Artgrid.io Review: Stock Footage that Tells a Story

From the makers of the music licensing giant Artlist comes Artgrid, a library of stock footage from the world's top cinematographers. While it is a newer entity, its offerings are unique to the industry and of the highest quality. Best of all, everything available through Artgrid is under a royalty-free license, which means you can use a clip over and over again at no additional cost.

Even better, you can get 2 months of full access to Artgrid at no added cost, with our special Artgrid coupon!

And for a limited time, if you have or buy an annual subscription at either Artgrid or their sister company Artlist, you can unlock an All-In pack with all sorts of creative resources for video making!

Check out this reel for a sampling of what Artgrid has to offer, then read on for our full review of Artgrid.io:

Intrigued? We thought you might be. Keep going to learn everything there is to know about Artgrid.io.

What You Really Need to Know About Artgrid

If you just want to hear the main points about Artgrid.io before making a decision, this is what you need to know:

• All licensed subscribers have unlimited access to and unlimited downloads from Artgrid's complete footage gallery.
• All video footage comes with a Royalty-Free License.
• Your subscription counts as a license to use clips for projects you're hired to complete.
• Your subscription also covers the commercial use of clips.
• There are three plans to choose from, depending on the size of footage files you need.
• Plans start at $25 a month and are billed annually.
• Everything is well-organized by individual clips and “stories,” which we'll discuss more in-depth later on.
• You can get a 2-month free trial just by reading this review!

In Depth Review: Artgrid.io

We'll review Artgrid.io by sharing their origin story, an overview of the video specs they offer, the difference between “stories” and individual clips, discuss what you can and cannot do with clips downloaded from their platform, and finish up by reviewing their pricing and membership options. We have a lot of information to share, so let's get to it.

Artgrid: Why it All Began

After recognizing a serious flaw in the industry-wide production and organization of stock footage, the creators of Artlist.io founded Artgrid in the spring of 2019 as a platform where top cinematographers from around the world could share their craft in a real and usable way.

Rather than manufacture dull, lifeless clips that are difficult to use, the creators at Artgrid each tell a story with their footage. This strategy makes it easier for you to find what you need and use stock footage to invoke emotion in your audience. They sought out a more creative, filmmaker-minded approach to shooting and offering stock video.

Artgrid's goal is to provide an entire catalog that will creatively inspire and impact your projects, not a library of dull filler shots that take away from the moment you want to create.

Artgrid.io Video Spec Offerings

Artgrid works differently than most other stock video sources. Rather than paying per clip, you select a subscription service based on the video size you need for your projects. We'll discuss pricing options further on in this review, but for now, let's cover the video specs you have access to through Artgrid.io:

• H.264
• HD
• ProRes / DNxHR
• 4K – 8K
• RAW / LOG

Related: Everything You Need to Know About SD, HD, and 4K

Ready to check it out? Take a look at Artgrid's pricing and membership options here.

“Stories” vs. Individual Clips

As already mentioned, Artgrid is a unique stock footage platform. While most stock footage platforms organize their clips individually by subject matter or theme, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the option to view footage as a “story” on Artgrid.io.

“Stories” are groups of clips put together by Artgrid's filmmakers to give you a complete look at how the footage can be used. They range in length from three to 100 clips and are developed around a common location, theme, or by following a common narrative. Here's how to view clips as stories:

1. Head to Artgrid.io. Scroll down the homepage until you see “Filmmakers” in the left-hand sidebar, and click it:

2. You'll be redirected to this page, where you can view “Stories” by filmmakers around the world:

Viewing stock footage in this way helps you see the creativity and vision of the filmmaker and shows you how the footage could be used in your project. You can download just a few of the clips, or the whole story, and integrate other clips to fit your project's needs.

Apart from viewing “stories,” Artgrid.io also offers the option to simply view individual clips as most stock footage agencies do. However, we encourage you to check out the “stories” feature for yourself, so you can see the uniqueness and quality of this platform.

If you love how Artgrid is set up, check out the pricing and subscription options here.

Royalty-Free Footage Licensing

One of the top perks of Artgrid is the Royalty-Free license all its footage comes under. Once you download a clip under your licensed subscription, you have permission to use that clip in as many projects, for personal or commercial use, as you like.

Even if you purchase a one-year license and choose not to extend it, you can still use the footage you downloaded in that year royalty-free. You are not obligated to pay any other fees, ever.

What You Can Do with Artgrid Clips

Before you invest in an Artgrid subscription, make sure you can use the content for the projects you have in mind:

• Create projects for any available platform: broadcast television, YouTube, social media, and video games; the worldwide license even allows future-you to create on platforms that haven't been invented yet.
• Combine as many clips as you'd like to create your story.
• Modify or edit the footage to meet the needs of your project.
• Present or play footage in public spaces.
• Add properly licensed or original music to them, perhaps from Artlist.
• Use clips multiple times across different projects.

Related: How to edit footage like a pro

With so many offerings and so much creative freedom, Artgrid is an excellent resource for filmmakers who want to make clips their own. Discover pricing options here and get the quality content you need for your projects.

What You Cannot Do with Artgrid Clips

Terms of use are often very complex, so here are the main points you need to know regarding what you cannot do when filmmaking with footage clips downloaded from Artgrid:

• Add them to projects or films that, “advocate violence or incitement, pornography and obscenity, racism or hatred towards any group,” according to Artgrid's terms of proper use.
• Use them to encourage discrimination against people of a certain race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or national origin.
• Transfer them to another individual to use commercially. Your license is not transferable!
• Claim ownership of the clips. While they are available for your use, ownership remains with the filmmaker and/or Artgrid.

Artgrid Pricing and Membership Options

Artgrid's pricing is uniquely affordable, especially for the quality of video they offer. We'll review Artgrid.io's membership options so you can decide which one is right for you and the projects you want to develop:

Professional Plan

The professional plan from Artgrid includes the best of the best. This plan would be right for you if you are regularly developing videos for broadcast like television commercials, streaming services, or if video creation is a large part of what you offer clients.

Top-tier subscribers receive unlimited downloads of RAW / LOG footage, 4K – 8K clips, footage shot in ProRes and DNxHR, graded footage, and the universal license which includes all commercial projects and allows you to use footage to create videos you were hired by a client to create. The price point for this comes down to $49.92 a month but is billed as an annual plan at $599. For the license and quality, this pricing is incredibly reasonable.

Creator Plan

If you're a filmmaker who wants high-quality content for a wide range of screen sizes, but don't necessarily need the post-production capabilities of RAW / LOG file types offered in the professional plan, the creator plan might be right for you. The largest file type you can download is 4K, which looks fantastic on most screen sizes. Keep in mind that you won't be able to edit it as much in post-production as you would be able to with RAW / LOG files.

The creator plan from Artgrid also includes footage shot in both ProRes and DNxHR, graded footage, the universal license, plus unlimited downloads of 4K or HD file sizes. The creator plan is priced modestly at $29.99 a month but is billed as an annual subscription at $359.90.

Junior Plan

If you're just looking to create quality videos for social media advertising or use them on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo, the junior plan could be exactly what you need. The largest file size you are able to download is HD, which will look great on smartphones, laptops, and most computer sizes.

Content will be available in the H.264 video codec, which is a popular high-quality video compression file that can be exported to several container formats like QuickTime (.MOV) and Flash player (.MP4). Once again, you receive the universal license, allowing you to use the content for commercial purposes, as well as unlimited downloads of HD files. The junior plan is the most budget-friendly, at $19.99 a month, billed at $239.90 annually.

Related: Top 3 video subscriptions to make the most of your budget

2-Month Free Trial

If you aren't sure about making the financial commitment just yet, put our Artgrid review to the test with a 2-month FREE trial! There's nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain.

Artgrid.io: Is it worth the price?

If you are regularly filmmaking for clients or yourself for commercial platforms, then the answer is simple: yes! Artgrid offers incredibly affordable subscription options, especially for the amount of content you have access to as a result.

Because the site is organized in two ways, by individual clips and by “stories,” you'll have an easier time finding what you need for your project. That's going to save you time and – in the long run – money. New footage is constantly being added to the site, too, so you aren't going to run out of great clips for your projects anytime soon.

Once you've given the two-month FREE trial a go, let us know what you think of Artgrid in the comments below!