One of the most important tasks while making beats is picking the right drum samples. Fortunately there are countless free drum kits available on the internet. I spent hours finding + downloading them and finally came up with this list of the best picks.

• Best Free Drum Vst 2020
• Best Acoustic Drum Vst Free
• Best Free Drum Vst Reddit
• Best Free Vst Drum Machine

Most of these packs are particularly made for Trap or Hip Hop, but they can definitely be used for some other styles as well (like Pop or LoFi for example).

Let’s get right into it!

Free Trap Drum Kits

Without a doubt one of the best free Drum VST Plugins to snag. 6) MT Power Drum Kit 2 With a collection of robust drum beats that cut through any mix, MT Power Drum Kit 2 also comes loaded with a fully pre-programmed groove library that guarantees unabashed aural carnage.

The following kits are suitable for Trap. No matter if you’re searching for classic 808 drum kits or packs that fit modern productions. You’ll definitely find something cool in here!

Drillers – UK Drill Drum Kit

The Drillers Kit is our take on UK Drill. It’s filled with dark melodies, MIDI files, drum shots and sliding 808s, suitable for all kinds of Drill music.

Drip Kit – Metro Boomin Drum Kit

Metro Boomin is without any doubt one of the greatest beat makers of our time. The Drip Kit contains 100 one shots and tuned 808s inspired by his most successful productions.

Bad Kit – Wheezy Drum Kit

If you’re looking for dirty 808s, oversaturated claps or crispy hi hats the Bad Kit is probably the right choice for you. It’s inspired by Wheezy’s best known productions, including “Yes Indeed” or “Going Bad”.

Born Kit – Pierre Bourne Drum Kit

For fans of Pierre Bourne or Playboi Carti the Born Kit is the right choice. You’ll get 100 royalty-free drum one shots, key-labeled 808s and a bunch of cymbals.

Chaos – Trap Samples

Chaos is our biggest free trap pack. It’s literally filled with everything you need to produce beats, including drum samples, drum loops, melody loops and matching MIDI files.

Free Drum Kit Download 2020! by TheKitPlug

According to The Kit Plug this pack has been made by Multi-Platinum Music Producers. All samples are in .WAV format, which means that it works with every DAW.

Free Drum Samples & Drum Kits by ProducersBuzz

50 free FL Studio sound packs designed for hip-hop and trap music producers.

Andromeda by Kyle Beats

Kyle Beats is one of the biggest YouTubers in the whole beat making game. Andromeda is filled with a total of 95 high-quality sounds including 808s, drums, real guitar loops & vocal chants.

DrumStar Vol.3 by FabeStar

DrumStart Volume 3 comes with over 300+ loops and one shots that can be used for Trap or R&B. If you want to learn more about this one click on the link and watch the demo on YouTube.

FL4ME Trap Drum Kit by prodbyaido

Another free drum kit filled with 15 808s, 10 claps, 5 crashes, 20 FX, 5 open hats, 20 hihats, 10 kicks, 10 percs, 10 snares and 10 loops.

Trap Drum Kit by Sumeenk

The cool part about this kit is that it not only contains drum sounds. It further comes with 6 reese bass samples, vocal chants and some really cool sound effects.

The Blue Diamond Kit by Loopcrate

The Blue Diamond Drum Kit has everything you need, including crispy drums, one shots and melodies in wave format, that can be dragged right into your DAW.

Summer Walker x Bryson Tiller Drum Kit

This kit contains more than 130 sounds and is the perfect pick for every trapsoul or R&B producer. In addition to the drum sounds this one also comes with some cool ambiences.

August 2020 Trap Drum Kit by Hipstrumentals

This Trap drum kit by Hipstrumentals contains 300+ drum shots and has been released in August 2020. As a bonus they included some pretty interesting bonus drums.

50+ Free Packs by FreeDrumKits.net

This is probably the biggest collection in this list. 50+ downloads inspired by artists including Murda Beatz, Blvnt$, JetsonMade, Zaytoven, Young Chop & Wiz Khalifa.

Free Sound Kits by The Producer’s Plug

Plenty of free sound kits, loop kits and preset banks by The Producer’s Plug. They also offer some interesting artist packs you might want to take a closer look at.

Deep Trap Freebie by Samplephonics

This freebie from Samplephonics comes with a bunch of samples taken from their premium library “Deep Trap”. The full version contains 198 lush beat loops and samples in 24 bit.

FourOneSix Drum Kit by TopSounds

24 kicks, 16 snares, 12 claps, 22 hats, 18 percs, 13 808s & 10 original vox loops by TopSounds – all in the style of OvO and Toronto Artists.

Car Drum Kit by Kimbo Beatz

Download the Car Drum kit and instantly access 50 unique drum samples, including snares, snaps, hi hats, effect sounds, kicks + mixed percussion.

Free Lex Kit by Hex Loops

24 one shot samples inspired by world famous Trap producer or beat maker Lex Luger.

808 Trapstep Vol. 1 by TriSamples

This one is definitely one of my favorite packs. I already downloaded it years ago when it initially came out and I’ve been using it on a regular basis since this day.

808 Trapstep Vol.2 by TriSamples

Just like Volume 1, this is one is without any doubt a great freebie. The download has a size of 162.9 MG and it contains more than 400 files in total.

Desiigner Panda Trap Samples by Free Beats & Samples

Desiigner’s “Panda” was a huge hit when it came out a few years ago. This pack includes over 20 free trap drum loops, drums, synths and Desiigner type vocal samples.

Energy Drumkit by The Highest Producers

The Energy Drumkit by The Highest Producers comes with 39 free to download drum sounds you can pick for your next Trap or Rap beats.

Fornuto Zone 6 Drum Kit by Producergrind

21 essential drum samples inspired by Zone 6 East Atlanta rappers & the producers that have crafted their sounds. You can preview some of the sounds on the pack’s webpage.

Straight From The Trap Drum Kit V1 by C-Ram Beats

“Straight From The Trap” is a freebie by C-Ram beats, which includes heavy 808s, brass stabs, clean & punchy kicks, trap snares, mixing presets, tags, FX and more.

Warm 808 Bass Samples by Your Local Musician

This FREE Warm 808 Bass Samples pack contains 500 royalty-free 808 sounds giving you everything you need to be able to make smooth Hip Hop, Future Bass, Trap, and more.

Free Hip Hop Drum Samples

Although Old School Hip Hop and Boom Bap aren’t as popular as they used to be anymore it can still be cool to play around with some old vinyl loops or vintage drum samples.

Lunar – Lo-Fi Hip Hop Sample Pack

Lunar is packed with 100+ royalty-free loops and samples taken from our upcoming project “Afterlife”, which will be filled with over a thousand total files for lo-fi hip hop.

Urban Drum Samples by SoundPacks.com

This library has been made by the founder of SoundPacks.com. It’s packed with 316 samples, including drums, 808 kicks and 18 sfx. The zipped size is 37,6 MB.

Classic Hip Hop Break Loops Vol. 1 by TheSample.net

This pack contains 50 drum loops that have been sampled from real songs. Keep in mind that you may need to get these samples cleared if you want to use them in your commercial productions.

Free Vinyl Drum Kit by ProducerSpot

Missing that vintage vinyl crackle vibe in your productions? ProducerSpot supplies 39 MB of vintage claps, snares, kicks, percs and drum loops.

Classic Reborn Boom Bap Kit by JGBeats

The Free East Coast Drum Kit “Classic Reborn” by JGBeats contains 222 high quality drum sounds including extraordinary vinyl breaks and one hitters. It’s a great choice for old school, east coast or boom bap beats.

1st Aid Kit by Beats 24-7

The guys from Beats 24-7 are giving away the “1st Aid Kit” for free to say ‘Thank You’ for continued support! It contains one shot samples and presets for 3x Osc & FL Studio.

Free Hip Hop Drum Samples by R-Loops

A collection of 349 sounds inspired by Hip Hop musicians like Drumma Boy, Scott Storch or Timbaland. They’re all licensed as royalty-free.

Hip Hop Sound Kits by Just4Beats

If you’re searching for some old school sound kits, inspired by rappers like 2Pac, Big Sean, Dr. Dre, DMX you should check out the website from Just4Beats.

Boom Bap Addict Soundkit by Hipstrumentals

A huge Boom Bap sound kit with almost 200 kicks, snares, hihats and some mixed sounds.

Free Drum Machine Kits

A lot of Pop or Hip Hop artists like Post Malone or The Weeknd started using sounds from classic drum machines again in their songs. Here’s a collection of the best ones I could find.

Free 909 Sample Pack

210 drum shots and loops processed in different ways to fit both lo-fi or modern production styles. All drum loops have been made using the 909’s famous groove. Enjoy!

Yamaha DD-8 Drum Sample Pack by Bedroom Producers Blog

If you’re lookin’ for something different you might like this pack of samples from the Yamaha DD-8 toy drum machine. Here are 28 files in 16-bit WAV format for you.

Free Drum Samples by Samplefino

60 free drum hits, taken from Samplefino’s premium packs Analogue Drum Samples and Analogue Kick Drum. All 100% royalty-free.

Analog Kick Pack by Rekkerd

65 free kick drum samples that have been released via Rekkerd. They’re based on the Jomox MBase 01 drum machine and have been recorded with an RME audio card in 24 bit quality.

Drumbrute Kicks by Beat Production

A bunch of kick samples made with Arturia’s Drum brute and processed through analog equipment, such as the Elysia Karacter, X-Filter or Xpressor to refine the sound.

Final Words

As you can see, the amount of free drum kits you can find online is insanely high (and there are way more packs than the ones from this list). If you don’t want to miss out on upcoming posts feel free to join my Inner Circle. You’ll get plenty of free sample packs, Serum presets, some helpful PDFs + updates whenever I release another piece of content.

Sampling and Drum VSTs have been a part of modern music for many years. For a long time sampled drums were primarily limited to the electronic genre, but now they permeate mixes across all genres.

Drum samples can be integrated into mixes in a variety of ways from subtle to bold. They can be used to bolster a drum section on a rock track or to support the melody in a pop mix. Producers of all genres should have a go-to drum VST in their toolbox.

Now we’re going to go over some of the top drum VSTs currently available so you can get an idea which one might work best for your mixing needs.

The 12 Best Drum Plugins

Best Free Drum Vst 2020

1. XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2: Custom XL

Addictive Drums was first released in 2005, and it has only gotten better in the years since. Addictive Drums 2 builds on the original software with perfect recordings made in some of the most well-known studios globally. These are in addition to recorded sessions by some of the best session drummers in the business.

There’s a selection of more than 20 drum kits to pick from, and more are added to the library all the time. You also have the option to build your kit from the ground up with the convenient drag-and-drop interface. If that doesn’t interest you, there’s more than 5,000 beats available, categorized by BPM and genre. The time, feel, and tempo of these beats can also be adjusted.

Check out the onboard sampler to find a number of parameters for each kit piece. These include distortion, EQ, delay, transient shaping, reverb, and compression. Addictive Drums also features a parallel processing bus. Addictive Drums 2 is one of the top drum VSTs out there because of its constantly expanding inventory of drum kits for both electronic and acoustic drums.

Pros

Best Acoustic Drum Vst Free

• Drums sound amazing
• Goes easy on the CPU
• Impressive beat editing software

Cons

• Purchasing more kits can add up

2. Arturia Spark 2

If vintage sounds are right up your alley, you may already be familiar with the variety of workstations offered by Arturia. With the Spark, Arturia stays true to their roots with one of the most extensive libraries of vintage drum machines on the market. If you like an old-school sound, the Spark is calling your name. There are more than 2800 sounds to choose from. You’ll also find a range of patterns and banks contributed from pro sound designers.

The Arturia Spark 2 has something for everyone, but of course it is ideal for injecting a vintage vibe in your mix. Users will find that the step sequencer makes pattern making a breeze. You can also take advantage of several automation options to produce a more dynamic sound. As a bonus, the interface also includes a modular synth to push your sound that much further.

Pros

• High-quality vintage drum collection
• Awesome modular section
• Incredibly stable plugin

Cons

• REX support could have been prioritized more
• Genre-based content is a little inconsistent

3. FXpansion BFD 3 Virtual Drumkit

FXpansion first came out with an incredibly forward-looking drum kit VST in 1999. They didn’t offer their first BFD kit until 2003, and this newest version goes way beyond what was initially included in the software. You’ll find 160+ GB of samples available with detail levels of more than 80 velocity layers each.

The majority of kits in the BFD 3 come from recordings at Ocean Wave Studio made with a vintage Neve. There are also some kits that were made at Omega Studios. You have the option of working with either processed or raw samples according to your preference. You can shape your tone from the ground up if you want. Then you also have the option of working with the provided samples. These have been processed with the BFD built-in effects, which you can easily adjust.

You’ll have your pick of more than 40 expansion kits to further enhance your options. The BFD 3 Virtual Drumkit is so expansive that you’ll feel that your options are endless. No matter which genre you are working with, this drum plugin will elevate your sound.

Pros

• Impressive kit sounds
• Customizable Interface
• Power groove editor

Cons

• Lacks triggering capabilities
• GUI is a little small

4. Xfer Records Nerve

If you work within the EDM genre, you’re probably used to digging through countless sample packs in order to nail down the perfect drum sounds. You’ll be relieved to hear that the Xfer Records Nerve can save you time and effort thanks to its excellent design. It’s been created by top-notch dance music producers, and it shows.

The Nerve comes packed with presets and patterns, and if you want to harness your own creativity, you can easily develop your own custom beats and sounds. The effects section does not disappoint with its many varied options. You’ll also find up to eight stereo outputs so that you can transfer your sounds to external processing.

There are three primary sections that make up the GUI. These are the Pattern Editor, the Pads/Waveform section, and the Mixing section. Xfer Records keeps it simple, which translates to greater efficiency and less effort required on your part. One of the most notable features is the impressive step-sequencer. With this you can program your beats visually or by clicking your mouse rhythmically. With the Nerve, versatility is the name of the game.

Pros

• An awesome collection of high-quality sounds
• Simple, user-friendly GUI
• Advanced effects section with sidechain compression

Cons

• MIDI mapping can be tricky
• Takes up a good amount of CPU

5. D16 Group Drumazon

If the Roland TR-909 is among your favorites, just wait until you get your hands on the Drumazon. It would be difficult to find a more authentic-sounding drum machine out there. It faithfully reproduces vintage sounds to the point where you might forget you’re working with a VST.

There’s also plenty of controls for you to play with to make the software work for your producing needs. For just one example, the kicks offer both pitch and tune depth controls—something you wouldn’t get with the TR-909. The decay times are also significantly longer, almost enabling you to transform your 909 kicks into expansive 808-style subs. You’ll also find reverb knobs for the handclaps and decay controls for the cymbals.

The Drumazon doesn’t offer much range, but if you want to faithfully recreate the Roland TR-909, look no further.

Pros

• Authentic 909 sounds
• Flexible sequencer modes
• Improved sound control over the original machine

Cons

• Not a lot of versatility

6. BeatSkillz Synthwave Drums

Drum machines from the 1980s were primarily characterized by a ton of reverb. If you’re looking to recreate the iconic drum sounds from the 80s and the new wave genre, the BeatSkillz Synthwave Drums will not disappoint. As we know, trends have a way of circling back around, and the 80s drum sounds have resurfaced in a big way over the last several years. If you are a producer of pop music, you’ll want to have retro drum sounds at your disposal. With Synthwave Drums you’ll have access to 63 amazing kits that each offer 12 individual sounds.

This drum plugin also comes complete with 13 combinations of kick and snare. Synthwave Drums features four banks for cymbals, twelve for toms, four for effects, four for claps, four for percussion, and eight for hi-hats. You can choose from more than 1,350 one-shot samples to further enhance your drums. These drums are already processed, so they deliver the iconic 80s sound immediately without any additional tweaking.

You’ll find that the GUI is quite basic, but it gets a boost from its neon coloring and its user-friendly arrangement. This VST makes it exciting and easy to produce drum sounds that will transport you to a different time.

Pros

• Authentic 1980s sounds
• User-friendly interface

Cons

• Lacks grooves and beats

7. D16 Group PunchBOX

With the Group PunchBOX you’ll find an awesome library of drum sounds, but D16 takes it a step further. There’s also a great collection of modules, effects, and synths, which makes this VST an attractive option. Finding the right drum sample to fit with your mix is no easy task, but the samples on the DST will make your job that much easier. You’ll be able to find just about anything you might be looking for.

The PunchBOX is a rack module with a design that will boost your creativity. You’ll find three sample layers along with a synthesized layer to work with. Then take advantage of the effect modules to develop authentic sounds that can be adapted for any type of music. The compression and EQ modules make it easy to add in bold snares, rich bass drums, and a range of other intriguing percussion sounds.

You’ll find an abundance of presets conveniently situated based on their sound characteristics and musical style. The PunchBOX offers incredible versatility and everything you need to take your mix to another dimension.

Pros

• Versatile four-module design
• Amazing sounds and samples
• High-quality processing

Cons

• Controls could be bigger

8. SONiVOX Tony Coleman Drums

The Tony Coleman Drum VST is perfect for those who want authentic drum sounds without breaking the bank. If you’re not familiar with Tony Coleman, just know that he is a bit of a legend in the R&B realm. His drumming talents have backed artists like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Etta James, and Albert King. With Tony Coleman Drums, you can perfectly replicate his unique tone.

Coleman prefers his drums, including his snares, toms, and kicks, to be large and open with a rich, deep tone. If you’re searching for an awesome drum sound that will overwhelm you in the best way possible, you’ll find it here. What you’ll get with this VST is 20GB of drum samples from recordings made at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.

This acoustic drum VST includes a Mapex Black Panther snare, a Sabian 22” AAX ride; 10”, 12”, 13”, 14”, and 16” toms; a Sabian 18” AAX crash; Sabian 16” AA hi-hats; an 18” AAX Fast Crash; a 20” vault, and a Mapex Saturn Series 22” kick.

Pros

• Ideal for jazz, funk, and blues
• User-friendly interface
• Authentic brush samples

Cons

• Lacks versatility

9. BeatSkillz Soul-Tastik Drums

Beatskillz has introduced a unique VST full of smooth drum beats that come straight from classic boom-bap songs and beats. Soul-Tastik Drums includes 50 drum kits with 12 different samples each. This means that there are more than 600 high-quality samples to choose from.

The GUI has been organized to optimize workflow and make it easy to manipulate sounds. The controls you have at your disposal like panning and pitch give you so many ways to shape your sounds. Also it’s super easy to translate these sounds into your DAW. We are also pleasantly surprised at how solid the built-in reverb sounds. With this VST BeatSkillz gives you everything you need to create the beats you want.

Pros

• Great selection of drum kits
• User-friendly parameters
• Intuitive GUI

Cons

• Sample manipulation capabilities are somewhat limited

10. Heavyocity DM-307

Heavyocity has built a great reputation based on their range of high-quality VSTs. Many producers are drawn to Heavyocity because they have some of the best Kontakt instruments available like Gravity and Forzo. The DM-307 stands out because of its incredible range of samples that include live percussion, analog, modular synth drums, and so much more. In fact, there are 3,600 sounds to play around with in addition to 1,500 presets to get you where you want to go.

The DM-307 can be utilized in just about any style of music, including hip-hop, cinematic, electronic, industrial, and everything in between. One stand-out feature is the 16-step sequencer that provides you with eight extra 16-step bars. This basically means that you will have a 128 step-sequencer at your fingertips to create incredible beats.

Pros

• Great selection of top-end samples
• Works great for just about any genre of music
• One-of-a-kind step-sequencer

Cons

• A good number of the loops sound quite generic
• Some might be overwhelmed by the expansive sample library

11. Toontrack Superior Drummer 3

Toontrack’s EZdrummer 2 software is known for making it super easy for non-drummers to add drum beats to their mixes. With the Superior Drummer 3, Toontrack offers more expansive software that is ideal for authentic drum programming. Superior Drummer 3 provides more than 250 GB of sounds and ultimate control for the user. Its cross-grade capabilities allow you to move presets and sounds between Superior Drummer 3 and EZdrummer 2.

If you’re a songwriter, you’ll appreciate the advanced grid-editing tools like the piano roll editor. You can choose from a great selection of top-notch samples, or you can use samples you have created. No detail is overlooked in the mixer, and you’ll find that the routing capabilities are incredible. One clear sign that you are working with a real kit is the separate channel that’s specifically designated for microphone bleed.

One of the most exciting tools on this drummer VST is the Tracker function. With this you can identify certain sounds and hits from drum audio tracks that you drag into the software. Superior Drummer 3 should be towards the top of your list if you are looking for ultra-realistic drum sounds and a number of exciting features to enhance your mix.

Pros

• An incredible 230+ GB of quality sounds
• Drum sounds are very realistic
• Sample replacement

Cons

• Workflow can take some getting used to

12. DrumDrops The Vintage Funk & Disco Dual Kit

DrumDrops brings together two of their amazing drum kits—the Vintage Funk Kit and Vintage Disco Kit—in one exciting VST. And if you’re on a budget, you’ll be happy to know that these kits can be used with the Kontakt Player, which is available for free. The founder of DrumDrops is Mike Pelanconi, who has played with reggae artists like Big Youth and Gregory Isaacs as well as other artists, including Blur and Lily Allen. His extensive experience helps him ensure the quality of the kits included on this VST.

With the Vintage Disco Kit, you can faithfully recreate that vintage 1970s sound with small hi-hats, a fat low-end kick, and a warm snare. The sounds produced bring to mind gaffer taped heads and dampened dustcloth drums. With the Vintage Funk Kit, you can expect additional percussion and a bit more of a kick overall. The GUI is user-friendly, so you’ll be able to handle all of the processing elements without any trouble.

Pros

• Ideal for disco and funk sounds
• Compatible with the free Kontakt Player

Cons

• Lacks versatility

Best Free Drum Vst Reddit

Finding the Right Drum VST

Best Free Vst Drum Machine

That wraps up our list of some of the best drum VSTs currently available. Our goal was to highlight a range of VSTs with specialties that provide a lot of value to producers of all genres. To find out which best matches with your musical needs, you’ll have to get under the hood and test these out for yourself. You might be surprised which one will be a perfect match for you.