Looking for The Best Free Piano VST? Here’s Our Ultimate List 👇

Everybody needs a good free piano VST. Sure, there are a ton of paid options out there. But sometime, free options can be just as good 👀

But each free piano VST, sampled or modeled, has an individual sound. It can take hours to sift through the web for options for the one you want.

That’s why we’ve put this comprehensive list together! In this guide, we round up a selection of free piano VSTs, plugins & libraries that you can use in your own productions.

Let’s dive in 👇

Free Piano VSTs

Soft Piano by Spitfire Labs Free Piano VST

This free piano VST is a personal favorite of mine:

The free piano VST “Soft Piano” is a beautifully-sampled intimate piano. It comes from the industry staple Spitfire, available as a part of their free LABS instrument.

This piano plugin sounds great for film-inspired, ambient and the more chill side of music. I actually used it on my track ‘The Retreat‘, and it’s been a studio staple since.

Here is what it sounds like:

As you can hear, there is an integrated reverb effect, which you can adjust.

LABS also offers a range of electric pianos:

You can grab Soft Piano and many more sampled instruments on the LABS website. You will have to download the free LABS software first.

Download here

Piano in 162 by Ivy Audio Free Piano VST

One of the best free Grand Piano libraries/plugins available courtesy of Ivy Audio:

This library has a great realistic sound recorded from a Steinway Model B. The room in which it was recorded gives it a particular ambiance.

To use this library, you will either need:

• The paid version of Kontakt (not Kontakt Player)
• A free sampler like sforzando (in which case you need to download the .sfz version)

Let’s give it a listen:

Note that the library is quite big (about 5Gb).

Download Here

Piano One by Soundmagic

This was my first free piano VST plugin, and I used it solely for a very long time:

It’s sampled from a Yamaha C7 concert grand – one of the most ubiquitous pianos out there. It’s solid, rich and expressive, and loved by many.

It also comes as it’s own VST/AU plugin for Mac and Windows, so no stuffing around with third-party samplers.

Download Here

Pianobook.co.uk

Less of a specific piano, but more of an entire library of pianos. Hundreds of them:

This project was started by Christian Hensen of Spitfire Audio (who we already mentioned). It has a lot of free pianos and other instruments sampled by a growing community.

The only downside? There’s no universal format. For many you’ll need a full version of NI Kontakt, for others you’ll need Logic’s EXS24 sampler (which you can convert to Ableton, if you’re a Live user). Check them out and see what you find.

Browse The Site

4Front Free Piano VST

The 4Front piano is a quality, full-bodied upright piano plugin. It is great for capturing a live feel in your own productions:

Beware, this piano has no settings. Just like the interface says 😅

This one is also a lot more ‘lively-sounding’ than the other options out there, likely due to the fact that it’s a physically-modeled piano, rather than sampled.

Here is what it sounds like:

It’s also got it’s own free standalone VST plugin, so no need for any other plugins or downloads.

(The file size is also tiny, which is another benefit of physical modelling).

Download Here

Keyzone Classic by Bitsonic Audio

Keyzone Classic from Bitsonic Audio is another sample-based piano plugin with 5 different pianos that you can switch between.

As you can see, there are a number of controls for each piano type, and you can even control the ADSR envelope to shape the volume of each note as you would like. There’s even a built-in reverb module.

It’s also available as it’s own VST/Audio Unit plugin, so all you have to do it grab it from there site. The only catch is that you have to buy something else in order to get it for free.

Download Here

DSK The Grand

A blog reader recommended this piano to us, and it does not disappoint. For what seems like a very lacklustre interface, you get a decent sound:

Sure, it’s not going to be something you’d get out of a professional paid sample library. But it might be all you need for a very specific sound.

The plugin is available in both Windows and Mac formats, except the Mac format seems to only be 32 bit.

Download Here

Iowa Piano

Modelled off of the infamous Steinway Grand Piano, this great yet tiny piano plugin instrument. It might be exactly the free plugin you’re looking for:

It’s only got the one sound, but it’s a solid one.

Great for layering and for adding a bit more high-end texture to something. Not necessarily what you want if you’re looking for the richest piano. Here’s what it sounds like:

One cool feature is that you can shape the ADSR envelope. This can lead to some cool results:

Once again, this one is it’s own plugin, so plug and play.

Download Here

Recommended: Ableton Live Piano Roll: 19 Tips

Amore

Amore is a solid piano option, created by Precision Sound. This one is only available for Kontakt, so make sure you have a copy of that first.

This one is semi-bright while maintaining a realistic and soft sound. Great for emotional film-inspired stuff and ballad-electronic stuff alike.

Download Here

The Whisper

Also from Bigcat Instruments (creator of Iowa Piano), this piano sounds great for a dramatic, soft piano. Great for jazz and soul type music:

You can download this for Kontakt, as a soundfont or as a standalone VST.

Note that they have a bunch of other free piano libraries you can check out too!

Download Here

Spitfire Labs Modular Piano

Another creative and experimental option from Spitfire – this piano takes things to the next level.

It’s not quite a normal piano when you first load it up. There are multiple different options you can choose from, each with a completely unique style: reverses, glitches, distortions, and much more.

Just try them out – you’ll see what I mean.

Like the Soft Piano, this one is free to use with Spitfire’s LABS software.

Download Here

Recommended: Free Sample Packs

Atmos by Beatmaker Free Piano VST

Atmos is, as the name suggests, great for atmospheres:

There’s a ton of integrated reverb. But you can can add even more with the Reverb knob. You can also add some weird glitchy effects with the FX knob.

Here’s a demo with the following settings:

• 25% LFO depth (which creates the tremolo effect)
• 25% reverb
• 50% FX

This one works best with single notes, or very simple chords. With complex chords, the sound gets messy very quickly.

Download here

Spindle by Orchestral Tools

Similar to LABS by Spitfire, Orchestral Tools have developed their own player, SINE:

Just like LABS, Orchestral Tools offers a bunch of free instruments you can download and play within SINE. One of them is the Spindle piano.

Spindle is a brilliant felt piano (think Nils Frahm) that sounds like this:

You get custom ADSR controls, filtering and more.

Download here

Legacy Knight Piano by Pianobook

Pianobook is a library where anyone can submit a sampled instrument. You’ve got everything from pianos to strings, percussions and more exotic stuff:

The Legacy Knight Piano is sampled from a Knight K10. It works within Kontakt as well as the free Decent sampler plugin.

It features some cool options such as ADSR controls, reverb, delay and an additional pad:

One thing that’s fun to do is to push the delay Feedback and Time knobs to the maximum. This will essentially play the notes for ever. Then, you can tweak the Time knob to create interesting glitchy effects”

Download here

WorliTzer by Pianobook

Changing tones slightly, this is a sampled Wurlitzer piano:

The Worlitzer features 6 different presets:

• Worlitzer:
• Wobblitzer
• Granulitzer
• Toylitzer
• Dreamlitzer
• Funklitzer

Each preset comes with various parameters including Filter, Wobble, Granular, Delay and Reverb.

Here is what the Dreamlitzer preset sounds like:

I also love to play with the ADSR envelope. If you remove most of the attack, you can get some very cool-sounding pads:

Download here

Matt’s Fender Rhodes free piano VST

Rhodes pianos are among the most recognizable sounds. This amazing sampled instrument also comes from Pianobook:

The interface is deceptively simple, with just 4 controls. However, the sound is top quality and has a very dreamy quality to it. If you want to push the nostalgia even further, bump up the reverb:

Download here

Chapters Piano free piano VST

Looking for something completely unique? Look no further than the Chapters Piano:

Each key triggers a different melody! This can create complex harmonies and sound structures. Of course, you can also turn down the “Systems” knob and play it as a normal piano.

Download here

Gentle Grand free piano VST

This free piano VST is sampled from a Yamaha S6 grand piano. It requires a full version of Kontakt to play:

The piano was sampled using an array of quality microphones. You also have a pad layer which accompanies the piano notes. Check out the link below for a sound demo.

Download here

Reel to Reel Tape Piano

Lofi producers, this one is for you. The Reel to Reel Tape Piano library was recorded through a battery-powered reel-to-reel recorder. And it sounds amazing:

It requires the free Decent sampler to play the library. I particularly love the “Shimmer” knob which adds a pad-like quality to the sound.

Even when you remove most effects, the sound is extremely nostalgic:

Download here

Room Piano V3 by Sample Science

Finally, let’s close this list off with a standalone free piano VST:

For a free piano VST, you get a surprising amount of controls. The LFO section for example can be switched to control the Pitch, Expression or Panning. You get a filter and reverb section as well.

This lets you create a vast array of sounds. In this example, you can easily create a Lofi sound with the filter and LFO:

Like with other piano VSTs, you can create a amazing sounding pad by removing the attack:

Download here

That It for This Guide on Free Piano VSTs! 🙏

This concludes this guide on the best free piano VST?

Did I miss out on anything? What is your favorite free piano VST? Let me know over at [email protected] and I might just include it.

Want more free plugins? Check out our roundup of the best free VSTs available.