Imagine a movie or video without sound effects. Even a magnificent film like Titanic would look nothing more than a joke if there are no ‘Wham’, ‘Bam’ and ‘Smash’ sounds in it. Background music and sound effects are important for making a video (or even an audio production) engaging and in its full essence.

There are thousands of online resources to download sound effects, however, not all of them can offer you high-quality material that’s also free. So, in this post, I am listing 50+ cool websites to download just about any type of sound effect for free. Let’s get on with it.

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This platform offers more than seven thousand CC-licensed sounds and loops, which are divided into categories like drum loops, synth loops, midi files, etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: No.

A superb site for downloading sounds, SoundBible, offers royalty-free sound effects that you can use commercially in movies, games, and other projects. The page provides thousands of sound clips like sound loops, game sounds, etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

At ZapSplat, you will get access to thousands of professional sound effects in various categories like nature, cartoon, horror, etc. Also, its library is updated on a weekly basis so that you get new and fresh sounds every week here.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

Freesound offers a collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, and bleeps. You can search for any sound or effect using keywords and look for its ratings to determine its quality before downloading it. You have to however, login to the site (sign up is free), before you can download any audio clips.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Creative Commons.

Creative Commons. Seach feature: Yes.

Partners In Rhyme includes a wide range of sound effects from many genres like rock, pop, romance, etc. The site also offers free music resources.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for personal use only.

Free for personal use only. Seach feature: Yes.

SampleSwap offers professional quality loops and audio samples – a total of 7.7 GB of free sounds in techno, hip-hop, and a lot more categories. This site requires you to login (sign up is also free) to your account before you can download any sample clips.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Creative Commons.

Creative Commons. Seach feature: Yes.

GameSounds offers a collection of royalty-free music and sounds, which are suitable for games and can be used commercially for free.

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Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

At freeSFX, you will get free soundtracks and sound effects made for audio enthusiasts and production companies. The sounds are contributed by its large community of proficient and versatile music artists. Login is required.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution. Seach feature: Yes.

PacDV produces royalty-free soundtracks for music producers, filmmakers, etc., which are ideal for use in documentaries, games, and commercials.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

GRSites includes approximately two thousand sound effects for free such as background sounds, car sounds, comics sounds, industry sounds, and lots more. GRSites also offers a one-time fee of $19.95 to download all their sound effects. If you want to use their sound effects for commercial usage, there’s a fee of $49.95.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for personal use.

Free for personal use. Seach feature: No.

If you are looking for some royalty-free soundtracks with 16-bit stereo and 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz quality, then SoundJay.com hosts just the sound effects you need. Moreover, all the sounds are arranged in categories for traversing quickly.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution. Seach feature: No.

SoundGator allows you to browse sound effects through their list of categories, which includes unique sounds like that of a typewriter, smoke alarm, etc. Login is required.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution. Seach feature: Yes.

At 99Sounds, artistic musicians upload their creative sound effects for its audio community, which you can download without any usage limits. Sound clips are available for download in packs, searching for specific sound effect is not available on the site.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: No.

PlayOnLoop offers premium quality sound effects, which are ideal for any creative media works and suit professional artists and creators.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Creative Commons Attribution.

Creative Commons Attribution. Seach feature: No.

Talkingwav.com offers thousands of free .wav sound files to download, including answering machine messages, cartoon, comedy, music, movie and tv .wav sounds, all fully categorized with descriptions. Plus loads of free mobile cell phone ringtones and videos.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

A sound library by American University to help students in their projects, presentations, and films, this page provides free soundtracks that work for all.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

FindSounds lets you search the Internet for sounds and avails options to search only for stereo and high-fidelity sounds. You can also browse the sounds here.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

FXhome lists all its soundtracks under CC-license so that you can use them in commercial projects without any second thought. Here, you can navigate and download various types of sound effects like bullet/gun sounds, saber sounds, etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Creative Commons Attribution .

Creative Commons Attribution . Seach feature: No.

Another important site for royalty-free sounds, Looperman offers loops, samples and other sounds for free. Here, the soundtracks are uploaded by its community, and it avails more than 83 thousand loops and sound effects in total. Login is required.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

Opsound hosts hundreds of sound effects in a wide range of categories and genres namely ambient, classical, country, disco, indie, jazz, ringtone, etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike.

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike. Seach feature: No.

An exclusive site for soothing sound effects, Nature Sounds avails soundtracks mostly denoted to the nature, like rain sounds, storm and thunder sounds, etc.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Creative Commons Attribution.

Creative Commons Attribution. Seach feature: No.

Sonnyboo offers sound effects which are intended for documentary projects, movie productions, etc. Some of its categories include baby, monsters, etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: No.

This site offers the most relaxing and soothing sound effects to chill your mind. Moreover, it avails large selections of audio templates and a mixer as well.

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Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

JL Recording Studios lets you use the sound effects for your own production house. It includes a broad category of music like bird sounds, environmental sounds, etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution. Seach feature: No.

Like the other sites, this site offers royalty-free sound effects in numerous categories. The audio tracks can be played online or downloaded in MP3 and WAV formats.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for non-commercial use only.

Free for non-commercial use only. Seach feature: Yes.

SoundEffects+ provides more than five thousand sound effects, which are recorded and produced by its team of professionals. It avails them under a free license.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution. Seach feature: Yes.

get-sounds.com offers hundreds of sound effects in categories like animals, cartoon, military, nature, sports, transportations, and some more.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

Similar to the above sites, MediaCollege.com offers sound effects for your commercial or personal projects. They are free and arranged in categories.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: No.

Community Audio offers thousands of sound recordings compiled by contributors and community members. You can preview before downloading them.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

This platform provides a wide range of free sound effects, music loops, and background music that are usable for personal as well as commercial purpose.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

Music for video provides different categories of sound effects and music clips. You can download and use these sounds for free on your video/multimedia productions. The sounds in this part of the website are for people working on video production, video montage, and multimedia projects and etc.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution.

Free commercial/ non-commercial use, no distribution. Seach feature: No.

SoundsCrate offers various sounds for your creative and visual experiments. It also avails an option to search for all types of audio using keywords.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

Another fantastic site, HISSandaROAR, offers the most unusual and exclusive sound effects that are downloadable and usable in any project.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

The Recordist comprises of a collection of hundreds of free sound effects. These audio tracks are available as high-quality audio in MP3 format.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for personal use only.

Free for personal use only. Seach feature: Yes.

PremiumBeat has more than 120 sound effects arranged in many categories. These effects are useful in any commercial or personal project.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

Videomaker.com offers you a free package of 101 sound effects, which include airborne sound, booing crowd, doorbell, and a lot more sounds.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

Adobe Audition offers thousands of uncompressed, royalty-free audio effects, which can be downloaded as compressed archives of categorized effects.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

Free Music Archive is a complete database of royalty-free sound effects, which can be played online or downloaded to use in your creative projects.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Creative Commons.

Creative Commons. Seach feature: Yes.

An initiative by Facebook to help creative artists, it offers an exclusive collection of 1500+ original sound effects that can be used for any purpose.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

Acoustica includes a variety of original and custom-made sound effects from plenty of genres in WAV format. You can use them in any project.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

SKYES AUDIO offers a creative collection of selected royalty-free sound effects, which are produced exclusively to enrich your artistic projects.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

This site comprises of loop collections, sounds, and construction kits for your projects. You can discover tracks on this site and download them in WAV format.

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Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: Yes.

In this site, you will find a variety of 44 kHz sound samples, which can be used for multipurpose projects – including commercial ones.

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Not Required. Licence type: Varies, check with each clip.

Varies, check with each clip. Seach feature: No.

Over 280 animal sounds available for free download. You can even read the provided description to know better about the particular animal sound.

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Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

Over 80 free sound effects are available for download at Pachd.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

The royalty-free sound effects from VocalDownloads provide clear audio and come in WAV format. You can play a track online as well as download it.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

VIPZONE Samples offers free drum sounds and vocals for remixing, and many free samples for personal and commercial use alike.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

Funny, weird, annoying… you’ll find all kinds of sound effects at Boogie Jack.

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Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

Pro Sound Effects includes a library of 290 sound effects from its world-class network of recordists that can be used for personal and commercial projects.

Login to download: Required.

Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: No.

eSoundz has an updated library of free sound effects that come in packages. These are produced by professional artists like guitarists and keyboardists.

Login to download: Not Required.

Not Required. Licence type: Free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Free for commercial and non-commercial use. Seach feature: Yes.

Search for, preview and download royalty free sound effects for immediate use in your multimedia project. These high quality royalty free sound effects are hand-picked from only the best sound designers.