10 Best FREE Tools/Resources for Making YouTube Videos
Discover the 10 best free tools and resources for making YouTube videos. Find top software for video editing, stock footage, royalty-free music, and more.
Key Takeaways
Creating amazing YouTube videos doesn’t have to break the bank. Whether you are on a tight budget, overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available, or simply looking for a high-level overview of everything you need to get started, you are in the right place.
Below is a curated list of the 10 absolute best free tools and resources for making YouTube videos. From stock footage and copyright-free music to screen recorders and video editors, this guide provides everything you need to create professional-looking and sounding content entirely for free.
1. Free Stock Photography
Using high-quality images is a great way to reinforce a talking point in your video or design eye-catching YouTube thumbnails.
FAQ
Do I need to give credit or attribution when using these free tools in my YouTube videos?
It depends on the platform's specific license. For instance, Flaticon and NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) generally require you to provide a link or artist credit in your video description for commercial use. Always check the licensing terms of each resource before publishing to ensure you are compliant and avoiding copyright claims.
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Source free, high-quality visual assets like photos and b-roll from Unsplash and Pexels, and utilize Flaticon for clean, scalable icons.
Prevent channel copyright strikes by utilizing NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) for radio-quality background music and freeSFX for professional sound effects.
Record desktop tutorials and gameplay using OBS Studio, or use watermark-free mobile apps like Go Record (iOS) and AZ Screen Recorder (Android) for phones and tablets.
Design eye-catching YouTube thumbnails directly in your web browser using Photopea (a robust Photoshop alternative) and Canva.
Edit your final project using fully-featured, free video editing software like the beginner-friendly Shotcut or the professional-grade DaVinci Resolve.
Top Recommendation:Unsplash
Unsplash offers thousands of completely free, high-resolution stock photos that you can seamlessly integrate into your video projects and thumbnail designs.
Honorable Mentions: If you can't find exactly what you're looking for on Unsplash, both Pexels and Pixabay are fantastic alternatives that also boast massive libraries of free images.
2. Icons and Graphics
Sometimes a photograph isn't the right fit, and you need a clean, simple icon to visually represent a topic on screen.
Top Recommendation:Flaticon
Flaticon features thousands of icons covering almost every niche imaginable. Many of these are free for personal and commercial use, you generally just need to provide a link in your video description for attribution.
Honorable Mention:Game-Icons.net
While technically built for gaming, this site covers a wide variety of topics. All icons share a consistent aesthetic and are licensed under Creative Commons, making it a great backup resource.
3. Free Stock Video Footage
B-roll is essential for spicing up your videos, maintaining viewer interest, and visually reinforcing your narrative.
Top Recommendation:Pexels Videos
Beyond photography, Pexels offers a massive library of around 97,000 free stock videos (and growing). Whether you need footage of an airplane taking off, a beautiful beach, or random wildlife, you can find it here.
Honorable Mention:Pixabay Videos
A great backup option with tens of thousands of free videos. Between Pexels and Pixabay, you have access to well over 100,000 free video clips.
4. Copyright-Free Music
Great background music sets the mood for your video, but navigating copyright claims on YouTube can be tricky.
Top Recommendation:NoCopyrightSounds (NCS)
NCS operates as a record label for creators, offering a massive library of incredibly high-quality, radio-ready music. You can filter by genre and mood. Their usage policy is highly generous, simply give the artist credit in your description, and you are free to use their tracks on YouTube or Twitch.
Honorable Mentions: The YouTube Audio Library is built directly into YouTube, ensuring you never get a copyright strike, though the tracks are widely used by other creators. Additionally, Pixabay Music is a great external library for royalty-free tracks.
5. High-Quality Sound Effects
Sound effects, like whooshes, pops, and bells, add a professional layer of polish and engagement to your edits.
Top Recommendation:freeSFX
Don't let the dated, 1995-style website design fool you; this is one of the absolute best free sound effect libraries on the internet. The audio quality is fantastic, and they even offer curated bundles like a "zany cartoon sounds" combo pack.
Honorable Mentions:Freesound requires a bit of digging due to a clunky interface but is packed with hidden gems. OpenGameArt.org is another excellent choice, especially for interface sounds (clicks, pops, and swishes) originally designed for video game menus.
6. Computer Screen Recording Software
If you make tutorials, gaming videos, or need to capture your desktop while recording voiceover, you need a reliable screen recorder.
Top Recommendation:OBS Studio
OBS is the industry standard for screen recording and streaming. It allows you to record your desktop screen, capture microphone input, and record internal computer audio simultaneously. It’s 100% free and can also be used to stream directly to platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
7. Phone and Tablet Screen Recording Apps
Many free mobile screen recorders stamp an ugly, unprofessional watermark over your footage. Fortunately, there are pristine free alternatives.
For Android:AZ Screen Recorder
Both apps allow you to cleanly capture high-quality b-roll or tutorial footage directly from your smartphone or tablet without invasive watermarks.
8. Free Image Editing Software
You don't need to spend big bucks on premium software like Adobe Photoshop to create incredible visuals.
Top Recommendation:Photopea
Photopea is essentially a fully-featured version of Photoshop that runs entirely in your web browser. It is 100% free (supported by ads on the side of the screen). You can open files, edit them, and even save them as PSD (Photoshop) documents. It also includes hundreds of templates for projects like YouTube thumbnails.
Honorable Mention:GIMP is a classic, powerful, open-source downloadable alternative for complex image manipulation.
9. Graphic Design and Thumbnails
For YouTube thumbnails, channel art, and basic motion graphics, you need a versatile design tool.
Top Recommendation:Canva
Canva is a mind-blowingly valuable one-stop shop for graphic design. The free plan offers a massive selection of creative assets, thousands of thumbnail templates, and the ability to create intro and outro videos. It’s basically everything you'd normally need a graphic design degree for, simplified and accessible for free.
10. Free Video Editing Software
Once you have gathered your footage, images, music, and sound effects, you need a timeline to put it all together.
Top Recommendation:Shotcut
Shotcut is a free, open-source, cross-platform video editor that works on both Windows and Mac. It comes fully featured with all the basic tools you need as a creator, including transitions, fades, effects, text capabilities, and split screens.
Honorable Mentions: If you are looking for even more advanced, professional-grade free software, check out DaVinci Resolve or the open-source editor Kdenlive.
11. Bonus: Video Ideas Cheat Sheet
Having the best tools in the world won't help if you don't know what to film.
Resource:Video Ideas Cheat Sheet
This massive, printable PDF cheat sheet is packed with dozens of different video ideas and formats. Having this on hand ensures you will never run out of concepts for your channel.
Looking for affordable gear?
If you are curious about the physical equipment needed to set up a YouTube studio on a budget, you can check out this helpful Budget Studio Spreadsheet to complete your setup. Bookmark these resources, and you'll always have exactly what you need to create amazing content!
Are there free mobile screen recorders that do not leave a watermark on the footage?
Yes! While many free apps stamp an unprofessional watermark on your video, there are pristine alternatives. Go Record (for iOS) and AZ Screen Recorder (for Android) allow you to capture high-quality tutorial or b-roll footage directly from your device without invasive watermarks.
What are the best free alternatives to Adobe Photoshop for creating YouTube thumbnails?
Photopea is essentially a fully-featured, free version of Photoshop that runs entirely in your web browser. It allows you to open, edit, and save PSD documents. If you prefer a simpler, drag-and-drop approach without a steep learning curve, Canva is a fantastic one-stop shop for thumbnails, offering thousands of templates.
How can I avoid YouTube copyright strikes when adding background music to my videos?
The safest method is to use music specifically cleared for creators. The YouTube Audio Library is built directly into YouTube, ensuring your channel is protected from strikes. Alternatively, you can use high-quality, royalty-free external libraries like NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) or Pixabay Music, provided you follow their attribution rules.
Do I have to download software to my computer to use these video creation resources?
Not all of them. While screen recording (OBS Studio) and traditional video editing (Shotcut) require you to download software, many of the visual design tools operate in the cloud. You can create thumbnails and edit graphics using browser-based tools like Photopea and Canva without downloading anything.
