The 13 best stock video websites (free and paid)
The best stock video websites give you high-quality, ready-to-use footage, free or paid, to drop into branded content, social posts and longer productions without a shoot.
If you make video regularly, a good stock video website saves time, sharpens your visuals and stretches a budget. The catch is that not all libraries are equal: licensing terms, resolution and pricing vary widely, and the wrong choice can cost you in attribution headaches or copyright risk. Below are the 13 best stock video websites, free and paid, with what each one is actually good for.
The short version:
- Free libraries (Pixabay, Coverr, Pexels, Videvo) are ideal for social-first content and quick turnarounds, just read each licence.
- Paid libraries (Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Stocksy) earn their keep on higher-stakes, brand-led work where exclusivity and resolution matter.
- The right choice is the one whose licence, format and quality fit the job, not the one with the biggest catalogue.
- Stock fills gaps. It rarely builds a brand. We’ll come back to that at the end.
What are stock videos?
Stock videos are short clips of high-quality footage, shot for general use, that you license and edit into your own productions. Because they’re made for broad reuse, you can drop them into almost anything, social content, brand storytelling, explainer videos, short films, provided you stay within the licence.
Most stock clips run 30 seconds or less, and most libraries mix free footage with paid options.
Why does video still matter for brands?
Because audiences keep choosing it. Video drives purchase intent, according to Oberlo, eight in 10 people say they’ve been persuaded to buy a product after watching a brand’s video, and attention keeps pooling on video-first platforms, with over a billion hours of YouTube watched every day. Stock footage lowers the barrier to producing it. The harder question, making video that compounds into relevance rather than filling a content calendar, is one we’ll return to below.
What can you find on free stock video websites?
Almost anything. Type a query into the search bar, hit enter, and you’ll get a selection of clips to preview and download. Waves on a shore, penguins, Earth from orbit. If it’s a recognisable scene, someone has shot it.
The trade-off is that free libraries vary in resolution and licensing. Some ask for attribution, some don’t; some allow commercial use freely, some restrict it. Always read the terms before you publish.
Can I use stock videos in my own content?
Usually, yes. Most stock footage is cleared for reuse without copyright risk, but only if you use a reputable library (see below) and check the terms and conditions for each clip. “Free to download” is not the same as “free to use however you like”.
Once your video is edited, royalty-free music is the natural next layer. And if the footage is heading for Instagram, our guide to Instagram marketing will help you make it land.
How do I download stock videos without a watermark?
On a free stock video website, search for what you need, preview the clips, and click download. Anything offered for free downloads clean, no watermark. Paid clips carry a watermark until you pay the licence fee, which varies by site. The fee is what clears the watermark and grants the usage rights, so never strip a watermark by other means: that’s a copyright breach, not a workaround.
The 13 best free and paid stock video websites
A working shortlist, from completely free libraries to premium catalogues, with what each is best suited to.
Pixabay
Pixabay has more than 2.3 million images and videos under a simplified Pixabay licence, which lets you use content for free without crediting the filmmaker or photographer. You can also modify or adapt clips freely.
You’ll need to register to download. After that, search, click the free download button, and you’re done. There’s an option to donate to the artist via the ‘donate’ button or the green ‘coffee’ icon on their profile.
Best for: free, no-attribution footage in HD and 4K.
Features
- GIFs, vectors, illustrations and sound effects also available
- No requirement to credit the artist, though donations are welcome
- Videos in 4K and HD
Prices
- Free
Videezy
A free site, though you’ll need to check licensing on each clip individually. Most ask that you credit Videezy when you use their footage. There’s a wide variety of free clips, and anything marked premium can be bought with credits, one video to one credit.
Best for: free clips when you don’t mind crediting the source.
Features
- Unlimited downloads
- Free stock footage
- Fresh content added regularly
- No ads
Prices
- £15 for one credit
- £31 for five credits
- £39 for 10 credits
Vidsplay
A library of more than 400 free stock videos with new clips added weekly, handy for general-purpose footage. Vidsplay asks that you include a link back to them somewhere on your site in return for using their content. Most clips come in MP4 format.
Best for: general footage when a backlink isn’t a dealbreaker.
Features
- Download without creating an account
- Requires a link back to Vidsplay
Prices
- Free
Shutterstock
Best suited to larger businesses with the budget to match, Shutterstock offers a huge selection of video alongside royalty-free images and audio. The site is well designed, so finding the right clip is fast.
Best for: brand-led work that needs scale, breadth and clean commercial licensing.
Features
- Videos in SD, HD and 4K
- Access to 400 million assets
- Images, photos, vectors, videos and music
Prices
- £279 for five downloads a year
- £19 a month for one video (10 credits)
- For custom packages, contact Shutterstock
Adobe Stock
A paid and free content library, with a free 30-day trial of the premium option. Content is added daily, and one plan can be accessed by unlimited users, useful if footage runs through Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps already.
Best for: teams already working inside the Adobe ecosystem.
Features
- More than 200 million assets
- Free content available
- Videos in 4K and HD
- Usable across multiple devices
Prices
- £19.99 for 10 assets a month
Dareful
Not the biggest free library, but completely free, and you can use the content however you like as long as you credit the source and indicate any changes. Everything is shot by one videographer, Joel Holland. And he’s very good.
Best for: high-quality free 4K from a single, consistent eye.
Features
- Videos in 4K and HD
- All clips free to download
Prices
- Free
Coverr
A completely free library of hundreds of videos. Each download arrives as a ZIP containing the clip and a JPEG thumbnail.
Best for: clean, free footage with no attribution strings.
Features
- No watermarks or attribution required
- Free
- Comes with a JPEG thumbnail
Prices
- Free
Mazwai
Mazwai handpicks its free clips and keeps licensing simple, with no registration required. It does ask that you credit the videographer each time you use a clip.
Best for: curated, cinematic free footage when you can credit the maker.
Features
- Videos in SD and HD
- Artists must be credited
Prices
- Free
Free Nature Stock
Bees at work or birds mid-flight. Free Nature Stock is the place for natural-world footage. It’s free for both personal and commercial use, with no requirement to credit the filmmaker, though donations are encouraged.
Best for: nature and outdoor B-roll, free for commercial use.
Features
- Free nature footage
- Donations encouraged
Prices
- Free
Motion Elements
Pay per clip or take out a monthly plan that covers private and commercial projects. The monthly option allows unlimited downloads; one-off HD clips are £25.
Best for: high-resolution footage and motion graphics at volume.
Features
- Videos in 2K, 4K, HD and HD720
- Free options available
- Account required
- Four million assets
Prices
- £14 a month for unlimited downloads
- £25 for a single clip
- Free options available
Stocksy
For video that’s diverse, distinctive and a little different, Stocksy stands out, not least for its search, which can surface clips that are ‘conceptually’ and ‘visually’ similar to what you’re after. To download, you complete an invoicing form and an invoice is issued at checkout.
Best for: premium, design-led footage with a distinctive look.
Features
- UGC-style videos, animations and timelapse
- Premium members get custom galleries built by Stocksy’s research team
Prices
- £59 for 720p
- £139 for 1080p
- £238 for 4K
- £318 for ungraded 4K
Videvo
Videvo offers free stock video in 4K and HD, with no cap on how many times you reuse a clip.
Best for: free 4K footage with simple, reuse-friendly licensing.
Features
- Simple licensing agreement
- New videos uploaded daily
- Provides framing, angle and focal-length detail on download
Prices
- Free
Pexels
For Instagram Reels footage, Pexels is hard to beat. Content is curated by individual creators with their own style, downloads are free, and you’ll be offered the chance to donate to the videographer. Everything sits under the Pexels licence.
Best for: free, social-ready footage with a curated, creator-led feel.
Features
- Curated content
- High-quality, characterful footage suited to Instagram
Prices
- Free
How we see it: stock fills gaps, creators build brands
Stock video is a sharp tool for the right job: B-roll, transitions, backdrops, fast-turnaround social. What it can’t do is sound like you. The same clips are licensed by thousands of brands, so the more your content leans on stock, the more it blends into everyone else’s.
The footage that actually moves a brand tends to be original, made by creators whose audiences already trust them. That’s not a knock on stock. It’s a reminder of where it sits. Use stock to fill gaps in a production. Build the brand on content that’s genuinely yours.
Stock video FAQs
How do I choose between free and paid stock video websites?
Start from the job, not the catalogue. For social content and quick turnarounds, free libraries are often enough, just check whether the licence requires attribution or limits commercial use. For high-visibility, brand-led work where resolution, exclusivity and clean commercial rights matter, paid libraries are worth the spend.
Are there copyright limits on using free stock video commercially?
Yes. Even free clips can carry restrictions. Many sit under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) licence that allows commercial use without attribution, but others require crediting the creator or restrict commercial use entirely. Check the terms for each website, and each clip, before you publish, because improper use can lead to copyright issues.
How do I optimise stock footage for Instagram and TikTok?
Shoot the format to the platform. Both Instagram and TikTok favour vertical video; build for that first. Add text overlays, tight edits and a strong hook in the first couple of seconds so the footage feels native rather than dropped in. The closer it reads to platform-native content, the better it performs.
Stock gets you to good. Creators get you to distinctive.
Knowing the best stock video websites is genuinely useful. It’s how you keep a content calendar moving without a shoot for every clip. But the brands that win on video don’t lean on the same libraries as everyone else. They build original, creator-led content that audiences actually trust, then engineer it into a system that performs across platforms.
That’s the work we do. Vamp is a tech-enabled influencer marketing agency: we design creator-led content and the distribution systems behind it, so video becomes measurable growth rather than filler. Talk to us.