Free Piano VST Plugins

This article is about free piano VST plugins. For more categories, return to the Free VST Plugins page.

We truly live in the golden age of audio production, as there have never been more accessible or realistic virtual piano plugins. But with so many great options, how do you find one that will provide the sounds you’re looking for?

See also: Top 10 FREE Synthesizer VST Plugins

There are a variety of options modeling acoustic and electric pianos on this list, each with distinct features. Some are plain virtual piano instruments, and some offer a host of sounds and features. But no matter what kind of piano sounds you’re looking for, there is a plugin that will fit the bill. Here is a list of the best free piano VSTs.

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Upright Piano by 99Sounds

BPB’s sister website 99Sounds recently released Upright Piano, a freeware piano VST plugin based on a set of samples recorded by Rudi Fiasco. The cool thing about the Upright Piano instrument is that it can sound both realistic and lo-fi. The built-in filter, tremolo, and reverb effects can be combined to create a lovely tape-like vibe. However, when used as-is, the instrument sounds very realistic thanks to the excellent source samples provided by Rudi Fiasco.

Upright Piano also features key release samples and envelope controls for adjusting the attack and release time. If you need a versatile free piano VST that is easy to use, this offering from 99Sounds is well worth looking into.

More info: Upright Piano

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Upright No. 1 by Versilian Studios

Upright No. 1 is an upright piano plugin that offers a tremendous dynamic response. The articulation of your playing will really translate – and if you have a good enough MIDI controller, it can be almost as realistic as the real thing.

The plug-in comes with onboard volume, panning, and reverb controls, and also offers direct control over the ADSR curve of the envelope with individual knobs. Versilian comes in VST and AU formats and uses minimal CPU resources.

More info: Upright No. 1

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LABS Soft Piano by Spitfire Audio

Spitfire Audios LABS is a freeware virtual instrument in VST and AU plugin formats that comes with an extensive collection of freely downloadable add-on sound libraries. Soft Piano is a free piano sound library for the LABS workstation. The samples were recorded with a felt-tipped piano and high-end Scheps microphones at London’s infamous Air-Edel studios.

The sound is very warm and subdued, so if you’re looking for a bright piano with a fast attack, you might have to look elsewhere. Two sliders control the expression and attack, and there is a singular knob to control the amount of reverb.

This is another plugin that is great for music production as well as sound design. It has a somewhat limited application and isn’t for everyone, but if you specifically need a moody, vibey piano sound, the Soft Piano is the way to go. Included in the library are sustain pedal up and down samples for even more dynamic variation. It can waver a bit as the samples are trimmed at the heads, giving it more of a human feel – which is not ideal if you’re creating EDM or house music but perfect for more organic genres.

More info: LABS Soft Piano

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4Front Piano by George Yohng

Not all virtual instruments need to offer the most extensive feature set, and 4Front Piano is about a minimalist as they get. The sound is naturally pretty bright like you imagine a parlor piano would be. This allows 4Front Piano to cut through a mix but it might be a little too bright for solo piano parts.

While the instrument might not offer much at all in terms of customization or visualization, it is a good free piano VST plugin that takes up virtually no resources. It runs on a mix of sampling and synthesizing technology to make a convincing hybrid virtual instrument. 4Front comes in several plugin formats, including VST, AU, and RTAS.

More info: 4Front Piano

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DPiano-A by Dead Duck Software

DPiano-A is based on MDA Piano, an old freeware plugin that seemingly has no visualization other than a few control settings. But what it completely lacked in GUI, it made up for in the number of sound customization options it offered. In the meanwhile, MDA Piano became open-source software and Dead Duck Software refined the code to create a more polished-looking piano plugin called DPiano-A.

With DPiano-A, you have control over the decay and release of the envelope, hardness, and treble, as well as the stereo width parameter. You can also set the velocity sensitivity, tuning, and polyphony. Messing with the sliding polyphony control can even get you into synth territory, going way beyond simple piano sounds.

It’s not the most realistic-sounding free piano VST here, but it has some great presets that are useful not only for music but also for post-sound production for film.

More info: DPiano-A

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Keyzone Classic by Bitsonic

Some freeware plug-ins are more robust than others, and Keyzone Classic is one of the more advanced free piano VST plugin on the market. It offers presets that emulate various acoustic pianos like Steinway, Yamaha, Rhodes, and more.

The control set allows you to set each stage of the ADSR curve, as well as adding in reverb and detuning within the plug-in. There are also master volume and controls over the rate and depth of the LFO. Keyzone’s sample library sounds excellent, and the architecture of the plug-in is beyond solid. It works with VST and AU plugin formats for 32-bit and 64-bit DAW software.

More info: Keyzone Classic

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Honorable Mentions

• Piano One by Sound Magic is a synthesis-based piano virtual plugin. It doesn’t feature samples at all. The plugin uses Sound Magic’s piano modeling engine which is also used in the company’s paid piano plugins. Unlike sample-based piano plugins, this one is much smaller in size, so it is a quick download. I still prefer the sound of sampled piano instruments, though. The free Piano One plugin emulates the Yamaha C7 concert grand piano.
• Atmos Piano is a free piano instrument by Prism Audio. It has a soft and unique sound that is suitable for cinematic scoring and ambient music. The free piano plugin is based on the much more advanced Piano Model S instrument by the same developer.

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For more freeware plugins and instruments, return to our Free VST Plugins page.