Amp Locker vs AmpForge

Amp Locker is a guitar sound-shaping suite built around virtual amps, stompboxes, cabinets, and effects. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux as a standalone app or plug-in. The free download includes the Prestige 1950 amp, seven FX pedals, seven rack effects, and 11 three-dimensional cabinets with 11 microphones. Users can adjust pedals and rack effects and move microphones around the cabinets. Other listed tools include double tracking emulation, MIDI support, an IR loader, and the 3D Cab Impact algorithm. The stated plug-in formats are AU, VST3, RTAS, and AAX. More gear modules can be licensed individually inside the application, and optional extras include DSP and AI amp profile players. The $5 a month subscription covers Amp Locker and Mix Locker modules, but excludes 3D Cab add-on packs and signature amp sims such as Berry Amp. Cancelling the subscription deactivates the plug-in. The license limits installation to machines where the licensee is the sole user and bars machines that could redistribute plug-ins to other computers.

AmpForge is a free, open-source guitar amp simulator plugin that also includes vocal effects. Its pedalboard has 19 internal modules that can be reordered while the plugin is running. The NAM module loads Neural Amp Modeler capture files supplied by the user. Vocal tools include autotune pitch correction and a de-esser for sibilance. AmpForge is available as VST3, LV2, and CLAP plugins, plus a standalone app on supported platforms. It can run in compatible hosts such as Reaper, Carla, and Bitwig. Users can save, update, delete, import, and export custom presets, alongside the included factory presets. Hosts can automate every parameter, including pedal positions. An IR loader is included, but users need to provide cabinet impulse responses and NAM captures. AmpForge supports Linux, macOS, and Windows. The Windows installer offers VST3, CLAP, and LV2, but no standalone executable. The macOS build is not signed or notarized; the README describes a Gatekeeper workaround for installation.