Output Inc has been making sample-based instruments and effects for more than ten years. You can buy its Kontakt instruments (Exhale, Signal, Substance, Rev, Rev X-Loops, Analog Strings and Analog Brass & Winds) and its FX plugins (Portal, Thermal and Movement) outright, or rent its newer tools by subscription.
Output plugins are high quality, but also high priced. Each instrument costs $199 at Output's shop, Rev X-Loops $99, each FX plugin $149, and the FX + Instruments Bundle with everything $849.
Follow our 7 step guide below to find the best Output deal for you.
Output One and Arcade
Output Arcade is a subscription sampler with a growing library, and part of Output One.
In 2018 Output released Arcade, a subscription-based sampler. Arcade costs $12.99 a month on its own. Output One, launched later, adds Co-Producer, Creator, Portal, Thermal and Movement for $14.99 a month or $119.99 a year. Every Output subscription has a 7-day free trial, and Output's SoundCloud offer page promises 100 days of Arcade.
Did you know that Native Instruments Kontakt is the sampler behind Output's instruments? They play in the free Kontakt Player, but if you also want Native Instruments software, read our guide on the cheapest ways to buy Native Instruments.
Step by Step guide to buy Output at the lowest price
We researched every way to save money on trying and buying Output software that still works in September 2026, and listed them in order of savings. Follow the steps from top to bottom and you should find the best choice for you.
Step 2 Free Trial: Get a 14-day refund on any Output plugin, and try every Output subscription free for 7 days
How can you try Output plugins for free?
Output doesn't offer demo versions of its instruments, such as Exhale, Substance or Analog Strings, or FX such as Portal or Movement. However, it refunds any instrument, FX plugin or bundle bought at output.com within 14 days, which lets you test them.
Not on 24 September 2026. The last Output deal, Portal for $75 at Plugin Boutique, ended on 7 September 2026.
Can you wait until the next Output sale?
Output has taken 50% off at every Black Friday since 2023, and ran summer sales in 2025 and 2026. We expect the next Black Friday sale to start around 5 November 2026. See the sale history.
1. Get Output Signal Free and free Output sample packs
Output Signal Free: A free Pulse Engine instrument
Output offers the Signal plugin in a free version.
Output Signal is a sample-based instrument run by what the company calls a pulse engine (it layers rhythmic patterns over sampled synths and instruments).
The great news is that you get a light version of Output Signal for free. Signal Free has the same engine with 4 sound sources, LFOs, step sequencer, arpeggiator, Looper, and Basic & Advanced modes.
However, there are of course limitations compared with the full Signal ($199):
2GB of content
25 Pulse Instruments
No time limit in the full version of Kontakt, and a 15-minute limit in the free Kontakt Player
I think this is a quality free plugin, and I have used it in my productions. It's worth adding to your collection if you don't own Output Signal yet.
Output does not offer demo versions of its instruments or FX plugins. However, it refunds any instrument, FX plugin or bundle bought at output.com within 14 days of purchase, whether or not you installed it. Expansion packs are excluded, and products bought from a dealer such as Thomann follow the dealer's returns policy.
This is not as convenient as a free demo version, as you have to pay first. But effectively, it gives you 14 days to try Output products.
Output Arcade is a subscription based instrument plugin, also part of Output One.
Output Arcade is a subscription sampler with unlimited samples and instruments. On its own it costs $12.99 a month.
Samplers: Custom samples mapped across the white keys of your keyboard, with black keys mapped to modifiers that chop and change the samples in real time.
Instruments: Sample based playable instruments, from bass, to synths, drum kits, and more.
Arcade, Co-Producer, Creator, Output FX and Output One all come with a 7-day free trial for first-time subscribers. You enter a card at sign-up, Output reminds you on day 4 and charges you on day 7 unless you cancel. You get one trial per plan. Annual plans can be refunded within 30 days; monthly ones cannot.
Output's SoundCloud offer page still promises 100 days of Arcade free for first-time subscribers (checked on 24 September 2026). Output says partner offers like this can show a 7-day trial at checkout, with the longer trial applied afterwards, so check the end date on your account page after you sign up.
3. Students, educators, military and first responders save 30% buying Output
If you are a student, educator, in the military or a first responder, you can buy Output plugins and subscriptions directly from Output for 30% off.
For Movement, you can save a little more at an authorised retailer. The only Output education licence we found at a retailer is at Thomann*.
US and US allied military: active duty, reserves, veterans and retirees
First responders: police, firefighters, nurses and EMS/EMT
Limitations
The coupon covers one product at a time; once you have used it, you can apply again. Bundles, bundle completions and expansion packs are excluded, and Output will not issue a code for a product that is on sale.
4. Subscribe to Output One instead of buying, from $9.99 a month
Analog Brass & Winds is a Kontakt instrument, so it is not part of Output One.
What is Output One?
Output One gives you Arcade, Co-Producer, Creator, Portal, Thermal and Movement, with all FX expansions, for $14.99 a month or $119.99 a year. The yearly plan works out at $9.99 a month. The Kontakt instruments (Exhale, Signal and the rest) are not part of Output One.
What do the single-product plans cost?
Output FX (Portal, Thermal and Movement): $9.99 a month
The FX Bundle costs $399 to own. That buys 3.3 years of Output One on the yearly plan, or 40 months of the Output FX plan.
When subscribing is cheaper
If you only want Portal, Thermal and Movement for a project or two, or you also want Arcade and Co-Producer, subscribing costs less.
When buying is cheaper
If you will use the FX plugins for years, buying wins, especially at 50% off in a sale. And for the Kontakt instruments, buying is the only option.
What happens when you cancel?
When you cancel a subscription, your access runs to the end of the billing period. Arcade parts in your projects still play back, but you can no longer browse or download sounds, so bounce MIDI tracks to audio before you cancel.
What about second-hand Output licences?
We used to recommend buying used Output licences. We no longer do.
What Output's licence agreement says
Output's licence agreement says the licence is non-transferable and forbids resale, and its refund policy excludes licences bought from individuals. In 2022 Output support told us it would move licences between buyers and sellers in the EU and UK, but Output no longer publishes that. Ask Output support in writing before you pay anyone for a used licence.
5. Buy an Output bundle to save up to 61%
It's not surprising that bundles can save you money. The total outlay is high, but if you calculate per plugin prices, you can save a lot with Output.
The FX + Instruments Bundle includes 10 engines and 23 expansions.
FX + Instruments Bundle: all 10 engines and 23 expansions for $849
The 10 engines cost $1,740 bought one by one, so the FX + Instruments Bundle is 51% cheaper. It is also $49 cheaper than buying the Instruments Bundle and the FX Bundle separately.
If you already own some Output engines, log in to your account to see Output's bundle completion price for the rest. It is priced for the engines you own, so it costs less than the full bundle.
Output Substance: a VST plugin focused on bass sounds, mixing several electronic and acoustic sample sources.
What if I don't want to spend that much and only want the Output instruments, not the effects?
You are in luck. The Instruments Bundle costs $499 at Output and Plugin Boutique*, or $481 at Thomann*. That is 61% less than the seven instruments bought one by one ($1,293), and it adds 18 expansions.
Only want the effects? The FX Bundle (Portal, Thermal, Movement and 5 expansions) costs $399 at Output, $385 at Thomann*, $48 less than the three plugins bought singly.
Output Signal + Rev Bundle: $348 ($50 off vs. buying individually)
Output Signal: a pulse based VST plugin.
If you are after both Rev and Signal, you can save $50 by buying them together in a bundle from Plugin Boutique*. Plugin Boutique also sells a Rev + Rev X-Loops Bundle for $278*, $20 less than buying both.
Output REV: a VST plugin great for creating effects and rises.
(Prices checked: 24 September 2026)
6. Save 50% during an Output sale
Output Instrument & FX Plugin Sale
Output puts its range on sale in its own shop twice a year, and Plugin Boutique runs extra Output deals. We researched the sales of the last four years, so you can see when the next one is likely.
Since 2023, Output's Black Friday and summer sales have taken 50% off plugins, instruments and expansions, up from 35% in 2022.
Output One and Arcade on sale
Black Friday 2025 took up to 50% off Output One.
Black Friday 2024 took 30% off a year of Arcade, and Black Friday 2022 up to 40%.
Summer 2026: Output's June sale cut the Instruments Bundle to $199 and Portal to $74.50 until 30 June 2026. Plugin Boutique then sold the FX Bundle for $199 until 15 July 2026, and Portal for $75 until 7 September 2026.
Black Friday 2025: Output's Fall Sale started around 5 November 2025 with 50% off FX plugins, Kontakt instruments and expansions, and up to 50% off Output One. Portal cost $74.50. It became a Holiday Sale at up to 50% off, still running on 7 January 2026.
Summer 2025: a Labor Day sale from 25 August to 3 September 2025 had Portal at $75, the FX Bundle at $200, the Instruments Bundle at $250 and the FX + Instruments Bundle at $425.
Black Friday 2024: from about 7 November to 4 December 2024, with 50% off until the end of December. Instruments cost $99.50, FX plugins $75, the Instruments Bundle $249, and Arcade was 30% off a year.
Output moved from 35% off in 2022 to 50% off from 2023, and its sale now starts in early November and runs into the New Year.
Output Black Friday 2025: 50% off plugins, instruments and expansions, up to 50% off Output One, from about 5 November 2025 to at least 7 January 2026.
Output Black Friday 2024: up to 50% off, from about 7 November to 4 December 2024, then 50% off to the end of December.
Output Black Friday 2023: 50% off plugins, instruments and expansions, from about 7 November 2023 to 2 January 2024.
Output Black Friday 2022: 35% off plugins, expansions at $22 instead of $35, and up to 40% off a year of Arcade, from about 18 November to early December 2022.
Output Black Friday 2026: what to expect
Output has started its autumn sale in the first week of November for three years running:
Output Black Friday 2026: we expect 50% off plugins, instruments and expansions, and up to 50% off Output One, from around 5 November 2026 into early January 2027.
Black Friday is not always the lowest price, though: the Instruments Bundle was $50 cheaper in June 2026 than at Black Friday 2024. Follow our Black Friday plugin deals for the live offer.
Output One and Arcade Sale
Output discounts its subscriptions less often than its plugins. Arcade was 30% off a year at Black Friday 2024, and Output One up to 50% off at Black Friday 2025.
Outside sales, the cheapest way into Output One is the yearly plan at $119.99, or a free trial first.
7. Choose the cheapest Output retailer to save up to 28% all year
We compared Output's own prices with its authorised dealers. Our research showed that you can save $4 to $30 on most Output products all year at Thomann*, the cheapest Output retailer, and $56 (28%) on Analog Brass & Winds. Thomann shows US prices before sales tax. You register a dealer licence in your Output account, as Output explains in registering a purchase from a dealer.
Here are the latest live prices from Thomann for Output products.
Buying Output Software: Questions and Answers
What is Output Inc?
Output Inc is a US music software company. It is best known for instruments like Exhale, Signal, Rev and Substance, which play in Native Instruments Kontakt or the free Kontakt Player, the Portal, Thermal and Movement effects, and the Arcade sampler.
Does Output offer a student discount or educational discount for students and teachers?
Yes. Students, educators, US and allied military and first responders get 30% off one product at a time and on subscriptions, directly from Output. At Thomann, Movement EDU costs $99, $5.30 less than Output's education price.
When can I get a deal on Output? Where can I find an Output coupon code?
musicmanta.com is a great place to find the cheapest deal on Output plugins. This guide lists every way we found to pay less, from free products and trials to bundles, sales and the cheapest retailer.
Output does not publish public coupon codes; its codes go to education customers. If you sign up to the musicmanta newsletter, we will let you know of future sales.
Does Output have Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales?
Yes. Output took 50% off plugins, instruments and expansions at Black Friday 2023, 2024 and 2025, starting in the first week of November each time:
Output Black Friday 2026: we expect 50% off plugins, instruments and expansions, and up to 50% off Output One, from around 5 November 2026 into early January 2027.
Do you have a question not covered here, or found another way to buy Output at a discount? Help us help others by letting us know.
Christof Baer
Trained in classical and jazz piano, Christof has over 30 years of experience in songwriting and music production. In 2021, he founded musicmanta and is now its Editor-in-Chief. Christof has worked in marketing for 25 years in Unilever and Kimberly-Clark. He is now the Head of Performance Marketing UK for Andrex, Kleenex, and Huggies, leading a team of 10 to create award-winning marketing campaigns, writing effective content, reaching millions of people.
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