If you are looking for some new plugins to add to your collection, we’ve got you covered! Today, we are sharing our Top 10 FREE plugins! No matter what kind of plugin you are looking for, there is something on this list for you. And they’re all totally free, so download them all and try them out! Your new favourite plugin could be in this list!
The Art of Selecting Plugins for Your DAW
Plugins serve different needs. There are lots of plugins we use all the time, like compression, reverb, delay, and EQ. A good place to start is to make sure you have everyday effects that you enjoy using and that can get you the results you want. From there, it’s great to have a bunch of fun plugins that do something totally weird or unique. You might not use them all the time, but you never know when they could spark a cool idea or make something sound completely freaky and fun!
10 Best Free Plugins for Your DAW in 2021
Acon Digital Multiply is a free and versatile chorus effect with a unique twist. Each simulated voice is processed with a phase randomizing filter so that unpleasant comb filter effects are avoided!
An incredibly simple, single-knob reverb plugin for dialing in everything from bright, slap-back style echoes to cavernous ambient spaces.
3. Black Rooster Audio – Canary
This plug-in lets you expand and recover some fundamental aspects of the drum signal that may have been lost during the recording process or which haven‘t been there in the first place. These include tone, attack, sustain and some very basic filtering,
4. Black Rooster Audio – Cypress TT-15
Cypress TT-15 will help to get the job done right away, whether if you‘re looking for clean through crunchy guitar tones or if you want to achieve biting, distorted lead sounds.
DC1A is the little brother of the compression monster DC8C. DC1A has a few tricks up its sleeve: negative (over) compression, parallel (New York style) compression, option to compress left and right channel independently (via the DUAL MONO switch), peak and RMS compression (RELAXED switch on) and DEEP activates a high pass filter to reduce pumping on bass heavy material.
A variable-mu compressor with lots of vibe, the MJUC Jr. is capable of smooth leveling but also heavy pumping effects.
When processing audio through FreeAMP you’ll get the sound of tape and tube saturation at the same time. It can be used on anything that needs to be vitalized, from single tracks, stems or full mixes.
Border is a second order Butterworth Low-Pass, High-Pass filter combination for general use, characterised by smooth response and an analogue character.
A single-knob plugin designed to increase perceived loudness without adding compression.
Perfect for dub and all of your psychedelic needs. Sonic results range from subtle chorusing and double tracking to barberpole phasing and flanging to endless glissandos and runaway echos.
We also have a list of more free plugins for you to try! Click here to check out The Ultimate List of Free Pro Tools Plugins!
Bonus: 5 More Free Plugins!
Similar to the extremeness found in FreqEcho, Supermassive combines reverb and delay for some seriously otherworldly sounds. Not your everyday effect, Supermassive is best for creating huge swells of lush reverb and echoey, far-out space sounds.
LABS is an infinite series of free virtual instruments. That means that it’s updated with new libraries all the time. Spitfire Audio is renowned for their sample libraries, and now you can experience that same level of quality for free!
13. Audio Damage – RoughRider 3
RoughRider 3 is a free compressor plugin by Audio Damage. It’s one of the company’s most popular offerings ever, with over 500,000 downloads over the course of about 10 years since release.
14. Native Instruments – Komplete Start
Komplete Start is a large collection of free sample libraries, effects, loops, instruments, and more. You can get a full production suite at your fingertips, for free.
Granulator II is a free granular synthesizer for Ableton Live users. This wildly versatile synthesizer can transform short samples into lush pads and a whole lot more.