Here is a list of 10 best free websites to download royalty free sound effects. These websites let you download tons of royalty free sound effects and use them in your personal as well as commercial projects like movies, games, multimedia presentations, animations, etc. completely free. You don’t have to spend a single penny downloading and using the sound effects offered by these websites. Some of these websites also let you download sound effects in different file formats like MP3, WAV, etc.
There are various websites available which offer hundreds of high-quality sound effects which you can download and use on your videos, projects, games, etc. But you might be aware that most of these sound effects are either paid for or follow the Creative Common Attribution 3.0 license. However, there are several websites like FreeSoundEffects, AudioMicro, SoundEffect+, etc. which offers royalty free sound effects for you to use without paying any credit or spending money. Most of these websites do not require attribution, and support CC0 license.
So, to ease up things for you, I have gone through a bunch of these websites and listed 10 of the best websites in this post which you can use to download royalty free sound effects. The sound effects downloaded from these websites can be used for personal as well as commercial use for free.
FreeSoundEffects:
FreeSoundEffects is probably one of the best websites to download royalty free sound effects. It offers hundreds of royalty free sound effects which you can download and use for both personal and commercial projects. All the sound effects are categorized into 16 different sound types including Animals, Airplane, Cars, City Sounds, Crowd Sounds, Doors, etc. Some of the interesting sound effects are Alligator Hiss, Baboon Monkey, Ambulance, Car Door, City Traffic, Gun Fight, Gunshots, Punch, Slap, Throw Knife, Sword, and so on.
You can also play the sound effects on the website before you start downloading them. It lets you download all the royalty free sound effects either as WAV or MP3 files. Remember, the downloaded files can be used anywhere you want without any royalties or hidden fees. You can also check the License Agreement of this website.
SoundEffects+:
SoundEffects+ is another amazing website which offers tons of royalty free sound effects. You can choose sound effects from 16 different categories such as Animals & Insects, Background Ambience, Cartoon & Comical, Horror, House & Office, Musical Effects, etc. There are various high-quality and popular sound effects like Bees Buzzing, Birds Singing, Craw Cawing, Whistle Crash, Cartoon Bite, Footsteps, Halloween Ghost Laughing, Scratch, Hurricane, Lake Waves, and more. Simply browse all the categories to find and listen to the sound effects right on the website.
It lets you download the sound effects in WAV and MP3 formats compressed within a ZIP file. Remember, you need to create a free account before you can start downloading sounds. You can use all the downloaded sound effects in (commercial or personal) projects like multimedia projects, presentations, videos, games, etc. without paying a single penny, and to know more go through the website License.
Sound Jay:
Sound Jay also provides dozens of royalty free sound effects scattered across 10 different sound categories such as Background Sounds, Machine & Mechanical, Communication, Music Tracks, House & Domestic, etc. There are various interesting sound effects like Crowd Talking, Airport Gate, Food Court, Kids Playing, Spring Weather, Bus Door, Midnight Ride, Emptying Water, Boiling Water, Kitchen Fan, and so on. The best part of this website is that all the sound effects are of good quality and mostly, 16 bit stereo 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz files.
You can download all the available sound effects either as MP3 or WAV files. It also allows you use the downloaded sound effects free of charge (royalty free) for both non-commercial and commercial use. You can check its terms and conditions here.
SoundGator:
SoundGator exhibits a large number of royalty free sound effects which you can browse under 24 sound categories including Ambience, Beep, Bell, Crowd, Animal, Human, Metal, Money, Foley, Glass, Musical, Nature, and more. These categories consist of some amazing sound effects like Water Fountain, Street Traffic, Shopping Mall Ambience, Metro Station, Marketplace, Wind Chime, Church Bell, Elevator Bell, Wind Breeze, Water Stream, and more which can be used for projects like games, films, multimedia presentations, animations, etc.
SoundGator allows you to download the sounds only in the MP3 format. Similar to the website “SoundEffects+”, this one also requires you to register for a free account in order to download the royalty free sounds. If you want to listen to the sound effects before downloading them, then you can also play them using the built-in music player. The sound effects are completely free and you can read the User License here.
AudioMicro:
AudioMicro offers more than 2000 royalty free sound effects with decent audio quality. There are 28 different sound effects categories named, Amusement & Game, Cartoon & Comic, Guns & Weapons, Horror & Halloween, Crowd, Electronic, Emergency, Object, Office & Classroom, and more. You can simply browse all these categories and download dozens of royalty free sound effects such as Fireworks, Start of Horse Race, Pinball, Sports Event, Laugh, Children Playing, Harp, Tympani Roll, Bugle, Bongo Style Drum, etc.
All the sound effects are in WAV format and you can download them after registering for an AudioMicro account. The sounds are royalty free and you don’t need to pay anything for using them on your projects. Please do read the Sound Effects License Agreement here.
PacDV:
PacDV is another simple website that offers hundreds of amazing royalty-free sound effects which can be downloaded and used for free in commercial and personal projects. All the available sound effects are categorized into Ambience, Domestic, Interfaces, Machines, Mechanical, Music, People, Transportation, and Voices. Whether you’re a sound designer, filmmaker, game developer, or music producer, you would definitely find some interesting and useful sound effects for your projects like Alarm Clock, Faucet, Light Switch, Air Blower, Bottle Pop, Applause, Baby Babble, Crowd Excited, Handclap, Moaning, etc.
Some of the sound effects are in WAV format and some can be downloaded as MP3 files. To listen or download the sounds, you don’t need to sign up for an account. In order to download a sound, you need to right-click on the sound name and choose the “Save Lisk As” button to save the file. The sound effects are royalty free and can be used free of charge on commercial and non-commercial projects.
MediaCollege:
MediaCollege also lets you download dozens of royalty free sound effects like Alien Laser, Sweeping Noise, Dot Matrix, Bottle Breaking, Broom, Ice Cracking, Match Lighting, Beach, Jungle, Lock Sound, and so on. You can browse and download these sound effects under 21 different categories such as Money, Office, Space, TV & Movies, Vehicles, Weapons, Water, Firecrackers, Explosions, etc. Remember, all the sound effects are free to download and use for personal as well as commercial purposes. You can see the information about downloading and using the royalty free sound effects from here.
One of the best features of this website is that it lets you download the sound effects in 3 different file formats i.e. WAV, MP3, and AIF. However, not all the sound effects are available in all these three formats. To download a sound, you can simply click on any of the file formats associated with that particular sound effect and then right-click to save the file.
Adobe Audition:
While going through all these websites, I have come across an Adobe Audition page which also offers a large collection of royalty free sound effects. All the sound effects are grouped together into ZIP files according to the following sound effect categories: Ambience 1, Ambience 2, Animals, Cartoon, Crashes, Drones, Emergency Effects, Fire & Explosions, Foley, Foley Footsteps, Horror, Household, etc. There is a total of 28 different categories from which you can download the bundle of sound effects compressed into ZIP archives.
Each category comes with a “Download” link and it can be used to download the bundle of sound effects. Unlike the other websites, this one actually doesn’t have any option to play or browse the sound effects residing inside the category bundles. The best part is that the sound effects are royalty free and you can use them for both commercial and personal use.
Flash Kit:
Flash Kit comes with thousands of sound effects like Zombie Firefight, Laser, Rooster, Victory Music, Tormenta, Temple, White Noise, Bass Heavy, Thunder, Evil Laughter, etc. which are completely free to use for personal and commercial projects. The sound effects offered by this website are actually divided into 3 different licenses named, Freeware, Linkware, and Shareware. All the sounds under “Freeware” license are royalty free and can be used without paying credit to the owner or spending money. Some sound effects also come under the Shareware and Linkware License agreement, and you can read the License guidelines.
The sound effects are listed in 15 different categories including Instruments, People, Nature, Recreation, Mayhem, creatures, etc. You can download all the “Freeware” sound effects as MP3 files on your PC and use them anywhere you want.
SoundBible:
SoundBible offers more than 1500 royalty free sound effects which you can download and use for non-commercial or commercial projects without spending any money. Some of the interesting sound effects are Dogs Howling, Funny Voices, Chinese Gong, German Shepard, Hickory Dickory Dock, Outdoor Carnival, Baby Snoring, Puppy Barking, Tractor Digging, Sad Woman Crying, and so on. You can download these sound effects either as MP3, WAV, or ZIP files (with both MP3 and WAV files).
The sound effects offered by this website are divided into two different licenses named, Public Domain and Creative Common Attribution 3.0. The sound effects which come under the Public Domain are completely free of royalties to use for non-commercial and commercial purposes and do not require any attribution. Sound effects under Creative Common Attribution 3.0 are also royalty free but you need to give attribution.
My Final Verdict:
If you’re looking for free websites to download and use royalty free sound effects, then you can go ahead and start using any of the websites mentioned in this post. Personally, I like all these websites as they offer tons of royalty free sound effects which you can use for your personal as well as commercial projects like films, videos, presentations, etc.
Go through all of them and let me know which one you find the best in the comments below.
