You may pronounce it with a stopped /d/ or without it—/frɛndz/ or frɛnz/—in practice, nobody will notice.
ell.stackexchange.com/users/32/StoneyB on hiatus
Not much of a transition needed.
Compare with the word cards , it does not become cars .
If your native language does not have that 'ds' sound/transition, I can understand that it might be hard for you to pronounce it.
In that case you can get away with frɛnz
just make sure you get that z-sound.
You could maybe get away with frɛntz if you say it fast but that might sound a bit Germanish.
ell.stackexchange.com/users/716/Viktor Mellgren
The ds at the end becomes a z sounds, like zoo
ell.stackexchange.com/users/10325/jgritty
It is pronounced with the affricate [d͡z].
A good way of thinking of it is as the "j" sound /d͡ʒ/
but with your tongue at the location of /d/, either touching the back of your teeth or closely behind them.
Also, make sure to only touch the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue.
ell.stackexchange.com/users/11259/Brett Yarberry
This is very accent specific and there's no real "wrong" way within the following z - the D is softened to the point that the ds becomes a Z sound Dz - the D is slightly softened, but the D is still pronounced.
The S becomes a Z sound Dss/tss - the S becomes almost a hiss, with the D remaining fairly sharp and the D almost resembling a T ss - as above, the s becomes a hiss but the D is softened or almost entirely dropped
My own accent (one of the many North-Western English accents) mostly uses the latter two
ell.stackexchange.com/users/11224/Jon Story
So I can pronounce  friend  just fine. But when you add an  s  to it how do you transition from the  d  sound to the  s  sound? Do you just ignore the  d  altogether?
How to pronounce "friends"?
ell.stackexchange.com
<pronunciation>
ell.stackexchange.com/questions/72306
ell.stackexchange.com/users/3947/Vic
Not much of a transition is needed. The  ds  at the end becomes a  z  sound, like  zoo. It is pronounced with the affricate [d͡z]. Not much of a transition is needed, it is pronounced with the affricate [dz].
Not much of a transition is needed, it is pronounced with the affricate [dz].