Kilohearts AB
Kilohearts AB is a Swedish audio software company (founded 2012, Linköping) that builds a modular ecosystem of audio plugins and effects for music producers and sound designers, distributed direct-to-consumer via its own e-commerce store with a freemium funnel, perpetual licenses, and a Subscribe-to-Own subscription.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersLinköping, Sweden
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Kilohearts AB does
Kilohearts AB is a Swedish private limited company founded in 2012 and headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, with a 9-person team (7 in Linköping and 2 remote). The company develops a modular ecosystem of audio plugins — both software instruments and effects — for music producers and sound designers working inside Digital Audio Workstations. Its core technology is the proprietary Snapin modular architecture, under which individual effect modules can be loaded either standalone or into host plugins (Phase Plant, Multipass, Snap Heap), with shared modulation routing across the stack. The portfolio spans ten paid products (Phase Plant, Multipass, Snap Heap, Convolver, Filter Table, Shaper Table, Disperser, Faturator, Carve EQ, Slice EQ) priced $29–$199 individually, a $399 "Kilohearts Ultimate" bundle, a Subscribe-to-Own subscription at $9.99/month, additional Content Banks (presets, samples, wavetables, IRs), and a free 34-plugin Essentials suite.
The company operates a product-led growth, direct-to-consumer model: all sales flow through kilohearts.com with payment processing via FastSpring, no third-party resellers, and digital delivery via personalized installers. Revenue is generated through one-time perpetual licenses, recurring subscriptions that accumulate toward product ownership, and separate Content Bank purchases. Community and acquisition channels are centered on Discord, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter/X, and SoundCloud, with content marketing through a blog and email newsletter via Rapidmail. Kilohearts AB is wholly owned by three working employees with no outside investors, and supports VST2, VST3, AAX, and Audio Unit formats on Windows and macOS.
Kilohearts AB firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kilohearts AB
- Legal name
- Kilohearts AB
- Website
- https://kilohearts.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Kilohearts AB is a Swedish audio software company (founded 2012, Linköping) that builds a modular ecosystem of audio plugins and effects for music producers and sound designers, distributed direct-to-consumer via its own e-commerce store with a freemium funnel, perpetual licenses, and a Subscribe-to-Own subscription.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kilohearts AB industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Audio Plugins and Music Production Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX) (MPAIAIAB)
Keywords
Where Kilohearts AB is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Linköping
- HQ country
- Sweden
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Kilohearts AB business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- One-time Plugin Licenses: Individual plugins sold as perpetual licenses with one-time payment. Prices range from $29 (Snap Heap) to $199 (Phase Plant). Bundle (Kilohearts Ultimate) available at $399 with all current plugins.
- Subscribe-to-Own Subscription: Monthly subscription at $9.99 providing access to all plugins and Content Banks including future releases. Payments count toward eventual ownership of all products.
- Content Banks: Additional content packs for plugins including presets, samples, wavetables, and IRs available for separate purchase.
- Kilohearts Essentials (Free): 34 free effect plugins provided with account registration. Serves as product-led growth funnel.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Kilohearts Ultimate - All plugins bundle |
| Subscription | Monthly | Kilohearts Subscription - Subscribe-to-Own |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Phase Plant - Award-Winning Semi-Modular Softsynth |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Multipass - Band-splitting multi effect |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Snap Heap - Effects playground |
| One time/ perpetual license | Annual | Convolver - IR convolution |
| Freemium | Monthly | Kilohearts Essentials - Free effects collection |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
Kilohearts AB product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kilohearts AB develops and sells a modular audio plugin ecosystem for music production and sound design, consisting of three host plugins (Phase Plant synthesizer, Multipass multiband processor, Snap Heap effects playground) and a range of standalone effect plugins that can be loaded as modular Snapins. Products support VST2, VST3, AAX, and Audio Unit formats across Windows and macOS DAWs, with free (Kilohearts Essentials), perpetual licensed (Ultimate bundle), and subscription-based (Subscribe-to-Own) purchase options.
Product overview
Kilohearts AB offers a modular plugin ecosystem for music production. The portfolio consists of three host plugins (Phase Plant - semi-modular synthesizer, Multipass - multiband effects processor, Snap Heap - effects playground) that can load individual effect modules called Snapins. Premium standalone effects include Convolver, Filter Table, Shaper Table, Disperser, Faturator, Carve EQ, and Slice EQ. Kilohearts Essentials provides 34 free effects plugins. Products are available individually, as Kilohearts Ultimate bundle ($399), or via Kilohearts Subscription ($9.99/month). Content Banks offer additional presets and samples. All plugins support VST2, VST3, AAX, and Audio Unit formats.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Phase Plant: Award-winning semi-modular softsynth synthesizer
- Multipass
- Snap Heap
- Kilohearts Essentials
- Kilohearts Ultimate
- Kilohearts Subscription
Products and services
- Phase Plant Award-winning semi-modular synthesizer combining analog oscillators, samples, wavetables, a granular engine, and a noise generator with modular Snapin effects and an open-ended modulation system, sold for $199 as a perpetual license to music producers and sound designers.
- Multipass Band-splitting multi-effect plugin that uses Linkwitz-Riley crossover filters to split audio into up to five frequency bands for independent processing, sold for $99 as a perpetual license to music producers and mixing engineers.
- Snap Heap Modular effects playground with seven lanes for combining and modulating Snapin effect modules, featuring macro knobs and parallel routing capabilities, sold for $29 as a perpetual license.
- Convolver Premium convolution effect plugin for applying impulse response-based reverb and audio processing effects, sold for $39 as a perpetual license.
- Filter Table Wavetable-powered filtering plugin that creates sweeping filter effects by scanning through wavetables with adjustable cutoff, mix, and resonance controls, sold as a perpetual license.
- Shaper Table Wavetable-powered distortion plugin using waveshaping with drive, bias, and overflow controls for customizable distortion effects, sold as a perpetual license.
- Disperser Magic all-pass filter plugin that creates frequency-dependent delay for phase manipulation and transient shaping effects, sold as a perpetual license.
- Faturator Dynamics-preserving distortion plugin with drive, fuzz, color, and stereo turbo controls for saturating audio without losing dynamic content, sold as a perpetual license.
- Carve EQ 31-band graphic equalizer with sculpt, select, pencil, and match tools, supporting Left/Right and Mid/Side stereo processing modes, sold as a perpetual license.
- Slice EQ Advanced parametric EQ supporting six filter types with full control over filter roll-off and Q, featuring Left/Right and Mid/Side stereo processing, sold as a perpetual license.
- Kilohearts Essentials Free collection of 34 modular effect plugins (including Compactor, Bitcrush, Chorus, Compressor, Delay, Distortion, Filter, Flanger, Reverb, and others) provided with account registration as a product-led growth funnel.
Companies that use Kilohearts AB
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Kilohearts AB technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Kilohearts AB partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Kilohearts AB competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Arturia: Arturia offers V Collection soft-synths (analog emulations) and effects (FX Collection) plus hardware. It overlaps with Phase Plant and Kilohearts effects but at a broader, more diversified portfolio scale and with deeper retail/education channels.
- iZotope: iZotope makes post-production and music production plugins (Ozone, Neutron, Nectar, RX) that overlap with Kilohearts' EQ and effects offerings. As a much larger incumbent now part of Native Instruments, it competes in the same customer workflows with broader portfolios.
- Native Instruments: Native Instruments is a much larger incumbent across instruments (Massive, Kontakt), effects, and DAW/ecosystem products (Komplete). It competes broadly with Kilohearts in software instruments and effects but at vastly greater scale, brand recognition, and bundled pricing structures.
Others
- Splice: Splice is not a plugin maker but a creative ecosystem that bundles samples, presets, and plugin rentals (Splice rent-to-own). It is comparable because it competes for producer spend and could be a future distribution partner for Kilohearts plugins and Content Banks.
Emerging players
- Output: Output builds instrument and effects plugins (Arcade, Signal, Exhale) targeting modern producers and composers. It overlaps with Kilohearts' sound design and effects use cases but leans toward subscription/loop-based content distribution.
Direct peers
- Spectrasonics: Spectrasonics (Omnisphere, Trilian, Keyscape) is a long-standing direct competitor in premium flagship synthesizers and sound libraries. It shares Kilohearts' philosophy of building premium semi-modular synthesis tools for serious producers.
- FabFilter: FabFilter is a Netherlands-based maker of VST/AU/AAX effects and EQ plugins (Pro-Q, Pro-C, Pro-L) directly comparable to Kilohearts' effects offerings such as Slice EQ, Carve EQ, and Convolver. They share the same horizontal e-commerce distribution model and target professional/hobbyist producers using DAWs.
- Xfer Records: Xfer Records (Serum, LFOTool, Cthulhu, Dimension Expander) is a direct competitor in soft-synthesizer and modulation-effect plugins, targeting the same bedroom-producer and EDM creator audience as Kilohearts. Both operate as small product-led VST/AU plugin makers with similar direct sales approaches.
- u-he: u-he builds synthesizers (Hive, Zebra, Diva, Repro) and effects plugins (Satin, Twangström, Presswerk) that compete head-to-head with Phase Plant and the Kilohearts effect range. The two companies share a similar boutique, engineer-led identity and modular/hybrid synth philosophy.
- Valhalla DSP: Valhalla DSP specializes in high-quality, affordable VST/AU effects plugins (reverbs, delays, modulation) sold direct via single-developer licensing, comparable in scale and product scope to Kilohearts' individual effect products like Convolver and Disperser.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Kilohearts AB social profiles
Digital presenceKilohearts AB financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kilohearts AB leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Kilohearts AB funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kilohearts AB M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kilohearts AB
What does Kilohearts AB do?
Kilohearts AB develops and sells a modular audio plugin ecosystem for music production and sound design, consisting of three host plugins (Phase Plant synthesizer, Multipass multiband processor, Snap Heap effects playground) and a range of standalone effect plugins that can be loaded as modular Snapins. Products support VST2, VST3, AAX, and Audio Unit formats across Windows and macOS DAWs, with free (Kilohearts Essentials), perpetual licensed (Ultimate bundle), and subscription-based (Subscribe-to-Own) purchase options.
Is Kilohearts AB a public or private company?
Kilohearts AB is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Kilohearts AB founded?
Kilohearts AB was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Kilohearts AB based?
Kilohearts AB is headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, in the Europe region.
How does Kilohearts AB make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. One-time Plugin Licenses are the primary driver. The others are subscribe-to-Own Subscription, content Banks and kilohearts Essentials (Free).
Who are Kilohearts AB's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Arturia, iZotope and Native Instruments. Splice is listed as an others. Output is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Spectrasonics, FabFilter, Xfer Records, u-he and Valhalla DSP.
Does Kilohearts AB have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kilohearts AB.
What industry is Kilohearts AB in?
Kilohearts AB's product category is Audio Plugins and Music Production Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIAIAB, Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX). Its NAICS code is 5132.