Searching for a good AI plugin amongst all the hype doesn't have to be difficult, nor does it have to cost you anything. We've done the heavy lifting for you and put together a small but mighty collection of the most fun, interesting, and remarkably useful AI plugins out there. Most important of all, they're all free.
Made by small teams and individual developers, these plugins fly under the radar. But what they offer is just as worthy to download as any of the big and flashy audio plugins around.
1. Neutone
Neutone is a plugin that connects you to a host of AI effects and tools, from timbral transfer to stem separation. Each model in the collection is submitted by someone in the community, which is made up of enthusiastic programmers building on open-source AI code.
For a free plugin, it comes highly polished with a great interface that is simple and easy to navigate. Neutone is based around a central library, and its standout feature is the number of different neural timbral transfer models.
In simpler terms, these models allow you to filter the input of one sound through the qualities of another. A quick look at Neutone's demo video below will give you an idea of how this sounds. Innovative and experimental, Neutone is setting the stage for a new wave of fascinating and free, third-party AI plugins.
Developed as a universal VST/AU plugin, it should be compatible with all major DAWs and operating systems. We had no trouble installing it on a macOS computer and running it on Ableton Live.
2. TextToSample
TextToSample is a VST plugin that lets you convert text into music. The results are output in raw audio, which is nothing short of an incredible leap in technology.
That's not to say the sound is mind-blowing, but it is a working proof-of-concept for a time when AI can produce good music with little more than a few words.
Using the plugin is simple. Just type a description into the text box and hit generate. After a while, the audio file will appear, then you can drag and drop it into your DAW. Samples are limited to a maximum of 20 seconds, with an added option to continue generating from a previous sample.
This plugin was built on the open-source code created by Meta and released under the name MusicGen. If you're curious about how AI can spin music seemingly out of thin air, you can try it for yourself. We've got a guide on how to use TextToSample to generate AI music samples for details on the installation.
3. Neural Resonator
The buzz around AI has reached its zenith with free music generators. But while those are largely fun and frivolous, plugins like Neural Resonator have a much more creative use in music production.
Winning second place in the Neural Audio Plugin Competition, it uses AI to creatively filter sound. The center of the interface is a flat shape with multiple points that you can imaginatively squish or pull. The shape on screen, plus a few extra settings, changes the quality of the sound. By default, it has a simple drum-like sound, but you can use audio as input too.
It's simple, intuitive, and effective. Instead of triggering a sample of a drum, for example, here you have a digital representation that lets you tweak the shape, density, and stiffness of the sound, as if you were reshaping a physical object.
In their own words, here's how the creators describe Neural Resonator:
"[Neural Resonator] uses a neural network to generate filters based on arbitrary 2D shapes and materials. It is possible to use MIDI to trigger simple impulses to excite these filters. In addition, any audio signal can be used as input to the filters."
It's currently available for Mac and Linux as a VST3 plugin that you can download from GitHub. If it's your first time using the platform, read our guide on how to download a plugin from GitHub for a walkthrough of the process.
4. ReCONSTRUCT: Neural Synth
ReCONSTRUCT is a digital synthesizer that uses AI to generate a new sound with the click of a button. By picking, mixing, and matching parameters behind the scenes, the AI is there to offer you a seemingly endless number of variations to try.
The sounds are good, too. Each variation sounds new, and it's hard to notice if a sound is repeated. While not everyone wants to hand off all the controls to an AI generator, it does have its benefits in the right scenario.
Let's take sound design as an example. Instead of sifting through synth presets or playing around with the knobs till you have something interesting, you can hit the GENERATE button and whip up a fresh sound until you have one that works.
This plugin is especially forgiving if you're a beginner because there's no need to get bogged down in the weeds trying to adjust the finer settings, nor do you need to fully understand what the different waveforms do. However, with a limited number of input settings, you can still hear how each waveform affects the sounds.
To get the synth generator going, you have the option of changing the Color, Modify, and Saturation parameters. In addition, you can choose a primary waveform and select the waveform that modifies it (Sine, Triangle, Pulse, Additive, etc.)
The Similarity to Chaos slider at the end of the chain completes the synth by letting you choose how great of a leap you want between generated sounds. Finally, hit GENERATE and play some notes to hear it.
ReCONSTRUCT can be downloaded for free by selecting the payment option of $0. And if you find you like the synth enough to dig into the full set of controls, you can purchase it for $29. It's currently available for Windows and Mac as a VST/VST3/AU plugin.
Once you're ready to add a more complex instrument to your lineup, check out some of the best VST synthesizers.
5. HARD Audio Remixer
The HARD Audio Remixer is a plugin that uses AI to essentially cross-fade between two tracks. DJ's do this all the time using different methods, but this plugin is different because it employs a neural network to do the job.
It has two core parameters that you can adjust for each track: Harmony and rhythm. That means you can mix the harmony of one track with the rhythm of another, and vice versa. What you get as a result is a point where the two tracks are merged into one.
Of course, it's not a brand-new idea, but using AI technology creates an even better result than what could previously be done. Made by a team that works with the brand Pioneer DJ, it's a simple but effective plugin that is worth keeping in the toolkit.
HARD Audio Remixer is open-source and available for free on GitHub. If you're downloading a plugin from GitHub for the first time, refer to the section about the Neural Resonator plugin for a handy how-to guide.
Finding Hidden Gems Among Free AI Plugins
As more AI models are released with open-source code, you can expect the number of third-party AI plugins to increase. Already, there are a handful of incredibly useful AI plugins out there, and they come with no price tag at all.
Forgo the heavy-weight paid apps because these innovative plugins by indie creators pack a serious punch.
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