Pexels free stock footage vs generated B-roll: what to use when

Use Pexels footage when a real, generic scene is enough and you want zero generation cost; use generated B-roll when the shot must match your script, product or brand and no stock clip does. Pexels says its photos and videos are free to use commercially and attribution is not required, but it forbids unaltered resale, implying endorsement, and showing people in a bad light.

Side by side

A practical mix

Take establishing shots (street, sky, keyboard) from stock, then cut them down with POST /v1/video-trim ($0.02). Generate the shots stock cannot supply, such as your product in a made-up scene, with seedance-2.5 or another model. Join both on a Timeline 1.0 render at $0.10 per minute and burn captions with cues.

Limits

Licences are the vendor's words and change; re-read before use. Stock clips can appear in other creators' videos, so they carry no exclusivity. Generated clips can contain artefacts in hands and text. Neither route clears music, logos or recognisable property visible in the frame.