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7 Best Pond5 Alternatives in 2026 (Free & Paid)

Pond5 is stock footage, music and sound marketplace where contributors set prices and keep 40-60%., priced at free. If it is too expensive, too slow or simply not a fit, these are the strongest alternatives we have reviewed.

Why look for a Pond5 alternative?

  • Smaller buyer base than Shutterstock
  • Exclusivity for the higher rate

Each option below covers the same job from a different angle.

1

Etsy Free

The largest marketplace for printables, templates, patterns and digital downloads alongside handmade goods.

#336 web rank · ▲ 3 this week · 20c listing + 6.5% transaction + 3% + 25c payment fee

8.0/10

Etsy sells digital downloads (planners, templates, patterns, wall art, fonts) with instant delivery next to its handmade and vintage goods. Fees are 20 cents per listing, 6.5% transaction and about 3% plus 25 cents payment processing. The main reason to be there is Etsy's own buyer traffic; the price is competition and copying. Read more →

Pros

  • Buyers arrive from Etsy search; digital files deliver automatically
  • Low cost to test a product

Cons

  • Fees add up to roughly 10-12%
  • Copycats and search competition

Pricing: Free  ·  Payout: Daily to weekly (Etsy Payments)  ·  printables templates digital downloads marketplace

2

Envato Market (ThemeForest, CodeCanyon) Free

Marketplaces for themes, templates, plugins, code, audio and video; authors keep 45-87.5% depending on exclusivity and volume.

#1.0k web rank · ▼ 8 this week · Authors keep 45% (non-exclusive) to 87.5% (exclusive, high volume)

7.4/10

Envato Market (ThemeForest, CodeCanyon, VideoHive, AudioJungle and more) sells themes, templates, plugins, scripts and media to millions of buyers. Authors keep 45% as non-exclusive and up to 87.5% as exclusive high-volume sellers, paid monthly. Review standards are strict; the audience is enormous. Read more →

Pros

  • Huge buyer base for WordPress themes, templates and code
  • Envato Elements adds subscription royalties

Cons

  • Strict review and exclusivity pressure
  • Prices are set within Envato bands

Pricing: Free  ·  Payout: Monthly (15th)  ·  themeforest codecanyon themes plugins

3

Creative Market Free

Marketplace for fonts, graphics, templates and themes; non-exclusive shop owners keep 50% of each sale, paid monthly.

#14k web rank · ▼ 77 this week · Shop owners keep 50% of the list price (non-exclusive listings)

7.3/10

Creative Market is a marketplace for fonts, graphics, illustrations, mockups, website and app templates, themes and other design assets, bought mostly by other designers, marketers and small businesses rather than end consumers. Opening a shop requires an application: Creative Market reviews submitted products for quality and originality before approving a seller. The default commission split gives shop owners 50% of… Read more →

Pros

  • Design-focused buyers who pay for quality; no exclusivity requirement
  • Straightforward monthly payouts once a shop is approved

Cons

  • 50% commission is high relative to some digital-asset marketplaces
  • Shop approval process adds friction and can reject submissions

Pricing: Free  ·  Payout: $20 Monthly  ·  fonts graphics templates design

4

Adobe Stock Contributor Free

Stock photos, vectors and video inside Creative Cloud; 33% on images, 35% on video.

#68 web rank · Contributors keep 33% (images) and 35% (video)

7.2/10

Adobe Stock pays contributors a flat 33% on images and 35% on video, monthly above $25, with buyers coming from inside Creative Cloud apps. Its royalty rates are the most contributor-friendly of the large agencies. Read more →

Pros

  • Higher and stable royalty rates than Shutterstock
  • Buyers inside Photoshop and Illustrator

Cons

  • Strict technical review
  • Slow ramp for new portfolios

Pricing: Free  ·  Payout: $25 Monthly from $25  ·  adobe stock stock photos vectors

5

Shutterstock Contributor Free

Sell stock photos, video and music; contributors earn 15-40% by annual download tier.

#1.8k web rank · ▼ 2 this week · Contributors keep 15-40% depending on downloads

7.0/10

Shutterstock pays contributors 15-40% of sale value based on annual download counts, monthly above $35. Photos earn cents per subscription download; video clips earn dollars. Royalties are passive but the tiers reset each January. Read more →

Pros

  • Largest stock buyer base; passive royalties
  • Video pays far better than photos

Cons

  • Royalty tiers reset annually and start at 15%
  • Per-download earnings are cents for subscription sales

Pricing: Free  ·  Payout: $35 Monthly from $35  ·  stock photos stock footage royalties

6

Gumroad Discover Free

Gumroad's built-in marketplace that recommends your products to buyers across the platform.

#2.8k web rank · ▲ 19 this week · Standard Gumroad 10% fee (Discover sales previously carried a higher fee) · accepts Health & Supplements

6.9/10

Gumroad Discover surfaces products to browsing buyers on gumroad.com and in recommendation emails. It is a modest but free source of additional sales for sellers already on the platform. Read more →

Pros

  • Free extra exposure for products already on Gumroad
  • Buyers with accounts and saved payment details

Cons

  • Discover traffic is modest for most sellers
  • Fee policy has changed over time

Pricing: Free  ·  Payout: Weekly  ·  gumroad discovery digital products

7

AWS Data Exchange Freemium

Amazon's marketplace for licensing data files, tables and live APIs directly to AWS's enterprise customer base.

#26 web rank · ▼ 2 this week

6.8/10

AWS Data Exchange is Amazon's catalog for third-party data products, letting a company or individual publisher package data files, database tables, Redshift datasets or a live API as a listing that any AWS customer can subscribe to and pay for directly through their existing AWS bill. For a publisher sitting on a dataset with real commercial value (pricing history, firmographic… Read more →

Pros

  • Distribution into AWS's large enterprise and developer customer base with billing handled by Amazon
  • Supports flat files, database tables, Redshift datasets and live APIs, not just static downloads

Cons

  • Exact fulfillment fee percentage and payout schedule are not published; providers must ask AWS directly
  • No self-serve, no-code path — best suited to teams that already run structured data infrastructure, and separate AWS storage/transfer costs apply

Pricing: Freemium  ·  data licensing api enterprise amazon

Free and open-source Pond5 alternatives

Etsy 🛒 MarketplaceFree

The largest marketplace for printables, templates, patterns and digital downloads alongside handmade goods.

#336 web rank · ▲ 3 this week

8.0 Visit ↗

Creative Market 🛒 MarketplaceFree

Marketplace for fonts, graphics, templates and themes; non-exclusive shop owners keep 50% of each sale, paid monthly.

#14k web rank

7.3 Visit ↗

Gumroad Discover 🛒 MarketplaceFree

Gumroad's built-in marketplace that recommends your products to buyers across the platform.

#2.8k web rank · ▲ 19 this week

6.9 Visit ↗

Back to Pond5 All digital asset & template marketplaces