Don’t let your film or video project suffer because you can't find an affordable or free stock footage site for high-quality images and videos. Stock footage sites provide a way for filmmakers to get professional-level shots without paying the hefty price tag attached. But finding that perfect site with the perfect shot can be difficult, there are so many to choose from.
I've been collecting footage for online videos and websites since 2010 and have put together a list of the best stock footage sites that I personally use to make videos. Learn about each website below.
Here are the Top 14 free stock footage websites where you can get stock images and videos and use them in any projects you want.
1. Pexels
Pexels is a free stock footage website that provides high-quality and completely free stock video footage for anyone to use. The videos can be used in any project, commercial or personal, without the need for attribution. They have a wide variety of videos, such as cityscapes, landscapes, animals, people, food, and more. You can use any footage from Pexels without giving credit to anyone. Simply just go to Pexels and download the image or video that you want. There is no need to Sign up or Login to download from Pexels.
2. YouTube
Believe it or not, you can actually get free stock footage from YouTube. To get the footage you first have to search for the video that you want. After that click on filters. Now under the feature tab, you should be able to see creative commons. Just click on it and you will get all the videos that are Royalty-free. Now you can use them for whatever you want and you do not need to credit anyone.
3. Mixkit
You can get stock video clips, sound effects, music, and even video templates on Mixkit. It’s a library of resources provided by Envato. Envato is providing all of these resources for free with new footage being added every week, with no attribution required.
4. Pixabay
Pixabay offers over 2.6 million images and videos, all released under a simplified Pixabay License. All content on Pixabay can be used for free, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes. There are some downloads that may clarify what is not allowed. You don’t need to get permission or give credit to the artist to use or modify the content, but it’s better to always credit the owner. Pixabay has a great collection of HD stock images and videos.
5. Videvo
Videvo has thousands of free stock video footage, motion graphics, music, and as well as sound effects that are created by users of their community. The footage you download from Videvo will be licensed in a lot of different ways. You may not be able to use some footage for specific types of projects. Here’s a quick summary: Videvo Attribution License allows you to use the footage for free, but you have to credit the original owner. Clips with a Creative Commons 3.0 can also be used for free, with credit, and maybe remixed or adapted. Public Domain licenses mean you can do anything you want with that file.
6. Videezy
Videezy has quite a large collection of footage that are royalty-free for commercial and non-commercial use, but always make sure to check each footage’s specific licensing info to make sure your favorite footage is available to use. Most of the footage requires that you credit Videezy.com when using their footage. However, you can also purchase credits that will allow you to use footage without giving credits. On Videezy.com there’s a wide variety of high-quality footage to choose from, in both HD and 4K resolution. When searching for video footage on Videezy.com, any results marked with “Pro” are premium footage that is only available by paying with credits.
7. Vidsplay
There are new footage added every few weeks to the Vidsplay website, which makes it a great resource for keeping your media content fresh. And since Vidsplay has been around since 2010, there’s a huge backlog of older footages to pursue, too. You can download and use any footage for free, although you do need to provide attribution.
8. Coverr
Started by entrepreneurs and filmmakers who needed good-looking videos for their products, Coverr is intended to fill that same need for other up-and-coming brands. Now, it has thousands of free footage, which have been downloaded more than six million times. On Coverr all the videos are in HD, and available to download in MP4 format. No sign-up or attribution is required, you can just instantly download video footage that you may want on Coverr. You can use these beautiful clips in commercial or non-commercial video projects or personal ones and modify them the way you like them.
9. Life of Vids
Life of Vids has a nice collection of stock videos, clips, and loops that are free. Leeroy, an advertising agency in Montreal, Canada has collected all of these stock videos, clips, and loops. There are no copyright restrictions, but redistribution on other sites is limited to 10 videos. (If you feel so inclined, they welcome you to buy them a beer or give them a shoutout on your website.) New footage are added per week, and they’ve got a wonderful collection of free stock images that you can check out as well.
10. Splitshire
Daniel Nanescu a web designer is the one who created Splitshire. He wanted to offer his photos and videos free for personal and commercial use. The fact that all of these photos and videos were all made by one person makes all of these footages more unique than footages from other stock sites. The videos are mainly drone footage of beautiful outdoor scenes, and you can download them by clicking on the title below each video. You’re free to use them across all your social media channels, but you can’t sell them or use them in projects with inappropriate content such as violence, racism, or discrimination.
11. Clipstill
Clipstill makes a handful of its web-quality cinematic footage each month that is available for free for you to download, so you should check it out and stock up on footage for future use. You can also sign up with a one-time fee of $49 and can get unlimited downloads and you don’t have to wait around for the right footage to come along.
12. Dareful
Well, Dareful doesn’t have a collection of thousands or millions of footage, but maybe there will be 2 or 3 footage among the hundreds of open-source 4k royalty-free stock footage that will be to your liking. Formerly known as Stock Footage for Free, on Dareful you get stock footage that’s licensed under Creative Commons 4.0, which means you’re free to share and edit as long as you give the rightful credit and indicate if any changes were made. Joel Holland a videographer is the one who has shot all of this.
13. Mazwai
The stock footage and moving images on Mazwai are “hand-picked,” though we don't really know by who. The mysterious person that is choosing the videos that wind up here for download, is going to be high-definition content that’s either licensed under the Creative Commons 3.0 or under the Mazwai License. The Creative Commons 3.0 means you should make sure to credit the author and the Mazwai License means you can use it for whatever you want and do not have to credit anyone for it.
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