There’s no shortage of free metering plugins out there, and most of them feel exactly like what they cost. Youlean Loudness Meter 2 is a genuine exception to that, and I think it’s worth being direct about that upfront because it changes the whole conversation around whether you actually need to spend money on a loudness meter at all.
What you’re getting in the free version is integrated LUFS, short-term LUFS, momentary LUFS, loudness range, and true peak metering, all in a single resizable window that scales cleanly and reads clearly at any size. I found the integrated reading and true peak display to be accurate and reliable across a range of sessions, which is really the baseline requirement for any metering tool and one that a surprising number of free options fail to meet consistently.
I love how the loudness history graph runs across the full width of the plugin, giving you a visual record of how your integrated level has developed over the course of a playthrough rather than just showing you a single number. I realized pretty quickly that this is one of those features that sounds minor until you’re working on a track with a lot of dynamic movement and you need to understand how the loudness is behaving over time rather than just where it lands at the end.
The streaming platform target presets are included even in the free version, covering Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and others, so you can set your target and see at a glance whether your mix is landing where it needs to without having to look up delivery specs separately. I think that alone makes this more immediately useful than a lot of paid meters that bury that functionality or leave you to set targets manually.
Where the free version draws the line
I want to note that the free tier does have some limitations worth knowing about before you build your workflow around it. Short-term and momentary LUFS are locked behind the paid Pro version, as are features like batch loudness analysis, timeline markers, and the ability to export loudness reports. For straightforward mixing and casual mastering work those omissions are easy to live with, but if you’re doing professional delivery work where you need detailed documentation or need to analyze multiple files efficiently, the Pro version at around $50 is worth considering.
I’d say for the vast majority of producers and mixing engineers, though, the free version covers everything you actually need on a day-to-day basis. I believe it sits comfortably alongside paid options from much more established developers, and the fact that it costs nothing makes it one of the easiest recommendations in the plugin space. I would suggest downloading it before spending a single dollar on a loudness meter, because there’s a real chance it’s all you’ll ever need.
Hello, I’m Viliam, I started this audio plugin focused blog to keep you updated on the latest trends, news and everything plugin related. I’ll put the most emphasis on the topics covering best VST, AU and AAX plugins. If you find some great plugin suggestions for us to include on our site, feel free to let me know, so I can take a look!