Vibe-coded plugins are everywhere but does that mean that they’re actually taking over the market? We look at the trend and speak with two developers working with AI as part of their process.
The age of vibe-coded plugins is undeniably upon us. They’re everywhere: blocky, dark and uniform instruments and effects that all tend to look the same, with large knobs and small print. Made with the help of artificial intelligence, these plugins are clogging up the marketplace, filling email inboxes with marketing hyperbole and vying for your hard-earned dollar, pound or Euro. But is anyone actually buying them?
Plugin Slop
Thanks to the availability of AI agents, it’s easier than ever to churn out software, even if you don’t know how to code. While this seems cool on paper – “I can make any plugin I can imagine!” – the reality is less exciting, with cookie-cutter compressors, clippers and bog-standard VA synths piling up in the forums.
A recent article in Futurism called “The Economy Has Spoken: Stuff That’s AI-Generated Has Almost Zero Value” points out that products made by AI are extremely unpopular. It mentions CGTrader, an online marketplace for 3D assets used by video game developers, film editors and 3D-printing fans. One in six models on the site now are AI-generated, but they account for only $1 out of every $90 in revenue, according to the story.
“The upload numbers alone would suggest a takeover,” the article continues. “The revenue numbers say otherwise, and buyers refusing to pay for AI-generated models is saying something bigger than no thanks: it is a signal of how far they trust AI generation itself.”
This is about 3D models, but AI-generated music - which is closer to home for Attack readers - tells a similar story. Although it accounts for about half of daily uploads to streaming sites like Deezer, listenership remains around 1% to 3%. And, although we don’t have numbers for paid downloads of vibe-coded plugins, general online reaction to AI-built plugins would indicate a similar reaction.
[quote align=right text="The Economy Has Spoken: Stuff That’s AI-Generated Has Almost Zero Value"]
Support and Reliability Are Real Concerns
Beyond the bland GUIs and uninspiring sound of slop plugins, however, lie real causes for concern. Bedroom Producer’s Blog, a site that regularly covers freeware, is on the frontline of the slopification of music production. In a recent article, site editor Tomislav Zlatic points out the danger in the distance in coding know-how between the AI agent and the prompter: “Vibe coding hands you a wall of code that whoever ‘made’ the plugin probably can’t read, much less debug. A badly coded plugin can destroy your work on a project, or, even worse, it can cause loud bursts of noise that damage your hearing.”
Being able to trust the plugin was the biggest concern expressed when we asked for people’s opinions about vibe-coded plugins on social media. “I see it like modding a video game,” said musician Mike Jones. “Could give novel functionality, but I would not trust it to always work.”
Andrew Booth, who creates software for internal use as part of his job, says similarly, “I’d feel nervous about fully vibe coded stuff since there might be aspects of how it works, how it interacts with other stuff, how it performs that you haven’t r