MusicTech’s favourite free plugins of 2025

Although there are no end of expensive plugins vying for your attention, you shouldn’t overlook some of the amazing free tools that are also available. We’ve put together a list of our favourite free plugins and tools from 2025 so you can get creative in the studio whilst saving your wallet.

Native Instruments – Massive X Player

Native Instruments’ Massive X is an incredibly powerful synth, but it’s also a bit of a beast to program.

Earlier this year, the company released the Massive X Player as part of its free Komplete Start package. This lightweight plugin comes loaded with 60 presets, but with the option to add further sounds from a large collection of paid-for expansion packs. You can tweak each sound using 8 macros, or the large expressive X/Y pad in the middle of the interface. The pad also has an Animator that lets you morph between macro settings using 12 set paths.

Find out more about the Massive X Player at native-instruments.com.

Lunacy Audio – Haze

Lunacy Audio is known for its rich and visually appealing sound design tools, such as Beam and Cube. Its free Haze plugin is no exception, with a mix of mysterious sounding chorus, lush phasing, ethereal algorithmic reverb and a unique spectral dispersion engine. It lets you create shimmering textures and atmospheric soundscapes with ease. Controls like Density, Spread and Smear Frequency are presented with a beautiful graphic in the centre that helps show what’s happening sonically.

Find out more about the Haze plugin at lunacy.audio.

Eadie Audio – Eno

This is a slightly more unusual tool. Instead of offering any sound, Eadie Audio’s Eno plugin can help prompt your brain to provoke creativity. The idea is based on Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies and will provide unique suggestions every 30 seconds to get you to think outside the box when it comes to both writing and production. It can also be used to activate a screen blackout mode to help you truly hear your music.

Find out more about the Eno plugin at eadieaudio.netlify.app.

Infinite Digits – AmenBreakVST

If you like chopped and effected breakbeats in a jungle/breakcore style, then this could very well be your dream plugin. It’s built by Infinite Digits and has gone through various hardware and software revisions over the last 5 years. It is now a fully fleshed out product that’s described as a performance-based, multi-playhead sample mangler with auto-slicing, sequencing and bespoke effects. It lets you chop and rearrange samples in a number of creative ways, saving hours of fiddly programming and offering up a powerful performance tool. The free version is feature packed with all the core functionality, but it runs in mono. You can upgrade to stereo and with a few extra features and effects for the minimal cost of $29.

Find out more about the AmenBreakVST at amenbreakvst.com.

u-he – Zebralette 3

With the release of the immense Zebra 3 synth getting closer and now in public beta, u-he has put out the free version, Zebralette 3. It features a single oscillator taken its bigger sibling, with spline-based editing, various morphing options, a pair of waveform mangling algorithms, and an audio engine switchable between traditional waves and additive synthesis. You also get two LFOs, ADSR and MSEG envelopes, a modulation matrix, and reverb and delay effects, making this a surprisingly powerful package.

Find out more about the Zebralette 3 at u-he.com.

Mastering The Mix – EQ Academy

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It’s all very well having the latest kit and software, but if your ears aren’t up to scratch, then your music will still sound amateur. EQ Academy is a standalone app that offers gamified ear-training to help improve your EQ instincts. It includes 100 interactive levels, real-time progress tracking and global rankings to help sharpen how you hear frequencies, gain, Q and mid/sides. There are a broad range of tracks included, plus the ability to import your own to practice on, and you can also compete in battles against other producers.

Find out more about the EQ Academy at masteringthemix.com.

Forever 89 – Visco 2.0

Technically, Visco is a paid plugin, but the demo is fully functional and only displays an upgrade reminder that occasionally appears, so we’ve decided to include it here. It’s an incredibly fun and creative sample-modelling drum machine that lets you morph between two samples on each of its 8 tracks, and then lets you edit using the unique blob interface. Version 2 dropped earlier this year and added a new Tonal synth engine, so you can now work with chromatic sounds alongside your percussive grooves.

Find out more about the Visco at forever89.studio.

United plugins/JMG Audio – HyperspaceCore

Here’s another freebie that’s a cut-down version of a bigger product. Don’t let that fool you, though, as HyperspaceCore is a deep and powerful algorithmic reverb that’s capable of creating vast sounding spaces. An X/Y pad lets you morph between different characteristics of the sound, alongside a range of reverb controls that you’d normally expect to find. On top of this, there’s a modulation control, a built-in ducker, a randomiser, two special FX controls for adding metallic resonance and epic long tails, and the ability to focus processing on the musical or noise elements of the signal.

Find out more about the Hyperspace Core at unitedplugins.com.

Sonimus – DelaySon

If you’re looking to add a bit of vintage tape delay warmth to your tracks, then this one could be for you. DelaySon captures the character of classic echo machines to deliver an authentic analogue sound. The clear interface provides controls for delay time, feedback, mix amount, modulation, tone, L/R offset and more, allowing you to create vintage slap-back echoes, subtle rhythmic delays, or more experimental long and modulated tails.

Find out more about the DelaySon at sonimus.com.

SoliderSound – S Doubler

Although double tracking vocals and instruments the hard way will most often yield the best results, it can be time-consuming, and sometimes you may only have access to a single track. S Doubler lets you add 4 thickening voices, with controls for the stereo spread and distance that add an extra sense of dimension. You can also shift the tone using a tilt EQ, limit the frequency range so that you’re not widening the lows, and balance the effect between the middle and sides.

Find out more about the S Doubler at solidersound.com.

Alex has been writing freelance for MusicTech since 2009. He got his first copy of Micro Logic and a Roland Sound Canvas 30 years ago and has never looked back. Since then, he has released music on some of the worlds biggest dance labels, done countless major label remixes, composed music for Sync library’s, and even performed in a pod on the London Eye.