20+ Places to Find Free Video Footage
FREE Video Footage can be an amazing tool for anyone who needs to create videos, or add video header backgrounds to their website. And while it’s not difficult to find lots of beautiful footage for sale online, tracking down free stock footage can be a little bit trickier.
The Legal Stuff: What You Need to Know When Using FREE Video Footage
- Not all stock footage is created equal as far as legality goes. Of course, you can’t just grab any footage off the internet and use it in your own marketing – but even footage that’s been licensed for public use may come with a set of rules and regulations that you need to understand. Be sure to check the Terms of Use, of any content you choose to use.
1. Pixabay
- Pixabay is famous for their extensive library of stock photos, but they offer a great selection of free stock videos as well. All of their FREE Video Footage is licensed under CC0.
- Pexels, like Pixabay, offers both stock photos and stock footage for free. All their content is licensed under CC0.
3. Videvo
- Videvo offers a large selection of free stock footage and motion graphics for you to choose from. In return, they request that users give them a shout-out on social media, although this isn’t mandatory.
4. Videezy
- Videezy has tons of beautiful, free HD and 4K videos in many categories for you to browse. They also offer some pro content that costs money. Not all of their clips are licensed under CC0, so make sure to click “License info” on each individual clip’s page to find out how you can use it.
- In addition to free stock videos, CuteStockFootage also offers a variety of other goodies – like photos, audio clips, fonts, and textures – under the “Free Resources” tab in their menu. If you use any of the footage here, you’re required to provide credit to cutestockfootage.com.
6. XStockVideo
- XStockVideo has a simple user interface and a number of popular categories you can search by. Their stock footage is free to use for non-commercial purposes. If you’re planning on using a clip for commercial purposes, you can buy an extended license for “a small fee.”
7. Vidsplay
- Vidsplay lets you search their collection of footage by category or by keyword. They require that you credit vidsplay.com if you use any of their clips.
- Need a background for your video? Ignite Motion has you covered. They appreciate – but don’t require – credit from people who use their clips.
10. Wave.video
- Users of an online video maker Wave.video have an access to the built-in 200+ million stock library of royalty-free photos and videos that they can use for creating videos. There are a lot of both free and paid video options, so you will always have a wide selection to choose from.
11. Mazwai
- If you’re looking for gorgeous, cinematic HD footage, take a look through Mazwai’s library. Their minimalistic grid layout means you might be scrolling for a while to find what you need, but the clips are so high-quality that you probably won’t mind. Most of Mazwai’s footage is licensed under an attribution license.
12. Motion Elements
- MotionElements currently offers upwards of 3000 free stock videos, and they post new ones every week. They also have a larger selection of footage available for purchase, as well as other content like images, GIFs, and audio clips. They require a credit back to their site if you use their work.
13. Splasheo
- Not all of Splasheo’s products are free, but if you’re searching for an outro to boost your YouTube branding, you’ll find a variety to choose from under the “Free Downloads” tab. The site doesn’t specify whether users must credit them when using their clips.
15. Production Crate
- Production Crate puts a lot of resources – like stock footage, special effects, templates, and audio – right at your fingertips. It’s free to use, but you will need to make an account. Free accounts are limited to five downloads per day.
16. Free HD Stock Footage on Vimeo
- This Vimeo group has 258 free videos to choose from, all created by Vimeo user Phil Fried. New videos are uploaded sporadically. The licensing type for these videos isn’t specified.
17. Coverr
- Coverr offers lots of eye-pleasing videos that you can use on your website’s homepage. They update the site with seven new videos every Monday. You can use videos from Coverr however you want, with the exception of reselling them or posting them on other stock footage sites.
18. Life of Vids
- Life of Vids is run by Leeroy, a digital agency based in Montreal. While the footage selection on this site is somewhat limited, the clips are very attractive. They have lots of good aerial shots available for download. Licensing information isn’t provided on the site, although the owners stipulate that users can redistribute a maximum of 10 videos on other sites.
19. SplitShire
- SplitShire is the brainchild of web designer Daniel Nanescu, who wanted to share his collection of FREE Video Footage and videos with the world. The only restrictions on what you can do with the content: you may not resell it, upload it to other stock websites, or create anything offensive with it.
- On Stock Footage 4 Free, you’ll find free clips in a wide variety of categories, from nature to transportation to sports. New clips are usually added every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back frequently.
- Beachfront B-Roll is a video blog that offers HD FREE Video Footage and animated backgrounds. Because of the format, you may have to hunt a little to find what you’re looking for here, although the site does let you choose a category to browse at the top of the page.
- Pond5 charges for most of their footage, but they do offer free older footage as well. All of these clips are in the public domain.
26. Movie Tools
- At MovieTools you can download free loops and backgrounds to use in your own non-commercial videos. Their selection isn’t large, but you may still be able to find something useful here. If you want to use any of these clips for commercial purposes, you’ll need to download the HD version for a fee.
27. Monzoom
- Not everything on Monzoom is free, but they do have a freebies page that consists mostly of backgrounds and intros. Users aren’t required to credit the site.
29. OpenFootage
- OpenFootage has a good selection of nature, time-lapse, and abstract videos on their site. You can download the low-resolution versions of these videos for free. Higher-quality versions carry a fee. Free downloads are licensed under a Creative Commons attribution license.