Abstract Free vibration of the functionally graded (FG) sandwich beams are studied by a meshfree boundary-domain integral equation method. Two sandwich beams, namely, FG core with homogeneous face sheets and homogeneous core with FG face sheets are considered in the study. Based on the two-dimensional elasticity theory, the boundary-domain integral equations are derived by applying the elastostatic fundamental solutions. Radial integration method is employed to transform the domain integrals related to material nonhomogeneity and inertia effect into boundary integrals, hence a meshfree scheme involving boundary integrals only is achieved. Each layer in the sandwich beam is modeled separately and the equilibrium and compatibility conditions are enforced at the interfaces to derive the equations for the whole sandwich beam. Extensive parametric study is presented to examine the influence of material composition, material gradient, layer thickness proportion, thickness to length ratio and boundary conditions on the free vibration of FG sandwich beams.