Table of Contents
Video #
| Site | Type of Media | Rights & Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pixabay | Videos, photos, illustrations, vectors, music, and sound effects | • All content on Pixabay can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use across print and digital, except in the cases mentioned in “What is not allowed”. • Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the contributor or Pixabay is not necessary but is always appreciated by our community. • Feel free to make modifications. |
| Mixkit | Video; Music; Sound Effects; Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve Templates | • Free. • No attribution required. • Be careful: some of their content is under a restricted license and cannot be used for commercial purposes. |
| Pexels | Videos and Photos | • Free to use. • Attribution is not required but appreciated. |
| Canva | Graphics, animations, photos, fonts, videos, gifs, templates | • All free photos, music and video files on Canva can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use. Canva does not guarantee that any free images, music and video files have the appropriate releases for commercial use. Some restrictions apply, for more information please check Canva’s Free Media License Agreement. • Need an account to use. |
| Citizen DJ | Videos, music, sound | • Free to use. • The Citizen DJ project invites the public to make hip hop music using the free-to-use audio and video collections from the Library of Congress. |
| Prelinger Archive | Videos | • Huge repository of historic videos that are free to use. • Videos are mostly in the public domain but may have different licensing requirements. |
Photos & Graphics #
| Site | Type of Media | Rights & Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pixabay | Photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, music, and sound effects | • All content on Pixabay can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use across print and digital, except in the cases mentioned in “What is not allowed.” • Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the contributor or Pixabay is not necessary but is always appreciated by our community. • Feel free to make modifications. |
| Pexels | Photos and videos | • Free to use. • Attribution is not required but appreciated. |
| Icons8 | Icons,photos, illustrations | • Icons – use for free but include a link to the Icons8 website. • Photos & Illustrations – free low quality PNG download available with credit to the artist. |
| Reshot | Icons, photos, illustrations | • Free. • No attribution required. • Commercial licenses available. |
| Unsplash | Photos | • Free for commercial and non-commercial purposes. However, photos cannot be sold without significant modification. • Attribution not required but appreciated. |
| Canva | Graphics, animations, photos, fonts, videos, gifs, templates | • All free photos, music and video files on Canva can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use. Canva does not guarantee that any free images, music and video files have the appropriate releases for commercial use. Some restrictions apply, for more information please check Canva’s Free Media License Agreement. • Need an account to use. |
| Font Squirrel | Fonts | • Free for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Font Squirrel hand-selects the fonts they believe are free for commercial use often from third-party websites and does not provide any guarantees. • They also have a font identifier that can identify fonts based on an image that you upload and will give you the option to download the closest match they find. |
| Dafont | Fonts | • The fonts presented on this website are their authors’ property, and are either freeware, shareware, demo versions or public domain. • The license mentioned above the download button is just an indication. Please look at the readme-files in the archives or check the indicated author’s website for details, and contact him/her if in doubt. • If no author/license is indicated that’s because DaFont doesn’t have information, that doesn’t mean it’s free. |
| Iconfinder | Icons, 2D & 3D illustrations | • Free & paid options with various licenses; use the filter on the left to find what you need. • They have an Icon Editor that lets you change the colors of all vector icons and illustrations in a matter of a few seconds. However, you are required to make an account in order to use it. |
| Blush | Illustrations | • Only small PNG format available for free. To get higher resolution, you can buy a PRO account. • For personal and commercial purposes. • No attribution required. |
| Humaaans | Illustrations | • Free for commercial or personal use. CC0 Public DomainLicense. • There is a small web library on Blush, or you can also download it. |
Audio #
| Site | Type of Media | Rights & Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pixabay | Photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, music, and sound effects | • All content on Pixabay can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use across print and digital, except in the cases mentioned in “What is not allowed.” • Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the contributor or Pixabay is not necessary but is always appreciated by our community. • Feel free to make modifications. |
| Mixkit | Video; Music; Sound Effects; Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve Templates | • Free. • No attribution required. • Be careful: some of their content is under a restricted license and cannot be used for commercial purposes. |
| Freesound | Sounds (loops & tracks) | • Most audio files just require you to credit the creator. • The sounds are uploaded by users under different types of Creative Commons licenses. • You need an account to download the sounds. |
| Incompetech | Music | • Free with attribution or paid extended licenses. • You need an account to download the music. |
| BenSound | Music | • Free License with attribution. You can also buy an All Access Subscription. • You cannot use their music for podcasts, audiobooks, song-making, or music remixes. |
| ZapSplat | Sound effects, sound effect packs, royalty-free music | • Account creation required. • Attribution / Credit Required with a free account. • No editing or remixing allowed. • You can use our sound effects in any non-commercial, commercial, and broadcast production. • They have some very specific rules, so check out ZapSplat’s license agreement if you are planning to use their sounds. |
| BBC Sound Effects | Sound effects | • BBC Sound Effects can be used only for non-commercial, personal, formal educational, or research purposes. • Add a credit if there isn’t one already. • Commercial use is only allowed with purchase. • Learn more about BBC Sound Effects licensing. |
| Citizen DJ | Music, Sound, Video | • Free to use. • The Citizen DJ project invites the public to make hip hop music using the free-to-use audio and video collections from the Library of Congress. |
| Freetouse.com | Music | • Free to use. • The music is copyrighted, but you will not receive a copyright claim on YouTube as long as you include correct attribution in your video description. |
| Librivox | Public Domain Audiobooks | • Free to use. • All books and recordings are in the public domain, so they can be used, edited, and remixed with no attribution required (though it is always appreciated). |
| SoundBible | Sound effects and clips | • Free sound clips in wav or mp3 format. • Free or royalty free sound effects. |
Quick Disclaimer: This list is compiled and maintained for your use by the DKC staff. All of the information on this page is true to the best of our knowledge, however, we do recommend that you double-check the current licenses and rights of each platform especially if you are planning to use their resources for commercial purposes. The information presented here is by no means complete and only serves as an overview of each platform and its services. If you notice that any information is incorrect or outdated, or if you have a resource that you think will be a good addition to our list, let us know!
Updated by Haley Gosman 03/27/24