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Floe is a free, open source platform for Floe format sample libraries, providing powerful tools to find, perform and transform sample-based instruments. It ventures into sample-based synthesis with a full blown granular engine, looping features and arpeggiators.

Key Information

Platform: Audio plugin (CLAP, VST3, AU) for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Type:: Sample-library platform
License: Free and open-source (GPL-3)
First Alpha: October 2024
Version 1.0 Release: August 20, 2025
Version 2.0 Release: July 2, 2026

What is Floe?

For more of an overview, please see the following pages.

As an aside, we tend to avoid calling Floe a 'sampler' since the term has the connotation that you can drag in your own samples - something that Floe is currently not designed for, instead focusing on providing curated and complete sample-library products. We prefer to describe Floe as a sample library platform or an open ROMpler.

Developers

Floe is primarily designed for producers, musicians and composers. However, developers with programming experience can also build for the platform, having full access to the tools to create Floe-format libraries. Floe's format has similarities to SFZ or Decent Sampler, but using the Lua programming language.

FrozenPlain

Floe and FrozenPlain are companion projects, both created by Sam Windell — FrozenPlain produces cinematic and ambient sample libraries, and Floe's direction is primarily shaped by FrozenPlain's needs.

However, Floe is intentionally encapsulated as its own platform: an outlet for the developer's broader passion for open-source software development, with the potential for wider applications and freer exploration. Floe's open, Lua-scriptable library format means other developers can freely explore the platform and build libraries for it.

The projects also share history — Floe is based on FrozenPlain's now-discontinued Mirage engine.