Stock videos are the need of the hour, whether you are a blogger, Youtuber, or a presenter.
Did you know that people remember 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 70% of what they hear and see? Consumption of videos on the Internet is rising rapidly.
Based on my personal experience and research, I have curated some of the best stock video sites that can raise the quality of your overall content significantly.
Top 13 Stock Video Sites Reviews
If you are working on a small budget and don’t have time and resource to shoot videos for your project, here are the 13 best free or paid stock video sites available in the market which can fulfill all your requirements in a flash:
1. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the top global providers of high-quality, licensed videos, photographs, music, illustrations, and vectors in the industry.
It adds thousands of images and videos in its huge library every week with the help of its massive community of more than 650,000 contributors.
The platform has a wide range of high-quality photos and stock videos which you can easily filter using “Newest,” “Most downloaded” and many others.
It lets you search your video or photograph by the name of the artist which helps in maintaining consistency in the designs used within a project.
Shutterstock offers two video subscription plans listed below:
- 10 Video Clips – $159 per month
- 20 Video Clips – $199 per month
The above mentioned subscription plans require an annual commitment but billed monthly.
If you don’t want to take the subscription, you can go with their clip packs listed below for 5, 10 and 25 packs.
Note: Video packs can only be used for 12 months from the purchased date
Pros
- The platform supports around 20 languages including English, French, and Spanish
- It consists of a massive collection of more than 12 million video clips and 250 million images to choose from
- An easy to use interface
- You have an option to search by the artist, similar photos, and model
Cons
- Expensive video plans and single purchases
- Customer service is not the best in the industry
2. Pond5
Pond5 is one of the most popular stock video sites launched in 2006, which consists of millions of high-quality royalty-free videos along with music and motion graphics.
The platform provides a comprehensive library of videos that are easily searchable via the search option and more often than not, you will be able to find what you are looking for.
On average, the price of stock videos on the platform ranges from $49 to $199. You can also buy monthly or yearly membership if you have a regular need.
It has two membership plans listed below:
- Monthly membership – $199
- Annual membership – $999
Pros
- It allows you to filter your videos by price, resolution, FPS (frames per second), duration, and additional filters such as Green Screen, 360/VR, Alpha Matte etc.
- Over 17 million high stock videos are available in 4k, HD, and 360 to choose from, which is the largest in the industry
- An interactive community of designers and creative
- A wide range of sound effects is available at low prices
Cons
- Licenses can get really expensive for the right coverage
3. Dissolve
Dissolve is a young stock footage company, but with their technical quality and aesthetic style, they have gained a good position in the market.
The quality of video clips is really impressive as they are shot on high-end equipment.
The stock videos start from $29, and the starting price of photos is $5. Average prices of royalty-free footage are listed below:
- SD – $29
- HD – $29-$499
- 4K – $49-$549
Pros
- It has over 1.7 million stock video clips and 1.3 million photos available on the platform
- A facility to have a quick view on hovering over the video clips
- Videos can be downloaded in different resolutions including SD, HD, and 4K
- You can get a lucrative discount on bulk purchases of above $1000
- Extended licenses are available for the resale of products
Cons
- Extra licensing coverage can get a little bit expensive
- Volume discounts are only based on money spent and not in the product quantity
4. Film Supply
Film Supply is the world’s leading platform for licensing premium stock footage. Film Supply’s stock videos are being used by several big brands, including Netflix, Google, and Nike.
The majority of the stock videos available on the platform are of 4K picture quality and are submitted by the world’s best filmmakers.
It takes pride in having more than 220 hand-picked contributors from all over the world that allow users to get highly curated collections exclusive to the website.
FilmSupply also claims to help you in your hunt for a perfect clip at no extra cost. You just have to connect with their customer support with your requirements.
Film Supply has categorized stock license pricing into three categories which are as follows:
- Internal – $49 per clip
- Industrial – $79 per clip
- Web/Digital – $199 per clip
If you are looking for extended use, then you can get a quote for your requirement.
Pros
- It allows you to filter your searches through various filters such as category, moods, settings, shot details, format, and filmmaker
- 75% of all the stock videos are available in 4K
- Option to add your selected clips in the Favorites section and then add all your favorites directly to the cart section for purchase
- A refund or exchange of footage can be availed within the 14 days of purchase of the footage
Cons
- Montage footage is difficult to find
5. Rocket Stock
Rocket Stock is a subsidiary of Shutterstock which provides a curated collection of high-quality video elements and After Effects templates from leading designers.
They have several video element packs starting from $79 which goes up to $199.
To buy the video packs, it will redirect you to ShutterStock’s website for the completion of the payment.
Pros
- It offers unlimited use of a video pack or template in as many projects as you need from just a single license
- It offers a free After Effects template once a month to its members
- It has a high-quality blog that offers informative tutorials on the effective use of special effects, recent tech and developments, and much more in a simple and efficient way
Cons
- Variety of creative elements is not that good as compared with the other competitors in the industry
6. Art Grid
Art Grid is a video-focused subscription-based platform that provides unlimited footage with quality ranging up to 8K resolution and RAW.
Art Grid possesses a library of stock footage submitted by the world’s best cinematographers.
All stock footage available on the platform is under a royalty-free license which means that you can use the clips multiple times at no additional cost.
Once you buy the licensed subscription, Art Grid gives you unlimited access to download its entire stock footage gallery. Now let’s have a look at the paid subscription it offers.
It offers three plans for stock video clips which include:
- Junior – $25 per month ($299 billed annually)
- Creator – $40 per month ($479 billed annually)
- Professional – $50 per month ($599 billed annually)
Pros
- It offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on all its plans
- A simple, easy-to-use user interface that helps you find exactly what you need immediately
- The footage is of high-quality shot with the best cameras available and in formats up to 8k and Raw
- You get a library of footage under collections which allows the users to find similar clips filmed with the same actors and in the same light easily
Cons
- You need to sign up first in order to get the selected video footage
7. iStock Photo
iStock is an online royalty-free stock videos and images provider owned by Getty Images, which came into existence in 2000 in Canada.
It helps bring life to your project through 4K stock footage and HQ quality video clips. It allows the audience to have a deep level of connection with your project.
The expert video researchers of iStock Photo explore the latest video trends each month to add fresh content in its huge collection.
It has divided the videos into different categories to make it easy for the users to search for what they are actually looking for.
iStock offers three pricing plans to choose from as per your needs which include:
- Credit Packs – 6 credits for $60 (1 Credit-1 image and videos are of either 6 or 18 credits)
- Month-to-Month – 10 images per month for $100
- Annual Plan – 10 images per month for $70
Pros
- It offers a rollover of up to 250 unused downloads month to month with an annual subscription
- You get a royalty-free license which allows you to use the copyrighted video clips and photographs on an ongoing basis
- More than 160,000 contributors across the globe
Cons
- It does not give photo descriptions on hover
8. Stock Adobe
Stock Adobe is a collection of millions of royalty-free stock images, videos, vectors, graphics, illustrations, and much more.
It was founded in 2014 and with a strong partnership with other businesses; soon it became a huge stock library consisting of more than 90 million images, videos, graphics, templates, and 3D assets.
As it offers complete integration with all the applications of the Adobe Creative Cloud, it becomes easy for the users to sell, buy, download or edit their images, videos, graphics, templates, etc. with just a few clicks.
It comes with an added advantage that if you like an image or a video on Stock Adobe and want to use it in your project; you can instantly import it on any Creative Suite application you use, such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, or InDesign.
Once you have tested the creative and are completely satisfied with it, you can finally purchase it and Adobe will immediately remove the watermark and update it in your project.
Stock Adobe pricing is available in subscriptions and credit packs:
Subscription Plans
- 10 Standard Images a month – $49.99/month ($49.99/month for annual commitment)
- 40 Standard Images a month – $99.99/month ($79.99/month for annual commitment)
- 750 Standard Images a month – $249.99/month ($199.99/month for annual commitment)
Credit Packs
- 5 Credits – $49.95
- 16 Credits – $149.99
- 40 Credits – $359.99
- 80 Credits – $669.99
- 150 Credits – $1200.00
Pros
- It offers ten free stock images for the first month, as a 30-day trial
- An option to download the preview file first before investing your money in it
- Stock Adobe gets easily integrated with other Adobe software products to streamline your workflow helps you get an idea of which image/video looks best for you
Cons
- Images are few and a little bit expensive as compared to other providers such as Shutterstock
9. Pexels
Founded in 2014, Pexels is providing high quality and stock photos completely free and are licensed under the Pexels license.
It is popular stock photography and video store which competes against big brands such as iStock, Gett Images etc.
Pros
- All the photographs and videos are entirely free, even for commercial use
- All the stock videos and images are tagged and easily searchable through their Discover pages
- Pexels add hundreds of hand-picked videos and photos on a daily basis
- Simple and easy-to-use user interface
- You have an option to browse through photos by their color
Cons
- It has a limited number of stock videos and photographs
10. StoryBlocks
StoryBlocks is an extensive library of stock 4K and HD video clips along with animated backgrounds and After Effects templates.
It has gained popularity among the footage buyers and producers through its high-quality footage and lucrative subscription model.
It has three pricing plans for stock videos which include:
- Basic Video – $8.25 per month billed annually
- Unlimited Video – $16.58 per month billed annually
- Unlimited All Access – $29.08 per month billed annually
Pros
- It has more than 850,000 HD, 4K footage, After Effects templates, and motion backgrounds to choose from
- Low prices as compared to other stock footage agencies
- All the footage clips are available in MOV and MP4 formats, and you can download both file formats at no extra cost
Cons
- It requires you to sign up to be able to license and download your video/photograph from this source
11. Video Hive
Video Hive is an online platform having a huge library of stock footage, audio, photos, graphics, and web themes & templates.
It is a part of the Envato marketplace network which has more than 500,000 items that are available for download. It covers almost everything that you may need for your project.
On average, the stock videos are available from $4 to $200 per video. You can also buy the subscription for $16.50 per month.
Pros
- It has more than 1460,056 royalty-free stock footage and video effects to choose from
- An online forum is available for the members to make great connections with each other apart from sharing knowledge with each other
- A free video editing and shooting tutorials video facility is available
- You can choose a lot of filter options such as tags, price, rating, resolution etc.
Cons
- It does not offer any direct technical support on the use of items
12. Videezy
Videezy is another free stock video website having a variety of video clips in HD and 4K resolutions. It is the best platform for aerial footage and clip related to nature.
The majority of the stock video clips on the platform are free, which can be used for personal and commercial purposes.
Videezy offers three plans for stock footage, including:
- 1 Credit – $19
- 5 Credits – $39
- 10 Credits – $49
Pros
- It offers free stock videos as well for personal, educational, editorial, and commercial use with attribution
- You can get a refund of the credit pack purchase within 14 days of the purchase date, in case you are not satisfied and haven’t used it
- Displays stock video category wise which makes it easy to find videos
- Allows you to download videos in MP4 and MOV formats
Cons
- The free account has ads which can be frustrating
13. MixKit
Similar to Pexels, MixKit is another stock video, music, and Premier Pro templates provider which offers royalty-free assets completely free.
It is also owned by Envato It has a curated gallery of high-quality videos and animations contributed by some of the world’s most talented creators and all the stock footage is licensed for free.
MixKit is rich in extraordinary 4K, HD stock footage available for every occasion with no attribution required.
Though it cannot be considered as one of the biggest collections of stock footage, but the quality is great and can easily be searched using the category.
Pros
- The website is fast and easy to use
- It intends to add ten new videos every week
- It offers a curated collection of videos for your personal and commercial use for free
Cons
- As it is new in the marketplace, you will find fewer videos as compared to others in the list
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you in your search for the best stock videos for your project. I will be updating this list from time to time whenever I find a platform worth including here.
Comment below to let me know if I was able to provide the value which you were looking for along with your personal experience with these platforms.
