If you’ve spent any time playing League of Legends, you’ve definitely envied the flashy, rare skins other players rock in champion select or mid-lane fights. Most premium skins cost a pretty penny, but you don’t have to empty your wallet to customize your favorite champions. We’ve tested every official and safe method to figure out how to get free skins on League of Legends, so you don’t have to waste time on sketchy third-party sites that can get your account banned permanently. All the tips we share below follow Riot’s terms of service, so you never have to worry about losing the account you’ve spent months or years grinding on.
How to Get Free Skins on League of Legends Via Official Riot Events
Riot runs themed in-game events every few months, tied to everything from new champion launches to animated series releases and global esports tournaments. Every event comes with a free reward track you can progress through without buying a premium event pass, and most tracks include at least one skin shard or full permanent skin as a reward. All you have to do is complete simple daily and weekly missions, like winning two matches as a mage champion or earning 500 gold in a single game, to earn event tokens you can exchange for rewards. I got my free Arcane Jinx skin back in 2021 just by logging in for 3 days straight, no extra grind required at all.
Riot also drops random free skins for all players from time to time, usually to apologize for extended server outages or celebrate big franchise milestones. A few years back, all active players got a free permanent Ashe skin to mark the game’s 10-year anniversary, no missions required. Always prioritize official Riot event rewards first because they’re 100% safe, no risk of account bans, and often include limited-edition skins you can’t buy later in the store. That means you don’t have to jump through hoops or spend money to unlock these rewards while you’re figuring out how to get free skins on League of Legends.
Earn Skin Shards and Permanent Skins Through Leveling and Honor Rewards
Every time you level up your League of Legends account, you get a free champion capsule that usually contains a mix of champion shards, blue essence, and often skin shards. You can disenchant skin shards you don’t want to get orange essence, then use that orange essence to turn a skin shard you do want into a permanent skin for free, no RP needed. I’ve unlocked at least 12 permanent skins over the years just by leveling up and saving orange essence for skins for my main champions, and I’ve never spent a dime on RP for skins.
The in-game honor system is another underrated way to earn free, exclusive skins you can’t buy anywhere else. When your teammates honor you after matches for being a positive teammate, good shot caller, or great team player, you slowly climb honor levels. Every time you hit honor level 3, 4, or 5, you get a free honor capsule that contains random skin shards, and at level 5 you also get access to exclusive skins like Medieval Twitch and Grey Warwick. You can only get the exclusive honor skins for free, they’re never sold in the Riot store, so it’s worth being a positive teammate even if you’re having a bad game. You lose honor progress if you get chat restrictions or penalty bans, so keeping toxicity in check will pay off in free rewards long term.
Participate in Official Community Programs and Giveaways
Riot regularly partners with content creators, streaming platforms, and esports organizations to run legitimate free skin giveaways for players. Many players overlook these easy, no-cost opportunities when they first start researching how to get free skins on League of Legends. For example, Prime Gaming subscribers get a free permanent LoL skin and other in-game rewards every month, no extra cost beyond your existing Prime subscription. If you don’t have Prime, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial, claim the current month’s skin, and cancel before you get charged if you don’t want to keep the subscription.
It’s important to only participate in giveaways from verified official sources to avoid scams, though. Legitimate giveaway sources include:
- Official Riot Games Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok accounts
- Verified LoL esports tournament streams on Twitch and YouTube
- Prime Gaming monthly reward drops for active subscribers
- Verified partner content creators with official Riot sponsorship badges
League of Legends Partner Program giveaways are always legitimate, so you never have to enter your account password to claim a prize. If any giveaway asks for your account login details, it’s a scam, no matter how official it looks. Never click on links from random users in match chat promising free skins, either—99% of those are phishing scams designed to steal your account credentials.
Red Flags to Avoid to Keep Your Account Safe
For every legitimate way to earn free LoL skins, there are at least 10 scams designed to steal your account or install malware on your device. The first and biggest red flag is any site that claims it can generate unlimited free skins or RP for you, no strings attached. These sites never work, and they usually ask you to download a “generator” tool that contains malware, or enter your account login info to claim your reward, which lets hackers steal your account.
Trading skins with other players is against Riot’s terms of service, even if someone says they’ll give you a rare Prestige skin for free. There’s no official way to transfer skins between accounts, so any trade offer is either a scam or will get both accounts banned permanently if Riot detects it. You also should never buy skin codes from third-party resale sites, even if they say the codes are legitimate. Most of these codes are stolen or fake, and Riot will revoke the skin from your account and may even ban you for using a stolen code.
If you ever get a suspicious email claiming to be from Riot offering free skins, check the sender address to confirm it’s from an official riotgames.com domain before clicking any links. Phishing emails often look almost identical to official Riot communications, but the sender address will be a fake domain that has a typo or extra characters. When in doubt, log into your account through the official Riot client or website to check for rewards, instead of clicking links in emails or DMs.
You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on RP to make your champion roster feel personal and unique. If you stick to official, Riot-approved methods, it’s easier than you think to figure out how to get free skins on League of Legends without risking the account you’ve spent years grinding on. Spend a little extra time completing event missions, be a positive teammate to climb honor ranks, and keep an eye out for official giveaways, and you’ll have a collection of cool, rare skins before you know it. The best part? All of these methods work for new and veteran players alike, so you can start earning free skins right now no matter what your rank is.