6 of the Best Free Stock Video Footage Websites

Pexels is a great looking way to search and find a wealth of creative commons content. They have a primary focus on curating artistic and genuine CC0 images, but slightly hidden, they have a great video library with footage that falls under Creative Commons; free to use in any context.

I’ve been using Pexels personally for a range of projects in the past and it’s actually been the launching point for me starting my own Content Library. I loved what sites like Pexels started, but I wanted to create a resource with more of a business focus.

Pixabay is a big place... There's a lot of content across a lot of categories. It's easy to search their libraries, and there's some great footage available, but you need to go in with a plan (or spare time!). I've been using Pixabay a lot and I've been really surprised by the quality of some of the contributions and being able to download in full HD (or even 4K where it's available). Downloading the original files give you a lot of options once you bring it into a video editor.

Because there's so much content, a lot of it won't be applicable to your projects (some of it just looks bad). One tip, if you like a particular users videos, is clicking on their name to head into their profile. You'' be able to see all the clips they have, hopefully they have a series of clips you'll be able to adapt for your own project?

Love the interface here. Some very natural and beautiful shots. Mazwai is very much a curation website with a heavy emphasis on discovery. There’s not currently an easy way to search or categorize videos, so you’ll find yourself digging deep for a clip you can use.

One of my favourite clips from the library are the balloons floating in the sky. There’s a great personality here that allows you to work with the clip and use it to create something beautiful (or surreal, or creepy) in your own videos.

Something a little more corporate, Videvo doesn’t try to capture the indie-vibe like Pexels and Mazwai, it’s still a very strong resource with some great categories like industry and medical. One reason I had to add Videvo was their extensive motion-graphics category. It’s not an easy market to cater to, and there’s a lot of random elements available, but it’s something close to my heart. A lot of people can capture their own video, but motion-graphics can be a lot trickier to create yourself.

It’s something I’ve begun to incorporate into the Bootgum Content Library, motion graphics in terms of buttons and social cues we can use in our videos. The great thing about motion graphics is that they mostly look consistent across the board; Footage can look different depending on camera and lenses used.

This isn’t a website I’ve used personally, but I like flickering through the different categories on offer. It’s cool to see what’s popular, what’s been viewed a lot vs what’s been downloaded. The videos here are free to download with certain criteria and in certain dimensions but will cost money for the HD or extended license versions (no more than a few dollars).

There’s a lot of footage to get through on this website, not all of it is the best quality, but there’s some very unique, abstract and even mundane footage that can be used in a lot of different ways.

Don't let the cow video background fool you, Life of Vids has some great, modern and interesting content not found in many other places. It looks like most of the video has come from one Design Agency based in Montreal, Leeroy, so it's good to see some free, unique content.

There's a search function to browse clips and unlike the other websites listed, Life of Vids uses Vimeo to host their content. Once you find a video you like, click through to Vimeo to use the download link.