diff --git a/src/wrapper/util.rs b/src/wrapper/util.rs
index da1bf3de..13a0d7c1 100644
--- a/src/wrapper/util.rs
+++ b/src/wrapper/util.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use std::os::raw::c_char;
 
 use crate::util::permit_alloc;
 
+pub(crate) mod buffer_management;
 #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
 pub(crate) mod context_checks;
 
diff --git a/src/wrapper/util/buffer_management.rs b/src/wrapper/util/buffer_management.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..73a20b31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/wrapper/util/buffer_management.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,366 @@
+//! Helpers for safely constructing [`Buffer`]s from a plugin host's audio buffers.
+
+use std::num::NonZeroU32;
+use std::ptr::NonNull;
+
+use crate::audio_setup::AudioIOLayout;
+use crate::buffer::Buffer;
+
+/// Buffers created using [`create_buffers`]. At some point the main `Plugin::process()` should
+/// probably also take an argument like this instead of main+aux buffers if we also want to provide
+/// access to overflowing input channels for e.g. stereo to mono plugins.
+pub struct Buffers<'a, 'buffer: 'a> {
+    pub main_buffer: &'a mut Buffer<'buffer>,
+
+    // We can't use `AuxiliaryBuffers` here directly because we need different lifetimes for `'a`
+    // and `'buffer` while `AuxiliaryBuffers` uses the same lifetime for both.
+    pub aux_inputs: &'a mut [Buffer<'buffer>],
+    pub aux_outputs: &'a mut [Buffer<'buffer>],
+}
+
+/// A helper for safely creating and initializing [`Buffer`]s based on the host's input and output
+/// buffers.
+pub struct BufferManager {
+    // These are the storage backing the fields in `BufferSource`. The wrapper needs to set these
+    // values to match the channel pointers provided by the host. If audio buffers are not provided
+    // for a bus, then they should be set to `None`. This helper will then copy data to the buffers
+    // or fill them with zeroes if there is no data, while also accounting for in-place main IO
+    // buffers.
+    main_input_channel_pointers: Option<ChannelPointers>,
+    main_output_channel_pointers: Option<ChannelPointers>,
+    aux_input_channel_pointers: Vec<Option<ChannelPointers>>,
+    aux_output_channel_pointers: Vec<Option<ChannelPointers>>,
+
+    /// The backing buffers that will be filled during `create_buffers`. This `'static` lifetime
+    /// will be shortened when returning a reference to these buffers in `create_buffers` to match
+    /// the function's lifetime.
+    main_buffer: Buffer<'static>,
+
+    aux_input_buffers: Vec<Buffer<'static>>,
+    /// Stores the data to back `aux_input_buffers`. We need to copy the host's auxiliary input
+    /// buffers to our own first because the `Buffer` API is designed around mutable buffers, and
+    /// the host may reuse its input buffers between plugins.
+    aux_input_storage: Vec<Vec<Vec<f32>>>,
+
+    aux_output_buffers: Vec<Buffer<'static>>,
+}
+
+// SAFETY: The raw pointers in the `ChannelPointers` fields/vectors are only used as scratch storage
+//         inside of the `create_buffers()` function.
+unsafe impl Send for BufferManager {}
+unsafe impl Sync for BufferManager {}
+
+/// Host data that the plugin's [`Buffer`]s should be created from. Leave these fields as `None`
+/// values
+pub struct BufferSource<'a> {
+    pub main_input_channel_pointers: &'a mut Option<ChannelPointers>,
+    pub main_output_channel_pointers: &'a mut Option<ChannelPointers>,
+    pub aux_input_channel_pointers: &'a mut [Option<ChannelPointers>],
+    pub aux_output_channel_pointers: &'a mut [Option<ChannelPointers>],
+}
+
+/// Pointers to raw multichannel audio data for this port.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct ChannelPointers {
+    /// A raw pointer to an array of f32 arrays, containing one array for each channel. `ptrs` must
+    /// contain (at least) `num_channel` `*const f32`s, and each of those inner arrays must contain
+    /// (at least) `num_samples` `f32` values.
+    pub ptrs: NonNull<*mut f32>,
+    /// The number of audio channels used for this port.
+    pub num_channels: usize,
+}
+
+impl BufferManager {
+    /// Initialize managed buffers for a specific audio IO layout. The actual buffers can be set up
+    /// using channel pointer data using [`create_buffers()`][Self::create_buffers()].
+    pub fn for_audio_io_layout(max_buffer_size: usize, audio_io_layout: AudioIOLayout) -> Self {
+        nih_debug_assert!(
+            audio_io_layout
+                .main_input_channels
+                .map(NonZeroU32::get)
+                .unwrap_or(0)
+                <= audio_io_layout
+                    .main_output_channels
+                    .map(NonZeroU32::get)
+                    .unwrap_or(0),
+            "Stereo-to-mono and other many-to-few audio channel configurations are currently not \
+             supported"
+        );
+
+        // The buffers are preallocated so that `create_buffers()` can be called without having to
+        // allocate
+        let mut main_buffer = Buffer::default();
+        unsafe {
+            main_buffer.set_slices(0, |output_slices| {
+                output_slices.resize_with(
+                    audio_io_layout
+                        .main_output_channels
+                        .map(NonZeroU32::get)
+                        .unwrap_or(0) as usize,
+                    || &mut [],
+                );
+            })
+        };
+
+        let mut aux_input_buffers = Vec::with_capacity(audio_io_layout.aux_input_ports.len());
+        let mut aux_input_storage = Vec::with_capacity(audio_io_layout.aux_input_ports.len());
+        for num_channels in audio_io_layout.aux_input_ports {
+            let mut buffer = Buffer::default();
+            unsafe {
+                buffer.set_slices(0, |slices| {
+                    slices.resize_with(num_channels.get() as usize, || &mut []);
+                })
+            };
+
+            aux_input_buffers.push(buffer);
+            aux_input_storage.push(vec![
+                vec![0.0; max_buffer_size];
+                num_channels.get() as usize
+            ]);
+        }
+
+        let mut aux_output_buffers = Vec::with_capacity(audio_io_layout.aux_output_ports.len());
+        for num_channels in audio_io_layout.aux_output_ports {
+            let mut buffer = Buffer::default();
+            unsafe {
+                buffer.set_slices(0, |slices| {
+                    slices.resize_with(num_channels.get() as usize, || &mut []);
+                })
+            };
+
+            aux_output_buffers.push(buffer);
+        }
+
+        Self {
+            main_input_channel_pointers: None,
+            main_output_channel_pointers: None,
+            aux_input_channel_pointers: vec![None; audio_io_layout.aux_input_ports.len()],
+            aux_output_channel_pointers: vec![None; audio_io_layout.aux_output_ports.len()],
+
+            main_buffer,
+
+            aux_input_buffers,
+            aux_input_storage,
+
+            aux_output_buffers,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Initialize the buffers using the host provided buffer pointers and return a reference to the
+    /// created buffers that can be passed to `Plugin::process()`. This accounts for in-place main
+    /// IO, missing channel pointers, null pointers, and mismatching channel counts. All
+    /// uninitialized buffer data (aux outputs, and main output channels with no matching input
+    /// channel) are filled with zeroes.
+    ///
+    /// If any of the output
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// May panic if one of the inner channel pointers is a null pointer.
+    ///
+    /// # Safety
+    ///
+    /// Any provided `ChannelPointers` must point to memory regions that remain valid to read from
+    /// or write to for the lifetime of the returned [`Buffers`].
+    pub unsafe fn create_buffers<'a, 'buffer: 'a>(
+        &'a mut self,
+        num_samples: usize,
+        set_buffer_sources: impl FnOnce(&mut BufferSource),
+    ) -> Buffers<'a, 'buffer> {
+        // Make sure the caller can't forget to unset previously set values
+        self.main_input_channel_pointers = None;
+        self.main_output_channel_pointers = None;
+        self.aux_input_channel_pointers.fill(None);
+        self.aux_output_channel_pointers.fill(None);
+        set_buffer_sources(&mut BufferSource {
+            main_input_channel_pointers: &mut self.main_input_channel_pointers,
+            main_output_channel_pointers: &mut self.main_output_channel_pointers,
+            aux_input_channel_pointers: &mut self.aux_input_channel_pointers,
+            aux_output_channel_pointers: &mut self.aux_output_channel_pointers,
+        });
+
+        // The main buffer points directly to the main output pointers
+        self.main_buffer.set_slices(num_samples, |output_slices| {
+            match self.main_output_channel_pointers {
+                Some(output_channel_pointers) => {
+                    nih_debug_assert_eq!(output_slices.len(), output_channel_pointers.num_channels);
+                    for (channel_idx, output_slice) in output_slices
+                        .iter_mut()
+                        .enumerate()
+                        .take(output_channel_pointers.num_channels)
+                    {
+                        let output_channel_pointer =
+                            output_channel_pointers.ptrs.as_ptr().add(channel_idx);
+                        assert!(!output_channel_pointer.is_null());
+
+                        *output_slice =
+                            std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(*output_channel_pointer, num_samples);
+                    }
+
+                    // If the caller/host should have provided buffer pointers but didn't then we
+                    // must get rid of any dangling slices
+                    output_slices[output_channel_pointers.num_channels..].fill_with(|| &mut [])
+                }
+                None => {
+                    nih_debug_assert_eq!(output_slices.len(), 0);
+
+                    // Same as above
+                    output_slices.fill_with(|| &mut [])
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        // Since NIH-plug processes audio in-place, main input data needs to be copied to the main
+        // output buffers
+        if let (Some(input_channel_pointers), Some(output_channel_pointers)) = (
+            self.main_input_channel_pointers,
+            self.main_output_channel_pointers,
+        ) {
+            // If the host processes the main IO out of place then the inputs need to be copied to
+            // the output buffers. Otherwise the input should already be there.
+            if input_channel_pointers.ptrs != output_channel_pointers.ptrs {
+                self.main_buffer.set_slices(num_samples, |output_slices| {
+                    for (channel_idx, output_slice) in output_slices
+                        .iter_mut()
+                        .enumerate()
+                        .take(input_channel_pointers.num_channels)
+                    {
+                        let input_channel_pointer =
+                            input_channel_pointers.ptrs.as_ptr().add(channel_idx);
+                        assert!(!input_channel_pointer.is_null());
+
+                        output_slice.copy_from_slice(std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(
+                            *input_channel_pointer,
+                            num_samples,
+                        ))
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+
+            // Any excess channels will need to be filled with zeroes since they'd otherwise point
+            // to whatever was left in the buffer
+            if input_channel_pointers.num_channels < output_channel_pointers.num_channels {
+                self.main_buffer.set_slices(num_samples, |output_slices| {
+                    for slice in &mut output_slices[input_channel_pointers.num_channels..] {
+                        slice.fill(0.0);
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Because NIH-plug's `Buffer` type is geared around in-place processing, auxiliary inputs
+        // need to be copied to our own buffers first (backed by the 'storage' vectors on this
+        // object). That way the plugin can modify those buffers like any other buffers.
+        for (input_channel_pointers, (input_storage, input_buffer)) in
+            self.aux_input_channel_pointers.iter().zip(
+                self.aux_input_storage
+                    .iter_mut()
+                    .zip(self.aux_input_buffers.iter_mut()),
+            )
+        {
+            // Since these buffers are backed by our own storage, we can fill them with zeroes if
+            // the pointers are missing for whatever reason that might be
+            nih_debug_assert!(input_channel_pointers.is_some());
+            match input_channel_pointers {
+                Some(input_channel_pointers) => {
+                    nih_debug_assert_eq!(input_channel_pointers.num_channels, input_storage.len());
+                    for (channel_idx, channel) in input_storage
+                        .iter_mut()
+                        .enumerate()
+                        .take(input_channel_pointers.num_channels)
+                    {
+                        let input_channel_pointer =
+                            input_channel_pointers.ptrs.as_ptr().add(channel_idx);
+                        assert!(!input_channel_pointer.is_null());
+
+                        nih_debug_assert!(num_samples <= channel.capacity());
+                        channel.resize(num_samples, 0.0);
+                        channel.copy_from_slice(std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(
+                            *input_channel_pointer,
+                            num_samples,
+                        ))
+                    }
+
+                    // In case we were provided too few channels we'll fill the rest with zeroes to
+                    // avoid unexpected situations
+                    for channel in input_storage
+                        .iter_mut()
+                        .skip(input_channel_pointers.num_channels)
+                    {
+                        channel.fill(0.0);
+                    }
+                }
+                None => {
+                    for channel in input_storage.iter_mut() {
+                        channel.fill(0.0);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            input_buffer.set_slices(num_samples, |input_slices| {
+                // Since we initialized both `input_buffer` and `input_storage` this invariant
+                // should never fail unless we made an error ourselves
+                debug_assert_eq!(input_slices.len(), input_storage.len());
+
+                for (channel_slice, channel_storage) in
+                    input_slices.iter_mut().zip(input_storage.iter_mut())
+                {
+                    // SAFETY: `channel_storage` is no longer used accessed directly after this
+                    *channel_slice = &mut *(channel_storage.as_mut_slice() as *mut [f32]);
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
+        // The auxiliary output buffers can point directly to the host's buffers. This logic is the
+        // same as the main outputs, minus the copying of input cdata
+        for (output_channel_pointers, output_buffer) in self
+            .aux_output_channel_pointers
+            .iter()
+            .zip(self.aux_output_buffers.iter_mut())
+        {
+            output_buffer.set_slices(num_samples, |output_slices| {
+                match output_channel_pointers {
+                    Some(output_channel_pointers) => {
+                        nih_debug_assert_eq!(
+                            output_slices.len(),
+                            output_channel_pointers.num_channels
+                        );
+                        for (channel_idx, output_slice) in output_slices
+                            .iter_mut()
+                            .enumerate()
+                            .take(output_channel_pointers.num_channels)
+                        {
+                            let output_channel_pointer =
+                                output_channel_pointers.ptrs.as_ptr().add(channel_idx);
+                            assert!(!output_channel_pointer.is_null());
+
+                            *output_slice = std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(
+                                *output_channel_pointer,
+                                num_samples,
+                            );
+                        }
+
+                        // If the caller/host should have provided buffer pointers but didn't then
+                        // we must get rid of any dangling slices
+                        output_slices[output_channel_pointers.num_channels..].fill_with(|| &mut [])
+                    }
+                    None => {
+                        nih_debug_assert_eq!(output_slices.len(), 0);
+
+                        // Same as above
+                        output_slices.fill_with(|| &mut [])
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
+        // SAFETY: The 'static lifetimes on the objects are needed so we can store the buffers.
+        //         Their actual lifetimes are `'a`, so we need to shrink them here. The contents are
+        //         valid for as long as the returned object is borrowed.
+        std::mem::transmute::<Buffers<'a, 'static>, Buffers<'a, 'buffer>>(Buffers {
+            main_buffer: &mut self.main_buffer,
+            aux_inputs: &mut self.aux_input_buffers,
+            aux_outputs: &mut self.aux_output_buffers,
+        })
+    }
+}