Best Free Plugins for Mixing Vocals

My name is KARRA and I've tested countless free VST plugins and DAWs, and narrowed down my list of the best free plugins for mixing vocals. This list covers everything you need to transform vocal recordings with budget friendly gear into the most radio-ready sound possible. You can hear all my picks in a video session below, but here's my list and links for you to download everything 100% free! Plus you’ll find a download link to my Free Plugin Vocal Template for Luna below the embedded video!

Melda MAutoPitch: This is my go-to auto-tune style vocal pitch correction plugin on a zero dollar budget. It doesn't look pretty, but it sounds similar to autotune, has all the basic controls you need to dial in natural or electronic vocal pitch correction. You can download Melda MAutoPitch for free as part of their massive free plugin bundle!

MJUC JR: This is the best free vocal compression plugin I’ve heard when it comes to analog tube emulation. It features simple controls and adds that expensive sounding dynamic control to your vocal mix. It sounds great on male or female vocals for rap, pop, r&b, or edm. Download MJUC JR for free on Klanghelm’s website

T-De-Esser: Many vocal chains benefit from a De-Esser, and Techivation T-De-Esser is an excellent sounding tool for free! Manually reducing harshness can be difficult, but this plugin makes it easy to dial in the perfect sibilance control. Download T-De-Esser for free here!

Fresh Air: Saturation is an extremely effective way to enhance the brightness of your vocal without sounding harsh or artificial. Fresh Air by Slate Digital makes EQing brightness with saturation effortless and effective. If your vocals sound dull and dark this is definitely the best free plugin for you! Download Fresh Air Plugin by Slate Digital for free here!

Heatwave: This saturation plugin focuses on warmth and roundness instead of brightness. It’s extremely simple to control and warm up any recordings. If your vocals feel thin or sterile, this is definitely the plugin for you! Download HeatWave Here!

Ozone 11 Equalizer: This Mastering EQ also works amazing on vocals or any other instrument. Ozone is a legendary industry standard plugin suite so having access to their EQ for free is a game changer! This is a great plugin for both surgical adjustments and broad tone shaping. Download Ozone 11 Equalizer for free here!

Valhalla Supermassive: Delays are an integral part of vocal production and FX. This delay plugin is made by one of the best reverb plugin developers ever. Valhalla Supermassive delivers a wide range of delay tones and flavors for your vocal template. Get Valhalla Supermassive for free here!

TAL Reverb: This classic sounding reverb is a versatile tool for any genre of vocals. Whether you’re looking for huge lush tails, or small tight bright spaces, TAL Reverbs will give you the flexibility to find your space & sound. Download both versions  TAL Reverb 4 & TAL Reverb 3  for free here!

TAL Chorus LX: Widen your vocals or synths with this Juno 106 inspired chorus effect. This classic chorus plugin sounds awesome on vocal stacks, adlibs, and more! Don’t sleep on gem in your free vocal template. Get TAL Chorus LX for free here!

KClip Zero: This mastering plugin helps you achieve loud harmonically rich masters using clipping. Kazrog makes awesome quality clipping algorithms and clippers are a great plugin to use before your final limiter to keep the peaks under control. Download KClip Zero for free here!

Frontier Limiter: This is the best free mastering limiter plugin I’ve ever used. I recommend you gain stage your mix with 4-6dB of headroom, then use this limiter to bring up the final loudness of your track. Download Frontier Limiter for free here!  

YouLean Loudness Meter 2: Monitor your loudness levels and LUFS with this intuitive meter & visualizer plugin. This doesn’t change your sound, but it changes your perspective giving you various loudness readouts to nail your master chain. Download YouLean Loudness Meter 2 for free here!

LUNA: If you're searching for free plugins then you probably also need a free DAW. Luna is my a completely free DAW by Universal Audio for both Mac and PC. It has the best looking graphics and easiest learning curve out of all the free DAWs i've tried, and the sound quality is on par with any industry standard software. Luna does not include any stock plugins so you'll need to visit my free plugin recommendations below to follow along with my youtube tutorial below! Download Luna for free here!

Download my Luna Vocal Template made with 100% free VST Plugins here!