It seems like highway robbery to pay for a ringtone. Most of us have hundreds of perfectly good MP3s on our computers and phones, we just need to shorten them and set them as ringtones. IPhone users also need to convert MP3s to M4R format.

A quick and easy way to make ringtones for any smartphone, including iPhone, is a service called Free Ringtones.

First, click the browse button and choose an MP3 from your computer’s music collection.

Agree to the terms of service and your MP3’s timeline will appear on the screen. Use the slider to choose the 30 seconds of your song you want to use as a ringtone.

You can listen to your selection by clicking the play button.

When you are satisfied with your ringtone, choose a category for it, then list the song title and artist. Click Create Ringtone when finished.

Your ringtone is now ready. Click the link to download it for either iPhone or other smartphones, then install it on your phone.

In our tests, Free Ringtones made clean, clear ringtones from our favorite MP3s. As promised, the ringtones worked great for iPhone. So, if you have an MP3 of the song you want to use as a ringtone, this is one of the fastest and easiest ways to convert it for your phone.