12 Free Metal Guitar VST Plugins

Emissary 2.0 offers an updated digital version of the popular Emissary tube amplifier, built for sharp tones and heavy distortion. It delivers a clean channel for smooth tones and a lead channel for aggressive sounds, giving guitarists flexibility across metal and other styles.

This version includes the NadIR dual Impulse Response loader, which acts as a cabinet simulator with zero latency. With filters, delay, and routing options, users can shape their sound in detail. Emissary 2.0 provides clear tone control, making it a strong choice for recording or live performance.

Mercuriall MT-A is a free plugin that recreates the famous Boss MT-2 distortion pedal for digital music setups. It delivers heavy, metal-style tones using Mercuriall’s Neural Hybrid Engine for accurate and dynamic sound. The plugin works on Windows and Mac in VST, AU, and AAX formats.

Mercuriall MT-A offers full tone control with adjustable High, Low, Middle, and Mid Freq knobs, plus Dist and Level settings for shaping your guitar sound. Stereo mode, Input Gain, and a Quality switch let you refine your tone and detail for both rhythm and lead parts.

Ample Bass P Lite offers a realistic Fender Precision Bass sound in a compact, free plugin. It uses detailed sampling and features like Poly Legato, Slide Smoother, and Auto Buzz to deliver natural playing nuances. The plugin captures finger noise and subtle details for authentic bass tones.

The built-in Tab Player supports popular tablature formats, allowing users to load, view, and export bass lines directly as audio. With controls for tone, dynamics, and style, Ample Bass P Lite provides flexible performance options suited for any DAW setup or standalone use.

Shreddage 3 Stratus Free offers a realistic classic electric guitar sound for Kontakt Player users. It features detailed recordings with sustain, palm mute, and choke articulations across three octaves. The plugin’s fretting engine simulates natural guitar behavior, making it suitable for leads, chords, and rhythm parts.

Users can shape tones with built-in FX modules, cabinet simulations, and a console-style mixer. The DI recordings let players craft their own amp tones, while preset snapshots cover clean to high-gain styles. It’s a versatile choice for producing rock, pop, funk, and similar genres with lifelike guitar expression.

AmpliTube 5 Custom Shop offers a flexible way to explore and build your dream guitar rig. It includes 42 classic amps, cabinets, pedals, and effects you can use right away. Each piece is modeled for realistic tone and response, perfect for recording, practice, or live performance.

You can test over 400 pieces of official gear from major brands and artist collections before buying. With its detailed tone controls, cabinet options, and signal chain editor, AmpliTube 5 Custom Shop gives guitarists the tools to shape their sound and grow their virtual gear library at their own pace.

Clean Electric Guitar offers two clean, high-quality electric guitar sounds sampled note by note for an authentic tone. It’s designed to be used with virtual amps and effect racks, giving producers a flexible base for creating guitar parts, loops, and layered textures.

The plugin includes key effects like Distortion, Chorus, Delay, and Reverb, along with LFO modulation, filters, and glide. With options for polyphonic, legato, and mono modes, it provides expressive playability that works well in pop, ambient, or experimental tracks.

Post-Apocalyptic Guitar offers a collection of expressive post-rock tones built for dark, cinematic soundscapes. It features Yin and Yang phrases that range from soft and airy to gritty and intense. Each layer blends smoothly, letting you shape atmospheric textures and tension-filled rhythms with ease.

This plugin includes real-time control of pitch, speed, and twelve creative effects such as distortion, flanger, and delay. It runs in Kontakt and provides bonus flageolett and powerchord layers for added depth. Ideal for creating emotional guitar backdrops or dramatic ambient sound design.

Solaris GTR Lite offers smooth electric guitar tones designed for Lo-Fi, Ambient, and Chillout music, as well as modern styles like Hip Hop and Trap. It includes six presets recorded from an Ibanez AS73G guitar and processed with quality pedals and studio effects for rich, expressive sound.

You can shape your tone with simple ADSR, filter, and LFO controls or enhance it using built-in reverb, chorus, delay, and distortion. Solaris GTR Lite works on both Windows and Mac in 64-bit formats and provides royalty-free samples carefully crafted for creative use.

Haunted Guitar Lite offers dark and eerie electric guitar tones made from samples of a Fender Stratocaster Plus Deluxe. Each preset blends haunting textures with built-in effects like distortion, delay, and reverb, making it ideal for creating moody or cinematic soundscapes.

It includes tools for shaping your sound, such as ADSR controls, filters, and LFO modulation. With eight presets and 224 samples, the plugin gives producers a quick way to add ghostly guitar layers to tracks on both Windows and Mac systems.

MONSTER Guitar offers a simple way to add guitar parts to your tracks without needing to play the real thing. It includes three modes—CHORD, LEAD, and NOTES—each built for different styles such as pop, rock, reggae, and more. With 14 presets, you can quickly explore new tones and rhythmic ideas.

This plugin includes controls for attack, sustain, filter, and reverb to shape your sound. It runs on both Windows and Mac in VST and AU formats. Regular sound expansions make it a growing tool for music creators who want quick and flexible guitar sounds.

Strat-A-Various offers a mix of clean and overdriven guitar sounds shaped through a wide range of tone and modulation controls. With 16 presets to start from, it gives creators a quick way to explore both smooth and rough textures for leads, rhythms, or layered effects.

Its controls let you shape every part of your tone, from pitch and filter depth to drive and vibrato. You can create crisp plucks, gritty leads, or evolving tones that respond to your playing style. Strat-A-Various is available as a 32-bit VST for Windows.

Cute Emily Guitar offers the sound of an Epiphone SG electric guitar captured in detail by Karoryfer. It delivers a clean, dry tone that gives you flexibility to shape your sound using your favorite amp simulator or effects plugins.

This plugin includes simple controls for volume, pan, attack, decay, sustain, and release, making it easy to adjust your guitar sound. It works on both Windows and Mac in VST and AU formats, providing a smooth way to add realistic guitar parts to your tracks.