Having plug-ins with Pro Tools is like milk and cookies, hhey go hand and hand. The sad part is that many of the plug-ins that you can buy are very powerful, but very expensive. The good news is that there are some amazing free plugins available on the market and I am going to give you some insight into what I think are the best 12 free plugins that you can get for nothing.

Here is a listing of the 12 best free plugins for Pro Tools:

1. Brainworx BX_Cleansweep V2
   http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/plugins/bx_cleansweep_v2
   by brainworx
   The brainworx BX Cleanup V2 is a handy little tool, it is a high pass and low pass noise filter. It will guarantee music sounding qulaity with this filter. This plugin rivals paid plugins and is quite useful. It is recommended that you put it on each and every channel where you want ot filter the highs and lows.
2. Massey Tools (Mac only)
   http://www.smassey.com/plugin.html
   By Steven J Massey
   This is free set of tools that was designed by a Pro Tools enthusist. The tools are useful, simple in design and high qulaity.
3. Free Bomb Factory Plug-ins Suite
   http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=26&langid=100&itemid=4201&mkt=ALL&downloadid=21856
   by Digidesign
   This is a must have bundle for of all the free plugins. This bundle comes with a wide range of tools that include a compressor, clip remover, a correlation meter, phase correlation, bridge meter, and noise meter. This bundle also includes a tuner, which to my surprise I find myself using all of the time tuning my instuments and others instruments. There is also this really cool tool for “Funking” your music. It is a blast to play around with, if I actually made funk music, I’d definintely be using it.
4. Click
   http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/downloads.php/id/443/software/Click/
   by JK Audio
   This is a simple click track plugin. It is very user friendly and gives good control over your click track for your music.
5. ColorTone Free
   http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2043.html
   by Tritone Digital
   The Colortone plugin is another great freeware. It simply allows you to add clor and warmth to your mixes and sounds. It gives your mixes that added edge. There is a full feature of this plugin, but the free version is very effective.
6. Stereo Tool
   http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/stereotool
   Plugin by Flux
   Have you ever wanted to visually see what your recording looks like in stereo? Well this plugin is your answer. It gives you complete control of your stereo by even controlling the width of your range. It is very handy for converting your 2 track recordings from live shows and concerts, to sound much bigger and better.
7. Flux Bitter Sweet II
   http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/bittersweet2
   Plugin by Flux
   This is a dynamics processor plugins it gives you complete control over your singals and allows your to increase and decrease the amoutn of transient content of a signal. It features one major control that really allows you to determine the elements that are creating your signal. This plugin is better understood when used, rather than explained.
8. BX_Solo plug-in
   http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/plugins/bx_solo
   By BrainWorx
   This allows you to have more control of your solo tracking. Normal solo buttons, signal allow you to control one track, but if you have the BX_Solo Plugin you will have control over the stereo of the track too. This allows you to hear the left adn right pan.
Studio Devil BVC guitar amp
http://www.studiodevil.com/download/downloadBVC.htm
By Gallo Engineering
This is a virtual tube guitar amp modeling plugin. Using this plugin can really add depth to the recording of you guitar sounds. Who doesn’t love that warm tube sound for guitar mixes?!?

Kontakt 4 player
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/kontakt-player/
By Native Instruments
Don’t know how to play a certain instrument? The KONTAKT 4 PLAYER allows for innovative, highly playable instruments leaving technological and musical limitations behind. Kontakt Script Processing gets you functionality and musicality.

KORE 2 player
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/kore-player
By Native Instruments
Need more music sounds and beats? Try checking out Native Instruments 400mb royalty free music library. If you are stil hungry for more sounds after this free suite, you can purchase more through this sweet.

TT Dynamic Range Meter
http://www.brainworx-music.de/en/downloadrequest?file=tt_dynamic_range_meter_win_1_0.zip
by brainworx
This range meter does exactly what you think, it dynamically lets you assess the qulaity of sound, and lets you control and balance your tonal ranges. This is a handy little tool, it was one of the first plugins that I installed and to this date I still find myself using this plugin.

Well, there you have it, the twelve free plugins that can really help you manage your sound tracks and enhance those mixes. I would like to remind you will need to check with the vendors to make sure that will be compatable with your PC and/or Mac. Not all plugins work on both platforms, but to my konwledge most work with Mac.