Generate your own sounds in bulk on Pro, each with a license certificate
Royalty-Free Machine Sound Effects
100k+ free sound effects, growing every day. Machine sound effects from homes, offices and industry: printers and shredders, vending machines, espresso makers, blenders, hair dryers, electric shavers, cash machines and cash registers, elevators and escalators, film and slide projectors, an old computer booting, a Geiger counter and a crane lowering a heavy load. They fit office and kitchen scenes, product demos, retro tech and background texture. For engines and small motors, see motors; for switches and clicks, go to clicks & switches. Free account: 10 MP3s a month for your own channels, with credit. Paid plans: unlimited MP3 and WAV, client work and ads, no credit.
Describe the sound you need and get 2 free versions in about 10 seconds.
Make a machine sound with AI
Name the machine and the part of its cycle: an office printer warming up and printing one page, a vending machine dropping a can, a blender crushing ice in short pulses.
- office printer warming up and printing
- vending machine dropping a can
- espresso machine grinding and brewing
Free credits when you sign up · generation uses your account balance
Electric Typewriter Rapid Automatic Spacing17.2s9.7electric typewriter, clicking, typing
Industrial Air Conditioner Hum and Spin Down1:5610.0air conditioner, industrial, machine hum
How to use machine sound effects in a video
Separate start, run and stop
Most machines have a start, a steady run and a stop or finish chime. Place the start and stop on the frames where we see the button pressed or the cycle end, and loop or trim the running section to fit the shot.
Use machines to set a place
A photocopier and a shredder say office, an espresso grinder says cafe, an escalator says mall. A quiet machine bed under a scene fixes the location without a wide shot, as long as it stays below the voices.
Feature the payoff in product demos
In a demo or review, the satisfying sound is usually the end of the action: the vending machine drop, the toaster pop, the card reader beep. Make that moment clear and slightly forward, and keep the motor noise before it low.
Machine sound effects: questions
Which machine sounds suit a retro tech video?
An old computer or CRT television powering on, a fax machine, a slide projector advancing and a cassette player loading all date a scene instantly. Use them on the transition into the period rather than throughout.
How do I loop a machine hum without a jump?
Choose a section of the running sound with no clicks or changes, and crossfade the loop point over a second. Steady hums like fans and air conditioners loop most easily; machines with a rhythm need the loop cut on a full cycle.
Where are engine and switch sounds?
Engines and small motors are in engines and motors, and button presses, switches and clicks are under clicks and switches. This page covers whole appliances and equipment from homes, offices and industry.
License
Every sound effect in this library is free to listen to. Downloading needs a free Sonilo account. A free account downloads 10 sound effects a month in MP3 for videos and posts on your own social channels, monetized channels included, as long as you credit “Sound effects by Sonilo” with a link to the sound’s page. Paid plans download as many as you need in MP3 and WAV, add client projects, paid ads and other commercial work, and need no credit; on Pro and above you can also get a license certificate for any sound effect here. No royalties, and Sonilo does not register library sound effects with YouTube Content ID. Use the files only as part of your own work. You may not sell, share or give away the files on their own, bundle them into sound, sample or music packs, or upload them to other stock or library sites.
Believe something here should not be listed? Contact [email protected] and we will remove it.
Sounds in this library are contributed by Sonilo users or generated by Sonilo’s own AI models, and are provided as is, without warranty. See section 6.4 of our Terms of Service.
Ready for your next edit
Find a transition, a precise impact or a background atmosphere. Preview sounds before downloading, then take the MP3 for a compact file, or the WAV on a paid plan for your editing workflow.
Made with Sonilo
This collection brings together 5,070 generated sound effects, organized by category and duration. Latest catalog addition: . Search by source, action or texture to narrow your choices.
For video, games and podcasts
Use short sounds for cuts, interface feedback and game actions. Layer longer textures under a scene or spoken segment, and adjust their level in your editor. Check the library license for the files you download.
Need something more specific?
Describe the material, action, setting and timing you want. Your search can become the starting prompt for a custom sound. Try AI sound effects with free account credits.
Working with a video?
Explore Sonilo’s text and video sound effects workflows when your scene needs more than a library clip. Explore sound effects generation.
Generating from an agent or your own code?
Connect Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT to your account through the Sonilo MCP server and ask for a sound effect in the conversation, or drive the same models from a terminal with the CLI. Prefer code? The developer API exposes them as REST endpoints, metered in the credits your plan already includes.
Sound effects FAQ
Can I use these downloads in commercial projects?
Yes, within what your plan covers. A free Sonilo account downloads 10 sound effects a month as MP3 for videos and posts on your own social channels, monetized channels included, as long as you credit “Sound effects by Sonilo” with a link to the sound’s page. Paid plans download without a monthly limit in MP3 and WAV, need no credit, and also cover commercial projects beyond your own channels, such as client work, paid ads, apps, websites and games. Sonilo does not register library sound effects with YouTube Content ID. On Pro and above you can get a license certificate for any file here. Audio you generate in your account follows your plan’s terms instead.
Do I need an account to preview or download a sound?
Listening needs no account. To download, sign in or create a free Sonilo account: it takes 10 sound effects a month as MP3, and paid plans download without a limit in MP3 and WAV. Creating new audio with the AI generator also needs an account.
What is the difference between MP3 and WAV?
MP3 is a compressed file that is convenient for quick previews and smaller projects. WAV is uncompressed and useful when you will edit, layer or process the sound. Every account downloads the MP3; the WAV comes with paid plans.
What if I cannot find the sound I need?
Describe the sound in the search box. If there are no matches, choose the AI generation option to bring that description into Sonilo’s sound effects generator. New accounts receive free credits; generation uses credits, and available exports and usage rights depend on your plan.
How is this different from a traditional sound library?
You can start with a ready-to-download sound or use your description to create a new one in the same product. Sonilo also offers video-to-sound-effects workflows, so you can move from finding a sound to making audio for a particular scene.
Can I share or embed a sound?
Each sound has a permanent detail-page link. Use Share to copy that link, or Embed to copy an HTML audio player with a link back to the sound. Your website editor must allow HTML audio; pasting a URL alone does not automatically embed it.
Can I make sound effects for an uploaded video or through an API?
Sonilo supports video-driven sound effects as well as text descriptions. Open the sound effects product page for the available workflows, or use the developer documentation for API integration. Account generation and API usage follow their own credit and licensing terms.
Custom generation licensing questions · Plans and free credits