In this post I’ll be covering my top 3 picks for royalty free stock video footage and music for video creators. There are plenty of websites out there and there are also free and paid options you can choose from. If you want a complete overview of what I use as a video editor, feel free to watch the video below. Otherwise, I’m going to be covering my top free website as well as two others worth considering.
Disclaimer: None of these brands that I’m reviewing in this post or videos have paid me to sponsor them.
MixKit
Started in 2019, MixKit is a royalty free stock video footage, templates, graphics, and music website. It is a great one-stop-shop for any creative asset you may need. Owned by Envato Elements, it offers several high quality stock media assets powered by the powerful online marketplace.
What strikes me about MixKit is how high quality their graphic templates and transitions are. You can spend a lot of money on custom designed motion graphics for your videos, but this website offers several free easy to use templates that you can add to your video editing project. To see how it works, check out my video below going over how to download and install templates.
There are some drawbacks to keep in mind when using MixKit. After all, it is free and you can expect a smaller library size compared to some other websites such as Envato Elements or Storyblocks. The other thing I’m not a big fan of is their music quality. Finding the right music can be tough. That’s why next, I’ll be going over my best pick for royalty free high quality music.
Artlist
Artlist is a creator backed stock music website. Several independent artists write and produce their own songs that are exclusively distributed through Artlist. This makes licensing way easier as Artlist offers members an all inclusive license covering commercial use and pretty much every social media platform.
I have to say, there are a lot of high quality songs on Artlist. I have used the platform for over 2 years now, and I have to say that I’m still very happy with it. If you want to see more of the interface and how it works, check out my video below!
There are some drawbacks however. The major one is that there aren’t stems. So if you find yourself mixing music a lot, you may want to opt for a different option such as Epidemic Sound. The other is that they have a small, but growing library of songs and their filter settings for me, at least, make it a little tricky to narrow down a certain mood. It takes me a little while to find the perfect song.
Storyblocks
My last pick for this post is Storyblocks. If you use MixKit and Artlist for music, you may want to consider getting Storyblocks to round out your creative arsenal. What makes them unique is their massive library of stock footage. This is my go to website for finding specific shots of cities or unique graphic templates.
So what stock footage and music subscription are you going with? Let me know down in the comments section. If you found this post interesting you may want to check out this post where I go more in depth on stock royalty free music. Thanks for reading!
John Vlach 