Pexels
- Licence
- Pexels licence — commercial use, no attribution required
- Best for
- Large modern video catalogue, reliable orientation and resolution filters
- Watch out
- Popular clips appear on many channels
Free stock footage sites compared
For documentary and faceless video, the difference between libraries is less about size and more about licence clarity and whether the catalogue covers your subject. Check each library's own licence page before publishing — terms change.
Pixabay
- Licence
- Pixabay content licence — commercial use, no attribution required
- Best for
- Wide subject range including older and niche topics
- Watch out
- Quality varies more clip to clip
Videvo
- Licence
- Mixed — free tier plus attribution-required and paid clips
- Best for
- Motion graphics and effects alongside live action
- Watch out
- Licence differs per clip; verify before use
Internet Archive
- Licence
- Varies by item, including public domain
- Best for
- Archival and historical material for documentary work
- Watch out
- Rights must be checked item by item
When to pay instead
A paid library earns its cost in three situations: a niche subject the free catalogues do not cover, a brand or client project that needs an indemnified licence, and a series where you must avoid clips viewers have already seen elsewhere.
For most narration-led YouTube work, free libraries cover the majority of beats and paid clips fill the few that matter most.
Common questions
- Is free stock footage safe to use on a monetised YouTube channel?
- Yes, when the library's licence permits commercial use and you respect its restrictions. Pexels and Pixabay both allow commercial use under their own licences; neither grants rights over identifiable people, trademarks or artwork visible in a clip.
- Do I have to credit the creator?
- Pexels and Pixabay do not require attribution, though both encourage it. Other libraries, especially Creative Commons sources, often do require credit — check per clip.
- Where can I find vertical footage for Shorts and Reels?
- Pexels and Pixabay both expose orientation filters, so you can request portrait clips directly instead of cropping horizontal ones and losing resolution.
Search them from your script
Overdrawn searches Pexels and Pixabay per scene and keeps the source URL with each clip, so licences stay traceable when you export the shot list.
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