Free stock footage, music and sounds
Checked against each source's own licence page on 2026-10-28 (the list of pages read is at the end). Licences change: when in doubt, open the source's licence page again before using something in a paid client's video.
The rules
- Free and commercial only. A client's reel is commercial use. Use only content whose licence allows commercial use; never "non-commercial" (NC), "editorial only", "personal use", and never "no derivatives" (ND: a video is a derivative).
- Prefer no-credit sources (below). When a source needs credit, put the exact credit in the video description or the end card, and tell the person.
- Record every file you use in the project's notes (File › Project notes):
what it is, the source, the page URL, the licence, and the credit if one is needed. Keep the file in
media/. - Never use what the licence forbids in every case: recognisable people in a bad or misleading light, implied endorsement, trademarks or logos shown in the content (Pixabay forbids commercial use of such content), political use (Pixabay), selling or redistributing the raw files (to the client too: they get the finished video), using it as a trademark or logo, or AI training.
- Paid libraries are off limits unless the person says they have an account: Motion Array, Artgrid, Filmsupply, Epidemic Sound, Envato Elements, AEJuice, Soundsnap, RenderHub.
Search free stock from the Studio
Insert › Free stock… searches four of these sources at once and puts what you pick into your project.
Sources. Each source has a checkbox. Switch one off and neither you nor your AI agent searches it: the choice is
saved in the AI Dev Kit, so it applies to the Studio, studio-cli stock and the agent's stock_search tool alike.
| Source | Gives | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| Pexels | video, photos | your free key: Add key, then paste it (get one at pexels.com/api) |
| Pixabay | video, photos | your free key (pixabay.com/api/docs) |
| NASA | video, photos | nothing |
| Openverse | photos, sounds under Creative Commons; only licences that allow commercial use and changes are asked for | nothing (it can take up to a minute to answer) |
Search. Type what you want, pick Video, Photos or Sounds, and a shape (Tall for reels, Wide for YouTube). Each result links to its page and names its creator; credit needed marks those whose licence asks for a credit.
Add. Downloads the file into the project's media/ folder and puts it on the timeline: footage as a full-frame
layer, a photo as an image layer, a sound at the playhead. A line goes into the project notes with the file, the
title and creator, the page, the licence and the credit if one is needed, so you have it when you publish. Adding
needs an open project (File › Projects); searching does not.
Limits. It needs the AI Dev Kit running on your computer. Pexels and Pixabay results are kept for 24 hours (Pixabay asks for it). NASA downloads take NASA's large file rather than the original, which can be hundreds of megabytes. The rules above still apply: a NASA clip needs "NASA" in your credits and can't suggest NASA endorses anything.
For AI agents. studio-cli stock ocean waves lists results; --get 2 --project my-reel downloads the second into
the project and notes it; --photo, --audio, --orient portrait. The MCP tool is stock_search.
Safe defaults for client work (commercial, no credit needed)
| Need | First choice | Also |
|---|---|---|
| Video | Pexels (API) | Pixabay (API), Coverr (site downloads), Mixkit (free-licence clips only) |
| Photos | Pexels, Pixabay (APIs) | StockSnap (CC0), Burst, Unsplash (see the API caveat), Kaboompics (Standard licence only) |
| Music | Pixabay Music (keep the licence file from the download: some tracks are in YouTube Content ID) | Mixkit Music (online only: not TV, radio, games, CDs/DVDs); Incompetech with credit (CC BY) |
| Sound effects | Freesound filtered to CC0 (API, already in the kit) | Pixabay sound effects, Mixkit sound effects, Sonniss GDC bundles |
| 3D, HDRIs, textures | Poly Haven (CC0, API) | Kenney (CC0) |
| Animations, fonts, icons | LottieFiles free animations (Lottie Simple License), Google Fonts (OFL), Lucide (ISC), Tabler (MIT) | Iconify (licence per icon set) |
| Colour looks | the Studio's own grades (grade) | no free LUT pack with a confirmed licence was found; make your own |
Sources with an API (your AI agent can search and download them)
| Source | Media | Licence | Credit | API key | API terms that matter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pexels | photo, video | Pexels licence; commercial yes | no | free | 200 requests/hour, 20,000/month; an app showing results must link to Pexels and should credit the photographer |
| Pixabay | photo, video, illustration (music and sound effects are on the site, not in the API) | Pixabay Content License; commercial yes | no | free | 100 requests/60 s; cache results 24 h; download images rather than hotlink them; show where results come from |
| Freesound | sound effects | per sound: CC0, CC BY, CC BY-NC (avoid), Sampling+ (avoid) | CC0 no; BY yes: title, creator, Freesound link, licence | free | 60/min, 2,000/day; previews need only the key, originals need OAuth2 |
| Poly Haven | HDRIs, textures, 3D models | CC0 | no | none | a live integration shows "Powered by Poly Haven" |
| NASA Image and Video Library | photo, video, audio | generally not copyrighted (third-party items are marked) | acknowledge NASA | none | no implied endorsement, no NASA logos, no astronauts or staff in ads |
| Unsplash | photo | Unsplash licence; commercial yes | site: no | free | through the API you must credit Unsplash and the photographer, hotlink the image URLs and report downloads: awkward for video, so download from the site instead |
| Coverr | video, music | Coverr licence; commercial yes | site: no | free (demo) | API videos require Coverr credit; production use needs a paid tier |
| Openverse | images, audio (CC from many sites) | per item | per item | none (rate-limited) or free OAuth | check every result's licence; skip NC and ND |
| Wikimedia Commons | all | per file | usually yes | none | per-file licence and author |
Download-only sources (download from the site)
| Source | Licence | Commercial | Credit | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixkit (video, music, sound effects) | Mixkit licences | yes | no | stock video has Free and Restricted licences: use Free; music not for broadcast, games or CD/DVD |
| StockSnap | CC0 | yes | no | no implied endorsement |
| Burst (Shopify) | Burst licence | yes | no | no selling the photos |
| Kaboompics | Standard or Editorial per photo | Standard only | no | no AI training |
| Dareful (4K video) | CC BY 4.0 | yes | yes: "Video courtesy of Dareful" | |
| Incompetech (music) | CC BY 4.0 (or a paid licence) | yes | yes: the credit text the site gives | |
| Free Music Archive | per track | CC0, BY, BY-SA only | yes, unless CC0 | skip NC and ND |
| Zapsplat (free tier) | Zapsplat Standard License | yes, broadcast too | yes: "ZapSplat" | no automated downloading (no scripts) |
| Sonniss GDC bundles | royalty-free | yes | no | no reselling as sound effects |
| SoundBible | per sound | public domain or CC BY only | BY: yes | some are personal use only |
| Kenney | CC0 | yes | no | |
| LottieFiles (free) | Lottie Simple License | yes | no | edits keep the same licence |
| Google Fonts | OFL (some Apache) | yes | no | a modified font may need a new name |
Not safe, or no longer what the lists say
- Videvo, Mazwai: now redirect to a paid store. Life of Vids: not reachable.
- Videezy: its terms say personal, non-commercial use only.
- BBC Sound Effects (RemArc): personal, educational and research use only.
- Uppbeat (free plan): client work, paid ads and commercial projects need its Business plan.
- Bensound (free plan): credit valid for one video, commercial scope unclear.
- YouTube Audio Library: use outside YouTube is not stated.
- ccMixter, Chosic, Internet Archive: licence per item, often non-commercial: check every item.
Licence pages read (2026-10-28)
pexels.com/license, pexels.com/api/documentation, pixabay.com/service/license-summary, pixabay.com/service/terms, pixabay.com/api/docs, unsplash.com/license, unsplash.com/api-terms, coverr.co/license, coverr.co/developers, mixkit.co/free-stock-music, videezy.com/terms, nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reusing_content_outside_Wikimedia, help.archive.org/help/rights, shopify.com/stock-photos/licenses/shopify-some-rights-reserved, stocksnap.io/license, kaboompics.com/page/license-and-faq, dareful.com, freemusicarchive.org/License_Guide, incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/licenses, support.google.com/youtube/answer/3376882, chosic.com/free-music/all, ccmixter.org, freesound.org/help/faq, freesound.org/docs/api/overview.html, zapsplat.com/license-type/standard-license, sonniss.com/gameaudiogdc, soundbible.com/about.php, polyhaven.com/license, github.com/Poly-Haven/Public-API, kenney.nl/support, lottiefiles.com/page/license, openfontlicense.org, lucide.dev/license, github.com/tabler/tabler-icons (LICENSE), iconify.design/docs/api. Not readable at the time (rows rely on secondary sources): openverse.org/about, uppbeat.io/pricing, bensound.com/licensing, Mixkit's per-type licence texts, the BBC licence text.