The Best Free Vocal Plugins: A Complete Vocal Chain for €0

The best free vocal plugins can cover a whole vocal chain: MAutoPitch for pitch correction, TDR Nova for EQ and de-essing, Klanghelm DC1A or TDR Kotelnikov for compression, and Valhalla Supermassive or TAL-Reverb-4 for space. All of them are genuinely free, not trials.

Below is what each free vocal VST does on a vocal, how to chain them, and where the stock plugins in your DAW are just as good. We've also included our two free plugins, Spread and Pump, where they fit.

Free vocal plugins at a glance

Pitch correction: MAutoPitch and Graillon

MAutoPitch from MeldaProduction is a free automatic pitch corrector that can go from gentle, natural correction to a more obvious tuned effect. It's part of MeldaProduction's free effects bundle.

Graillon from Auburn Sounds has a free edition that covers its core pitch correction and pitch shifting. It's popular for hard-tuned and character vocal effects as well as subtle correction.

Pitch correction goes first in the chain, so everything after it processes an in-tune voice. If you use Logic Pro, its built-in Pitch Correction plugin is also a solid option.

EQ and de-essing: TDR Nova

TDR Nova from Tokyo Dawn Records is a free dynamic EQ, and it's the most useful single free vocal plugin there is. Use it as a normal parametric EQ for the high-pass filter and mud cuts, then set one band to work dynamically on the sibilance range, so it only cuts the S sounds when they get loud. That's a de-esser. A high shelf on another band adds air.

If you're not sure which frequencies to target, our guide on how to EQ vocals has a frequency chart for mud, boxiness, presence, sibilance and air.

Compression: Klanghelm DC1A and TDR Kotelnikov

Klanghelm DC1A is a deliberately simple free compressor: turn up the input until the vocal is controlled, then set the output. It's quick, musical and hard to make sound bad, which makes it a great first vocal compressor.

TDR Kotelnikov is a clean, precise compressor designed for buses and mastering, and it works well on vocals when you want transparent leveling rather than character. Many people run DC1A for color and Kotelnikov for gentle control, each doing a few dB.

Reverb: Valhalla Supermassive, TAL-Reverb-4 and Dragonfly

For a classic vocal plate, use TAL-Reverb-4 or the plate plugin in Dragonfly Reverb. For big, washy throws on the last word of a line, Valhalla Supermassive is hard to beat. Put the reverb on a send, not on the vocal itself, and low cut the return. Our list of the best free reverb plugins compares all three in detail.

Width and doubling: Spread (ours, free)

Backing vocals and ad-libs often need to sit wider than the lead so they surround it instead of competing. Spread is our free stereo widener. It uses mid/side width rather than phase tricks, plus an optional Haas delay of up to 30 ms for mono sources, and a Mono Bass control that keeps everything below a cutoff centered.

The Vocal Spread preset sets width to 130%, adds a 4 ms Haas delay and keeps everything under 180 Hz in mono. Listen for the vocal opening out to the sides while the center stays solid.

One caution: the Haas delay isn't mono-safe, so check the result with Spread's Mono Check preset before you commit. The mid/side width on its own is mono-safe, because the side signal cancels when the mix is summed to mono.

Rhythmic ducking for vocal effects: Pump (ours, free)

A long vocal reverb or delay can blur the next line. One fix is to make the effect breathe with the beat. Pump is our free tempo-synced volume shaper: put it on the reverb or delay return and the tail dips on each beat and swells back between them, which leaves gaps for the words and adds movement.

Be clear on what it does, though. Pump follows the project tempo; it doesn't listen to the vocal. If you want the effect to duck only while the singer is singing, use a sidechain compressor on the return keyed from the vocal instead. For a gentle tempo-locked version, try the Gentle Breath preset: quarter-note ducking at 40% depth with a soft curve. Listen for the reverb tail pulsing quietly in time rather than sitting as a constant wash.

A complete free vocal chain

1. MAutoPitch for gentle pitch correction.
2. TDR Nova with a high-pass filter around 80 to 120 Hz, a small mud cut if needed, and a dynamic band on the sibilance.
3. Klanghelm DC1A for 3 to 6 dB of compression.
4. TDR Nova again (or your stock EQ) for a presence lift and a little air.
5. Send to TAL-Reverb-4 for a plate, with Pump on the return if you want it to breathe.
6. Spread on backing vocals and ad-libs, not the lead.

That chain costs nothing and will hold up next to paid plugins. If you'd rather run the whole thing from one window, that's what paid all-in-one vocal plugins are for, including our own Velvet (€49), which puts the low cut, de-esser, compressor, EQ, saturation, doubler and reverb behind one knob each.

Don't forget your stock plugins

Every major DAW already includes an EQ, a compressor and a reverb good enough for professional vocals. Logic Pro adds a DeEsser and Pitch Correction, and Pro Tools includes a Dyn3 De-Esser. Free VST plugins for vocals are worth having for specific strengths, like Nova's dynamic bands, but learning the stock ones properly will do more for your vocals than any download.