There are a lot of free drum VSTs, but these three work well for heavy music like rock and metal. To compare them fairly, I played four short grooves on an e-kit and put the same MIDI through all three. You can hear every one below.

Updated September 2026. Two of the three have new names since this test, and two of the download links have moved. Everything below about names, links, formats and note maps was checked against each maker’s own site on 30 September 2026.

In this post:

• The three at a glance
• How I tested them
• 1. Steven Slate Drums 5.5 Free
• 2. MT Power DrumKit 2
• 3. MODO DRUM CS
• Getting MIDI to play the right drums
• Which one to pick
• Questions

The three at a glance

	SSD 5.5 Free	MT Power DrumKit 2	MODO DRUM CS 1.5
What you get	One kit (Deluxe 2), a processed Slate snare, three kit presets	One full kit, processed for rock and metal	One kit (Studio)
To download it	Email sign-up, a Slate account and the Slate Audio Center app	A direct download: no account	The IK Product Manager app and an IK account
Formats	Mac: AAX, VST, AU. Windows: AAX, VST	Mac: VST2, VST3, AU, AAX. Windows: VST2, VST3, AAX	Standalone, plus Mac AU, VST2, VST3, AAX and Windows VST2, VST3, AAX
General MIDI grooves	Slate does not say whether its default map is GM: test first	Mostly GM (see below)	IK’s factory map follows GM

How I tested them

Four grooves, each played once on an e-kit and kept as MIDI: one with ghost notes on a closed hi-hat, a rock groove, a heavy metal / metalcore groove and a fast metal groove. The same four MIDI files went through each VST, so you hear the same performance through each one.

1. Steven Slate Drums 5.5 Free

Steven Slate Drums has a free edition with a solid kit that can work for any heavy song. The overall sound is processed rather than raw, which is good if you want a quick result. The shells (kick, snare and toms) cut through a mix easily and sound great. The cymbals are just OK: a bit over-processed and fizzy.

• What it is now: SSD 5.5 Free, which Slate describes as a fully working, never-expiring demo of SSD 5.5: one Deluxe 2 kit, a processed Slate snare and three kit presets.
• Getting it: sign up with your email, create a Slate Audio account, and install it through the Slate Audio Center app. The old link on this page now leads to the paid SSD 5.5 page, so use the one below.
• Note map: SSD’s Map tab lets you drag or right-click to move any drum to another note, and save the map as a preset. Slate does not publish whether the default map follows General MIDI, so run the two-minute test below first.

2. MT Power DrumKit 2

It is honestly surprising this one is free. What stands out most is the snare: it slams. It works for both rock and heavy metal.

• What it is now: MT Power DrumKit 2 from Manda Audio, still free in full. The free version shows a start screen each session; click Start and it has no limits.
• Getting it: a direct download from the link below, with no account or email. It runs on Windows and on Mac (Intel and Apple silicon).
• Note map: the kick, snare, side-stick, closed and open hi-hat, both crashes, ride, bell, china and splash are all on their General MIDI notes. Two differences: note 44, the GM pedal hi-hat, plays a half-open hi-hat (its pedal is on 65), and it has three toms, so 41 and 43, 45 and 47, and 48 and 50 each share one.
• Grooves: it has its own library of grooves you drag into your DAW, but you cannot load your own MIDI into the plugin. Put MIDI files on the DAW track instead.

3. MODO DRUM CS

MODO DRUM is another good one. It is the most raw and natural sounding of the three. That is a good thing, but it also means it needs the most processing to sit in a heavy mix.

• What it is now: MODO DRUM CS 1.5, IK Multimedia’s free version, with one kit (Studio) and the full MODO DRUM engine.
• Getting it: through the IK Product Manager app, with an IK account. The old link on this page now opens a general IK download page, so start from the product page below.
• Note map: IK’s factory map puts the kick, snare, side-stick, hi-hats, all six toms, crashes, ride, bell, china and splash on their General MIDI notes. Extra hi-hat sounds sit below note 35. Custom mapping has been in MODO DRUM since version 1.1.
• Runs as: a standalone app or a plugin, with no other host needed.

Getting MIDI to play the right drums

A MIDI groove is a list of note numbers. Each drum VST decides which drum each number plays, and they do not all agree. Before you build a song on a new VST, run this two-minute test:

1. Put the VST on an instrument track and drag a MIDI groove onto that track.
2. Play it and listen for the kick, the snare, the hi-hat and the first crash. Those carry most of any groove.
3. Then listen for the toms and the china or ride, which is where maps usually disagree.
4. If a drum is wrong, move it in the VST’s map (SSD’s Map tab, MT Power’s MIDI Learn, MODO’s mapping) or remap the note in your DAW.

The General MIDI drum map lists every note by number, and getting started walks through loading MIDI into a DAW.

Which one to pick

• For a big, finished sound fast: SSD 5.5 Free. It is processed already, and the shells cut through.
• For no sign-up at all, and a snare that slams: MT Power DrumKit 2.
• For a natural kit you will process yourself: MODO DRUM CS.

All three can work well, but none of them may be ready straight out of the box. Expect to balance the kit pieces for your song and add a little processing. For that, see my list of the best free plugins for mixing metal drums.

Questions

Is Steven Slate Drums still free?

Yes. The free edition is now called SSD 5.5 Free: one Deluxe 2 kit, a processed snare and three presets. It needs a Slate account and the Slate Audio Center app.

Do these free drum VSTs come with grooves?

MT Power DrumKit 2 has a built-in groove library. IK says MODO DRUM CS includes grooves. Slate’s free page does not list any for SSD 5.5 Free.

Will MIDI packs work with free drum VSTs?

Yes. MIDI from any pack plays through any of these three. Check the map first: MODO’s factory map follows General MIDI, MT Power’s mostly does, and SSD’s can be remapped in its Map tab. The drum map lists every note.

Which free drum VST is best for metal?

Of these three, SSD 5.5 Free gives the most finished heavy sound straight away, and MT Power DrumKit 2 has the hardest-hitting snare. MODO DRUM CS sounds the most natural but needs the most processing.

Something to play through your new VST: Metalcore Essentials has 102 MIDI files played on an e-kit, from verses and choruses to breakdowns and rolls.