It’s never been easier to find stock video for your content. But finding stock video that's high quality and right for your needs? Well, that's less straightforward.
There are seemingly infinite stock video sites out there, with varying levels of quality. You might think you’ve hit on the perfect clip, only to preview it and find it’s too shaky. Or you could land on a library of 4k footage only to discover it costs a fortune. To save you hours trying to find the right stock video for your next project, we’ve done the research for you.
Whether you’re a pro filmmaker with a bit of extra budget, or a YouTuber or TikToker looking for high quality free stock footage, we break down the pros and cons of the best stock video sites so you can start your search with confidence.
The best stock video sites for content creators
On the hunt for a workout clip? Aerial footage? Film to slot into your next YouTube video? The perfect stock video site to start your search will depend on your budget, type of content you create and quality you expect. We've done the research for you and pulled together a list of seven platforms that should cover all bases – with both free and paid options. Let's get into it.
1. Uppbeat - Free (or you can pay for unlimited access)
Best for: Curated footage from real filmmakers with the added bonus of music, sound effects, LUTS and motion graphics too.
Pros: Uppbeat has everything a creator needs. It’s home to hundreds of thousands of 4K stock footage clips shot by real filmmakers and licensed for use across all social platforms, including YouTube. Uppbeat is also intentionally curated with creators in mind. That means less fluff or filler clips and more genuinely useful footage, searchable through easy-to-use filters. Even better, you can start downloading with three free downloads which get topped up every single month.
Cons: If you want unlimited downloads of stock video you’ll need to upgrade to one of Uppbeat’s Creator or Pro plans. The pay off here is that you’ll get the added bonus of royalty-free music, sound effects, LUTs and motion graphics at the same time, and the knowledge you’re supporting real filmmakers who earn from every download.
2. Pexels - Free
Best for: Volume seekers. If you want thousands of free clips to search through, this is your jackpot.
Pros: Want a platform that’s 100% free to use? Pexels is that. The platform has hundreds of thousands of 4K clips, completely free to download with no attribution required. That means you can use your downloads across all social platforms without copyright claims.
Cons: Anyone can upload footage to Pexels (your mum, your neighbour, your dog) so quality can sometimes vary. This, paired with the vast number of clips, can make it hard to find exactly what you want without a lot of filtering.
3. Pixabay - Free
Best for: When you need a quick video, with no cost or strings attached.
Pros: Like Pexels, Pixabay is a completely free platform with an enormous catalog of stock video – no attribution required. This makes it great for when you need a quick download without any strings attached.
Cons: The catalog isn’t curated, so quality can vary. Pixabay is also less creator-focused and the search filters aren’t the best. Put simply: it might take you quite a while to find something close to what you want.
4. Shutterstock - Paid
Best for: Quality footage when money isn’t a sticking point.
Pros: Shutterstock is a beast of a stock footage platform, boasting over 45 million video clips in HD and 4K. It’s also recently leant into AI search and video generation, which for some people will be a bonus.
Cons: Shutterstock may have every video you could possibly think of, but you’ll have to pay for it. To download a single video you could be paying upwards of $65. The better option is to take out a subscription, but these are still pricey and won’t get you unlimited downloads either.
5. Adobe Stock - Paid
Best for: Creators who work with Adobe Creative Cloud.
Pros: Easy integration means you can download an Adobe Stock video and load it into your Creative Cloud in one click. Quality is high across the platform, and the footage is also royalty-free so you shouldn’t run into any copyright issues if you read the T&Cs.
Cons: Adobe Stock is an add on, not a perk of Adobe Creative Cloud. Just six video downloads will cost you $99.99 dollars on their monthly plan. This price point might work for large teams or organizations, but your average creator could find it unaffordable, especially when there are so many great alternatives for free stock video out there.
6. Mixkit - Free
Best for: Creators who want to browse quickly and download for free.
Pros: Mixkit stock footage is free to download, with complete coverage for all your content needs. It has a smaller library (around 46k clips), but the quality is consistently higher than you might see on other free sites.
Cons: Whilst quality isn’t an issue, it still might be tricky to find the perfect clip. If you’re on the hunt for specifically niche footage, you might come across some walls fast. 46,000 might seem like a large number of clips, but it’s not when you take into account the library hasn’t been curated for specific creator-needs.
7. Envato - Paid
Best for: Professional-level stock footage at a reasonable price.
Pros: If you have a bit of extra cash to spend on high quality footage, Envato could be for you. Monthly plans start at $33 dollars which is affordable compared with other paid platforms. You’ll also get the added bonus of music, graphics and a lifetime commercial license.
Cons: Envato doesn’t have a free plan or trial, so you’ll have to invest to decide whether it’s right for you. The platform also has less of a focus on creators, so the filters and categories might be broader than you’d find on a more curated site like Uppbeat.
What to look for in stock video
Before you decide which platform is the right one for you, there are a few things you need to consider. Weigh up these four main factors before committing time (and potentially money) into your stock video search:
- Affordability: Is the stock footage easily accessible, or are you going to spend hundreds of dollars to get past a pay wall?
- Quality: Does the video you want contain a few too many fingers? Or is the footage filmed by a professional, downloadable at a high resolution?
- Ease of use: Is it easy to find exactly what you need for your project, fast? Are there good filters and categories that take the stress out of browsing stock footage?
- Fully cleared: Can you use your chosen stock video in all your content, from Instagram Reels to short films and client work? We unpack stock video licensing on the Uppbeat blog if you need a little more context before starting your search.
Who actually gets paid when you download stock footage?
Lots of the stock video sites we’ve shared are free platforms, and some even support AI video generation. You might be wondering then whether the contributors to these libraries get compensation at all for their videos. It really depends.
What we can confirm is that Uppbeat’s catalog of clips are filmed by real filmmakers who are paid for every single download of their work. So if you want to create great content whilst supporting the creativity of others, it’s a great ethical choice.
Start your search for the perfect stock footage
We’ve shared 7 options that are a great starting point in your search for the perfect footage. And once you’ve got your visuals nailed down? The next step is finding audio to go along with it.
Uppbeat is home to the world’s best indie artists and composers. Find label-quality music under the same convenient license as its library of 4K stock footage. Even better, you can start downloading both for free today!
