Lauter (German: [ˈlaʊtɐ] ⓘ) is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany.

Lauter has a station on the Zwickau–Schwarzenberg railway and is served by Regionalbahn trains, operated by Erzgebirgsbahn (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn) between Zwickau and Johanngeorgenstadt.

The town arose from a forest village (Waldhufendorf) established in the late 12th century on the western ridge of the Schwarzwasser Valley.

Besides agriculture and log driving, mining and basket making afforded the population livelihoods.

In the early 1950s, the BSG Empor Lauter football club played successfully in the DDR-Oberliga, until it was delegated to Rostock in 1954.