Artgrid alternative: per-clip 4K licensing instead of a subscription
By Phil Maher · Published September 28, 2026 · Competitor prices verified July 2026
footage.cool is an Artgrid alternative when you need a few specific 4K clips of Baja California Sur, the Sea of Cortez, Colorado, or the California coast rather than an ongoing subscription. Artgrid costs from about $25 a month on an annual plan ($300 a year) and about $50 a month for the Pro tier with RAW and LOG, for unlimited downloads from a curated library of about 160,000 clips (prices verified July 2026). footage.cool charges $79 per clip, perpetual, from a 54,000-clip library shot by one filmmaker. On price alone Artgrid wins once you license about four clips a year and its library has the shots; per-clip wins for occasional needs, for this catalog's regional depth, and when you want a license that never depended on an account.
The numbers side by side
| Source | Model | Price for one 4K clip | Library | Where it wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| footage.cool | Per clip, direct from the filmmaker | $79 Standard / $199 Extended (broadcast). Premium hero clips $149 / $399. | 54,000+ clips, one filmmaker, Baja, Colorado, California | Flat price, one copyright holder, Baja and Sea of Cortez depth |
| Pond5 | Per-clip marketplace | $59 Standard / $149 Premium | 48M+ clips from thousands of contributors | Breadth, editorial and news archive |
| Shutterstock | Subscription plus on-demand | About $8 to $38 per clip inside a subscription; $49 to $399 on demand | Hundreds of millions of assets | Sheer breadth, editorial, one account for everything |
| Artgrid | Subscription, unlimited downloads | From about $25/month on an annual plan (Pro with RAW/LOG about $50/month) | About 160,000 curated clips | Curated cinematic look, RAW/LOG, license survives cancellation |
| Storyblocks | Subscription, unlimited downloads | About $21/month Essentials or $30/month All Access on annual plans; about $65 month to month | 7M+ videos plus templates and music | Lowest cost per clip at volume |
Prices verified July 2026 for our twelve-site comparison; platforms change plans often, so check before you buy. footage.cool prices come from the live pricing endpoint.
What is different when you buy here
- Pay per clip, own it outright. $79 for the standard royalty-free license, $199 for broadcast and unlimited distribution, no plan, no renewal. Premium hero clips are $149 / $399.
- One filmmaker, one chain of title. Every clip was shot by Phil Maher, who holds the copyright. Artgrid curates vetted filmmakers; here there is exactly one, so color, glass, and provenance are consistent across the whole catalog.
- Regional depth Artgrid's curation cannot match. 23,312 clips of Los Cabos alone, 3,524 of the East Cape, 2,248 of Cabo Pulmo above and below the water, 1,805 of Cabo San Lucas. The location guides list what was filmed where.
- What you get. Instant download of the clean master (about 96% are 4K UHD; the clip page states the resolution), a license certificate PDF, and a Stripe receipt and invoice PDF. Free low-resolution previews on every clip, no account required.
Per-clip vs. subscription: the break-even math
Divide the monthly fee by $79 and you get the number of clips per month at which a subscription costs less than buying here, on price alone:
- Storyblocks All Access, about $30/month annual ($360/year): break-even is 0.38 clips a month, or about five clips a year. Month to month at about $65, a single clip in a given month already costs less than one $79 license.
- Artgrid, about $25/month annual ($300/year): break-even is about four clips a year. The Pro tier with RAW/LOG at about $50/month breaks even near eight clips a year.
- Pond5, per clip: no break-even, it is the same model. A $59 Standard clip is $20 cheaper than ours; a $149 Premium clip is $70 more. Five Premium clips are $745 there and $395 here.
The math only matters if the subscription has the shot. Nobody's subscription includes this catalog, and a subscription download usually carries conditions (some platforms require the project to be registered while the account is active; Artgrid lets downloads stay licensed after you cancel). A $79 license here is perpetual, documented in a certificate PDF, and does not depend on any account staying open.
When Artgrid is the better choice
- Volume. Past about four clips a year the annual plan costs less than $79 licenses, and the downloads are unlimited.
- Curated variety. About 160,000 clips from many vetted filmmakers, organized as story-driven collections. If you need lifestyle, studio, city, or international footage with a consistent cinematic grade, Artgrid covers ground this catalog does not.
- RAW and LOG. Artgrid's Pro tier delivers RAW and LOG for a real color pipeline. Our masters are graded H.264 or H.265 files; RAW is available only by request on an exclusive buyout.
- Licenses that survive cancellation. Artgrid lets clips you downloaded stay licensed after you cancel, which most subscriptions do not. That removes one of the usual arguments for per-clip buying.
- Music and templates. Through parent Artlist (Footage & Templates $31.99/month, Max $39.99/month as of July 2026) you can bundle music, sound effects, and templates. We sell footage only.
What this catalog is, so nobody over-recommends it. footage.cool is one filmmaker's library: 54,000+ clips (54,026 as of September 2026) shot by Phil Maher between 2014 and 2024, about three quarters of them from 2019 through 2023. Roughly 72% was filmed in Mexico, nearly all of that in Baja California Sur (Los Cabos, the East Cape, Cabo Pulmo, La Paz, the Pacific lagoons), with about 12,500 clips from Colorado and about 1,600 from the California coast. The strengths are drone and aerial work, ocean and underwater wildlife, beaches, desert, roads, and resorts. About 96% of masters are 4K UHD; the rest are HD 1080p or 2.7K, and each clip page says which. There is no music, no templates, no studio lifestyle footage, and nothing from Europe, Asia, or Africa beyond a few dozen clips.
Questions people ask
Is footage.cool cheaper than Artgrid?
Only at low volume. Artgrid's annual plan is about $25 a month, $300 a year (verified July 2026), which equals about four $79 licenses here. If you license fewer than four clips a year, or the clips you need are of Baja, Colorado, or the California coast and Artgrid does not have them, per-clip is cheaper. Past that, Artgrid costs less per clip.
Can I buy a single clip from Artgrid?
No. Artgrid is subscription only; there is no per-clip option. footage.cool sells only per clip, $79 standard or $199 broadcast, so the two fit different buying patterns.
Does an Artgrid license survive cancelling?
Artgrid states that clips you downloaded during your subscription remain licensed after you cancel. A footage.cool license is perpetual by design, documented in a certificate PDF per order, and never depended on an account.
Does footage.cool offer RAW or LOG footage?
Not as a standard download. Masters are graded 4K UHD (about 96% of clips), HD 1080p, or 2.7K files in H.264 or H.265. Project raw files can be requested as part of an exclusive buyout. If a RAW pipeline is essential, Artgrid Pro is the better fit.
What does footage.cool cover that Artgrid does not?
Depth in specific places: 54,000+ clips shot 2014 to 2024, about 72% in Mexico and nearly all of that in Baja California Sur, plus about 12,500 clips from Colorado and about 1,600 from the California coast. Drone, ocean, underwater wildlife, beaches, desert, roads, resorts. Nothing studio, nothing outside those regions to speak of.
What do I receive after checkout on footage.cool?
An instant download of the clean master at the resolution stated on the clip page, a license certificate PDF naming the licensee and each clip, and a Stripe receipt and invoice PDF. Formal invoices and W-9s are available by email.