Pond5 – The Footage First Stock Agency

Pond5 is one of the most popular stock footage online marketplaces. This company launched over a decade ago, specializing solely in stock videos, and has maintained a leading position for years. Since 2022, the company has been owned by Shutterstock, one of the leading stock photo agencies.

They have millions of Royalty-Free stock footage clips in varied themes, styles, resolutions, and formats and a wide range of prices. Their diverse offer aims to cover all buyers' needs, including additional media types like photos, vectors and illustrations, music and sound effects, and more. It's so good that it made it to our big list of the Best Stock Footage Agencies!

Do you want to buy stock video clips at Pond5? Then, waste no more time and sign up for an account now. And don't miss the chance to get 20% off your purchase with our special coupon!

Do you want to learn more about this company and the benefits it offers? Keep reading!

Highlights in Pond5's Stock Footage Offer

Here are all the must-know points in Pond5's service:

• Over 42 million stock footage clips, including 2k, 4k, and 4k+ (lower resolutions also available)
• Royalty Free license that grants you perpetual, multiple usage rights for a one-time fee
• Simple pricing structure for videos: Standard (16USD), Premium (60USD)
  
• Buying options: on demand with credit packs that give bonus credits or with a subscription
• Payment options: credit cards or Paypal
• On demand credits are simple to understand and use: 1 credit =$1
• Monthly and annual subscriptions that grant a set number of downloads their collection of footage clips and other assets and apply a discount over other on demand purchases
• Intelligent search and visual analysis technology to find the best and most accurate clips for your needs
• Complementary media types: photos, music and sound files, etc.

 

Deeper Look into Pond5's Offer

As you can see, there's a lot to highlight in Pond5. They provide a great service for stock footage buyers, with millions of video clips in different resolutions and formats, available under a Royalty Free license that allows great flexibility in content usage. They've a very wide range in individual clips pricing, and a simple buying system with options for on demand and periodic purchases. Let's see:

Video resolution at Pond5

Pond5's stock footage shots are available in various image qualities. From lowest to highest, they have clips in Web, SD, HD (720p), HD (1080p), 2k, 4k and 4k+ resolutions. They also have them with different fotograms per second (FPS), starting at 23.98.

Most of their video files are in .mov format, but contributors supplying the videos can control wheter to offer multiple resolution options or other formats. When purchasing a clip, you can choose which one from the available sizes and formats you want to download.

For 4k and 4k+ downloads, they include the RAW file as well as the .mov version (which can be edited/color corrected). The RAW file is the original, unedited and highest quality version of the clip. Having this is very valuable for video editors, as it's a highly editable file that allows them greater flexibility in working with the clips.

Moreover, they also offer free format conversion for customers.

Use for Commercial and Editorial purposes

All Pond5's stock footage clips are available with a Royalty Free license. This license type grant you perpetual and various usage rights over the content, for a one-time fee. What does this mean? Basically, that you pay only once and you get the right to use the clip in any of the accepted ways, forever.

Royalty Free license has very few restrictions, that include morally questionable or sensitive topics usage, and some limitations to distribution volume and reach. But the main limitation to keep in mind is regarding to commercial and editorial use.

The vast majority of Pond5's library is commercial-ready clips. Meaning you can use them in any commercial or for-profit project. When a video depicts recognizable people or private property, model and property releases are needed to use that video commercially. If a video has people and properties in it but doesn't have the required releases, then it's for editorial use only. Editorial-only content can be used solely to enhance, accompany, or illustrate editorial productions.

At Pond5's online catalog, Editorial-only videos are identified, with this status clearly disclaimed on the clip's details page

Pond5's Pricing

One of Pond5's main differences is that it offers a very simple pricing structure. Subscriptions are divided by media type:

• Music: 25 USD a month
• Music and sound effects: 30 USD per month
• Footage plus (music, SFX, videos, and VFX):199 USD a month

This is for the month-to-month subscription option; users can also choose to subscribe for a whole year and cut down the monthly price by up to 50% while also getting an extra 10% discount on assets outside of their plan.

Besides this, users can get stock videos on demand, paying as they go:

• Standard stock videos are 16 USD apiece
• Premium clips go for 60 USD each.

Our exclusive Pond5 coupon code gives you a 20% discount on these single clips, letting you buy professional-grade videos at your own pace, and at very affordable rates. Via the following link you can get more information about Pond5 pricing.

Finally, the agency offers credit packs, which are a way to buy on-demand but save money by prepaying for assets. Pond5 credits are very simple: one credit equals one dollar. The packs give you between 10 and 20% bonus credits at zero cost. So, for example, if you prepay for $250, you'll get 25 extra credits (a total of 275 credits for that price). The more you're willing to invest upfront, the more bonus credits you'll receive and the more downloads you'll have.

Intelligent Search Engine and Footage Discovery Feature

One of the company's latest developments is related to the way its systems organize and find content. It added computer vision technology to its platform, which has practical applications for both its suppliers and customers.

For buyers, the new technology improves search functionality. Having intelligent and comprehensive software analyzing the visual content in the library, they are able to deliver the best matching results much more quickly and accurately.

Plus, the search engine also showcases similar content to any given search, helping you discover footage to boost up your productions.

On their website, you can browse their catalog by media type, by theme/topic, and by most popular. And their new search engine includes advanced filters that let you refine results by price, length, resolution, FPS, and further options like whether the clip contains sound, if it loops, or if it includes model or property releases.

Thanks to this technology, you are likely to find the best and most suitable content for your needs.

The Highs and Lows in Pond5's Offer

But this downside is little in comparison to the advantages in their proposal.

Pond5: A Great Choice to Buy Stock Footage

With all that said, we feel Pond5 is a great option to buy stock video. They are a very reliable company that has been in the industry for over a decade now and have maintained a position with a top-quality service.

If you want to be able to choose the resolution, price, and content in your footage clips, then Pond5 is a great choice for you. Whether you want to buy a la carte or commit to monthly or annual fees for a constant flow of downloads, they have what you need.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up at Pond5 and start downloading great stock footage shots today! And if you want to see how Pond5 stacks up against another agency, click here to see the Pond5 vs. Storyblocks comparison.