Free alternatives
Free Alternatives to Destiny 2
Short answer
Warframe is the best free alternative to Destiny 2: a co-op looter shooter with a decade of content where every weapon and character is earnable in game and no expansion is sold separately. Expect a steep introduction and a lot of farming in place of purchases.
Destiny 2 is free to start but sells its expansions, and the story content behind them is most of the game. The obvious alternative is free the whole way through — including everything the community considers essential.
Our pick: Warframe
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Warframe is a third-person co-op looter shooter with over a decade of content, all of it earnable in game. Movement is faster and more acrobatic than Destiny's, and every frame and weapon can be built with materials rather than money.
How it differs from Destiny 2: The onboarding is famously bewildering — a great deal of systems arrive at once and the story is told out of order. Grind replaces the paywall: what Destiny sells, Warframe asks you to farm.
All free Destiny 2 alternatives compared
Warframe
Warframe is a third-person co-op looter shooter with over a decade of content, all of it earnable in game. Movement is faster and more acrobatic than Destiny's, and every frame and weapon can be built with materials rather than money.
The difference: The onboarding is famously bewildering — a great deal of systems arrive at once and the story is told out of order. Grind replaces the paywall: what Destiny sells, Warframe asks you to farm.
Warframe is a huge, well-made co-op shooter you can play without paying, but Platinum, a cosmetic treadmill, and a dense living economy mean it fails a strict ‘genuinely free’ test.
Xonotic
If what you want is the gunplay rather than the loot, Xonotic is a fast arena shooter with no progression systems and no monetisation whatsoever.
The difference: No loot, no campaign, no persistent character — pure competitive multiplayer.
Xonotic clears all five: free with no monetisation, complete and polished, still maintained, an excellent arena shooter judged on its own merits, and open-source so it cannot be shut down.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Destiny 2?
Warframe is the best free alternative to Destiny 2: a co-op looter shooter with a decade of content where every weapon and character is earnable in game and no expansion is sold separately. Expect a steep introduction and a lot of farming in place of purchases.
Are these Destiny 2 alternatives really free?
Yes. Every game listed here is free with no trial, no paywalled content and no pay-to-win purchases. Each has been assessed against PlayBound's five published criteria — including high quality only.
Do I need to pay for multiplayer in these Destiny 2 alternatives?
No. None of these games charge for multiplayer. Public servers are community-run and free to join, and there is no subscription of any kind.
How is Warframe different from Destiny 2?
The onboarding is famously bewildering — a great deal of systems arrive at once and the story is told out of order. Grind replaces the paywall: what Destiny sells, Warframe asks you to farm.
How is Xonotic different from Destiny 2?
No loot, no campaign, no persistent character — pure competitive multiplayer.
Every game here has been assessed against the PlayBound Bar — five published criteria for whether a free game is actually worth your time.