A drum instrument is software that plays the sound of real drums on a computer. You use it when you program drums for the backing track of a cover song or your own track. Besides the amount of recorded sound and the number of kits, whether it has functions for finding grooves (phrases) that suit the song and building a song structure is also a point in choosing.
This list compares 10 drum instrument plug-ins on 3 criteria: realism and depth, speed of programming, range of kits. Scores are decided by how well each product serves its purpose, using the conditions for each criterion, and the basis is official manufacturer information. Price is not part of the score.
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Picks by purpose
- If you have never programmed drums: EZdrummer 3 (rank A). It is rich in features that help programming, from suggesting fitting grooves to building a song.
- If you want to craft the sound of an acoustic kit: Superior Drummer 3 (rank S). A library of 230 GB or more, plus a mixer and effects, let you craft it in detail.
- If you want to switch between many kits: MODO DRUM 1.5 (rank A). It has 13 kits, and you can even rebuild the sound of the drums themselves.
Tier list by rank
Ranks are based on the manufacturer's official features and specifications, not on sound quality. Within a row, products are ordered by score. The basis is explained in How we rate specifications.
Tier table by criterion
Products with the same overall rank can have different strengths. Click a column heading to sort by the rank on that criterion, and use it when you choose by the feature you want.
| Product | Overall | Realism and depthScale of the recordings, and how far the sound can be shaped | Speed of programmingHow quickly you can build drums that suit a song | Range of kitsNumber of kits you can choose to suit a genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 ToontrackSuperior Drummer 3 | S4.5 | S230 GB or more | ASong building + MIDI conversion | A7 kits + extras |
 Steven Slate DrumsSSD5.5 | S4.5 | A148 kits + mixer | SGroove AI + Song Builder | S148+ kits |
 IK MultimediaMODO DRUM 1.5 | A4.0 | AModeling | B1,400+ | S13 kits |
 BFD DrumsBFD3.5 | A4.0 | APer-drum adjustment + mixer | B82 palettes + editing | S51 kits |
 ToontrackEZdrummer 3 | A3.8 | BAbout 15 GB | SSuggestions + song building | A7 kits + extras |
 Get Good DrumsModern & Massive 2 | A3.8 | AFluid+ + mixer | B1,500+ | ASwappable parts |
 Get Good DrumsInvasion 2 | A3.8 | AFluid+ + mixer | B1,500+ | ASwappable parts |
 XLN AudioAddictive Drums 2 | B3.3 | AMixer + per-drum editing | BBeat Transformer | C3 kits (smallest set) |
 Native InstrumentsStudio Drummer | B2.8 | BAbout 17 GB | B3,300+ | C3 kits |
 Native InstrumentsAbbey Road Modern Drummer | C1.8 | C2 kits + mixer | CGroove library | C2 kits |
Click a column heading to sort by that criterion (click again to reverse). Each cell shows the score (1 to 5) on that criterion as 5 = S, 4 = A, 3 = B, 2 or lower = C. A dash means the criterion is not scored. This is a rating of the manufacturer's official features and specifications, not of sound quality. See How we rate specifications.
Top-scoring products
Superior Drummer 3Rank S- SSD5.5Rank S
- MODO DRUM 1.5Rank A
- EZdrummer 3Rank A
- Addictive Drums 2Rank B
- Studio DrummerRank B
Up to 9 products in order of score. Images are the manufacturers’ official press images or Plugin Boutique images. The overall order and the basis for each rank are in the tier tables above and on each product’s page.
How to choose a drum instrument plug-in
Figure: SoundBounty
Does it have ready-to-use playing patterns?
If you are not used to programming drums, a product with many playing patterns (MIDI) that fit the genre of the song is handy. Just lining up patterns makes a drum part.
How far do you want to shape the sound?
If you want to adjust down to microphone positions and room ambience, a product with great freedom in sound design suits you. If you want to finish quickly, choose one with plenty of finished-sound presets.
Required disk space
Some drum instruments are large. It is reassuring to check the free space on your computer too.
A word on each product
Prices in the headings are regular prices in US dollars shown on Plugin Boutique on October 10, 2026. They are not part of the score.
Superior Drummer 3 (rank S)
Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 3 is a large drum instrument plug-in with more than 230 GB of drum sounds (7 kits, 25 snares and 16 kicks). It has 35 kinds of mixer effects, a feature that converts drum audio into MIDI (MIDI: performance data that says which note was played and how hard), 11.1-channel immersive playback and support for loading your own samples.
SSD5.5 (rank S)
Steven Slate Drums’ SSD5.5 is a drum instrument plug-in with more than 148 drum kits and more than 2,400 MIDI grooves. It has “Groove AI”, which suggests grooves (rhythm patterns) that fit when you load a song, and “Song Builder”, which arranges intros and choruses into the shape of a song, and a mixer screen lets you shape the sound of each drum.
MODO DRUM 1.5 (rank A, $199.99)
IK Multimedia’s MODO DRUM 1.5 is a drum instrument plug-in that, instead of playing recordings, makes the sound on the spot with modal synthesis (physical modeling). It has up to 13 kits, more than 1,400 grooves (rhythm patterns) and a mixer with 19 kinds of effects.
BFD3.5 (rank A)
BFD Drums’ BFD3.5 is an acoustic drum instrument plug-in with a core library of 51 kits and 60 ready-mixed preset kits. You can adjust tuning, damping and microphones for each drum, and it has a feature that models tom resonance and bleed, a mixer with 48 kinds of effects and 82 groove palettes.
EZdrummer 3 (rank A)
Toontrack’s EZdrummer 3 is a drum instrument plug-in with seven kits, about 15 GB of drum sounds and a library of MIDI grooves. It has features that help you compose: “Bandmate”, which suggests grooves (rhythm patterns) that fit when you drag in audio or MIDI (MIDI: performance data that says which note was played and how hard), “Tap2Find”, which searches by tapping, and “Song Creator”, which arranges patterns into the shape of a song.
Modern & Massive 2 (rank A)
Get Good Drums’ Modern & Massive 2 is a drum instrument plug-in for rock and metal, with 9 snares, 7 kicks, 4 tom sets and 21 cymbals. It uses a proprietary technology called Fluid+ to model how the drums and cymbals respond, and it has a mixer, more than 100 mix presets and more than 1,500 grooves.
Invasion 2 (rank A)
Get Good Drums’ Invasion 2 is a drum instrument plug-in for heavy music, with 10 snares, 7 kicks, 24 toms (including rototoms) and 28 cymbals. It has a proprietary technology called Fluid+, a mixer with more than 100 mix presets and more than 1,500 grooves, and the space it needs is 23 GB.
Addictive Drums 2 (rank B)
XLN Audio’s Addictive Drums 2 is a drum instrument plug-in in which you choose the drum kits and MIDI beat packs you like and combine them. It comes in combinations of 3, 6 or 10 kits, and it has a mixer and effects, editing for each drum and “Beat Transformer”, which changes a groove (rhythm pattern).
Studio Drummer (rank B, $139)
Native Instruments’ Studio Drummer is a drum instrument plug-in with three kits from Pearl, Yamaha and Sonor (about 17 GB, 24-bit) and more than 3,300 groove patterns. It also has a mixing screen with effects.
Abbey Road Modern Drummer (rank C)
Native Instruments’ Abbey Road Modern Drummer is a drum instrument plug-in for Kontakt with two drum kits (the Sparkle Kit and the White Kit) recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. It has a mixer, effects and a library of MIDI grooves played by professional drummers.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Can I use one if I cannot play drums?
Yes. You can make a part by choosing and lining up playing patterns, or by programming with the mouse.
Q. How is it different from the drums that come with a DAW?
You can make songs with the bundled ones too. A dedicated instrument differs in the realism of the sound, the number of playing patterns and the freedom of sound design.
Q. Do I need one for making backing tracks for cover songs?
It is handy if you make the backing track yourself. If you use a backing track that was provided, you do not need one.
How we score
How we score (Drum instrument plug-ins)
| Criterion | Basis | 5 pt | 4 pt | 3 pt | 2 pt | 1 pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Realism and depth | Scale of the recordings, and how far the sound can be shaped | A library of 200 GB or more, plus a mixer, effects and loading your own samples | Drum sounds can be reshaped part by part, and there is a mixer | A library of 10 to 20 GB and a mixer | A smaller library | — |
| Speed of programming | How quickly you can build drums that suit a song | A feature that suggests fitting grooves and one that builds a song structure | Song building plus aids such as audio-to-MIDI conversion | Many grooves (1,000 or more), or a feature that varies grooves | Few grooves | — |
| Range of kits | Number of kits you can choose to suit a genre | 10 or more kits | Around 7 kits, plus extra snares and kicks | 5 to 7 kits | 3 to 4 kits | 2 kits or fewer |
Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5 on how well the product serves one goal: programming the drums for a song. Scores follow the conditions in the table above, and the rank is based on an average in which "Realism and depth" counts double. The basis is official manufacturer information. Sound quality and CPU load are not measured, so they are not scored; reviews from trade magazines are introduced in the articles for reference. Price is not part of the score. Features that cannot be confirmed from the manufacturer's or a retailer's description are scored as if absent.
The thinking behind scores and ranks is summarized in How we rate specifications. We add products in order.
More comparisons
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