You need video content.
Why?
Because 91% of people say they'd like to see more video from brands. Not to mention, 92% of video marketers state video gives them a positive ROI.
So If you’re not already using video as part of your marketing strategy, now’s the time to start.
But consistently sharing high-quality video content is tough.
Doing so requires one of two things: A hefty marketing budget or years of dedication to the craft of video making. But what if you don’t have a suitcase of money or crazy video skills?
We’ve got you covered.
In this article, you’ll learn about 12 video libraries where you can find free stock footage to use in your social media posts, on your website, and in your ad campaigns.
Let’s dive in.
12 Websites For Free Stock Video Footage
1. Pixabay
Best for: Anyone looking for great free stock videos.
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Pixabay has more than 2.7 million royalty-free video clips and photos shared by its generous community of creators.
The best part? There’s no risk of accidentally infringing copyright by not checking or understanding your chosen clip’s licensing.
This is because all of Pixabay’s free stock videos are released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0). This means that you don’t need permission to use or modify the clips, and don’t even have to credit the creator.
However, it’s still good practice—and good karma—to give the creator a shoutout whenever possible.
Pixabay’s huge selection of free stock videos are formatted as MP4s and are generally under a minute in length. You can also download clips in the resolution of your choice for commercial and non-commercial use across digital and print mediums.
Plus, the library includes motion graphics, HD footage, and 4K videos.
There are free stock videos for every imaginable occasion or need—from nature and space to people at events or business settings.
2. Videvo
Best for: Those looking to find a unique clip and who aren’t in need of 4K.
Videvo provides free hd stock footage and motion graphics created by its community.
Its extensive library includes plenty of HD stock videos and a small collection of 4K clips.
The quality of free stock video clips on Videvo varies: Some are highly professional and others have clearly been shot without a tripod. Some clips are delivered as MP4s and others in QuickTime format.
As with many free stock video and photo websites, a lot of thumbnails are actually adverts from other sites that charge for their stock footage, like Shutterstock.
But there are still plenty to of free stock videos to choose from, like this one from YuNu:
Clips downloaded from Videvo will have one of three licenses, and it’s important to understand the differences.
Here’s what each of the three licenses allows you to do:
1. The Royalty Free
This is Videvo’s most common license. It allows you to use the clip for free without crediting the creator.
You can publish the video wherever you like as long as you edit the clip in some way—such as adding music, titles, or your business logo, or including it as part of a larger video project.
2. The Videvo Attribution
This next license allows you to use the clip free of charge, but you must provide a credit to the original author of the clip.
To learn more about how to credit the author properly, check out Videvo’s licensing guidelines and scroll down to the section titled “How Do I Credit the Author?”
You can do this by adding text to your video, or by simply writing the author’s details underneath the video.
Just like the Royalty Free licence, you can’t redistribute the clips in their original form on other platforms or services.
3. The Creative Commons 3.0 Unported
This license is similar to the Videvo Attribution licence, but you’re also free to distribute the clip in its original, unedited form. However, you’re not allowed to sell the clip in its original form.
You must also attribute the original author wherever the clip is used or distributed.
This allows you to use the clip for commercial projects, but make sure there are no identifiable brands, persons, or private property in the clip unless you’ve obtained permission.
With me so far?
To find out which license a stock video clip has, check the Licenses and Usage section next to the video:
3. Pexels
Best for: A wide selection of free stock videos and mockup green-screen videos.
Pexels launched as a free stock photo site, but it has since added a large library of free stock videos.
Its free stock video footage collection is under Creative Commons Zero (CC0). So you can use and edit the videos for personal or commercial purposes for free, and without crediting the author.
Most of the videos are less than a minute long and Pexels has a large selection of clips in all sorts of niches.
The time-lapse videos are particularly good, and there are plenty of great clips from GoPro users!
Plus, Pexels also offers plenty of “mockup” stock videos.
Many of these clips include mobile devices featuring a green screen, like in the image below. These allow you to replace the green screen using a technique called chroma keying.
The quality of the free stock videos is mixed.
While you’ll come across plenty of 4K videos on the site, most of the good footage is delivered as MP4 video in HD.
Like Videvo, Pexels also includes stock video advertisements from other websites, like Shutterstock. These can usually be found in the sidebar of each video page.
As a bonus, Pexels has a great library of stock images.
4. Videezy
Best for: Aerial footage and clips featuring nature.
Videezy is another free stock video website with a wide variety of clips in HD and 4K resolution. Plus, this site is awesome for aerial drone footage.
Again, the quality is mixed but there are plenty of professional clips.
All of the site’s clips are delivered in MP4 format and you can check the resolution below each video.
While not all of Videezy’s videos are free, there is a large selection of free stock video clips designated for personal and commercial use. It’s also easy to tell the difference, as the premium clips have a green “Pro” tag on their thumbnails.
If you use free stock videos from Videezy, you need to give attribution in one of two ways.
If you plan on including the clip on TV, YouTube, or another broadcasting channel, you must include “Videezy.com” in the credits.
And if you plan on using the clip on your website, you must include the following code on the webpage:
<a href=”http://www.videezy.com/”>B Roll provided by Videezy.com</a>
Alternatively, you can become a Videezy premium member to download clips to use without attribution.
At any rate, here’s a peek at one of the freebies:
5. Life of Vids
Best for: Businesses looking for high-quality free stock videos for marketing purposes.
Life of Vids provides free stock videos, clips, and loops. The website is owned and operated by Canadian marketing agency Leeroy.
The site doesn’t have a huge catalog of free stock videos, but they’re high quality. See for yourself:
All of the clips are free to use for personal and commercial purposes with attribution. However, redistribution on other platforms is limited to 10 stock videos.
The videos are delivered in MP4 format, with HD files available. You can download footage from collections like food, nature, people, office, drone, and more. Plus, Life of Vids lets you choose the resolution you’d prefer.
New videos are added regularly, and the site also offers royalty-free photos for those looking to mix things up.
6: Coverr
Best for: Beautiful stock footage for website and video conferencing backgrounds.
With a great selection of beautiful free stock videos, Coverr makes it easy to find that perfect cinematic clip to use in your campaign.
Plus, the website simplifies the process of using the available footage. Just click on the video you like and embed it into your webpage or film. No fees, no signup, no attribution needed. The platform even provides instructional videos and code snippets.
While Coverr doesn’t have the number or depth of videos as some of the other sites on our list, it offers a decent mix of aerial, time-lapse, and cinematic clips for creative projects.
And, oh yeah: Zoom virtual backgrounds. These are perfect for replacing your messy room with cool virtual backgrounds for video conferencing
7. Splitshire
Best for: Free stock videos of nature and the outdoors with a consistent, unique style.
Splitshire is a website created by web designer Daniel Nanescu, who wanted a place to make his stock videos and photos available for free personal and commercial use.
The clips on this stock video site focus heavily on nature and the outdoors and are very professional.
The main benefit of using free stock videos from Splitshire is the unique style and consistency that’s hard to find elsewhere. For example, if you were to create a video using multiple clips from Splitshire, it would result in a unified style.
This is evidently a result of all of the photos and videos having been created by a single person: Daniel Nanescu.
Nanescu created SplitShire “with the simple aim of giving life to photographs that would have gone into oblivion without any utility.” The site has had over two million downloads to date, indicating how well-received Nanescu’s work has been.
Of course, there are drawbacks to this being a one-man operation: Compared to the other sites listed, there are very few free stock videos to choose from.
8. Clipstill
Best for: Free cinemagraphs.
OK, so Clipstill isn’t a free stock video website. Instead, it’s a library of high-quality cinemagraphs.
What’s a cinemagraph?
Good question. A cinemagraph is a bit like a GIF, but only some parts of the image are animated on a continuous loop.
Here’s an example featuring a woman on a bridge in the snow:
Cinemagraphs have a mesmerizing and hypnotic effect, so they’re sure to make your social media posts stand out.
You need to pay for most of the cinemagraphs on Clipstill, but the site does have a small selection of free cinemagraphs that it updates each month.
So make sure to bookmark the site and check back regularly.
All of the cinemagraphs are delivered as MP4s and are free to use for any commercial or personal use.
9. Dareful
Best for: Very high-quality free 4K stock videos.
Dareful (formerly known as Stock Footage 4 Free) is a site full of great quality free 4K stock videos that you can use however you want to. All footage on the site has been shot by Joel Holland, who is the creator of the popular stock image and video platform Storyblocks.
Plus, the site seems to focus on quality over quantity, with an amazing collection of high-quality landscape clips and looping backgrounds.
The categories and search bar makes it easy to find the ideal clip. Categories include aerial, fireworks, mountains, lakes, beach, summer, and more.
You do need to create an account on Dareful to download clips. You can do this with your email address. Alternatively, you can sign up through Facebook to access the site’s resources. Dareful offers a detailed description for each video.
However, you have to provide attribution whenever you use a stock video from this website, as the clips are offered under a Creative Commons license (CC 4.0).
10. Vidsplay
Best for: Creators looking for generic free stock videos.
Vidsplay is another website with a large library of free stock videos, with new clips being added each week.
The quality of the free stock videos varies, but there’s plenty of professional footage:
All of the videos on the site are available to use for personal or commercial purposes for free.
However, Vidsplay requires that “you visibly add a credit link to Vidsplay.com somewhere on your website, ending credits of your video production or in the description for online media channels.”
Most of the free stock videos on the site are delivered as MP4s. What’s more, you can easily see details about each stock video, such as resolution, frame rate, and duration, under the preview clip.
Plus, you don’t need to create an account to download clips from the site.
The site can get confusing, as Vidsplay mixes advertisements with their video clip thumbnails. So, just be sure you don’t keep accidentally clicking through to other websites.
11. Storyblocks
Best for: Extremely high-quality stock video footage for businesses with a small budget.
Storyblocks has a humongous collection of great stock videos which you can access for a monthly fee.
Simply use the intuitive interface to refine your search and find the perfect stock video. There’s footage, backgrounds, and after effects. Plus, there are tons of stock videos in HD and 4K.
There’s a great deal of aerial footage, time-lapses, and video featuring different environments and situations.
And all of the stock videos on Storyblocks are high-quality and professional.
To download stock videos from the site, you need to be on one of Storyblocks’ payment plans. It costs $15 to download up to five videos each month. For unlimited downloads and access to videos in 4K, it costs $30 per month.
You can use these stock videos for any use, but you’re not allowed to share the clip as a standalone file.
12. Shutterstock
Best for: Businesses with a larger budget who are looking for quality and variety.
Shutterstock is probably the best-known premium stock video and photo library online. The site features more than 11 million royalty-free 4K and HD stock videos.
Their interface is extremely well designed, making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. You can even search by resolution and frames per second.
The site has a uniform cost per video across the entire site, with higher resolution files costing more:
- SD (standard definition): $65
- HD (high definition): $79
- 4K: $179
Although Shutterstock’s stock videos are pricey, the lack of adverts, easy-to-use interface, and an abundance of professional footage make the site a great choice for larger companies. Plus, Shutterstock also offers a vast selection of royalty-free images and audio clips.
Using free videos for your business
Now that you’ve discovered the best places online to source free clips, it's time to get creative with your marketing and advertising campaigns.
All of these stock video websites have their pros and cons, but one thing’s for certain: There are heaps of great free stock video footage out there.
To summarize, here are our top free stock video website recommendations:
- Pixabay
- Videvo
- Pexels
- Videezy
- Life of Vids
- Coverr
- Splitshire
- Clipstill
- Dareful
- Vidsplay
- Storyblocks
- Shutterstock
If you’re still unsure where to start, head to one of our favorite free stock video websites: Pixabay or Life of Vids.
And if you want to put your own spin on any of the videos, use an online video editor.
Remember, always check the licensing information before using a stock video clip or image.
Have we missed a great free stock video website? Do you have a favorite stock video site, and if so, why? Let us know in the comments below!
