | Included |
| TrapMan Slow | Halftime + pitch-down on your drum pattern only | AU, VST3, AAX | $59 one-time (whole plugin) |
FAQ
Can I use Gross Beat in Ableton or Logic?
Only through FL Studio. Image-Line no longer sells Gross Beat as a VST or AU, so the route is loading FL Studio as a plugin (VST on Windows and Mac, AU on Mac) and opening Gross Beat inside it. That still needs a Gross Beat license. People who bought the old VST years ago can keep using it, but it can't be bought new.
Is there a free Gross Beat alternative?
Not one plugin that does everything, but a free stack gets close. Kilohearts Trance Gate and Tape Stop are free with an account, Ableton has Beat Repeat and Auto Pan-Tremolo, and Logic has Remix FX and Step FX. Halftime is the gap: in Ableton you can fake it with the ÷2 clip button and Re-Pitch warping.
What is the closest plugin to Gross Beat?
Cableguys TimeShaper 3 for the time effects, or ShaperBox 3 if you want time and volume shaping together in one plugin. They work the same way Gross Beat does (drawn curves, host sync, MIDI switching), and they are sold for Mac and Windows in every major format.
Does Gross Beat's halftime change the pitch?
Yes. Gross Beat links speed and pitch like tape, so a half-speed curve plays lower, roughly an octave down. Cableguys HalfTime and TrapMan's Slow behave the same way. If you want halftime at the original pitch, use a time-stretch instead, such as Ableton's Complex warp mode.
Sources
- Gross Beat product page: Image-Line
- Gross Beat manual: Image-Line
- Plugins no longer sold as VST/AU: Image-Line knowledge base
- FL Studio as a VST/AU plugin: Image-Line manual
- FL Studio edition comparison: Image-Line
- Live audio effect reference (Beat Repeat, Auto Pan-Tremolo): Ableton
- Audio clips, tempo and warping: Ableton
- Remix FX in Logic Pro: Apple Support
- Step FX overview in Logic Pro: Apple Support
- TimeShaper 3, ShaperBox 3 and HalfTime: Cableguys
- Effectrix 2: Sugar Bytes
- LFO Tool: Xfer Records
- Trance Gate and Tape Stop: Kilohearts