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DrumFlex vs Addictive Drums 2

Addictive Drums 2 and DrumFlex both give you a drum kit to play from MIDI or from an electronic drum kit, on Windows, but they're built differently. Addictive Drums 2 is XLN Audio's multi-sampled drum instrument, sold as collections of kits, MIDI beat packs and kit pieces, on Mac and Windows. DrumFlex is a drum kit that's modeled rather than sampled: kits for each style, every piece of the kit open to tuning, for $79.

What they have in common

Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, as a standalone program and as a VST3 plugin.
Your electronic drum kit. XLN's page says to connect any e-drum kit. DrumFlex plays from an electronic drum kit that sends General MIDI drum notes (it doesn't read the hi-hat pedal's controller or cymbal chokes by aftertouch), and from General MIDI drum keys on any channel.
Starting points. Addictive Drums 2 offers presets, or lets you combine kit pieces freely. DrumFlex has kits from metal to Latin, four slots (A to D) to switch between them or layer them, and presets you can save and load.
A trial before you buy. XLN offers a 10-day trial. DrumFlex has a demo you can download and try before you buy.

Where Addictive Drums 2 stands out

Mac as well as Windows. It runs on macOS 10.13 or later, and as AU and AAX plugins as well as VST3.
A catalogue to choose from. Custom Collections let you pick from XLN's full range of expansions: three kits, three MIDI beat packs and three kit pieces for $179, six of each for $359, ten of each for $549.
Beat packs. The collections include MIDI beat packs, and the page mentions hundreds of presets.
Kit building. Combine kit pieces freely into a kit of your own.
A full-access trial. The 10-day trial gives full access to its features and includes five of its expansions, with no payment details needed, and XLN will extend it on request.

Where DrumFlex stands out

Small. No recordings are played, and the download is 14.2 MB.
Every piece, tuned. Stick hardness, tuning, ring, pitch glide and snare wires for the drums. For the kick, snare and toms, tuning, ring and muffle, plus the kick's beater and the sizes of the kick and toms. Ring for the hi-hat and cymbals, a level for each part of the kit, a room and an EQ.
No two hits alike. Hit variation changes each hit a little; set it to 0 and every hit is struck the same. The same song renders the same every time.
Snare and cymbals. Cross-stick, rimshot, buzz stroke and brush sweep on the snare, brushes on controller 85, a ride with bow, bell and edge, two crashes, a china and a splash, and cymbals you can stop.
No account and no internet. A license key and your email address, entered once for each Windows user on each computer, and one license for one person, to use on all of their own computers. XLN's installer needs an internet connection during installation; DrumFlex never connects.
Built to play ComposerFlex's songs, our songwriting program, on the same PC with no setup.
$79, one time, for every kit in it.

Which to pick

On a Mac: Addictive Drums 2.
For a catalogue of kits, beat packs and kit pieces to add to: Addictive Drums 2.
For AU or AAX plugins: Addictive Drums 2.
On Windows, for kits you can tune piece by piece, with no account and no internet: DrumFlex.
If you want to start at $79 for everything: DrumFlex.

Owning both

One is a collection you add to, the other is a single instrument you shape, so they sit side by side easily, and each has things the other doesn't. Both can be tried first: XLN's trial is on xlnaudio.com, and DrumFlex's demo is here. This page doesn't compare how they sound. That's for your ears.

The facts side by side

Every fact about Addictive Drums 2 is from XLN Audio's own pages, checked on 7 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars; sales come and go.

	DrumFlex	Addictive Drums 2
How it makes its sound	Modeled. It computes every hit as it is played, from the drumheads, the stick, the snare wires and the cymbals. It plays no recordings.	Multi-sampled drums (the maker's words).
Price	$79, one-time	Custom Collection $179, Custom XL $359, Custom XXL $549
Download and disk space	14.2 MB download, 31.4 MB installed	Not stated on the maker's pages
Memory the maker asks for	4 GB, with 4 cores or more and 100 MB of disk (the minimum we state for every Flex program)	Not stated on the maker's pages
Runs on	Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit	Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit; macOS 10.13 or later (Intel and Apple Silicon)
Forms	Standalone and VST3	Standalone, VST3, VST, AU, AAX
Needs another program	Nothing else	Nothing else
Copy protection	A license key and your email address, entered once for each Windows user on each computer. No account and no online activation.	XLN's own authorization through its online installer (the maker's support pages could not be read)
Computers per license	One license for one person, to use on all of their own computers	Not confirmed (the maker's page could not be read)
Demo	A demo to download and try before you buy	10-day trial with full features; no payment details needed
Kits and sounds included	Kits for metal, rock, pop, funk, jazz, smooth jazz, ballad and Latin, and a starting Session Kit; four slots to layer kits	Custom Collection: 3 kits, 3 MIDI beat packs, 3 kit pieces; XL: 6 each; XXL: 10 each. Hundreds of mix-ready presets

More: virtual drums compared: modeled, sampled and drum machines, a table of 27 products, and all about DrumFlex.

If something here is out of date, write to [email protected] and we'll correct it.

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