Martinic plugins are $99 for life or $33 for a year: which license should you buy?

Martinic is a Dutch developer that models vintage instruments and effects as plugins: the 1979 Moog Prodigy, Hohner's Pianet T electric piano, the AX73 analog synth from the '80s, Italian combo organs, a tape echo and a few classic pedals. Everything runs on Windows and macOS as VST2, VST3, CLAP and AAX, and as AU on the Mac.

Every product page shows two prices. The Full Version is a lifetime license. The One Year License costs about a third as much and is marked "Annual Non-Renewing", so nothing is charged again when the year is up.

Prices for each plugin

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Prices are the US list prices. The site shows them in your local currency and adjusts them in some countries: opened from Japan, the Pianet T page showed ¥11,091. Every plugin is listed on Martinic's products page.

The two bundles

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Retro Pack 2 pays for itself quickly. The Pianet T and the Elka Panther come to $198 on their own, and adding any one of the $49 effects takes you to $247, already more than the pack. If you own the first Retro Pack, the upgrade to Retro Pack 2 is $107.

The AX Bundle costs $62 more than its three plugins, and that difference buys the eight preset collections. It's worth it if you like starting from presets; if you build your own sounds, the plugins alone are enough. Anyone who already owns part of a bundle can ask Martinic for a custom upgrade price.

When the lifetime license pays off

For the $99 plugins, three one-year licenses cost the same as the full version, so by the third year you have paid the full price anyway. For the $49 effects, three years at $16 is $48, a dollar short of the full price. For TG100 Reverb, three years cost $27 against $25 for the full version.

The one-year license fits a project with an end date, such as an album, a film score or a game soundtrack. It also works as a long trial: you get a full year without the noise of the demo version, and if the plugin becomes part of how you work, the full version is $99.

Before you pay

Every plugin has a free trial for testing and unpublished work. In demo mode white noise is mixed into the output; TG100 Reverb runs for up to 30 days, and its interface also flashes red once a minute.

The license is a key file generated by FastSpring, with no dongle and no online activation. Your purchases and downloads stay in your FastSpring account under the email address you bought with, and if you lose the key file, you contact FastSpring support with your order ID.

A lifetime license includes free updates for the whole 1.x line of that plugin. Payment goes through FastSpring, while Verifone handles purchase orders, Skrill, Neteller and konbini (Japanese convenience-store) payment.

Which one to buy

If you want one instrument for years, buy the full version: the Prodigy if you want a two-oscillator analog synth, the Pianet T if you want the plucked-reed sound of a '70s electric piano. If two or more of the Retro Pack 2 instruments appeal to you, buy the pack. If the plugin is for a single project, the one-year license costs a third as much. Not sure yet? Start with Kee Bass, which is free, to see how a Martinic plugin sits in your DAW.

Sources: Martinic products page, product pages for Prodigy, AX73, Pianet T, Kee Bass and TG100 Reverb (license types, free trials, updates, license key file), Retro Pack 2 and AX Bundle pages (contents, upgrade), support FAQ (FastSpring account, lost license file), US prices from Martinic's FastSpring store, checked October 9, 2026.

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