Pond5 vs Shutterstock for selling video

Who owns Pond5

Shutterstock announced the purchase of Pond5 on May 11, 2022, for $210 million in cash. The press release called Pond5 the world’s largest video marketplace. Pond5’s own help center now describes it as a Shutterstock family brand.

For a contributor, the two are still separate shops. Each has its own portal, its own technical list, its own metadata rules and its own payout table. A clip that passes at one can fail at the other on file size or file name, so you check each set of rules on its own.

Pond5 vs Shutterstock at a glance

Who sets the price

On Pond5, video works on a tiered price structure. The price you enter is one of several factors Pond5 uses to set the list price of the clip, and the Pond5 CSV says the same thing: you put your preferred price in US dollars and the system places it in the right tier. You can also switch the pricing method to “Let Pond5 set my price”. Pond5 does not list the tier amounts on that page.

Shutterstock gives you no price to set. Its CSV columns are file name, description, keywords, categories, illustration, mature content and editorial, with no price. What you earn is a percentage of each license, set by your earnings level.

Royalties and payouts

Pond5 pays on the 15th of each month once your balance reaches $25; below that, earnings roll over. As of April 2023, Pond5 contributors can opt out of dataset licensing. To compare the two over a year with your own numbers, use the stock footage earnings calculator.

Exclusivity

Shutterstock’s help center says it plainly: Shutterstock does not offer an exclusive program, and you are free to market your work elsewhere.

Pond5 runs an Exclusive Video Artist Program at 40%. Its definition is the part to read: content counts as exclusive when it is not for sale on any marketplace other than Pond5 or Shutterstock. Exclusive artists may upload the same clips to Shutterstock directly, and keep using them on their own site and channels. If your clips are on other agencies, Pond5 offers a two-week grace period to remove them when you join.

So the choice is wider than “Pond5 or Shutterstock”. You can be exclusive at Pond5, keep Shutterstock, and drop the others; or stay non-exclusive everywhere.

File specs side by side

Two rules decide most double uploads. First, size: a 4K ProRes clip of 7 GB passes at Shutterstock but has to be re-encoded under 5 GB for Pond5. Second, file names: beach_sunset_01.mov passes both, while beach-sunset 01.mov fails both. On frame rates, 48 fps works at both, and 47.95 or 47.96 fps only at Pond5. The full lists are on the Pond5 requirements and Shutterstock requirements pages.

Titles, descriptions and keywords

Pond5 also suggests keywords with image recognition. Review them before you save: Pond5 asks you to remove any that do not apply, and you can turn the suggestions off in your preferences.

One set of text can serve both. A single sentence of 40 to 80 characters works as a Pond5 title and as a Shutterstock description. Ten to 50 keywords meet both keyword ranges, including the Pond5 CSV. The title and keyword checker tests one list against both.

Upload and AI rules

Shutterstock recommends FTPS for large video volumes: ftps.shutterstock.com, port 21, explicit FTP over TLS. Files can take up to 72 hours to show up, and the limit is 100 clips per rolling 7 days. Pond5’s FTP article gives the host ftp.pond5.com, a separate FTP password of at least eight characters, and a Release folder for releases. It does not mention TLS.

Neither agency accepts AI-generated content from contributors. Pond5’s reason is authorship: the content cannot be attributed to one person. Adobe Stock takes it with a label; the detail is on the AI video policies page.

Which one to choose

Neither agency publishes sales figures per clip, so the choice rests on the rules above.

• You sell 250 video licenses a year or fewer at Shutterstock: Pond5’s 30% is above Shutterstock’s 15% to 25% for the same sale. Shutterstock reaches 30% only from the 251st video license of the year.
• You want a higher rate and can drop other agencies: Pond5 exclusive gives 40% and still lets you sell on Shutterstock.
• You shoot large 4K or 8K masters: Shutterstock’s 10 GB limit saves a re-encode.
• You want to steer price: only Pond5 lets you enter one.
• You stay non-exclusive: nothing stops you from uploading the same clip to both, with file names and sizes that pass both lists.