Clipping is all the rage these days, as it's become one of the best tools to get loud masters without killing dynamics. Clipping is different than compressing and limiting, as it shaves off peaks instead of limiting. As a result, you get a nice crunch and warmth that's great for single instruments like bass or drums, as well as entire mixes.

And, of course, what's better than getting all of the above without dropping a dime on new software? Today, we're going to explore seven of the best free clipper plugin options around today, looking at their unique designs, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

1. FreeClip - Venn Audio

Free Clip is one of the most versatile clippers on the market today.

Though there are many ways to use it, one of my favorite places to put it is just before my limiter on my master. With a mellow soft-knee compression, you get a bit of soft-clipping just before your incoming signal hits 0dB.

As a result, it gets rid of the unpleasant sounding harmonics that are often the consequence of hard clippers. This means that you can push your incoming signal into the plugin without nasty artifacts.

Unlike many other free soft clipper plugins, FreeClip is pretty comprehensive.

You'll find six unique clipping styles, which I recommend flipping through while listening to your mix to find the one that sounds best to your ears, as many of them are material-dependent. There are also plenty of other parameters you can play with, including input gain, output gain, and the clip ceiling, which is pretty much where your clipping begins.

At the bottom of the plugin, you'll find options for oversampling, which I've found extremely useful. At its foundation, oversampling makes for more accurate quantization, so you don't have to worry about as many overs or unwanted peaks the harder you push your signal.

There are three oversampling settings as well, offering a pretty decent amount of flexibility for a free soft clipper plugin. I'd highly recommend downloading it right now!

2. Viator DSP - BT-Clipper

As you probably know being here reading this article right now, the goal of a clipper is to increase the perceived loudness of an incoming signal without seeing any increase on the meter.

So, let's say that you have a mix that's peaking around -16 dB and you want to make it seem louder without going above -16 dB. Simply load up BT-Clipper, set a mix "ceiling," and drive the incoming signal into it. As you'll see, your signal wont exceed that ceiling.

One of my favorite things about the BT-Clipper is that you can use the waveform view, which gives you a real-time look at how you're affecting your signal. It also has great CPU performance, so you can use multiple instances of the plugin without bogging your computer down.

There are also three different types of clipping, including hard, soft, and analog, and the plugin gives you the ability to switch between normal and high quality, which utilizes 8X oversampling.

Top all of that off with a drive parameter, a mix knob, and pre- and post-tone parametric tone controls to shape the signal on both the input and output side, and you have one of the most versatile free soft clippers on this list.

3. Keisari Plugins - Leikkaus

Next, we have Leikkaus , which is a free yet extremely powerful soft clipper plugin that's great for mastering. Leikkaus is completely open-source, and it uses a very precise and transparent algorithm.

The interface is just as gorgeous as it is easy to use, and it comes with scaling for 4K displays. The parameters are super in-depth, like the free clip plugins above, and it works on both Windows and Mac, no matter how new your operating system.

4. HoRNet Magnus Lite

Next up, we have Magnus Lite , which is another precise free soft clipper plugin that is just as great for mixing rock music as it is for mastering podcasts. It's super easy to use and incredibly precise, featuring both a clipper and a limiter, each of which have their own controls.

With the gain control on the clipper end, you can adjust the incoming level of your input signal before it hits your clipper, depending on how you want to shape your sound. From there, you can adjust the gain controls on the limiter side to keep the output audio from going over the typical -0.2dB threshold. In the end, you get a transparent sound without any distortion or artifacts.

If the standard clipper and limiter controls weren't enough, you'll also find a handy limiter release time control on Magnus Lite, which let's you decide how long the limiter hangs onto the signal before letting it go after the signal falls below the threshold. You don't find this level of control on many free plugins, so this is a welcomed addition.

Plus, it's hard to beat having a clean and intuitive interface. You can even switch between the light and dark modes to find one that fits your preference! No matter your preferred aesthetic, you can always make sure that Magnus Lite is easy on the eyes.

5. Kazrog KClip Zero

Just about a year back, Kazrog released KClip Zero , and since then, it’s become one of my  favorite free clipping plugins. It comes in all formats, including VST, AU, and AAX, and works for both MacOS and Windows.

The team at Kazrog have been churning out great software for years at this point, and this particular plugin was made to promote what was their upcoming clipper, KClip 3.

The plugin works exactly as you’d expect, and comes with several intuitive controls, such as a soften knob and linked input/output knobs.

With the Soften knob, you can change the clipper from soft to hard clipping in a variable manner. When you have it at 0%, it works as a hard clipper, which I really love when I’m working on mix elements that are super spiky or have heavy transient peaks. However, as you turn it closer to 100%, it begins to turn into a soft clipper with subtler and transparent harmonic saturation. This setting is best for when you want to make something sound as if it’s louder.

As you dial the input knob higher, you begin to clip the incoming signal more. From there, you can use the output knob to make up for any lost gain so you’re not being fooled by an increased signal level.

Top it all off with internal oversampling to get rid of aliasing, and KClip Zero is one of the most heavy-duty free clippers on the market today. The only thing I feel like they missed was having more than one clipping algorithm. However, for simplicity’s sake, it’s still more than you could want for a plugin with no price tag!

6. Initial Audio - Initial Clipper

Initial Clipper is another stellar free soft clipper plugin that you can use to get the most volume and character out of your mixes. It works wonders, using soft clipping to smooth out peaks based on the given threshold. The quicker and more prominent your peaks, the more aggressive you can be with the threshold to get the sound you’re looking for.

I’m a big fan of the onboard peak display of Initial Clipper, which not only looks great, but gives you a visual look at peaks as they appear and where the threshold is in relation to them. It makes it much easier to clip off the peaks without adversely affecting the loudness of your signal.

To take things even further, the developers of Initial Clipper added a saturation algorithm with both positive and negative saturation parameters. With these, you can either add drive and warmth or take away any additional harmonics you may not want from the clipper. The only thing to note is that as you add saturation, it can reduce the dynamic range of your mix the more you clip off the peaks, as it’ll impact the entire signal coming through.

One of my favorite ways to use Initial Clipper is on the master bus. This is because it comes with a standard LUFS (Integrated) Meter, giving you an accurate reading of the loudness of your mix at all points.

7. LVC Audio Clip Shifter

Finally, we’ve come to Clip Shifter , one of the most flexible clipping and wave-shaping plugins on this list. While it may be a wave-shaper primarily, it also works as a clipping-style limiter. You can use it at pretty much any stage of the mixing process, whether you want to add a bit of saturation to your bass or drums, or you want to get the most volume you can possibly get out of your master.

One of the things that I really love about this free Clip Shifter compared to some of the other plugins on this list is that you can adjust the way the clipping distortion sounds. For example, you can dial in just a wee bit of soft clipping-style saturation or drive the plugin super hard to get brickwall-style clipping, making it perfect for just about any application.  

The dynamic control might be one of the best and most unique features on this thing. While most standard clippers apply clipping in a static manner, this one responds to the qualities of the incoming transients, automatically adjusting the threshold based on the signal volume. This particular feature helps you avoid distortion on ultra-dynamic signals.

For even greater control, Clip Shifter offers both independent mid/side and left/right threshold controls, so you can control transients more on one side of the mix than the other if need be.

Clip Clip, Hooray!

When used correctly and with a good ear, clipping can do wonders for the perceived volume and vibe of your mix. Knowing how to make the most of a clipper is the most important thing, so I'd recommend checking out our guide on it to learn more !