[4] Jon Freeman of Nash Country Weekly gave the album a grade of "A" and wrote that "Jason Isbell has a reporter's eye for detail and a poet's gift for a beautifully crafted turn of phrase".

He went on to say that "Jason's throaty rasp, not unlike Tyler Farr's, is the ideal vehicle for those stories [...] It may not be all pretty, but Something More Than Free is as real as it gets.

Club wrote that, "though Something More Than Free may not repeat Isbell's album-of-the-year accolades, it continues the magic of that breakthrough LP".

[6] Jeremy Winograd of Slant Magazine wrote, in an otherwise positive review, that Something More Than Free "retains Southeastern's intimate acoustic-based feel and heavyhearted lyrical matter, but it's even more smooth-edged and lacks the emotional gut-punches of its predecessor.

"[18] In a mixed review, Stephen Deusner of Pitchfork described Something More Than Free as "an album that contains too few surprises", and said that "the music does little to distinguish these characters or enliven the lyrics".