The Sims 4 base game is now free-to-play! While there are tons of things to do without any expansions, The Sims 4 is notorious for small bugs and glitches that break immersion, and the absence of some key quality-of-life features can be frustrating to new and old players alike. Thanks to the incredibly active modding community, however, these features can be added without spending a cent.

Related: The Sims 4 Goes Free-To-Play: Things New Players Should Do First

Mods are typically updated regularly to counter patches to the game that may break them. Whether you want to build better, tell more interesting stories, or simply play the game without having to deal with a myriad of issues, here are some quality-of-life mods that are sure to improve your gameplay.

10 Better Exceptions By TwistedMexi

Screenshot of a word document detailing 'Better Exceptions UI Exception Report' overlayed on top of a screenshot from The Sims 4 that appears to be bugged.

Before downloading any other mod on this list, players may want to consider the Better Exceptions mod by TwistedMexi. As the player encounters errors, especially with a large amount of mods, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing the issue in-game. Better Exceptions is a mod that gives players a much more detailed summary of the problem.

Not only can this mod identify broken gameplay or UI mods, it can also detect issues without of date custom content, trait mods, and even handles game bugs. This mod is a lifesaver for the mod-savvy simmer!

9 More Columns In CAS By Weerbesu

A screenshot of The Sims 4's create a sim menu with the text 'More Columns in Create-A-Sim' overlayed.

The Sims 4 create-a-sim mode typically comes with two columns. This might not be a problem for some players, but many people find that scrolling through the thin menu is counterproductive when there's a lot of empty space in CAS that the menu could be using. This mod by weerbesu solves that problem!

Technically, this mod is three mods: three columns, four columns, and five columns. Only one will work in the game at a time, so it's up to the player to choose which one suits their gameplay the best. Higher resolutions are best to support a larger amount of columns, which is something important to keep in mind when downloading.

8 Stand Still In CAS By MizoreYukii

A six-way split grid of a sim from The Sims 4 at each life stage.

Sims in create-a-sim are always looking around, shifting their weight, making noises, swaying, dancing, the list goes on. While this can be charming, it can also get annoying quickly. Not to mention vampires growling, mermaids giggling, spell casters casting, and werewolves howling.

Related: Best Sims 4 Kits, Ranked

With this mod by MizoreYukii, Sims will finally stand still. There are a few variations to choose from, so if the player is only bothered by occult Sim animations, they can be removed separately. There's even a mod to stop them blinking! This mod won't remove essential animations, like choosing walk styles, choosing Traits & Aspirations, switching ages, and when adjusting the voice slider.

7 All-In-One Occult Hybrid Stabilizer By Iced Cream

Two-way split panel of screenshots from The Sims 4.

The All-In-One Occult Hybrid Stabilizer is everything the occult simmer needs. This mod works best with some packs, as without access to occult Sims, it's basically pointless. However, it's a game changer for longtime occult fans, and new simmers that are wary about purchasing occult expansions without the guarantee that all features will work correctly.

This mod stabilizes hybrid occults, i.e. occults Sims that are more than one species. With the mod installed, players can be assured that their occult Sims will stay occult when uploaded to the gallery. It also adds the ability to birth hybrid Sims, so the child of a mermaid and a vampire will actually be a mermaid/vampire. And perhaps most interestingly, it allows servos to become vampires, witches and aliens!

6 Alter Initial Funds Mod By Simularity

Screenshot of The Sims 4 with the text 'Start the Game with a Variety of Starting Funds Options' overlayed.

This mod does what it says on the tin - it alters the initial starting funds of a Sim. There are several variations of this mod, so the player will need to choose which direction they want to take the mod in. This is a great option for storytelling simmers, challenge simmers, or even just simmers that want some more leeway when starting a household.

Default initial starting funds are $20,000, plus $2,000 for each additional Sim. Variations of this mod will raise or lower the starting funds, depending on which one is installed. Only one can be installed at a time, and it does not alter existing households funds.

5 More Name Variety By Enkidu

Screenshot of a building in The Sims 4 with various names bordering the sides.

The Sims 4 has come a long way with diversity, but it still has areas to improve on. Until the official team makes those changes, this mod by Enkidu will add a broader range of diverse names that can be pulled for randomly generated Sims. Specifically, it adds options for the game to pick from when generating Japanese, Indian, Moroccan and Islander townies.

Related: Best Pre-Made Families From The Sims 4, Ranked

The game has a few options already, but this mod vastly expands that and adds some much-needed diversity to the game. Note that this mod only changes the list that game generated Sims names come from, so the player will not have access to them as standard.

4 Fertilize And Evolve All By Carl's Guides

The Sims 4 scenery with text overlayed that says 'Carl's Fertilize & Evole' on it.

Fertilizing in The Sims 4 is a nightmare. The queue constantly resets, the player has to click each plant individually, and they can't click on the same type of plant in a row, it's just unnecessarily complex. With Carl's Guides' mod, the process becomes a lot easier. Just click on a plant, select fertilize, and all available plants in the area will be fertilized.

The same goes for evolving plants. If a Sim has a particularly green thumb, the simmer will not have a good time trying to evolve all the plants needed. But the same process as above works for evolving, so they can farm away!

3 Don't Do That! By Simularity

Screenshot of a The Sims 4 bathroom with text overlayed.

For the most part, the autonomy in The Sims 4 is pretty well-managed. Players can toggle it on or off, and there's a sliding scale. Unfortunately, there are some autonomous actions that just don't make sense. With this collection of mods by Simularity, players can turn these annoying autonomous actions off.

Sims, for example, will no longer talk to plants, prank the toilet, constantly grab drinks, mop outdoors, automatically make bar drinks, and a whole host of annoying actions. If the player would still like the Sim to do some of these actions, then these mods are available to download separately, too.

2 Woohoo Wellness By Lumpinou

Split grid image of two menus from The Sims 4.

Woohoo Wellnes by Lumpinou is a comprehensive, customizable overhaul of pregnancy and Woohoo-ing in The Sims 4. Great for players that want to add a little realism to their game, Sims can now have opinions on their pregnancy beyond being excited, and interactions/moodlets when pregnant depending on their preference.

Related: Essential Sims 4 Mods for Telling In-Game Stories

Optionally, there are many additional modules that add things like WTDs (Woohoo Transmitted Diseases), paternity testing, adoption, separation, fertility treatments, and much more.

1 MC Command Center By Deaderpool

Split grid of a Sim holding a baby Sim, and an in-game menu in The Sims 4.
Image credit to Deaderpool

MC Command Center has long been regarded as a staple mod in the Sims community. MC Command Center has an option to customize pretty much any in game interaction, as well as vital story progression options and autonomy specifications. Lives outside the players Sims household are less static as well, making for more complex storytelling.

With MC Command Center, cheating becomes a lot easier, too! There are an overwhelming amount of options for cheating careers, life stages, money, pregnancy, and general tuning.

The Sims 4 is available now for Mac, PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.

More: Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In The Sims 4