10 Best Free Cello VST Plugins

Cello Moods offers an expressive set of cello sounds performed by folk cellist Alice Allen. With four mood options, it captures feelings from quiet tension to moving warmth. Each tone is recorded with natural detail, giving tracks a close and emotional sound.

The plugin includes easy controls for dynamics, tone, reverb, and blend, helping you shape each note’s feel. Ideal for film scoring or intimate tracks, Cello Moods brings real human character to digital music making with just a few thoughtful adjustments.

Strands is a free cinematic cello library created by Venus Theory for the Decent Sampler plugin. It features a five-piece cello ensemble and several solo patches, giving music creators expressive tones that range from warm and intimate to textured and dramatic.

Strands offers 11 playable patches with controls for shaping tone and space, including filter, delay, and reverb options. Its light design makes it easy to add emotional cello layers to scores or tracks without needing large libraries or complex setups.

Karoryfer x Bigcat Cello offers a realistic and expressive cello sound built from detailed recordings. The samples are clean, close-miked, and free of effects, giving you full control over the tone. It includes sustain, staccato, pizzicato, harmonics, and slide articulations across a broad range.

The plugin provides controls for vibrato, humanization, legato, and dynamics, allowing for natural and flexible performances. Available for Kontakt and Sforzando, it’s light on storage yet capable of delivering a raw, organic feel that fits well into many music styles.

The Free Orchestra offers a range of cinematic sounds drawn from ProjectSAM’s well-known libraries. It includes strings, brass, choirs, and sound effects recorded in a concert hall, giving users an authentic orchestral feel. The library includes 16 free instruments and 10 multi setups.

This collection is suited for film scoring, trailer music, or adding dramatic layers to any track. Each preset is ready to use with expressive controls such as reverb, EQ, and dynamics. The Free Orchestra runs in Kontakt Player and works on both Windows and macOS systems.

Amplified Cello Quartet offers a bold take on the traditional string sound by running four cellos through amps and live FX pedals. Recorded on a dry stage with amps pushed to their limit, it delivers rich, distorted tones perfect for cinematic or experimental music.

This plugin provides expressive control through simple sliders and buttons for dynamics, reverb, and release. It’s part of Splice INSTRUMENT, giving creators access to an expanding library of sampled instruments, monthly content drops, and flexible options for sound design and inspiration.

pocketBlakus Cello (Kontakt) offers a realistic solo cello sound recorded by composer Blake Robinson. It includes two main patches: legato for smooth melodic lines and spiccato for short, sharp notes. Recorded dry, it lets you shape your own tone with reverb and effects.

Its simple interface provides control over attack, release, tone, and performance feel. The library captures a warm, emotional sound that suits cinematic, dramatic, or intimate music styles. For a free instrument, it delivers expressive depth and a natural playing experience for creative projects.

VSCO 2 offers a wide collection of orchestral instruments designed to bring realistic sounds to your music projects. It includes over 3,000 samples across strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion, giving you the tools to create natural and expressive orchestral tones at no cost.

Each instrument features controls for articulation, volume, pan, and reverb, allowing balanced blends in any mix. With full support for Windows and Mac in VST and AU formats, VSCO 2 is a reliable option for music creators seeking accessible and authentic orchestral sounds.

Cellofan offers a realistic cello sound that reacts naturally to your playing. It gives you simple control over how notes start, fade, and blend together through three main knobs: Attack, Release, and Slide. This makes it easy to shape smooth or dramatic phrases.

Designed by Soundkey for Windows, Cellofan focuses on expression and tonal warmth. It can be used for solo lines or as part of larger string sections, adding depth to your music. The plugin loads quickly and provides an authentic cello tone without extra setup.

Sonatina Cello is a free plugin by Bigcat Instruments that brings realistic cello sounds to Windows and Mac users. It offers four playing styles—Solo, Sustain, Staccato, and Pizzicato—allowing flexibility for different musical moods. The simple controls help shape tone and note response easily.

This plugin includes options for volume, panning, and ADSR settings, giving users control over how each note starts and fades. While the samples are straightforward, Sonatina Cello works well for quick arrangements or adding smooth string layers to a track without extra setup.

DSK Strings offers four classic string instruments—violin, viola, cello, and contrabass—with adjustable layers and 22 waveforms for flexible sound design. It includes delay and flanger effects that can be shaped with MIDI automation for greater control during performance or mixing.

You can fine-tune pitch using the micro-detuner, shift octaves, and shape tone through ADSR controls. Reverb, portamento, and stereo width options help create natural depth and movement, making DSK Strings a solid tool for adding expressive, realistic string sounds to your music.

DSK Overture is a free orchestral plugin that brings a range of classic instruments into one simple tool. It includes strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion, letting you mix up to four layers for rich and varied sounds. Each section can be shaped with volume, pan, and filter controls.

It offers built-in effects like reverb, delay, and chorus to add depth and space to your tracks. With MIDI control for each layer, you can create quick orchestral sketches or experiment with layered textures in your music projects.

DSK Virtuoso offers a collection of orchestral sounds in one compact plugin. It includes six layers that can hold a mix of instruments such as strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion. Each layer can be assigned to a MIDI channel with controls for level, pan, and ADSR.

The plugin also provides built-in effects like chorus, delay, and reverb to shape your mix. With 40 instruments and flexible sound controls, it helps creators build quick musical ideas or basic arrangements using a variety of classic instrument tones.