Where to Download Free Quran Recitation MP3s by Reciter and Surah
You can download free Quran recitation MP3s from several long-running audio archives that organise recordings by reciter and surah, with no account and no payment. Most well-known reciters, including Mishary Rashid Alafasy, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais and Saad Al-Ghamdi, have complete 114-surah recordings distributed freely through these archives.
A complete recitation of the Quran runs roughly 20 to 30 hours of audio depending on the reciter's pace, so a full download is a serious amount of data and storage. This article shows you where the free archives are, how much space a full khatm takes at different bitrates, how to name files so surahs play in order, and how to listen offline on a basic phone.
Where can I download free Quran recitation MP3s?
Free Quran recitation MP3s are available from a small number of established audio archives that have run for years and organise their libraries by reciter, then by surah number from 001 to 114. These sites exist specifically to distribute recitations, and the reciters and publishers behind the major recordings have made them free to download and share.
The main archives differ in how they are organised and what bitrates they offer. Some give you one file per surah, some give you one file per ayah (verse), and some offer both. Searching the archive name plus the reciter's name will take you to the right library page.
| Archive | How it is organised | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| QuranicAudio | By reciter, then surah | Full-surah MP3s, often several bitrate options |
| EveryAyah | By reciter, then surah and ayah | One MP3 per ayah, plus full-surah versions for some reciters |
| MP3Quran | By reciter, with a large catalogue | Full-surah MP3s and zipped complete sets |
| Tanzil | By reciter, simple text-focused site | Full-surah MP3s from a smaller list of reciters |
| Internet Archive | Community-uploaded collections | Complete recitation sets, often as one zip per reciter |
Archive catalogues change over time, so check the reciter list on the site itself rather than relying on a copied link.
Which reciters have complete free recordings of all 114 surahs?
Complete free recordings of all 114 surahs exist for dozens of reciters, and the most downloaded ones include Mishary Rashid Alafasy, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, Saud Al-Shuraim, Saad Al-Ghamdi, Maher Al-Muaiqly and Abdul Basit Abdus Samad. A complete recording is often called a murattal set, meaning a steady recitation of the whole Quran in order.
The right choice is mostly about pace and clarity. A slower, clearly articulated recitation is easier to follow if you are reading along or memorising; a faster one takes less time per sitting. Total listening time for the same 114 surahs varies by several hours between reciters, which also changes how much storage the set needs.
| Reciter | Style | Suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Mishary Rashid Alafasy | Moderate pace, very clear articulation | Following along with the text, memorisation |
| Abdul Basit Abdus Samad | Slow, powerful, with melodic variation | Listeners who want a classic recitation style |
| Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais | Steady mosque-style recitation | Background listening, prayer-like pacing |
| Saad Al-Ghamdi | Calm and even | Long uninterrupted listening |
| Maher Al-Muaiqly | Clear, moderate pace | Everyday listening on a phone |
Many reciters also recorded mujawwad (more melodic) versions alongside murattal; check the archive label so you download the style you intended.
How much storage does a full Quran download need?
A complete recitation of the Quran at 128 kbps needs roughly 1.3 to 1.6 GB of storage, based on a total running time of about 22 to 28 hours. At a lower speech-friendly bitrate like 64 kbps, the same set fits in about 700 to 900 MB; at 320 kbps it grows past 3 GB.
Recitation is a single voice, so it compresses well. Many archives offer recitations in mono at 32 or 64 kbps, and for spoken voice these sound close to the higher bitrates while halving or quartering the file size. On a phone with limited storage, 64 kbps is the practical choice; 128 kbps is worth it if you listen on good headphones. The longest surah, Al-Baqarah, runs over two hours in most recitations, which is about 120 to 140 MB as a single file at 128 kbps.
| Bitrate | Size per hour of audio | Full Quran (about 24 hours) | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 kbps mono | About 14 MB per hour | About 340 MB | Very small phones, SD cards under 4 GB |
| 64 kbps | About 28 MB per hour | About 680 MB | Best balance for spoken voice |
| 128 kbps | About 58 MB per hour | About 1.4 GB | Clearer audio, good headphones |
| 192 kbps | About 86 MB per hour | About 2.1 GB | Little benefit for a single voice |
| 320 kbps | About 144 MB per hour | About 3.5 GB | Not needed for recitation |
Your actual totals depend on the reciter's pace — a slower murattal recording runs longer and therefore takes more storage at the same bitrate.
How do I name Quran MP3 files so surahs play in order?
To keep 114 surahs playing in order, rename every file so it starts with a three-digit surah number — 001, 002, up to 114 — because music players sort file names alphabetically, and without leading zeros a player will order surah 10 before surah 2. A clean pattern is 001-Al-Fatihah.mp3, 002-Al-Baqarah.mp3 and so on.
Many archives already ship files named this way, but downloads from zips or mixed sources often are not. Fix the names once, on the phone or on a computer, and every player you ever use will list the surahs correctly.
- Put all 114 files in one folder named for the reciter, for example Alafasy-Murattal.
- Rename each file to start with its three-digit surah number followed by the surah name.
- Check that Al-Fatihah is 001 and An-Nas is 114, then spot-check a few middle surahs against a surah list.
- If your player reads tags instead of file names, make sure the track number tag matches the surah number.
- Keep ayah-by-ayah files in a separate folder so they do not break the surah order.
How do I play downloaded Quran MP3s offline on a phone?
On Android, downloaded Quran MP3s play offline in any music player app once the files are in a folder the player scans, such as the Music or Download folder. On a Samsung phone, the Samsung Music app finds them automatically after a rescan; on other Android phones, open your player app's settings and point its library scan at the folder where you saved the surahs.
On iPhone, Safari saves downloads into the Files app. Open Files, go to Downloads, and tap a file to play it. For proper offline listening with playlists and background play, move the files into a free music player app that imports from Files. Either way, after the first download, playback uses no mobile data at all, and a full set at 64 kbps — about 680 MB for roughly 24 hours of audio — fits on almost any phone or a cheap SD card.
- Download over Wi-Fi if you can; a full set at 128 kbps is about 1.4 GB of mobile data.
- On Android, use an SD card if internal storage is under 8 GB free.
- Turn on your player's gapless or continuous-play setting so surahs flow into each other.
- Use the sleep timer in your player app if you listen at night.
How do I cut a single ayah or passage out of a surah MP3?
To extract a single ayah or short passage from a full-surah MP3, open the file in an MP3 cutter, set start and end points around the passage, and save the trimmed clip as a new MP3. The MP3 cutter on this site does this in the browser without uploading your file to a server, which matters on metered data.
This is useful for memorisation, where repeating one ayah on loop is easier than scrubbing through a two-hour surah file. Save clips with clear names like 002-255-Ayat-al-Kursi.mp3 so you can find them later. If you would rather download ready-made single-ayah files, the ayah-by-ayah archives listed above already split recitations that way, which saves you the cutting step entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to download Quran recitation MP3s?
The major recitations are distributed free by the reciters, publishers and religious bodies behind them, and the established archives exist specifically for free download and sharing. That said, rights depend on the specific recording and, in some cases, your country — a commercial studio release may have different terms from an archive murattal set. Check the terms stated on the archive page for the reciter you want.
How much mobile data does downloading the whole Quran use?
Downloading a full recitation uses roughly the same amount of data as the files' total size: about 680 MB at 64 kbps or about 1.4 GB at 128 kbps, for a set of about 24 hours of audio. On a metered plan, download over Wi-Fi or grab a few surahs at a time — a typical 30-minute surah at 64 kbps is only about 14 MB.
What is the difference between ayah-by-ayah and full-surah MP3 files?
Ayah-by-ayah sets split the recitation into one small MP3 per verse, giving thousands of short files, while full-surah sets give one file per surah — 114 files for the whole Quran. Ayah-by-ayah suits memorisation and repetition, since you can loop a single verse; full-surah files suit continuous listening.
Why does my downloaded recitation file not play?
The most common cause is an interrupted download on a weak connection, which leaves a truncated MP3 that players reject — re-download the file and compare its size with the size shown on the archive page. If the file came from a zip, make sure it fully extracted; a half-extracted archive often produces files that exist but will not open.
Can I share downloaded recitations with family on WhatsApp?
Yes — recitations that are distributed free can generally be shared, and sending the MP3 as a document rather than a voice note keeps the file name and quality intact. Keep the three-digit surah number at the start of the file name so the person receiving it can drop it straight into their own ordered collection.