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EnglishIs the Decent Sampler Plugin Free?
Updated
Yes. On decentsamples.com, the Decent Sampler Plugin is listed as FREE / $0 with a Download button rather than an "Add to cart" option. It carries a 4.67 rating and is published by Decent Samples itself. So the plugin costs nothing to obtain from the shop.
The catch is not the plugin's price but its role: it is a player, not an instrument. Buying or downloading it alone gives you no sounds. You need instrument libraries formatted for Decent Sampler to actually make noise.
What Decent Sampler actually is
Decent Sampler is a free sampler plugin. Developers and independent sound designers build instruments that run inside it, and the shop sells or gives away those instruments in Decent Sampler format. That is why so many product titles on the site end with the bracketed tag [Decent Sampler] — it tells you which plugin the library requires.
A few examples from the shop's catalog show how central that tag is:
| Product | Format tag | Price shown |
|---|---|---|
| overtone by Decent Samples | [Decent Sampler] | FREE / $59.00, on sale at $29.00 |
| GRAINWERK – Granular Synth & Effects | VST, AU, Standalone (Mac, PC, Linux) | FREE / $59.00, on sale at $29.00 |
| Indie Drums by Tom Wagner | [Decent Sampler] | $20.00 |
| Zauber Celesta by Overstratum Audio | [Decent Sampler] | $5.00 |
| Decent Sampler Plugin | — (the plugin itself) | FREE / $0 |
| Kenyan Kalimba by Decent Samples | [Decent Sampler] | FREE for Patrons |
| Paper Drums by Dylan Kidd | [Decent Sampler] | $7.00 |
| Lewis E. Pyle Violin | [Decent Sampler, Kontakt, Ableton Live, SFZ] | FREE / $0 |
Two things stand out. First, the plugin is the only item in that list priced at a flat $0 with a download action. Second, some libraries are free while others are paid — the plugin's price says nothing about the cost of the sounds you load into it.
Do you need it for everything on the site?
No. The catalog mixes formats, and the bracket tag is your guide:
- [Decent Sampler] — requires the free plugin.
- Kontakt (Full) — requires paid Native Instruments Kontakt, not the free Kontakt Player. "Essential Six – Analog Synth" is tagged for both Decent Sampler and Kontakt (Full), so you can pick whichever you own.
- VST, AU, Standalone — runs on its own without a sampler host. GRAINWERK is the example here, and it lists Mac, PC, and Linux support.
- Ableton Live, SFZ — other host-specific formats, as with the Lewis E. Pyle Violin.
If a library is tagged only [Decent Sampler], the free plugin is mandatory. If it is tagged with several formats, you can skip Decent Sampler entirely.
How to get it and start using it
- Open the Decent Sampler Plugin product page in the shop.
- Use the Download action (the listing shows FREE / $0, not a cart button).
- Install the plugin in your DAW or run it standalone, depending on what the download provides.
- Buy or download a library tagged [Decent Sampler], then load it inside the plugin.
The expected result is a working sampler with your chosen instrument available. The common snag is downloading the plugin and expecting built-in sounds — there are none, so pair it with at least one library before you test it.
What "free trial" means on this site
Several paid listings carry a FREE TRIAL AVAILABLE badge, including overtone and GRAINWERK. That is separate from the plugin being free: the trial applies to the individual paid product, letting you evaluate it before paying the sale price. The plugin itself needs no trial because it is permanently $0.
One pricing note worth flagging: the shop shows sale prices alongside original prices (for example, $59.00 marked down to $29.00). Those are current listings, not permanent prices, so check the product page at the time you buy.
Bottom line
The Decent Sampler plugin is free — listed at $0 with a direct download. Budget your money for the libraries instead, and check each product's format tag before buying, since not every instrument on decentsamples.com runs in Decent Sampler.