We've covered places on the web to find free video clips and free images, but let's not forget about sound effects.

As we've mentioned before, audio plays a huge role in making great video. The right sound effects can bring a scene to life, add realism, or just subtly add dynamics in the right places.

Like with many other creative assets, there are lots of good places to purchase sound effects on the web, but there are plenty of free options as well. So, here are some good resources to look at when you want free sound effects for your projects.











Let's start with the site that says it all in their name, Freesound.org. Freesound houses a collection of sound effects and music snippets that are all free to download.

There are a couple of key things to note when using Freesound. First, you must sign up for a free account and be logged in to download sounds.

Second, individual users set the license that they want to use with each sound. This means some sounds will be licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) for any and all uses, while others may require attribution or may not be licensed for commercial use. Be sure to check each license before use. The license information can be found on the individual download page for each sound.

Freesound offers a search function and when you complete a search, there is a handy filter that allows you to only look at files under certain licenses. Freesound also links to the sound contributors so you can see all of the sounds that a particular contributor has uploaded.

Additional information like file type, bit depth, and sample rate can also be found on each individual sound page for quick reference.









Sound Bible is a pretty straightforward site for free sound effects of all sorts. Just like with Freesound, each contributor can set the license as they please. So, make sure you know what you are downloading.

Sound Bible does a good job of prominently listing the license type right next to the file name. They also offer two browsing options. The "Sound Effects" tab will show you all of the sounds on the site, while the "Royalty Free Sounds" tab will filter to only sounds that are free to use commercially. This is handy if you are looking for something for a commercial project.

All sounds at Sound Bible are downloadable in .WAV and .MP3 format. And there is no account needed to download sounds.

Individual sound pages do have some information like tags and descriptions, but they don't have file details or contributor information.









Another totally free sound site that has been around for some time is Free SFX. They offer thousands of sounds at Free SFX, broken down into very detailed categories and subcategories. For example, there are close to 300 sounds in the Animals category, and those are further broken down to Tigers, Elephants, etc. If browsing the categories is too daunting, there is a general search box as well.

Sounds from Free SFX all live under the same license that you can check out here. Essentially, you can use their sounds for most any personal and commercial purpose with a few exceptions. However, Free SFX does require attribution for any sound that you use in a project. They leave it open to how you attribute them, but be aware that they require this.

Although there aren't individual sound pages, important information is viewable from the browsing and search results, including contributor information that can be clicked on to see all sounds from that contributor.

Just like Freesound, you must sign up for a free account to download files and all sounds are available in .MP3 format only.









Audio Micro is a paid stock audio library. They offer over 170,000 sounds ranging from sound effects to loops and full stock music tracks.

However, Audio Micro does have a free sound effects section with 2,000 sounds to download. The 2,000 sounds come with a lot of variety including animal sounds, weapons, and transportation sounds.

Sounds are browsable by category, but not searchable. Entering something in the search box will give you results for premium paid content.

Sounds are downloadable as .WAV files when you are signed into the required free account. They can also be saved to favorites for download later.

The sound effects license, which can be viewed here, allows for most personal and commercial uses. Like Free SFX, there are a few limitations to how you can use the sounds, so read the license carefully. Unlike Free SFX, you don't need to attribute the contributor or Audio Micro when using the sounds downloaded here.





With several thousand sounds across these sites, you are bound to find some useful options for your projects. If you have another favorite site for free sounds, leave a comment and let us know.