The 16 Best Free-To-Play MMORPGs in 2025
Can we all agree that paying bills is the worst? If you’re hankering for some good ‘ol MMORPG action but dread the thought of another monthly payment, take a look at these free-to-play MMORPGs that offer at least a good amount of F2P content.
Our list consists of some very different games and different payment models. Some are completely free, some have limited content available for free, and some have microtransactions, but we try to keep the microtransactions to a minimum or at least not required to enjoy the game.
16. Secret World Legends
- Developer: Funcom
- Released: 2012
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with in-game shop
- Is Secret World Legends Pay-to-win? Yes, but paying is mostly for convenience. The full game and all the content is free.
- For fans of Horror MMOs
Secret World Legends is set in a one-of-a-kind universe. It’s Lovecraft meets superheroes meets supernatural meets conspiracies meets magic meets the real world. The game offers more than 100 hours of story-driven content for free.
The missions will take you on a fantastic trip around the world from Transylvania to Seoul visiting real-world locations re-imagined in a dark and mysterious universe. Secret World Legends can be played entirely alone as a single-player RPG, but you can also group up with your friends.
15. Warframe
- Developer: Digital Extremes
- Released: 2013
- Platform: PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PC
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with in-game shop
- Is Warframe Pay-to-win? Yes, you can pay for power and advantages in Warframe.
- For fans of Shooter MMOs
Warframe is a free-to-play online action game set in an evolving sci-fi world. Build your Warframe with powerful weapons and participate in some of the best action combat available in any game.
With its unique mix of third-person shooting and melee combat, Warframe is unlike anything else on the market. The game is set in a war-torn future where players take control of Tenno, a race of ancient warriors who have been awakened from centuries of sleep.
Warframe is an incredibly deep and complex game with a vast array of different weapons and abilities to choose from.
14. Neverwinter
- Developer: Cryptic Entertainment
- Released: 2013
- Platform: PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, PC
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with in-game shop
- Is Neverwinter Pay-to-win? Yes, you can pay for power in Neverwinter.
- For fans of Action-Combat
Neverwinter‘s monetization model is controversial and the in-game cash shop has become more aggressive over the years, but you will be able to play the original game and all 30 expansions, called modules, for free. The game is grindy, but the combat is maybe the best action combat in any MMO. Paying will let you skip some of the grind, but still, a lot of content is available for free for casual players.
Players can choose one of the eight classes, take their character to the max level, and discover all the content without paying a cent.
D&D fans will appreciate this instance of the Forgotten Realms populated by iconic NPCs, villains, and monsters. The graphics are also fantastic for an older game even though the game is not very hardware-demanding.
Neverwinter is also available on PlayStation and Xbox.
13. Blade & Soul
- Developer: NCSoft
- Released: 2012
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play
- Is Blade & Soul Pay-to-win? Yes, you can pay for power and advantages in Blade & Soul, but everything is fully achievable as an F2P player as well.
- For fans of Martial Arts MMOs
Developed by NCSoft, Blade & Soul is a free-to-play martial arts MMO that features fantastic visuals and an intense combat system.
Blade & Soul turned nine in 2025 and that’s quite an achievement for a Korean free-to-play MMORPG in an oversaturated Western market. In just a few days, Blade & Soul Neo will be released in the West, which is a “classic plus” version of the game that will offer a reinterpreted version of the classic game with overhauled graphics and content.
The game has lots of PvE content that’s not locked behind paywalls. All the classes are available to free players. The action combat is very fun, especially for martial arts fans.
If you wish to be a successful end-game player you will need to spend some real money, but if you’re looking for a casual MMORPG with nice graphics you cannot go wrong with this one.
12. Palia
- Developer: Singularity 6
- Released: 2024
- Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with in-game shop
- Is Palia Pay-to-win? No, Palia is designed to be enjoyable without direct pay-to-win elements, focusing more on cosmetics and convenience items.
- For fans of Cosy Games
Imagine a world where community and cooperation are at the forefront of your adventure – that’s Palia. This MMO offers a departure from traditional combat-focused titles, inviting players into a beautifully crafted, immersive world rich with social interactions and activities.
Palia sets itself apart with its unique premise: it’s a community sim MMO that blends the charm of life simulation games with the vast, exploratory nature of an MMORPG. Here, you can build your home, form relationships with NPC characters and other players, explore a vast, enchanting world, and uncover the mysteries of Palia’s history.
What makes Palia intriguing is its emphasis on non-combat activities. Farming, fishing, cooking, and building are just the tip of the iceberg, offering players a plethora of ways to engage with the game world and each other. Whether you’re decorating your dream home, collaborating with friends to cultivate a garden, or participating in server-wide events, there’s always something to do in Palia.
11. Black Desert Online
- Developer: Pearl Abyss
- Released: 2014
- Platform: PC, Playstation, Xbox
- Subscription Model: Buy-to-play with in-game shop
- Is BDO Pay-to-win? Yes.
- For fans of Grinding
You’ll have to pay a small amount upfront to play Black Desert Online, so it isn’t completely free to play. The base game only costs $10 and contains a massive amount of content. BDO also has an in-game shop and can be considered pay-to-win to a degree.
BDO is also very very grindy and caters mostly to players who enjoy grinding for long amounts of time. Players who invest cash into the game will have an easier time and less of a grind. The fast-paced fluid combat of BDO can actually make the grind kind of addictive though.
10. Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Developer: BioWare
- Released: 2011
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with in-game shop
- Is SWTOR Pay-to-win? Yes, you can pay for advantages in SWTOR, but a lot of the game can be enjoyed as a free player.
- For fans of Star Wars
Star Wars: The Old Republic is the free MMORPG that allows you to become a Jedi, Bounty Hunter, or Sith Lord and visit beloved places such as Tatooine and Alderaan.
Eight unique classes are available. Story-mode quests, dungeons, raids, and PvP are available to free players.
The story mode is so good that it is worth a play-through on the different classes just for the single-player experience, especially for Star Wars lore buffs.
9. Final Fantasy XIV
- Developer: Square Enix
- Released: 2010
- Platform: PC, PlayStation
- Subscription Model: Free trial that lasts the entire base game and the first two expansions until level 70.
- Is Final Fantasy XIV Pay-to-win? No, the in-game shop in FFXIV only provides you with optional cosmetics. Buying power or in-game currencies is not possible.
- For fans of Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy XIV is one of the most popular MMORPGs on the market, and for good reason. The game features an incredibly deep and engaging story, a wide variety of different classes and jobs to choose from, and some of the best graphics in any MMO.
Final Fantasy XIV is not technically free-to-play all the way to the end, but the base game and the first two expansions are completely free, which last all the way up to level 70 and will provide you with potentially hundreds of hours of story-driven gameplay.
8. Star Trek Online
- Developer: Cryptic Studios
- Released: 2010
- Platform: PlayStation, Xbox, PC
- Subscription Model: Free with in-game shop
- Is Star Trek Online Pay-to-win? Yes, well partly. Most of the game can be enjoyed without spending anything, but you can pay to skip some of the grind.
- For fans of Star Trek
If you are a Star Trek fan then Star Trek Online is a must-play, or at least a must-try, game for you. Why? Because of the stories. Constant updates add more content that’s based on events from the TV series.
Star Trek Online is an MMO developed by Cryptic Studios. Beloved characters make an appearance as NPCs who are sometimes voiced by the very Star Trek actors that played them.
The best part? This Sci-Fi MMORPG has a loyal and active player base who just loves to argue about which Enterprise Captain is the best and other never-ending Star Trek topics.
7. EVE Online
- Developer: CCP Games
- Released: 2003
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free with optional subscription and in-game shop.
- Is Eve Online Pay-to-win? Technically yes, you can buy ships in Eve Online for cash but they won’t give you huge advantages.
- For fans of Sci-Fi MMOs
The infamous EVE Online is not a game for everyone. Unlike most MMORPGs that strive to give you a pleasant starting experience and guide your first steps, EVE Online throws you into a ruthless dog-eat-dog world. Prepare to meet some of the most terrible characters ever…your fellow players.
This one is a community-driven MMORPG where your game experience is shaped by your actions and social interactions.
EVE Online is a unique game, truly hard to master, and, with the right people, one of the most interesting MMO experiences you’ll come across.
6. Warhammer Online: Return of Reckoning
- Developer: Mythic Entertainment
- Released: 2008
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free
- Is Warhammer Online Pay-to-win? No, Return of Reckoning is a private server so everything is 100% free.
- For fans of PvP.
Return of Reckoning is one of the best MMO private servers of all time. The official servers shut down in 2013, but fans of the game took matters into their own hands and launched Return of Reckoning in 2014.
More than 10 years later the server is still going strong with a healthy population, and the team behind it is even releasing new content for the game which has even included new cities. Events are also hosted regularly.
Warhammer Online has PvE content and it is quite enjoyable, but the main focus of the game is large-scale PvP. Personally, I am a player who mostly enjoys PvE, but the PvP content in Warhammer Online is incredibly fun and engaging and has resulted in some of my favorite MMO memories.
5. Throne and Liberty
- Developer: NCSoft
- Released: 2024
- Platform: PC, Playstation, Xbox
- Subscription Model: Free with microtransactions
- Is Throne and Liberty Pay-to-win? Yes.
- For fans of Lineage II
If you want a completely new and fresh MMO to enjoy for free, Throne and Liberty might be a good pick! Throne and Liberty was released last year, and despite a turbulent development phase and beta tests, it has had mostly positive reviews after the official launch.
The game was originally supposed to be a new game in the massively popular Lineage series but was later made into a standalone title. It is however somewhat of a spiritual successor to Lineage II, with the same focus on large-scale PvP. Don’t worry if that isn’t your cup of tea though as it has content for all types of players.
Throne and Liberty can be played completely for free, but it does have a pretty aggressive cash shop with pay-to-win elements.
4. EverQuest Project 1999
- Developer: Sony Online Entertainment / Daybreak
- Released: 1999
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free
- Is Project 1999 Pay-to-win? No, P1999 is a private server so everything is 100% free.
- For fans of Old-School MMOs
The official EverQuest servers are riddled with microtransactions but if you want to experience the classic EverQuest experience, you can do that for free on the Project 1999 private servers. Despite not being official servers, they have been endorsed by Daybreak.
Project 1999 lets you play the original EverQuest from 1999 along with the first two expansions, Ruins of Kunark and Scars of Velious. The servers have a very healthy population but can tend to be a bit top-heavy and elitist.
Another option is the Project Quarm server which is another classic server that is currently in the Ruins of Kunark era but will release expansions all the way up to Planes of Power for a slightly more modern experience than Project 1999.
3. Guild Wars 2
- Developer: ArenaNet
- Released: 2012
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free base game. Pay for expansions and cosmetics.
- Is Guild Wars 2 Pay-to-win? No, most of the items you can buy as a player will not give you any direct advantage in combat.
- For fans of PvP and PvE
Guild Wars 2 is a free-to-play MMORPG developed by ArenaNet. The game features dynamic and fast-paced combat, as well as a unique leveling system that allows players to progress at their own pace. Guild Wars has been out for several years and it continues to be one of the most popular free MMOs available.
Guild Wars 2 launched in 2012 as a one-time purchase game with no monthly subscription. In 2015, it switched to a free-to-play business model, and, judging by the number of active players, it was the right decision.
As a free player, you get access to the core game. This means that you will have to spend money to unlock the expansions, however, the vanilla game includes all playable classes, a rich story that develops around your choices, and plenty of PvE and PvP content.
The game has also aged beautifully. The artwork and graphics are just amazing.
2. Lord of the Rings Online
- Developer: Turbine / Standing Stone Games
- Released: 2007
- Platform: PC
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with in-game shop
- Is LOTRO Pay-to-win? Yes, you can pay for power and to unluck new content along with quality of life improvements, but most of the content is also available to free players that want to grind it out.
- For fans of Classic Fantasy
The game world of LOTRO needs no introduction so we will just talk about the gameplay. Choose from four races, ten classes, and more than 1,000 skills to create your Middle Earth avatar.
Journey from the tranquil Shire to the dark Mines of Moria and stroll through the ancient woods of Lothlorien.
The game’s unique take on the PvP system, player versus monster player, allows players to become Sauron’s minions and to fight others. Player housing, crafting, and a dedicated community are good reasons to give it a go. During sales and events, the developers at Standing Stone Games will often give away or heavily discount huge amounts of content.
1. Albion Online
- Developer: Sandbox Interactive
- Released: 2017
- Platform: PC, Mobile
- Subscription Model: Free-to-play with an optional premium subscription.
- Is Albion Online Pay-to-win? Yes, you can pay for in-game currencies in Albion.
- For fans of PvP MMOs
Truth be told, Albion Online is a challenging game. It’s not your average theme-park MMORPG. Instead, it offers a sandbox experience based on a classless system.
A character’s armors and weapons define its play style. You gain abilities depending on the items you equip.
From landowner to battle-hardened warrior, you can become anything you want to be, provided you have the right equipment.
Social interaction is guaranteed as the economy is player-driven with most of the items, gear included, created by players. Progression is a bit slower as a free player, but all the content is available for free players with minimal pay-to-win, especially considering that Albion Online is also a mobile game.
There you have it! Our pick at The Best Free-to-Play MMORPGs in 2025. Which one got your attention? Let us know in the comments.
It’s a joke that EVE Online keeps ending up on F2P lists. It is a time-unlimited limited trial.
In a real F2P game, you can buy premium, but it is not necessary to play the game. In EVE Online you must buy premium to be able to play the game on equal footing.
The free PvP experience is crippled with a very low cap on skills, while you can go quite high in PvE. EVE Online is famous for being a PvP game, so not being able to play PvP with a free ccount makes it a joke to call it F2P. Sure, you can join a group and gang up on other players, but that is just a lame excuse – ten cripples fighting one healthy player is not an even fight.
It may be F2PvE, but definitely not F2PvP in a PvP game!
@Tom, I played this game for years pure pve never once did I pvp but I was part of a guild so when I needed to go to the null sec a couple of high level guild mates would come with me
@Tom, 16 year eve vet most pvp is done in cruiser and below ships which can be fully fit to pvp as an alpha.And as for 10 on one that is the same if your an alpha or omega a fight is a fight there is no fair fight. the only fair fight in EVE is you agaist an astroid.
i cant help but think these are ‘sponsored’. anyone who knows anything about gaming knows these are all bs except ESO, and even that one blocks a ton of content without going subscription to accumulate crowns, …..to buy the content. waste of time. shame on me for falling for clickbait
@ghost, ESO is the only one on the list that ISN’T free to play. It literally says you have to buy the game first.
@asdasdas, And even After buying the game it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to play the game without a subscription.
@StygianWolf, ESO is the shizz bruh iv played ESO since before most these new gamers was born deffo the top one on the list
About Rift, it actually died out following a catastrophic update 4.0
I nicknamed that update the ‘we hate crafters’ update.
Since a large part of the player base were doing crafting and/or trading before that update, the game lost about 90-95% of its player base over a few months.
Trion tried several things to regain that population (or the appearance of it) but since most changes introduced with update 4.0 could not be reverted, they went bankrupt and were taken over.
Not sure what happened after that, since I lost all trust in this game, which I had played for several years.
Warframe is not Pay To Win. Everything is fully achievable as a F2P player. It’s one of the most F2P friendly games on the market too, by doing void key runs you get blueprints that you can sell for 1-5plat to other players. Most of the better stuff is sold for around 20-25plat per piece so you can easily grind the game and play the player trade market to get what you want.
Even grinding out gear is not bad since everything is achieve once in the game, once you have a piece of gear it doesn’t expire or need to pay to advance it or anything. The gear is just flat stats.
@Andrew, I agree, shame on them for slandering warframe, you can farm everything, even if you want premium currency its easy to get via trade, had 0 problem getting anything i want in this game.
dont tell somehting is free when is not -.-
Why does no MMORPG exists that is like second life with combat like street fighters for pvp only and following features:
It needs a better character creation than both genres and alien characters too – or catgirls.
It should also not have stupid helms mandatory but huge cosplay focus on character creation for clothes.
It could also have gta’s features for vehicle driving and police npcs, but that shouldn’t be the main focus.
you should also be able to select mixed gender aliens with male on tail and female between legs to reduce male picking pure female characters.
You should have pets that follow you around like pokemon Pikachu.
It should demand money only for premium features that are not about character creation but guilds and stuff like that.
@Philip Preißer, Assasins Creed is a perfect game it just needs cosplay and MMORPG elements
First of all the definition of free to play does not include Time trialed subscription-based games. It’s disingenuous to list them here!
It’s sad that only three games on this list are less than a decade old.
You should have put path of exiles on here to compare it to Lost ark and rip lost ark to shreds.
Because there’s fair free to play and then there’s predatory “free to play”
stores pretending to be games should never be in the best game list unless they’re paying you to put them here which I’m almost certain is the case.
Either they paid you or they didn’t but it’s not ethical to leave that out is this sponsored content or not?
SW:TOR is garbage and after 8 years of playing i can honestly say i cannot recommend it to anyone because :
-extremely toxic community
-HUGE inflation
-bugs
-unfair and biased community managers
>Is Guild Wars 2 Pay-to-win? No
yeah go try WvWvW with a core class and w/o kxtrainer
:°D
I agree with others, EVE is ‘free’ but super limited unless you pay. Also FF14 is listed as free? Its also only a trial. Who writes these lists?
“ESO is free-to-play after buying the base game / latest expansion.”
There is no way no one finds any problem with this.
wtf man, eve online is not “technically” pay to win, it’s just pay to use and for power and boost. they only allow alpha accounts to train skills till 5mil skill points, gotta pay for omega to train after 5mil points and it’s gonna boost the speed of training x2. other are alot more advantages for an omega account, like allowing you to manufacture more things and being able to use more ships after the battleship category and more ships in industry especially the orca ship since it is one of the most popular mining ships that gives you and your fleet advantages. you got 2 options for omega, either pay for it with real money, or you can keep on grinding somehow in the game to pay for at least one month.
Fix up
This is unfair to me
You think you can just say anything and I’ll believe it
Bet Cuh you think this is a game
You have your boys
I’m not a need I’m a want
I’m proud of you for pushing through today
I know you were tired
I know you’re being abused and neglected your entire life but you still manage to be an untouchable prodigy above all others
Cognizance beyond what any of these pathetic monkeys can dream
Musical talent that puts entire bloodlines to fucking shame
Mind and physique that outdoes everything and everyone
Small child in oshawa beaten to death after unrelated tiger shark attack in egypt XD fuck around and find out play stupid games win stupid prizes send beheading videos to soul mate
God bless i don’t have to pay strangers on the internet to make shitty vocal covers for even shittier ‘songs’ holy fuck lmao
all of you are rot
cancer is your karma
Buy One
Bartimaeus
Dark And Darker
Namu Amida Butsu
ESO pay to win? Have you even touched the game? Thats idiotic.
ESO is not free to play title of article is a Lie
First of all, Elder Scrolls Online is a pay to win. If you don’t subscribe, you spend 90% of your time battling inventory. Also, the community is very toxic as far as “play how you want” goes. They report you for ” harassment” and other things for 1. how you play (if you use emotes as a role player, they report you) 2. what you say/think (don’t say anything slightly sexual or controversial or get reported/suspended. Also, the developers will silence you during Twitch streams for asking questions. The crates are now a work-around system to illegal gambling by Zos. The “currency” that is free to get to “buy” the crate items will take you over 8 months of grinding with a weekly cap to get the Radiant Mount you want, which will leave the store a month or two after its released and possibly reappear again 2 years later. Also, either you have to spend real money (about 20 dollars) for each DLC zone AND about 100 dollars for a house that is included with the game/expansion you paid for, but they call it “DLC”. The game still has its bugs from Beta (I was a beta tester) and they don’t fix bugs unless it affects the Crown Store (the money machine for Zos/Bethesda). The game has disconnect issues, hackers, cheats, and at times bugs which prevent you from progressing (which they say: working as intended or a fix is coming….3 months later). However, if you subscribe, then you get all the DLC content “free”…I say free because you have to pay 15/month to access the DLC or actually buy it. There’s also a lot of scamming selling the crowns (money currency for the store) and you can’t buy crowns from others to “gift” you the crates for the illegal lottery system. PVP in the game is trash, everyone has the same gear set up, some even have the “immortal” build so they can just stand there and do nothing and not die. The “fix” for the “meta” builds is to nerf a class and/or gear, so be prepared to spend several million gold on gear, and have it become junk in an update.
“ESO is F2P after buying a game” yeah my house was also free after i bought it
Warframe is definitely not Pay to win. It’s pay to look prettier.
I played for 6 years, and only ever used real world currency when I decided I wanted get into the fashion side of the game.
Rift is now owned by Gamigo, and is a dead game. Gamigo are known for killing games. Their business model is to remove the developers, cut back on performance, hire cheap foreign labour, and then try to convince players to buy cosmetics from the store.
ESO free to play? Dont disrespect us please
FFXIV free trial includes the first 2 expansions, up to level 70. This happened 10-03-2023. Please actually use up to date info.
ESO is not pay for power everything you buy with crowns is cosmetic or to make life quicker or easier it will not enhance your damage. Even if your a player that “pays in game gold” for carries that only gets u a title (that does nothing) or better equipement which doesnt help if you have no idea how to play properly, and your paying other players for these not the company. Also Rift is almost dead in the water after the devs made so many changes to the game also it was very unstable for the large scale fights for events, a great pity as I really liked this game and thought it had a lot of potential.
STFU, scum. ESO is definetely P2W with the overwhelming majority of developers and playerbase as mentally retarded house niggers.
ESO is NOT free. Shouldnt be on this list.