The 5 Best FREE Alternatives to Popular VST Plugins (2022)
“What are the best FREE alternatives to popular VST plugins?”
Third party plugins are an essential part of music production. You can only go so far using your DAW’s stock plugins, and eventually you’ll begin searching for VST plugins to take your production to the next level.
But there’s just one problem: these things are expensive.
Popular VST plugins such as Serum and FabFilter’s acclaimed range of effect plugins are all within the $100 – $250 range.
Admittedly, in the long run many of these mid-range plugins are well worth the price tag, but for producers on a budget it can be simply too expensive.
For beginners, it can be especially disheartening to see these kind of prices when you’re just starting out. Many producers just want to experiment with some powerful third party plugins without having to sell their kidneys to afford it.
Thankfully, there are many FREE alternatives to popular VST plugins out there. Many of these free alternatives offer a similar level of functionality as the paid version.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at the best free alternatives to popular plugins, so you can level up your music production without spending a penny.
1. Xfer Records – Serum
💲 Current price: $189
Serum is arguably one of the most popular virtual synthesizers ever created.
This iconic VST plugin was one of the first wavetable synthesizers to offer not only pristine sound quality, but also the ability to import your own audio to create custom wavetables with ease.
On top of that, it has one of the most streamlined, inspiring workflows of any wavetable synth out there, and it’s a plugin that can truly be described as a “game-changer”.
However, with it’s current price of just under $200, many producers on a tight budget don’t get to take advantage of Serums incredible workflow and on-board features.
Try Instead: Vital
💲 Current price: FREE!
Then came Matt Tytel’s Vital.
Upon it’s release in late 2022, Vital shook up the audio plugin world.
In my opinion, it is easily the most powerful freeware synth ever released, with a staggering amount of features to edit, warp and finetune your sounds.
Like Serum, Vital is a spectral warping wavetable synthesizer featuring 3 powerful, high-quality wavetable oscillators, each with frequency warper and waveshaper controls. An additional sample slot is also available, which can be used to add noise or other audio textures.
Vital also allows you to import your own wavetables, really giving Serum a run for its money.
Both plugins have an extensive effects rack, featuring phaser, reverb, delay and other unique audio effects.
It’s worth mentioning the free download of Vital has 75 presets and 25 wavetables, while Serum boasts 450 presets and 144 wavetables. However the Pro version of Vital ($80) has a similar amount to Serum.
Overall, I’d say Vital is easily the best free alternative to a heavyweight wavetable synth like Serum, and if it’s not already in your plugin arsenal you are seriously missing out.
2. FabFilter – Pro-Q 3
💲 Current price: $180
Pro-Q 3 is without-a-doubt the gold-standard of sound quality, flexibility, and ease of use when it comes to EQ plugins.
It’s also one of the most popular paid effect plugins of all time, and it’s easy to see why.
Firstly Pro-Q 3 EQ is incredibly intuitive and has a beautiful, easy-to-use design, while still offering every EQ process an advanced producer would ever need. Even a complete beginner to music production could get the hang of this plugin in minutes.
Secondly, Pro-Q 3 EQ allows you to shape your sounds in a way that results in unparalleled sound quality and frequency precision.
However, it’s currently priced at $180, which can seem like a lot for an EQ plugin. Trust me, it’s 100% worth the investment, but if you’re on a tight budget there is a fantastic free alternative out there.
Try Instead: TDR Nova
💲 Current price: FREE!
Nova is a parallel dynamic equalizer with a similar look and feel to Pro-Q 3, and offers many of the same features of the FabFilters paid plugin.
With its 4 dynamic EQ bands and additional high-pass and low-pass filter sections, Nova has a ton of functionality for a free EQ plugin. Intuitive equal loudness functions also help finding the optimal setting without getting distracted by loudness differences.
Nova’s extensive feature set allows you to control the compression of each EQ band using threshold, ratio, attack and release parameters.
Now, I have to be honest, this is a very modest selection of features when compared to Pro-Q 3. The insane level of precision and sonic flexibility of Pro-Q 3 simply doesn’t exist in any free plugin.
But TDR Nova is extremely powerful for a free plugin, and is well worth a download if you’re looking for an intuitive, super-precise dynamic equalizer.
Click here to download TDR Nova.
3. XLN Audio – RC-20 Retro Color
💲 Current price: $120
RC-20 Retro Color is a popular, multi-effect VST plugin that allows you to recreate the warm feeling of vintage recording equipment.
This plugin is especially popular with lofi, hip hop or ambient producers, as it offers a no-nonsense method to inject some pleasant, analog warmth into any sound.
Many producers seek to emulate these dusty, vintage audio imperfections and artefacts that would have occurred naturally in old recordings. These emulations often produce nostalgic overtones, and can really enhance the character of a track.
RC-20 has 6 individual retro modules; a Noise Generator, Wobble & Flutter, Saturation & Distortion, Degrader & Bitcrusher, Reverb and Volume Drops. Each module offers a different way recreate the tone and character of vintage gear and old-school samplers.
Priced at around $120, this isn’t the most expensive plugin on this list, but it’s still not cheap.
Try Instead: iZotope’s Vinyl
💲 Current price: FREE!
iZotope have a lofi effect plugin “Vinyl”, which simulates the dust, scratches, warp, and mechanical noise reminiscent of yesteryear… for free!
One of the coolest features of Vinyl is the option to choose the audio processing style by decade (1930’s, 1950’s, etc…). Each option applies a slightly different vintage tone, adding audio degradation associated with that time period.
On the right hand side of the plugin, you have the main components; Dust, Scratch and Warp. These controls increase the volume of the individual elements. There’s also an RPM control which will determine the frequency of how often these audio artefacts occur. Vinyl also has controls for adding electrical noise and mechanical noise, as well as several other creative options to play around with.
iZotope have also added a “Lofi” option to this re-release, which is essentially a bit-crusher control.
You’re certainly missing a few of the unique RC-20 modules, but Vinyl is a versatile, highly usable alternative for adding some retro character to your tracks.
4. Sugar Bytes – Effectrix
💲 Current price: $149
Effectrix is a smart, innovative plugin that opens up huge amount of creative options for adding unique effects to your sounds.
For those unfamiliar with the Effectrix concept, it is probably best described as an ‘effects processing sequencer’. The plugin allows you to control (up to) 14 various effects across a 32-step sequencer which can be synced to your DAWs tempo. Using this step sequencer, you can select blocks where the effect will be added. These blocks can be as short as 1 bar, or up to 8 bars long.
The 14 effects are: X-loop, loop, scratch loop, reverse, stretch, vinyl, tonal delay, stutter, crush, filter, phaser, chorus, delay and reverb.
In addition to simply turning the effects on and off, Effectrix offers various parameters and controls for each effect. The scope of the plugin includes everything from adding some light vintage texture to a sound (using the vinyl, crush or scratch loop effects), or completely transforming the sound using a combination of the on-board effects.
Like most popular paid plugins, Effectrix is not cheap. At $149 it’s definitely over-budget for many producers, but thankfully there is an incredible alternative out there…
Try instead: Glitch 1.3
Glitch 1.3 is one of the more interesting free VST effect plugins available. Glitch from Illformed (Kieran Foster) is an interesting multi-effect processor with some unique features that enables it to stand out from the long list of available free VST effects.
The effects setup is slightly different to Effectrix, as they are presented as guitar stomp box modules and include: tape stop, modulator, retrigger, shuffler, reverser, crusher, gater, delay and stretcher. Like Effectrix, each module has it’s own adjustable parameters for finetuning the individual effect.
Now for the downsides: this free plugin is WINDOWS ONLY. So for any Mac OS users reading, you may have to look elsewhere or splash out on the Effectrix plugin.
Secondly, this is an old version of the plugin. Illformed have since released Glitch 2 (€50), and regarding the old version have stated: “These old plug-ins are no longer in development, and are completely unsupported. They may contain bugs, and may even crash without warning.”
With that said, I have found no technical problems with Glitch 1.3, and find it to be a fantastic free alternative to Effectrix.
Click here to download Glitch 1.3
5. Guitar Rig 6 Pro
💲 Current price: $199
Guitar Rig Pro by Native Instruments is an iconic multi-effect processing workstation. As the name suggests, it is designed primarily as a digital guitar effects rack, emulating various classic tones including amps, pedals and guitar cabinets.
Guitar Rig 6 Pro offers a fluid, intuitive method for achieving incredible-sounding guitar tones. Several new additions to this new version only add to the rich sonic palette, as well as improve the design and workflow of the plugin.
You can read about the various included effects here.
Luckily for us, Native Instruments does offer a trial version of Guitar Rig 6 Pro, which includes 13 effects, and 50 ready-to-use presets.
Try instead: AmpliTube 5 Custom Shop
An incredible free alternative to Guitar Rig Pro is AmpliTube 5 Custom Shop by IK Multimedia.
This free download includes 41 iconic, “must-have” pedals, amps, cabinets, mics and rack FX. They’re yours free, forever, to use stand-alone or as a plug-in in your favorite recording software.
Custom shop then allows you to preview and purchase individual effects from the gigantic IK Multimedia library (400+ gear models!) But if you’re not looking to spend a penny, the 41 bundled effects are completely free.
The included effects are sonically stunning, and sound incredibly realistic when compared to their vintage gear equivalents. Highly recommend.
Click here to download AmpliTube 5 Custom Shop
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