Public-domain instruments
...you can use them for free -- no need to ask for permission!
36QB6 (36-item questionnaire for the Big Six model of personality attributes, using items from International Personality Item Pool), developed in 2009, a preliminary instrument based on factors that most tend to emerge in inclusive-selection lexical studies in multiple languages that may exceed the Big Five in predictive capacity (Saucier, 2009, Journal of Personality)
Mini-Markers (40-item adjective measure of Big Five), developed in 1994, a relatively simple Big Five inventory with a fine track record
New 40 item version of the SDI (Survey of Dictionary-based Isms) , developed in 2009, recommended as better than the 2003 and 2000 versions indexed below; captures a fifth dimension as well as the basic four
28 item very brief version of SDI (Survey of Dictionary-based Isms), developed in 2003, recommended as better than the 2000 version linked below
28 item very brief version of SDI-B (Survey of Dictionary-based Isms, Version B), developed in 2000
You can't use the NEO-FFI for free, but if you already have NEO-FFI item responses you can rescore the items into subcomponents for free, as follows:
NEO-FFI subcomponents (from 1998 article in Journal of Personality Assessment): Norms and scoring key