The Ultimate Collection: Free VST, AU, AAX, Kontakt Libraries, Presets and More
On this page I’m putting together a collection of free DAWs, virtual instruments and effects (each page contains free VST, AU, AAX, sample libraries and more).
Free Virtual Instruments
- Free Harp Plugins and Libraries
- Free Bass Guitar Plugins and Libraries
- Free Guitar (and Electric Guitar) Plugins and Libraries
- Free Sub Bass & 808 Bass Plugins
Free Audio Effect Plugins
Free Midi Effect Plugins
Right now, this collection is still pretty small – so check back later!
About this page
It took me quite a long time to find a name for this page. It started as your typical “free VST” collection but I soon realized that this page would have to include a whole lot more than just VST instruments. While VST is an industry standard, many people use DAWs that do not have VST integration: AU (Audio Units) is a plugin format used by Apple Logic, for example, and the format AAX is used by Pro Tools. Additionally, many of today’s sampled instruments do not come directly as VST, AU or AAX. Instead, they often come as sample libraries for third-party samplers.
Native Instrument Kontakt is the most popular of these third-party samplers and comes in a free and paid version. The free version is called Kontakt Player and can be downloaded here. Unfortunately, most free Kontakt libraries do not work with the free Kontakt Player. Even though Kontakt itself isn’t free, I decided to include Kontakt libraries in the lists on this page because many of the best free instruments today are in fact Kontakt libraries.
However, if you don’t use Kontakt or don’t own the full version, no problem! I’ve included plenty of libraries and plugins in this collection that do not require any version of Kontakt.
It’s going to take a long time to review all the free instruments and effects out there – so bear with me!
Btw, if you made a free instrument or effect yourself and would like me to write about it, you can get in touch here.