If you are trying to sink your teeth into the MMO genre, there are many free-to-play titles to ease you into it. Free-to-play games have seen some proliferation in the live-service gaming space of late – but not all offer a worthwhile experience until you are inevitably met with the monetization gating.
Some say that free-to-play games end up being the most expensive ones, riddled with paygating practices. However, quite a few MMOs with this tag can give you a good time without ever shelling out real money.
In this article, we will count down some of the best free-to-play MMOs you can play in 2024 based on how much content you get gaming on a free account.
7 best free-to-play MMO experiences you can get in 2024
1) Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2’s Tyria presents one of the most feature-complete free-to-play MMO experiences. Initially, there are some level-related restrictions in place for a free account. However, once you hit level 35, the entire world of Central Tyria is your oyster.
A free account does not get access to things like World vs World PvP or ease of party-creation through LFG. Yet, you get access to most if not all of the important features at certain level thresholds.
Compared to a free account, a Core account just comes with some quality-of-life features. These include world transfer, extra character slots, and bag slots to name a few.
It is only when you hit lvl 80 that the passage to pay-gated content opens up through purchasable expansion regions. By that time, you will have experienced the entirety of the core game, helping you decide whether you want to shell out money for more Guild Wars 2.
2) Albion Online
Albion Online officially went free to play for all players in 2019. You can pick it up and start playing right now, but even in your early hours into this MMO, the demand of quality-of-life features offered to premium users lingers. Fortunately, Premium is purchsable with an in-game currency you can farm.
Veteran Albion Online players vouch for purchasing your first month of premium to jump-start your economy and ease up the process. However, if you don’t mind a few months of progression at a snail’s pace, the 18 Million silver benchmark is very attainable without breaking the free-to-play tag.
3) Final Fantasy 14
Technically, Final Fantasy 14 is not a free-to-play MMO, and never will be. However, there is a Free Trial you can play that can qualify as a feature-complete experience. This free-to-play edition of Final Fantasy 14 restricts you from trading, Ultimate Raids, or joining guilds (called Free Companies in-game).
Yet, the free trial still has an absurd amount of content you can play through. The main campaign itself is a AAA-length endeavor, complete with the familiar Final Fantasy flavor fans will love.
On top of this, you get the Heavensword expansion and two Combat Jobs (classes) you can take to level cap. To sweeten the pot even further, Square Enix recently raised the level cap for free trial players from 60 to 70.
4) Path of Exile
Path of Exile is one of the biggest pillars of the modern day free-to-play ARPGs, and it offers you complete freedom to explore its depths as a free-to-play MMO-ARPG.
Absolutely no content in this game is pay-gated – from its six-act campaign to its fiddly end-game. The only thing that will hold you back is its steep learning curve, and some eventual inventory management woes.
The latter part is where monetization comes in. Things like extra stash tabs and bespoke currency management systems require you to open up your wallet. However, you can go a long way even without these quality-of-life additions.
5) RuneScape 3 (and OSRS)
Both RuneScape 3 and Old School Runescape have a good amount of content available for free. A free account gives you access to both games just enough to get a taste of its core experience. There is a sufficient amount of content on offer – both for older players looking for a blast to the past, and for newer players trying to get a grip on one of the most seminal games in the MMO genre.
Nevertheless, this is a case of a free-to-play MMO experience that tries to rope you into membership. The game is much more open and full of content for members.
This includes access to bosses, better gear, 11 more skills, and a much smoother levelling experience. You can also buy Bonds (temporary membership) with in-game gold – albeit at an exorbitant price.
6) Warframe
Warframe can be very loosely categorized as a MMO-lite, but its free-to-play credentials are unparalleled. You have access to the entire game for free – including all its titular Warframes, the expansive arsenal, and all permanent and seasonal content updates.
There is a premium currency called Platinum, which can be easily earned in-game by trading with other players. Platinum lets you skip over some grind and time-gating for smoother progression. However, since you can essentially ‘earn’ Platinum, this is never a detriment to new accounts for long.
Barring a few cosmetics from Prime Access bundles and the TennoGen programme on PC, you can get everything in this game without ever spending real money.
7) Lord of The Rings Online
Lord of The Rings Online has some of the monetization traps common with free-to-play MMO games. However, once you learn its design quirks, it is easy to adapt to these restrictions. You can supersede inventory limit with premium, but you can also be smart about what items you pick up.
You can play the entire base game, beat all quests, and max out reputation with all factions without ever spending money. Furthermore, you can also earn the premium currency (LP) just by playing the game.
This is not to say premium users don’t get good perks – the Swift Travel alone cuts the globetrotting downtime by a lot. In summary, the base game is sufficiently playable for free, while the premium features are simply quality-of-life additions.
These are just some of the f2p MMOs and MMO-lites you can play without the monetization aspects becoming too stringy. While this list is by no means comprehensive, these are arguably the best titles out there today that fit both criteria.
