diff --git a/utils/install-plugins-symlinks.sh b/utils/install-plugins-symlinks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..24d0a256
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/install-plugins-symlinks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# the realpath function is not available on some systems
+if ! which realpath &>/dev/null; then
+    function realpath() {
+        [[ $1 = /* ]] && echo "$1" || echo "$PWD/${1#./}"
+    }
+fi
+
+set -e
+
+DPF_UTILS_DIR="$(dirname $(realpath ${0}))"
+
+if [ -d bin ]; then
+  cd bin
+elif [ -d build/bin ]; then
+  cd build/bin
+else
+  echo "Please run this script from the root folder"
+  exit
+fi
+
+if [ "$(uname -m)" = ]; then
+    CLAP_PATH=~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/CLAP
+    LV2_PATH=~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/LV2
+    VST2_PATH=~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST
+    VST3_PATH=~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
+else
+    CLAP_PATH=~/.clap
+    LV2_PATH=~/.lv2
+    VST2_PATH=~/.vst
+    VST3_PATH=~/.vst3
+fi
+
+export IFS=$'\n'
+
+# NOTE macOS ignores AU plugins installed in ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/
+# we **MUST** install AU plugins system-wide, so we need sudo/root here
+# for p in $(find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.component' -print -quit | grep '.component'); do
+#     basename=$(basename ${p})
+#     if [ ! -L /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/"${basename}" ]; then
+#         sudo ln -s $(pwd)/"${basename}" /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/"${basename}"
+#     fi
+# done
+
+for p in $(find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.clap' -print); do
+    basename=$(basename ${p})
+    mkdir -p ${CLAP_PATH}
+    if [ ! -L ${CLAP_PATH}/"${basename}" ]; then
+        ln -s $(pwd)/"${basename}" ${CLAP_PATH}/"${basename}"
+    fi
+done
+
+for p in $(find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.lv2' -print); do
+    basename=$(basename ${p})
+    mkdir -p ${LV2_PATH}
+    if [ ! -L ${LV2_PATH}/"${basename}" ]; then
+        ln -s $(pwd)/"${basename}" ${LV2_PATH}/"${basename}"
+    fi
+done
+
+for p in $(find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.vst' -print); do
+    basename=$(basename ${p})
+    mkdir -p ${VST2_PATH}
+    if [ ! -L ${VST2_PATH}/"${basename}" ]; then
+        ln -s $(pwd)/"${basename}" ${VST2_PATH}/"${basename}"
+    fi
+done
+
+for p in $(find . -maxdepth 1 -name '*.vst3' -print); do
+    basename=$(basename ${p})
+    mkdir -p ${VST3_PATH}
+    if [ ! -L ${VST3_PATH}/"${basename}" ]; then
+        ln -s $(pwd)/"${basename}" ${VST3_PATH}/"${basename}"
+    fi
+done