Pond5: Paid Stock Footage Library Offering Stunning Free Video Assets

Pond5 is an immense stock footage library that has been active since 2006. The library has millions of video clips ranging from the newest submissions to historical videos. Pond5 also has a solid collection of free videos, free images, and free music tracks for video projects. See how to get the paid and free elements from Pond5 below.

Pond5: Stock Footage, Music, 3D Models, After Effects Templates

Pond5 offers stock video, stock music, 3D models, and After Effects templates. They site does not own the assets and relies heavily on submissions from its contributors. Becoming a contributor is easy. Purchasing videos for your projects and, also, contributing your stuff to the library is an option too.

Pond5 Pricing

Pond5 has a rich pricing system. Because it allows its contributors to set their own prices, the price can range from the minimum of $69 per clip to over $500 for cinematic quality footage in 4K.

The site has a lot of pricing options:

  • Videos on demand
  • Video subscriptions
  • Free videos and music

Pond5’s Free Videos and Music

In 2023, Pond5 re-hauled their free collection, which used to include only archival videos. Now you can download 100s of free video clips, high-res images, and music tracks.

Pond5 offers 100s of free video clips, images, and music tracks

The free collection includes 100s of high-quality video clips, 1000s of images, and 100s of music tracks. The free video assets come in different categories. For example, free video clips are grouped into Animals, Landscapes, and a bunch of other categories, including the All category with all the clips laid out before your eyes.

The free music tracks include Acoustic music, Ambient, Cinematic, and more.

Pond5’s Free Stock Footage

Is it worth downloading Pond5’s free stock video clips? The answer is YES. The free stock footage section of this stock library features 11 categories of high-demand stock videos.

Here are these 11 free video categories:

Each category of free stock videos on Pond5 includes over 50 high-quality video clips. The resolution of the free clips ranges from HD to 2K and 4K. Each free video clip is cleared for use in personal and commercial projects (online videos).

How to Download Free Footage on Pond5

To download free footage on Pond5 you need to create a free account first. Then check the above free footage collections and add the clips you like to your Cart. Then go through the regular checkout process. You don’t need to have any payment method to download these free clips. Enjoy the free footage from Pond5!

Licensing Free Assets from Pond5

Pond5 allows to use this free collection in personal and commercial projects. Pond5 requires an attribution when the free elements are used in commercial projects. When you download a video or an image, there will be a popup providing the attribution text to use.

Otherwise, to get the free assets, you need to get through Pond5’s checkout process. You will set up an account, add the free videos, images, music of your choice to your cart and will go through the checkout.

You don’t have to add any credit cards or other payment methods. Go through the checkout, and start downloading great videos, images, and music for free. Pond5 will still issue an invoice to you with the amount set to zero.

More About Pond5

Is Pond5 free?

Pond5 is not a free site. From the start in 2006, Pond5 was conceived as a stock video site. With time Pond5 evolved into a multi-asset platform. They acquired a Czech stock photo site several years later. Around the same time, they added a music library to the mix. Today, Pond5 has over 20 million video clips and thousands of images and music tracks. They also have small collections of 3D models and After Effects templates. In 2021, Pond5 created a massive collection of free video clips, free images, free music.

Who owns Pond5?

Currently, Pond5 remains a private company. It is located in New York, US. The company counts between 120-200 employees. The company has gone through a couple of funding rounds backed up by venture capital over the last 10 years.

What is Pond5 video subscription?

Pond5 offers monthly and yearly memberships, which allow to have lower prices on video clips. The lower prices come with a limitation. Members can only have 10 downloads per month and download only the content showing up with the “Membership” filter on. On the bright side, the membership allows to get 4K videos, for example, at very affordable prices.

Are there any Pond5 coupons available?

Pond5 offers 25% sales on all the videos, images, and music 2-3 times per year. For all new customers or first-time buyers they offer this coupons HELLO20, which gives 20% off any creative asset on their platform.

You can also use this promo code PHOTO50 and get 50% off your first purchase of any static visual on Pond5.

If you are looking to buy sound effects, with SFX50 you can get 50% off your first sound effects from Pond5.

The promo code 3D50 will allow you to buy your first 3D models on Pond5 with a 50% discount. In addition, use the promo code AE50 to buy your first After Effects template on the site.

How to become Pond5 video contributor?

One should know that Pond5 does not produce the majority of its content. The site relies on contributors. In fact, anyone who is able to shoot videos and upload them can become Pond5’s contributor. To become a Pond5 contributor, check their contributor portal. The portal has a lot of useful information about the steps to take. Here is the general idea of what you should be ready to go through.

1) Sign up by providing your email, name, and address to Pond5.
2) Submit the required documents to verify your identity.
3) Wait to get your information reviewed by the site’s personnel.
4) Submit several assets and get them approved.
5) With all the above approved, submit more videos or images.

While submitting videos to Pond5, we have observed that their video review practices are not very strict. Certain defects in videos, like shaking and rolling shutter distortions, pass unnoticed. The review teams on other stock video sites capture these, but not Pond5. Well, it is not ideal as your top-notch footage may stand next to low-quality stuff. This is also an ordeal for buyers to sift through piles of clips to find good ones.

How much can contributors earn with Pond5?

The payouts are generous – 50% commission on all sold items. There is a caveat, though. Pond5’s membership may erode some of the potential earnings. If a member with a monthly subscription downloads your clip, your commission will be lower than the regular price. The monthly membership of $275 allows 10 downloads. So each download coming from such a buyer will result in $13.75. Here are the calculations: $275 / 10 = $27.50, then $27.50 * 50% = $13.75. This is way lower your expectations to sell 4K clips at $100+ ea. Another potential stream of earnings may come with Pond5’s affiliate program. They promise to give you a small percent of your referral’s earnings.

How to submit footage to Pond5?

To start submitting videos to Pond5, you will become a contributor first. The you will have to go through the signup steps. You also need to have a couple of important prerequisites. You need a stable and fast Internet connection. Well, you will be uploading large video files. Also, knowing how to use FTP programs to upload files to a remote server is another must-have.
Editing videos or images in your preferred editor is another needed skill. It’s a default setting to have more chances to sell on Pond5.

What videos to submit to Pond5?

Pond5 has recently opened their data to contributors. Their data trends section is helpful in deciding what videos to shoot and submit. The section includes data about Footage, Music, After Effects, Sound Effects, Photos, Vectors, 3D Models.

Pond5 contributor data

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