Tools

The best free plugins for music production in 2025

In the ever-evolving world of music production, having access to versatile and powerful free plugins can be a game-changer.

As we step into 2025, it’s once again that time of year where we explore a selection of must-try free tools that can elevate your productions without breaking the bank. Covering a wide array of needs spanning instrumentation to mixing and sound design, these plugins are great additions for any producer looking to up their game—let’s make 2025 a year of sonic excellence with these top-notch free plugins.

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18 great free plugins for music production

1. Baby Audio Freebies

Baby Audio Freebies features Warp (a pitch / speed manipulator made in collaboration with Andrew Huang), Magic Switch (a classic-sounding chorus), Magic Dice (a one-click reverb and delay), and more, allowing you to get a taste of their award-winning processing for no cost.

2. Yum Audio Freebies

Yum Audio also has their own collection of freebies—in the tutorial, we showcase two of their four offerings, Crispy Clip Light (a professional-grade audio clipper) and Grater Light (a compressor and audio shaper).

3. Kilohearts Essentials

Kilohearts Essentials features over 30 useful effects plugins, which can be used standalone in your DAW or loaded as Snapins in any Kilohearts Snapin Host.

4. Obliterate

Obliterate is Newfangled Audio’s distortion effect that was born from a coding glitch. In their words, “it doesn’t just shape your sound—it demolishes it.”

5. Goblyn

Goblyn is Aurora DSP’s powerful metal amp simulator based on the iconic 5153, boosted with a top-tier overdrive and refined with analog gear.

6. SunBurnt

Unplugred’s SunBurnt is a unique reverb plugin that lets you draw in its characteristics, offering endless creative possibilities.

7. OScope

OScope is Audjia’s free oscilloscope that allows you to investigate your audio in real time, spot unwanted peaks, and check whether your signal is correctly positioned in the grid.

8. Samplab

Samplab is an AI-powered tool that revolutionizes how you manipulate and edit samples, offering deep control over pitch, chords, and melodies. The free version allows you to input up to ten seconds of mono audio at a time.

9. NeuralNote

NeuralNote is a fast, lightweight audio-to-MIDI plugin that seamlessly converts tonal audio (including vocals) into MIDI.

10. Komplete Start

Komplete Start is a powerful collection of free plugins, instruments, and effects designed to kickstart your music production journey. It includes premium synths, acoustic instruments, drums, and even global sounds like the Irish harp and Yangqin.

11. Analog Lab Play

Analog Lab Play is a free software instrument that offers 100 synths, keys, pads, and more, giving a taste of Arturia’s premium Analog Lab collection.

12. Flite

Flite is Wavea’s powerful multi-sampler and synth plugin. The free player provides 200 expertly-crafted presets, powered by 2.5 GB of samples from some of the world’s rarest synths.

13. Zyklop

Zyklop is a playful synth powered by the same re-synthesis V2 engine that drives Dawesome’s signature MYTH 1.5.

14. Oi Grandad!

Oi Grandad! is a four-voice granular synthesizer inspired by modular synthesis and laid-back DAW workflows. Each voice has extensive granular controls, built-in delay options, and independent modulation sources for intricate sound design.

15. Blocks

Blocks is a digital modular synthesizer that’s available both as a standalone unit and DAW plugin. It’s great for learning how to get more experimental with sound design.

16. The Meyer Choir

The Meyer Choir is a beautifully recorded, character-rich choir plugin. While not overloaded with features, its simplicity is its strength.

17. Vital

Vital has made this list for several years, and with good reason. It breathes new life into wavetable synthesis with its groundbreaking spectral oscillator warping. It’s worth noting that Splice now features Vital presets as well—you can explore them here.

18. Eno

Last but not least, Eno is a creativity-enhancing plugin that doesn’t process audio—it processes you. Inspired by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies, it delivers unpredictable prompts and playful nudges to spark inspiration and break creative blocks.