Sources & licences
One search covers 23 sites. Each result keeps its source's licence and gets a verdict on commercial use and an editorial flag, so you can tell at a glance whether a clip can go into a commercial video and whether you have to credit it. Video never passes through this server: posters, previews and downloads come straight from each source.
All sources
| Source | Best for | Search | Pricing | Licence | Direct download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASA Image and Video Library nasa · site ↗ | About 9k NASA videos: rocket launches, missions, astronauts, Earth from orbit, the Sun and planets. Public domain in the US with credit to NASA (no endorsement, no insignia); MP4 renditions from 180p to the 1080p/4K master. Space, Science & data, Aerial & drone, Nature, Technology, Transport, People, Archive & vintage | API | Free | Per clip | Yes |
| NASA Scientific Visualization Studio nasasvs · site ↗ | About 10k NASA data visualisations and animations: Earth's weather and climate, the Sun, the Moon, planets and galaxies, mostly 1080p and 4K MP4 at 30–60 fps. Public domain, credit NASA's SVS. Space, Science & data, Nature, Backgrounds | API | Free | Per clip | Yes |
| Wikimedia Commons wikimediacommons · site ↗ | About 400k freely licensed videos: nature, science, history, documentary footage and timelapses. Licence recorded per file (CC0, public domain, CC BY, CC BY-SA); files are WebM/Ogg with WebM renditions up to 4K. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Space, Science & data, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Archive & vintage, Backgrounds | API | Free | Per clip | Yes |
| Internet Archive internetarchive · site ↗ | Public-domain and Creative Commons films: the Prelinger Archives (industrial, educational and advertising films), newsreels, home movies and community stock footage. Only items marked CC0, public domain or CC BY(-SA); uploader-asserted licences are flagged. Archive & vintage, City & urban, People, Transport, Nature, Science & data, Technology, Food & drink, Space, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX | API | Free | Per clip | Yes |
| Pexels pexels · site ↗ | Hundreds of thousands of free stock videos up to 4K, many vertical; Pexels licence (no credit needed). Link-only for now: its API needs a key (new keys paused) and its terms forbid competing services. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free | Pexels License Commercial use OK | Source page |
| Pixabay pixabay · site ↗ | Hundreds of thousands of free stock videos and motion backgrounds up to 4K; Pixabay Content License (no credit needed). Link-only for now: its API needs a key and its terms limit automated use. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free | Pixabay Content License Commercial use OK | Source page |
| Coverr coverr · site ↗ | A few thousand free, hand-picked stock videos for websites and social media. Link-only: its API needs a key and its licence bans competing services. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free | Coverr License Commercial use OK | Source page |
| Mixkit mixkit · site ↗ | Free stock videos from Envato, no credit needed. Link-only: its terms forbid aggregating its items, framing and bots. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free | Mixkit Stock Video Free License Commercial use OK | Source page |
| Freepik videos (Videvo) freepik · site ↗ | Freepik's (now Magnific) video library, which absorbed Videvo and Mazwai: free clips with credit plus premium footage. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free + paid | Freepik licence Unclear: check the terms | Source page |
| Vecteezy vecteezy · site ↗ | Free (with credit) and Pro stock videos and motion backgrounds. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free + paid | Vecteezy licence Unclear: check the terms | Source page |
| Videezy videezy · site ↗ | Free stock footage and motion backgrounds (credit required on free clips), plus Pro clips. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free + paid | Videezy licence Unclear: check the terms | Source page |
| Europeana europeana · site ↗ | European archives' films and newsreels; about 13k videos are openly reusable. Link-only until we add its API key. Archive & vintage, People, City & urban, Transport | Deep link | Free | Per clip | Source page |
| Library of Congress loc · site ↗ | Early films, newsreels and government footage, much of it public domain. Link-only: its search API is rate-limited and challenges cloud IPs. Archive & vintage, People, City & urban, Transport | Deep link | Free | Per clip | Source page |
| ActionVFX actionvfx · site ↗ | Professional VFX stock elements (fire, smoke, explosions, muzzle flashes) with a free practice library; account required. Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Free + paid | ActionVFX licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| ProductionCrate (FootageCrate) productioncrate · site ↗ | VFX elements, transitions and overlays; free tier with daily download caps. Overlays & VFX, Green screen, Backgrounds | Deep link | Free + paid | ProductionCrate licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Shutterstock shutterstock · site ↗ | One of the largest paid footage libraries (also owns Pond5); 4K and HD clips per clip or by subscription. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Space, Science & data, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen, Archive & vintage | Deep link | Paid | Shutterstock licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Adobe Stock adobestock · site ↗ | Adobe's paid footage library, built into Premiere Pro and After Effects. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Space, Science & data, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen, Archive & vintage | Deep link | Paid | Adobe Stock licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Getty Images gettyimages · site ↗ | Premium creative and editorial (news, sport, archive) footage. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Space, Science & data, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen, Archive & vintage | Deep link | Paid | Getty Images licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| iStock istock · site ↗ | Getty's lower-priced stock library: footage by credit or subscription. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Paid | iStock licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Storyblocks storyblocks · site ↗ | Subscription footage, motion backgrounds and templates with unlimited downloads. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Paid | Storyblocks licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Pond5 pond5 · site ↗ | A large footage marketplace, including archival and public-domain collections (Shutterstock-owned). Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Space, Science & data, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen, Archive & vintage | Deep link | Paid | Pond5 licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Envato Elements envato · site ↗ | Subscription stock video, motion graphics and templates (unlimited downloads). Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Paid | Envato Elements licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
| Artgrid artgrid · site ↗ | Cinematic subscription footage shot by filmmakers, including RAW and LOG masters. Nature, City & urban, People, Aerial & drone, Technology, Transport, Food & drink, Backgrounds, Overlays & VFX, Green screen | Deep link | Paid | Artgrid licence (paid) Needs a paid licence or releases | Source page |
How sources are searched
- API: the source's official or public JSON API (NASA's Image and Video Library and Scientific Visualization Studio, the MediaWiki API for Wikimedia Commons, the Internet Archive's advanced search). These give the licence per clip, author, frame size, length and direct files.
- Deep link: the site needs an API key, sells its footage, or its terms forbid automated search or aggregation (Pexels, Pixabay, Coverr, Mixkit, the paid stock libraries and others). Every search response includes a link that runs the same query on that site, so you still know where else to look.
Every source has its own timeout. A slow or failing site shows up in the per-source report and never fails the search. Categories, orientation and resolution that a source doesn't state are filled in from titles, tags and frame sizes; facts only a clip's own page holds are read when you open it.
Licences
Each result's license carries an SPDX-style id, a name, whether credit is required, who asserted it (source, site or uploader), an editorial flag and a verdict on commercial use. CC0 and public-domain clips need no credit. NASA media is generally not copyrighted in the US but needs credit and comes with endorsement and insignia rules. CC BY needs a credit line, share-alike licences relicense the whole video, NC and ND licences rule out commercial use, and uploader-asserted licences are never better than "check the terms". The full rules, with examples, are in Video licences explained.
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