The List of Free Plugins
Hofa 4U+ ProjectTime lives on any track (preferably your master buss) but doesn't add to your sound in any way. Instead it keeps track of your work hours with a certain project making it easier to charge the right amount of money or stream line your work flow! The free version misses some features such as a a correlation function between the transport panel and the project time.
Acon Multiplier is a chorus on steroids giving you an EQ-within the plugin itself. This is great for chorus bass tones giving you the ability to treat only the mids and highs while keeping the lows intact. All without having to set up a parallel buss. It also sounds fantastic!
This Wider plugin is probably my most used plugin of all and I'd pay a lot more than free for it to be honest. It can do all from subtle widening to crazy-behind-your-head-wide sort of stuff. The best thing about it is that its fully mono compatible (?!!) and sort of folds back into mono sort of like the mid side microphone technique.
This is not a single plugin but a whole product line of Analog Modelled gold. Both sounds and looks great! If you find value with these consider becoming a patreon member on the download site.
As much of a Reaper fan boy I am I do recognize most people don't use it. If you use any other DAW that supports VST:s though you can still use Reapers stock plugins for free. They don't have the coolest interfaces but sound and work great. If you're in the lookout for a noise suppressor type plugin there is one in there as well!
In the Reaper Forums this one goes under the name of "Poor Mans Fab Filter". This is a JSFX and will unfortunately only work in Reaper. It's a huge step up from the stock EQ though with mid side, tons of different filters and more. It's also kind to the CPU and it lives on every one of my channels as default.
Some more JSFX (Reaper) plugins coming up. The Plugins from Saike are more experimental with some strange reverbs, noise plugins and instruments. Very fun to play with and they have beautiful UI:s. They can be added directly to reapers repository following the link,
Yet another JSFX-bundle for Reaper but more traditional Analog modelled stuff. Easy to import to reapers Repository. They sound great and are light on your processor. Adam Steel even mixed an entire track using these on a Raspberry Pi??!
Probably my most used plugin together with Infected Mushroom's Wider. This dynamic EQ is great for De-Essing, De-Rumbling or De-Honking stuff without loosing the whole thing. A dynamic should be in every producers toolbox so why don't grab a free one?
This is some fun chorus/doubling/widening stuff from Xfer. Works great on synths that need a little more depth and width!
There are tons of well sampled pianos out there and even some of them free. However the perfect piano sound might not be a great fit all of the time. Sometimes you need that rusty, dusty not-so-tuned piano to spice up your production. Piano Book is a collection of sampled pianos/keys doing just that!
Pads are a great way to get some glue and depth going in your productions. A fun way to do so is using Paul Stretch Extreme time stretching. In that way you can make pads of pretty much anything. The saxophone you recorded for another song? The adlibs from the final chorus. You name it! If you use elements from already in your song chances are they'll fit in a lot better. If you're a Reaper user this type of algorithm for stretching comes built in now adays. It's caled Reeeeeaaaaa and can be applied by right clicking any item in reaper.
Valhalla DSP makes great low cost reverbs and delays. A couple of them are completely free though including one of my most used reverbs for long tails. Valhalla Supermassive. This is a combined reverb and delay with crazy long feedback!
This is nothing more and nothing less than a great sounding chorus. When not using the Acon Multiplier for fine tuned chorus I reach for this one!
If you need some vinyl noise to get some vibe going in your production. Izotope got you covered with this free and great sounding vinyl plugin!
This is a new found plugin of mine. While searching for a distressor type plugin I stumbled upon the Kiive Audio Xtressor. I use it and love it but if you don't want to spend the cash on the full plugin, you can get that aggressive distressor sound from the free smaller version!
I've already featured iZotope on this list but while making this list I checked my library and found this in my mixing template. I like it so much I have it on a bus and never really think about it. Yet it's part of most my mixes just labled doubler. I rarely open it because the parameters are so few. But it just plain works!
I'm not gonna lie I'm a huge fan of Plugin Alliance and a long time subscriber of one of their plans. They do have a free starter bundle though that sounds great. Some nice sounding free amps that I used for a long time, a cool EQ from SPL and the bx_subfilter for some low end punch!
I've been a user of the legendry Oxford Inflator for a long time and unfortunately I wasn't up to date with the Reaper alternative while purchasing it. Sorry non-reaper folks this is a JSFX for reaper plugin only. The thing is it actually nulls with the oxford plugin meaning it's the exact same thing. Watch Myk talk about it and show how to install it in the video linked!
The TriLeveler by Sonic Anomaly is a broadcast leveler that works in 3 complementary stages to level out your recording. This gets a lot more transparent than your normal compressor and can do a great job at evening out your recording before additional processing. This is great for all the podcasters out there!
LoudMax is a great little transparent maximizer. I used it for most of my limiting needs for a long time and still use it to get some limiting going fast. Sounds great and is kind to your cpu!
If you want that beautiful top end that can be found in a määg EQ going up to 40khz without having to spend a dime. This Luftikus plugin will do the trick. It's a replica of the määg EQ4.
When I bought Ableton I cheaped out on the Suite and went for the Standard version. That meant I needed to find some synth alternatives to use instead of the great ones found in Ableton. That's when I stumbled on this fantastic synth by Matt Tytel called Helm. It has 2 oscilators and a sub oscilator together with both the standard modules and some additional fun ones. This synth is great if you're looking to learn how to design your own sounds!
This one is pretty well known but I featured it here since it's a great addition to Helm. Vital is a Wavetable synth not too much unlike Serum. Vital is created by the Matt Tytel as well and is not very unlike Helm in its appearance. When you've learned Helm and want to extend your synth capabilities this is the way to go!
Not really a synth but a drum machine/sampler plugin. It's super simple to use and great if you lack a proper drum sampler in your DAW. It has a similar feature set to Abletons drum sampler and even though the default 808 kit is not that big it sure sounds fantastic.
Sonic Anomaly is already on this list with the free TriLeveler. Fact is that they make some great plugins like this transient designer. Great for de-rooming a podcast recording or making your drums slap!
To be honest I have not used this to great extend as of yet but found it through this video. Free delays are everywhere but most of them definitely don't sound like this one. It reminds me of the Soundtoyd Echo Boy but with its own character. I'll head over and download it right now. You should too!
Baby Audio makes a lot of interesting plugins and I personally love their reverb crystalline. The Freebie section is no exception and the Magic Dice especially is some great fun with randomized reverbs and delays.
I've been looking for a replacement for Waves R-Vox for years and haven't found one. Until Now. This has similar character with a lot of low end with the "thickness" knob. Together with a limiter it might just do the trick without having to worry about any Waves Update Plans!
This is a great alternative to SoundToys PanMan all for free. It has some great possibilities for making auto panning effects with both synced and LFO modulated modes.
A very capable guitar amp sim with two different amps. The Soldano® SLO-100® and Laney® TF300®. It also has some great pedals and both American and British style cabinets!
A bundle of many great both sample based and synthesized instruments but first and foremost includes my favourite drum compressor for punchy drums! It's called the Supercharger and has a great "punch" mode for some serious parallel compression!
Kazrog just released a free less advanced version of their highly acclaimed clipper KClip 3!
A free LFO/sidechaining plugin to get that pumping effect fast without having to set up a key and compressor/gate!
Tape saturation and dynamics!
Pultec style EQ for some boomy bass and nice top end!
A full bundle of both creative and technical plugins. I personally love the bitcrusher and formant filter!
A super fast way to get the HAAS-delay effect. Great for Hi-Hats and percussion!
Get information about integrated, momentary and short-term LUFS values and more with this free loudness meter!
A simlple but powerful plugin for creating massive claps!
Combine both tape and tube saturation in this clean interface from Bedroom Producers Blog.
TR-707 style drum machine from Elektronik Sound Lab!
Ignite Amps make this Pulteq-style channel strip. Nice to have it all in one place but if you only want the middle section scroll up to the Warmy EP-1 instead!
The classic tubescreamer in a free plugin from Mercuriall software!
Another free tubescreamer but with some mods to get low tones without muddiness! By Ignite Amps!
A wonderful sounding piano plugin with looooong decay!
A creative guitar pedal plugin from Chowdhury DSP!
Free Loudness Meter with some nice ways of viewing LUFS!
Fun Toy synth emulation with great vibrato. Free to download but suggested 2-5 dollars in donation. Seems fair to me!
Great sounding and goog looking chorus plugin!
Beautiful wind instruments!
Great reverb with randomize functions!
This free vocoder just got an update!
Advanced free synthesizer in many plugin formats from full bucket!
Add some grain to your sounds with this plugin from full bucket music!
Beatiful & Easy to use plate reverb from variety of sound!