Free Stock Photos

Best Free Stock Photos Sites for your Blog and Business in 2023

The best way to capture your customer’s attention is through appealing visual content offered on free stock photo platforms. Furthermore, the images that you use in your marketing pursuits can speak a lot about you and your business. Therefore, you need to be quite picky about your visual content.

You might have come across the term stock images a lot if you are someone who’s in search of visual content. Stock photos are photos contributed by photographers and editors from around the world for you to use with little or no money with a copyright license. You don’t need to worry about searching for these stock photos, the good news is that awesome free stock photo sites have sprung up over the past years.

You can definitely opt for hiring a photographer for your visual content rather than hours of scrutinizing on these stock sites. Hiring a professional photographer would charge you a lot and also take a lot of your time. Whereas Stock photos can save you both time and money.

Here we have done a bit of research on your behalf and listed down some best stock photos that are totally free to use. You can go through these platforms and find the perfect resource for your visual content according to your needs.

So let’s get started.

What Are the Best Free Stock Photo Sites?

Here is the list of the best free stock photo sites used by my blog. 

1. Visme.co

Visme

Visme is not just a tool but is also a platform for you to design various infographics for your blog or business. Apart from searching for free images, you can even create various presentations, banner ads, graphs & charts, and a lot more other visual work with Visme.

Visme is an easy-to-use site with a free trial service along with paid plans. Additionally, it also provides video tutorials and helps They provide you with many amazing templates to directly start working and customize it the way you want and save time.

Pros

  • Good results with fewer efforts: you get high-quality output with minimal effort by using Visme with its ready-to-use templates.
  • Attractive Templates: You get a variety of attractive templates ready to use for your visual content.
  • Customizable: You can customize the templates or create visuals from scratch the way you want for your business.
  • Web-based: Visme is a web-based software. Therefore, you can access it from any of your devices.
  • Sharable: As it is a web-based software you can download your content to any of your devices through its official website.
  • Drag and drop interface: It has a drag and drop interface that is fun and easy to use.
  • Animation: You can even add animations to your visual content and make it even more attractive.

Cons

  • Lag: It needs an active internet connection and might lag due to a slow internet connection.
  • Limited Storage: You have limited cloud storage provided to you after registration with visme.co.
  • Image Duplication: There are multiple copies of the same image. Every content has a unique copy of images used in that content. Therefore, if you use an image in two content then there would be two copies of the same image. This would take up your storage space unnecessarily.

License

Visme allows you to use their material for personal or commercial use but only after modifications. You won’t be able to download any material without any modifications. If the material contains logos, identifiable people, or brands then you directly need to contact that particular owner for permission. Such content does not fall under Visme terms of use.

2. Pixabay

Pixabay

Pixabay gives you an immense amount of variety for your visual content. Basically, it contains videos and music along with photos, illustrations, and vectors. Plus, the best part is that all of them are copyright-free.

Pixabay provides you with variety but can be considered mediocre for most of the parts. It is a good platform if you want visual content for a lot of topics. You’ll find all the content in one place.

Pros

  • Content: Pixabay provides you with photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, and music.
  • Multi-lingual: It is available in 26 different languages. Therefore is accessible to a variety of audiences.
  • Commercial use: You can use visual content from Pixabay for commercial use without any permission.
  • Resolution Options: you can choose among a range of resolutions available while downloading the image.
  • Ad-free: There are no ads on Pixabay. Moreover, there are sponsored images by Shutterstock on their website to promote images.
  • Filter Search: you get a variety of filters like search by orientation, type, camera used, etc. to filter out your search so that you can find visual content according to your needs quickly.

Cons

  • Redirects to Shutterstock: when you click on one of the sponsored images, it directly takes you to the Shutterstock website where images are not free. So you’ll have to basically pay if you want to download such images.
  • For creators: Pixabay is not a good platform for content creators who wants to get paid for their work. There is an option to donate to an artist but it is not compulsory to download images.
  • Copyright: there is a copyright infringement risk because it might contain images that might be copyrighted by someone else. You might use an image without knowing its detailed copyright details.

License

All the content on Pixabay can be used for your personal or commercial use without any need for attribution but doing so is always appreciated. Plus, you can even modify the content as you please. Although, you cannot sell or redistribute original images. Also, you should not use images with identifiable people and brands to create a misleading association.

3. Unsplash

Unsplash

Unsplash is now becoming the largest community and the primary source of freely usable stock images over the internet. Plus, it is a community of leading photographers and editors from around the world that contribute these images free for you to use for anything.

Nothing can beat the price “free”. The stock images on Unsplash are not only free of cost but are also free of copyright. You don’t need to give credits or pay the creators for their work. Moreover, with the updated Unsplash license you cannot sell photos without any significant modifications.

Pros

  • Visual Search: You can easily find relatable images by searching with the visual search option.
  • Picture quality: High-resolution pictures are available in a wide range of variety for you to use freely.
  • Resolution Options: you can choose among a range of resolutions available while downloading the image.
  • Continuous Page: It displays results in a continuous page. Therefore, it is easy to scroll and navigate through the results.
  • Reminder to credit: They remind you to give credit to the photographer when you use their image to appreciate the photographer. However, it’s just a reminder and not mandatory to do so.

Cons

  • Limited to images: Unsplash is limited to images. So, you won’t find other visual content like videos on it.
  • Keywords: Most of the images are categorized as generic rather than specific keywords. You will have to be more generic while searching for your stock images as a more specific keyword search won’t result in many results.   
  • Repetitive results: Some of the results might be repetitive.

License

Unsplash License states that all photos on its website are free to download and use for any commercial and non-commercial purposes. Though you cannot sell photos without any significant modifications. Plus, you don’t need any permissions for using these stock images but attribution is always appreciated.

4. Pexels.

Pexels

Pexels is a newly emerging platform for stock images, videos, vectors, and illustrations contributed by photographers and editors. The entire content on Content on Pexels is nicely tagged, and searchable and you can easily discover it through the discover page. This content is not only user-submitted but is also curated from various other sources. Therefore, you can get a variety of content suitable for all your needs.

Pexels is a great platform for photographers and artists as it lets you reach them directly if you like their work. You can view their profile or directly donate an amount to them if you wish. Photo details like size, camera used, colors, etc. of each photo are displayed below the picture. Therefore, you can get a better idea about the picture and choose quickly.

Pros

  • Multi-lingual: It is available in 28 various languages, making it easy for more people to access Pexels smoothly.
  • Royalty-free: All the visual content on Pexels is royalty-free.
  • No registration required: You can download content from pixels without any registration process.
  • Search: You can filter your search by size, orientation, or color and get more precise results quickly.
  • Photo Details: All of the photo details including camera, size, resolution, and others are displayed below the picture. You can view it by clicking on the info button.
  • Beneficial for contributors: If you like a contributor’s work then you can directly contact them through pixels. This would help contributors reach more people.

Cons

  • Background images: most of the pictures would work great as a background for writing texts.
  • Copyright risk: As all of the pictures are curated from different sources, the risk of copyright increases. You might have to contact them to be on the safer side.

License

The Pexels license is simple which states that all photos and videos on Pexels are free to use. Plus, any kind of attribution is not required but giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is always appreciated. You can even be creative and modify photos and videos your way. But you should not redistribute or sell these modified visual content on other stock photo platforms. Additionally, you should keep in mind that you cannot redistribute or sell this visual content without any modifications.

5. Flickr

Flickr

Flickr is one of the best online photo management and sharing platforms in the world. It is the best photographic network for amateur and professional photographers to create their portfolios and share their high-resolution photos and videos. You can make use of albums and collections to store your content.

It also provides you with the basic settings needed to protect your files online. For example, you can specify whether or not a person can view your file, share or download it. You can even use this platform for pure cloud storage purposes just by specifying files to private.

Pros

  • Multi-lingual: It is available in 10 different languages making it easy for a wider crowd to access.
  • Privacy settings: It offers some really good privacy settings to protect your content and adjust its visibility.
  • Cloud Storage: It can be used as a great alternative to a cloud storage platform for all your personal photos and videos.

Cons

  • Search: It is difficult to search for photos on the website.
  • Limited Storage: The free version provides storage of 1GB and to get more space you need to upgrade to pro which starts at $5.99/Month.
  • Video upload: Only paid users can upload videos on Flickr.
  • Contact photographer to buy: You need to directly contact the photographer if you want to use the content from flicker. You’ll have to ask the photographer for the price, license, or usage of the visual content. There is no direct way you can download the content.

License

Flickr does not provide you with the authority to download the visual content and use it. It just connects you to the creators through their work. You need to contact the creator to buy those visual content on Flickr. License and terms of use are also provided by the creator.

6. Picjumbo

Picjumbo

Picjumbo is yet another newly rising stock photo platform containing free high-resolution images for commercial or personal use. It has a large variety of visual content of the best quality for free but also provides a premium plan for the users to unlock more options starting from $49 per month.

Picjumbo has an easy-to-navigate layout that has content organized into collections based on their categories. This makes it easy for you to find a picture with more angles or other relatable pictures to it. It also shows similar images related to the pictures you preview.

You can subscribe to Picjumbo’s newsletter which would mail you new stock photos directly to your inbox without any membership. This is what differentiates Picjumbo from the rest of the stock photo websites.

Pros

  • Organized: All of the photos are very well organized according to their categories. So you can easily find what you are looking for.
  • Affordable: A premium subscription to Picjumbo is much more affordable than that of other paid subscriptions available on other platforms.
  • Preview: You can preview the content before downloading them.
  • Newsletter: Newsletter subscription is available for you free of cost and they send the new collections directly into your inbox.
  • Dark-mode theme: It provides a front-page dark mode theme that would reduce the strain on your eyes.
  • NEW-feature: With the NEW feature you get to access the latest uploaded content on Picjumbo. The new button is located at the top of the page.

Cons

  • Limited to photos: They do not provide stock video footage as it’s limited to photos.
  • No advanced filter: They don’t provide any filter options to filter your search for more precise needs.
  • No sort option: You cannot sort the search on the basis of date, size, or other options.

License

Picjumbo license lets you access high-quality content for free which neither requires charges nor attribution for any of their content. You can use Picjumbo images for any of your personal or commercial use. Additionally, you should keep in mind that you cannot redistribute these images.

7. Scatter Jar

Scatter Jar

Scatter Jar is a free resource of unlimited photos mainly dedicated to food photography. You’ll find all kinds of food photography here. Plus, it’s adding new food photos every month.

It has the easiest-to-navigate user interface where you can download any image within just one click without any registration needed. Additionally, it also provides blogs on topics related to photography like what is shutter speed or tips on how to purchase a lens.

Pros

  • Attribution: There is no need for attribution or any credits but doing so is always appreciated. You can provide credits or backlinks of Scatter Jar on the images used from their website.
  • Food-specific: As Scatter Jar is food-specific, you will always find the type of photos you need related to food.
  • Unlimited downloads: You can download unlimited photo content without any restrictions.
  • Blogs: It has blogged on its website that shares tips and tricks about photography.
  • Easy GUI: It has a super easy-to-navigate and organized graphical user interface loved by anyone.
  • Free: All of the photos on Scatter Jar are completely free under the scatter jar license.

Cons

  • Limited Category: Scatter Jar is limited to food photographs. So if you want to find photos of categories except for food you need to have other stock websites on the list.
  • Only photos: You’ll only get food photos here and no videos or any vectors.

License

Scatter Jar license states that you can use all the photographs that are available on the matter jar website for any of your personal or commercial use free of charge. You can be creative and edit the photos as you like with unlimited photo downloads from Scatter Jar. Additionally, Scatter Jar doesn’t allow you to redistribute its content.

8. Gratisography

Gratisography

Gratisography is the quirkiest collection of free stock photos that are even high resolution. It curates among the wide range of stock photos available to them and then provides you with the best pictures. They believe in quality over quantity. Therefore, it has created amazing platforms for free stock images that are more than just mediocre.

It has a very colorful interface where you can search with categories or tags. Additionally, you can even subscribe to their newsletter for regular updates and alerts when they post new photos.

Pros

  • Quirky: They provide you with the most unique and creative photos curated by them and therefore they call themselves quirky.
  • No Registration: You can simply choose your photos and download them without any registration needed.

Cons

  • Image Format: Images are of the format JPG which is not of great quality as PNG can be.
  • Display: It displays only 5 images at once which can be time-consuming to browse.
  • Limited Content: Since they provide you with the best creative and unique photos the content is limited and a bit scarce as compared to the other free stock photo platforms.

License

You can use Gratisography pictures anywhere for your personal or commercial use the way you please. Plus, you can even modify these pictures and get paid for your work by using them in advertising, on websites, blogs, or other digital mediums, and on merchandise as long as the picture itself is not merchandise. The only thing you cannot do with these pictures is redistributed them.

9. Getrefe

Getrefe

Getrefe is home to some really good free, high-quality, natural-looking stock photos handpicked by the most talented photographers. They mostly provide high-quality images of people interacting with technology. They believe that visual content helps to grab attention and increase sales as many people buy emotions and not facts.

Getrefe even serves as an affiliate for some well-known paid stock platforms. You can also browse through these paid images and if you click on them then you be directly redirected to its website where you can buy these images. Not only stock photos but it also works as an affiliate for other stores and provides you with various coupons regarding it.

Pros

  • Photo Details: Photo details like photo category, tags, resolution, and source are displayed just beneath each photo.
  • Easy Navigation: The website is really easy to navigate and you can easily find the free photo options at the top of the webpage and browse through it.
  • Share: You can directly share the images to Facebook, Twitter, or Whatsapp from the Getrefe website. The share option is available at the bottom of each picture.

Cons

  • Redirected: You need to be careful while browsing on it as it also works as an affiliate for other web-known paid platforms. Therefore, if you click on such sponsored images then you will directly be redirected to its website where you can buy these images.
  • No Videos: It only contains photo content and no video content.

License

Photos on Getrefe are royalty-free which means you can use them for your personal and commercial use. But you need to keep in mind that you cannot redistribute or resell these photos or claim them as your work. If you’re still unclear about what is or isn’t allowed to do with their photos, you can contact them at info@getrefe.com.

10. IM Free

Imcreator Free

IM Free has a good collection of shots that can be used on daily basis. It contains more work-related pictures. Therefore, it’s good for you to use if you run a financial, design, or consulting firm.

They have organized the content in the form of collections which can be time-saving and easy to browse. All of these photos on the IM Free platform are free to use without any copyright restrictions.

Pros

  • Different Angles: You can find a single photo taken from various angles. Therefore, you can find the best fit for yourself from all the different angled pictures.
  • Collections: It has organized the content in the form of collections which is easy and quick to browse.

Cons

  • jpg Format: They provide the images in jpg format. Therefore, you might have to compromise with the image quality as compared to the png format images.
  • Ads: There are lots of advertisements on every page of IM Free.
  • No videos: It contains stock photos only and no videos.

License

All of this content on IM Free is curated and free to use for personal as well as commercial use. There are no restrictions on the use of images available on the IM Free platform.

11. Grallim.com

Grallim

Grallim.com is an interface with an extremely simple design and contains a good amount of free stock images. All of the images on its website are totally free of cost and free of copyright restrictions also to some extent. Additionally, it also has a basic search bar where you can search through tags or keywords.

You should sign up with them to get notified when they add new stock images. The photos on the website are saved in 72 dpi in jpg format when you download them. If you want the picture in a better resolution then you can contact them through the mail.

Pros

  • Search by Tags: You can improve your search results by searching with their suggested tags at the bottom of a page.
  • One-Click Download: You can download the image with just one click.
  • License: They provide you with a very flexible license therefore you can use their images without any hassles.
  • Affiliate Codes: They work as an affiliate for some stores. Therefore, you can get coupon codes on some products.

Cons

  • No Videos: It is limited to pictures only and does not contain any videos.
  • No Advance Search: You cannot filter your search with advanced search options. Therefore, it might be a bit time-consuming to search for the content you need.

License

Grallim.com offers free stock images for your personal as well as commercial use without any attribution to the original author or source. They have also obtained photo releases for images with identifiable people on them. Therefore, you can use such images as well but they should not be used for any unlawful or immoral purposes or in any way that could ruin their reputation or imply endorsement of products and services by those persons, brands, organizations, etc. Certain pictures with brand logos or trademarks on them are subjected to additional copyrights.

12. Life of Pix

Life of Pix

Life of Pix is home to really amazing free stock photos and videos available in high resolution without any copyright restrictions. User can share their work, create portfolios, and more with Life of Pix’s community. They have a separate platform for free stock videos known as Life of Vids.

Life of Pix contains content on almost all the topics but if you don’t find what you are looking for then you can get coupon codes for AdobeStock and find what you are looking for there at a discounted price. You can create your profile where you can upload your portfolio and follow your favorite photographers for regular updates from them. However, it’s not necessary to create a profile to download free stock photos.

Pros

  • New Content Weekly: You get access to new content every week through their vast network of photographers.
  • Interface: They have a very well-designed and appealing interface which makes browsing fun on their website.
  • Advanced filter: You can filter your search more precisely by color, orientation, size, and category.

Cons

  • Ads: Apart from sponsored adobe images they have various random ads on their page which might be hindering while browsing.

License

All of the content on Life of Pix is in Public Domain. Therefore, there is no mess related to licensing of the content. You are free to use this content for personal and commercial use without any attributions needed. However, you cannot repost more than 10 images without written Life of Pix consent.

13. SplitShire

Splitshire

SplitShire displays about a thousand professional and artistic photos that you can download and use in your work free of charge. You can use these photos for any of your personal or commercial use as you please. It contains perfectly taken or edited pictures by an Italian photographer and therefore you won’t have any trouble finding the photo you want for your work.

SplitShire also contains some mesmerizing video content apart from photo content. The video content is also as good as the photo content. You would surely find the visual content you need without any hassle. It has also made its way to CNN and other magazines.

Pros

  • Picture Details: All the picture details like Aperture, shutter speed, camera used for photo, license, and more are displayed right below the picture.
  • Preview: You can preview the picture before downloading.
  • Multiple shots: You can find multiple-angle shots of a single picture. Therefore, you can choose the right fit for you from various angles.

Cons

  • Ads: there are lots of advertisements on the page.
  • Limited collection: It is a limited collection of around 1000 photographs and you won’t find fresh content over a period of time.
  • No advanced filter: There is no option to apply an advanced filter for a more specific search.

License

Like the CC0 license, SplitShire has its own custom license much similar to it, which allows you to share and use photos however you please. But you need to keep in mind that you can not sell the photo without any modifications. Plus, the use of SplitShire free photos is not allowed in any violence, racism, political, or any other discriminative views.

14. MorgueFile

MorgueFile

MorgueFile is one of the oldest stock image platforms created by creatives for creatives. It is an evolving free stock photo-sharing site with simple social media integration. It is highly functional unlike other platforms with social media integration.

MorgueFile is not only good for anyone in need of free stock photos but also for contributors as you can directly message them. Furthermore, there is another feature called quest where you can always find new stock images and request a topic if you don’t find one. It also provides a PRO plan at a one-time fee of $25 with added benefits.

Pros

  • Filter: You can filter your search by date added, popularity, most downloaded, and more.
  • built-in social media: Through the built-in social media function you can directly message and follow other users on MorgueFile.
  • built-in crop tool: It provides a cropping tool through which you can crop your pictures before downloading them to your computer.
  • No registration: You don’t need to register to download images from MorgueFile. However, you will have to register to access additional features like quests and bookmarks.

Cons

  • Layout: Here pictures are not displayed in collections. Pictures are displayed with keywords which means that you’ll have to search for keywords instead of collections. Collections are in a way easy for you to find similar images in one place.
  • Redirect: Morguefile serves as an affiliate for some of the larger stock photo providers out there. Therefore, there are chances that you might be redirected to one of these while searching for content.
  • Mono-lingual: It is available in one language(i.e. English) only.

License

All the pictures on Morguefile are under the Morguefile license. With it, you can edit and modify the original Morguefile images and use them for your personal or commercial use. However you cannot license, transfer, redistribute or claim ownership of the original images. Plus, it is also required that you credit the photographer and the Morguefile website if you use the original image without any modifications.

15. StockSnap.io

Stocksnap

StockSnap is a tag-based category system that would help you to browse and locate images as per your needs. Like all the other free stock photo platforms, it provides you with free unlimited high-quality stock images. Furthermore, all the StockSnap content is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero(CC0) license.

StockSnap adds new images on weekly basis and these images are sorted in descending order of relevance by default. Moreover, you can sort these images by downloading, favorites, date created, and others. StockSnap appreciates photographers by providing backlinks to their profiles.

Pros

  • Weekly update: StockSnap adds new images to its website every week.
  • Trending tag search: It provides a trending tag through which you can browse new images.
  • Sort search: you can sort your search for convenience by date trending, views, downloads, and favs.

Cons

  • No videos: It contains only pictures and no video content.
  • General use: It is good for general use and not for more specific uses. If you want stock images for a very specific purpose then you won’t find much content.

License

All the StockSnap content is licensed under one simple CC0 license that lets you do whatever you want with all your photos without any need for attribution. Although, attribution is always appreciated. With the CC0 license, you are free to edit and use this content in your commercial projects also. Finally, you cannot sue or claim any kind of liability against the person who created the image on any kind of theory of warranty or guarantee in the image.

16. Little Visuals

Little Visual

Little Visuals is a very simple resource where you can find free stock images for your projects. This platform was initiated by Nic Jackson but tragically he died in 2013. Whilst Nic couldn’t grow little visuals himself, this platform is still made accessible to you all by his family.

Apart from free images, another benefit of little visuals is that there are no strict content restrictions. You can use the images however you want for your personal or commercial use. By signing up with them you will get seven free high-resolution images zipped up in your inbox every Thursday.

Pros

  • Layout: It has an easy continuous page layout where you can scroll continuously to browse images on its website.
  • Preview: You can preview the images before downloading them. Hence, you can have a closer look at the images before downloading them.

Cons

  • Limited content: It is a limited source of images. Though it has a good collection of free high-resolution images you cannot completely rely on it.
  • No videos: There is no video content on this platform. It only provides you with photos.
  • No search bar: It does not have a search bar. Therefore, it can be quite time-consuming to search images for specific needs.

License

Little Visuals content has a hassle-free public domain CC0 license. Wherein you can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, for your personal as well as commercial purposes, all without asking permission from the distributor. There is no need for any attribution as well.

17. RGBSTOCK

RGBStock

RGBSTOCK is a platform with a hefty library of stock photos contributed by a group of amateur photographers and graphic artists. You’ll get a variety of content from artsy shots to commercial pictures including all the popular and evergreen topics. The photos have a professional and commercial style, and there’s enough variety to cover most of your needs.

This platform has a really good feature where you can directly message the photographers if you wish to. They also have the option of a new photo where you can directly check out all the new photo releases on its website.

Pros

  • Sort options: You can sort your search on various factors for a quicker search.
  • Photo details: The photo details like photographer, dimensions, camera used, date, aperture, and others are mentioned beside the photo.
  • Photographer: The photographer’s name is mentioned along with each picture and you can even reach the photographer directly through this platform.
  • Multi-Lingual: It is available in 7 different languages including English.

Cons

  • Ads: There are lots of advertisements on their website which is very much hindering while searching for visual content.
  • Paid Content: It works as an affiliate for Shutterstock. Therefore, the first line of images would be from Shutterstock, and on clicking them you will be redirected to its website where you can get those images.
  • Contributor-based system: It is a platform managed by contributors themselves. Therefore, it is not best for free photos.

License

They have a custom license that grants you free usage of their content for your personal or commercial use under some restrictions. This means you cannot use their content for any immoral or unlawful purposes or in a way that could give a bad image to RGBSTOCK. If the picture contains an identifiable person or any trademark or logo then you need to seek permission from the image provider before using it. Furthermore, redistribution of their original images is also not allowed.

18. Rawpixel

RawPixel

Rawpixel is a free stock photos store with thousands of curated images to use for your work in addition to a lot of premium subscription-based content. It also contains drawings, vectors, and painting apart from images. The team at Rawpixel filters out the chaff, leaving behind only the best free stock photos among their collections for both commercial and personal use.

They provide subscription plans starting at $3 per month including a free plan. Additionally, they have a public domain collection where images are provided free of cost under the CC0(Creative Commons Zero) license which means that you can use the images in the public domain as you please without any attribution.

Pros

  • Advanced Search: You can filter your search content by size, dimensions, license type, file type, and other filters for an easy and quick search.
  • Donate: They donate 10% of all premium-level subscription revenues to Hope for children community.
  • Curated content: The content on Rawpixel is curated by experts who are constantly working to make it the best platform for stock photography.
  • Free or Public domain Content: You will always find the content you need in the free and public domain collection. However, if you need stock images now and then the paid versions would do a great job for you.

Cons

  • Limited downloads: You have a limitation of 10 free image downloads pre-day if you are not subscribed to them for paid plans.
  • Multiple Licenses: There are various license options available on the Rawpixel content so be careful and read the license about the content that you use from Rawpixel. Plus, you can even sort content on the basis of license type so you don’t need to check the license for each and every image every time.
  • No video content: This platform for free stock photos is limited to images, vectors, or drawings and there is no video content available.

License

Rawpixel provides different license schemes for different collections. Under the Personal License, you are allowed to use the images for your personal use and non-commercial activities without any credits to Rawpixel but giving credits is appreciated. Under the Commercial License, you are allowed to use the images for any of your commercial use but you cannot re-sell or re-distribute content and also cannot use it on merchandise without any modifications.

The content under the free license can be used anywhere under the Rawpixel copyrights and the content under the public domain license can be used under the CC0 license. The content marked with “Editorial Use Only” cannot be used for any commercial purpose, cannot be edited or altered from the original image, and can only be used for editorial purposes.

19. PikWizard

PikWizard

PikWizard is a huge library of free stock photos with high-resolution videos as well as contributed by leading photographers. It not only allows you unlimited downloads but also allows modifying content before downloads. Yes, you read it right, you can edit and modify the content before downloading it on the PikWizard platform itself.

Another great thing about this platform is that it has lots of people and commercial shots that are very creative. PikWizard has mainly focused on providing the best content for you. Therefore it has a very simple interface and no other quirky features.

Pros

  • Built-in editor: It provides a built-in editor where you can directly edit pictures or videos before downloads. You won’t need any extra software for editing this way and would also save you time.
  • Well-organized: The content is very well organized on the website and it’s easy to find the content you are looking for.
  • Video Collection: It is one of the largest video content collection platforms among the stock photo platforms.
  • Quality & Quantity: It has good high-quality content and is the most expansive among the free stock photo platforms.

Cons

  • No filter options: You cannot filter your search on the basis of its size, resolution, or date for a more precise search.
  • No social network: It does not have a community or social network where people can discuss and interact with each other.
  • Affiliates: PikWizard works as an affiliate for other paid stock photo platforms. Therefore, the few photos in any category would be paid and if you click on them then it would directly take you to its website.

License

PikWizard has its own custom license on the visual content they provide. Under that custom license, you are allowed to use their visual content for any personal or commercial use without any need for attribution. The only restriction in this license is that you are not allowed to resale this content or use it in products for resale.

20. Death to the Stock Photo

Death of Stock Photo

If you are someone who’s too choosy about the visual content on their web then Death to the Stock Photo is for you. It provides the best art photos and videos which an artistic non-stock content impression.

Earlier Death to the Stock Photo used to be free but now it has updated to a subscription-based model. There are three different subscription plans available from $12 per month billed annually. With this subscription, you get access to all the photos with unlimited downloads along with their custom license which allows you to do whatever you want with the content. Furthermore, they provide a free 14-day trial to try out their service.

Pros

  • Unlimited downloads: It provides unlimited downloads with new work added every month.
  • Multiple memberships: Three membership options are available to choose from according to your requirements.
  • Free trial: A 14-day free trial is also available to check for yourself.

Cons

  • It has covered all the aspects required by users searching for stock content. Therefore, I do not find eligible cons for Death to the Stock Photo.

License

Death to the Stock Photo is created to support people and therefore they attempt to remove all the complex licensing terms. All the media on the Death to the Stock Photo platform has a “make what you want” license, which lasts a lifetime once you purchase a subscription with Death to the Stock Photo.

22. Stockvault

Stockvault

Crowdsourced by thousands of best contributors from around the world, Stockvault has also made its position among the other free stock photo platforms. It is mainly known for its texture library that offers a huge variety of background textures, in high definition for you to use in any creative way you can think of.

Stockvault has a very well-designed interface where pictures are organized into collections and categories. Additionally, photo details like author, license type, size, and others are also provided beneath the download button. Withal these features, downloading is a cinch with Stockvault.

Pros

  • New Content every day: Stockvault gives you fresh content constantly by adding new photos, textures, and illustrations every day.
  • Donation Link: Picture details contains a donation link button to donate and support the artist.
  • Best Texture Library: It contains the best texture library in high-definition resolution. They also have a texture Friday when exclusive texture content is launched.
  • Collections: Content is stored in collections and categories so it’s easy to browse.

Cons

  • Multiple License options: Stockvault content is licensed under three different licenses. Therefore, you need to be careful and know the license of the content you use.
  • Commercial use: Not all images are available for commercial use.
  • Only Images: It is limited to images only. They don’t provide stock videos.

License

A contributor can choose among 3 different licenses for their content. As a user, you should be aware of the license that the content you want might fall under. The Non-Commercial License allows you to modify the content for personal, educational, or non-commercial use without any attribution. The Commercial Licensed content can be used for any commercial purposes even including merchandising but only after modifying the content. Lastly, with the Creative Commons(CC0) license you can use, alter or modify the content the way you please and use it for both personal and commercial use without seeking any permission from the contributor.

23. Kaboompics

Kaboompics

In the sea of cliche stock photos, Kaboompics was introduced with free high-quality photos on multiple subjects. The photos on Kaboompics have modern aesthetics and are a good source of lifestyle & interior design images. Photoshoots are also available where the entire photo collection is uploaded.

The best part here is that you can filter your search on the basis of color apart from other filters like orientation.

Pros

  • Updated every day: New photos are added almost every day. Therefore, you get fresh content every day.
  • Natural Photos: You get a wide range of natural-looking photos here.
  • Filter: You can filter your search on the basis of color scheme also.
  • Photo Details: Every photo detail like original file size, lens, etc is available on Kaboompics.

Cons

  • No videos: There is no video content on Kaboompics. It only provides you with free stock photos.
  • No contributors required: Kaboompics needs no one for contributing photos as it’s a “one-woman show” and all the images are shoot and uploaded by Kristina herself.

License

Kaboompics has its own custom license which is much similar to the CC0 license. It states that you can use all the photos on its website however you like for your personal or commercial use free of cost without any attribution. You cannot sell or redistribute these photos without any modifications. Plus, redistribution of these photos is not allowed on other similar stock photo websites.

24. LibreShot

Libreshot

LibreShot is a free stock photos website like any other such platform but has a unique collection of fine art photos which is rare to find in any of the stock image platforms. It also contains stock photos on other subjects as well in good quality at free of cost. All of its content is free for commercial use, has no watermarks and any kind of attribution is also not required.

You are free to use LibreShot content however you please. Moreover, you cannot mass download the content or reuse the content on other similar stock photo websites without its permission.

Pros

  • Photo Details: Photo details like image license, publish date, aperture, camera used and others are displayed right below the picture.
  • No copyright restrictions: There is no copyright restriction mess with LibreShot content as all of the content is under the public domain.

Cons

  • Ads: There are ads in between the images which can be hindering while browsing for photos.
  • No videos: LibreShot is limited to photos only and there is no video content on its platform.

License

LibreShot photos can be used anyhow you want without any copyright restrictions as all of its content is licensed under the Creative Commons Public Domain license. This has pretty much no copyright restrictions and is royalty-free. You are allowed to use the content the way you please with any need for attribution, though doing so would be grateful.

25. New Old Stock

New Old Stock

New Old Stock as the name suggests features classic images that are curated from the public archives free of known copyright restrictions. This curation is done by handpicking and aggregating from the Flickr Commons by a single product designer. Some of these are high-resolution files with a brief description as well.

It also provides a pro pack with a little fee. These photos in the pro pack are not sold by New Old Stock, it is only provided as a service for your convenience. These photos are collected, edited, and curated from institutions that allow commercial use.

Pros

  • Backlinks: Backlinks to the original Flickr images are provided for all of the images.
  • Curated Historic images: All of these images are vintage and curated from a huge pool of images.

Cons

  • Image format: Images are in the jpg format and therefore the image quality is not as good as the png format.
  • License: For the safest way out you might have to check the license of each image on the Flickr website.
  • Only for Vintage images: This platform can be a good reliable option for vintage and historic images but you cannot keep it as the only platform for all your stock photo needs.

License

There is no particular license for the New Old Stock photos. All of these curated images are available in the public domain of Flickr Commons. Therefore, it can be very least used for personal use. And if you are still dicey about the license then you can check the image license through the backlink to the original Flickr posting provided. Moreover, the most preferable way is that you link back to the original Flickr photo and mention the contributor’s name.

26. ISO Republic

Isorepublic

The ISO Republic is home to thousands of images and videos available free of cost. These visual contents are CC0 licensed which means that you can use them for both your personal and commercial use. You are even free to edit and modify this content however you please and use it for your work.

It also provides collections which is a collection of images and videos on a particular theme. This is helpful when you are searching for something theme-specific. Furthermore, It provides a free one-month Shutterstock trial pack.

Pros

  • Photo details: the photo details like image size, format, author, and others are displayed right below the images which can be good to understand the image better.
  • videos: You can get amazing videos apart from photos on the ISO Republic.

Cons

  • Advanced filter: No advanced filter options are available to filter the search more specifically.
  • Affiliate: They work as an affiliate for Shutterstock. Therefore, you would get a lot of sponsored photos in between.

License

All the content on the ISO Republic platform is licensed under the CC0 license. Under this license, you can use these photos for your personal or commercial use and can even modify them without any attribution. But you cannot claim the content to be your own work.

27. Fancy Crave

Fancy Crave

Fancy Crave is a platform that aims to make your professional life easy by providing you with information, tips, and tricks regarding technology. Despite this, they provide you with amazing free stock photos in both a free and gated manner. With the premium membership, you get access to all the premium catalogs and download all of them in just one click.

Photos here are stored in the form of catalogs with a brief description. You can download the images in jpg format or in high-resolution format for a little fee.

Pros

  • Catalogs: Images are sorted and stored in the form of catalogs.
  • Themed Photos: You get a good variety of modern aesthetics and themed photos.
  • Unlimited downloads: You get unlimited downloads from the free pack.
  • New content every month: You get access to 50+ new content every month.

Cons

  • jpg format: With the free membership you can only download images in jpg format. For a more high-resolution format, you need to pay a little fee.
  • No Videos: It only serves photo content and no video content.

License

It has one simple license that applies to everything. It is the CC0 license that allows free usage for commercial purposes but with a sensitive use clause. You should directly contact the photographer and talk about the license for a safer option.

28. Snapwire Snaps

Snapwire

Snapwire Snaps is one of the best online stock photography websites available in the market. With Snapwire Snaps, you get commission photos from 200,000 of the most talented photographers in the world.

Snapwire is best for designers and artists looking for a solution that mails them the photos of their required photography verticals like couples, cooking, Winter holidays, surfing, and food, among others. Plus, it is also amazing for academics as well.

Pros

  • High-quality photography
  • Many users have experienced a 30% increase in conversion rate
  • Wide variety of photographs are available
  • Offers the best content for social media engagement

Cons

  • Some photos still might have a copyright issue

License

Snapwire offers both royalty-free images as well as paid images for personal and commercial use. That said, they cannot be resold or redistributed.

29. Freerange

Freerange Stock

Freerange has a large variety of free stock photos and is also super easy to use. This large variety is sourced by multiple image sources like freelancers or employed professionals. Furthermore, if you like a particular photo or its style then you can even explore that photo contributor’s profile for more work.

Another big thing about Freerange is that it is an advertising revenue-supported photographic community. It means that the contributors are paid when a user clicks on the ads beside it. Moreover, it also has a support button on each contributor’s profile if you want to show some love by paying some amount to the contributor.

Pros

  • Similar content: you would find a lot of similar photos taken from various angles. Therefore, you can find the best suitable picture you want.
  • Download size options: you get various size options to choose from according to your needs.
  • Photographer details: the photographer’s details are mentioned right below the picture.
  • Filter options: you can filter your search by license or file type for a better approach.
  • No attribution: There is no need for any kind of attribution required to use these stock images from Freerange.

Cons

  • No videos: It only has photo content on its platform. They don’t provide stock videos.

License

All the images are licensed under Equalicense which allows you to use images for personal or commercial use. Since all the Freerange stock photos are licensed for general commercial use excluding attribution, you can use them to design banners, posters, websites, etc. Apart from these they also offer a lot of CC0 images under the original CC0 license.

30. Styled Stock.

Styled Stock

If you are a female blogger or a person who likes a soft touch to their photos then styled stock is the thing for you. It’s one of the best feminine stock photography platforms you’ll ever come across. It has a huge collection of high-definition photos regarding lifestyle and business.

The best part is that all of these HD pictures are available at zero cost. You don’t need to pay anything or even attribute them to their pictures. You can use these pictures however you please without attribution but cannot claim them to be yours.

Pros

  • Themed pictures: you’ll find plenty of images belonging to a particular theme. Therefore, you can find the best suitable image for yourself from the same themed pictures.
  • No attribution:  You don’t need to attribute them for using their pictures but a link back to styledstock.co as an attribute would be appreciated.
  • Navigation: The website is very well designed and it’s super easy to navigate through this platform.
  • Blog:  They also provide a blog where motivational and helpful content is posted regularly.

Cons

  • Affiliate: It works as an affiliate to stock. Therefore, the first line of images would be sponsored images from iStock and by clicking on them you would be redirected to its website where you can buy those images.
  • Advanced filters: The drawback to this is that you cannot advance filter your search by color or other factors apart from the keyword search.
  • No videos: They do not provide free stock videos.

License

You can use their photos for any of your commercial or non-commercial use but cannot claim it to be yours. Certain pictures may be subjected to additional copyrights, property rights, or trademarks. Therefore, third-party consent is needed in that case or you can modify the picture in a way it is not visible. Furthermore, you should use these pictures in any illicit content.

31. Skitterphoto.

SkitterPhoto

Skitterphoto is a great place for public domain photos. All of the visual content is available free of cost and can be used for all of your non-commercial and commercial use. You can browse by categories or search by keywords to find the photo you need. You can also sort these pictures by the number of views, rates, and other factors.

All the photos on Skitterphoto are free of cost but you might find some paid content on it as well because it serves as an affiliate for the iStock platform.  While browsing their website you can see the number of downloads, likes, and views of a photo at the bottom of the photo. These tiny details help you in choosing the best photo for you. Like you can choose a photo with fewer downloads if you want less-used content.

Pros

  • Photo details: All of the photo details like camera used, date posted, size, and others are displayed below the picture.
  • Photographer Details: The photographer’s details are mentioned beside the picture. Therefore, you can directly contact the photographers and even look at their profiles for other pictures from them as well.
  • Single license: All of the content on Skitterphoto is licensed under one single CC0 public domain license. Therefore, you don’t have to check for the license of each image individually.

Cons

  • Affiliate: As told earlier, it works as an affiliate for iStock therefore, the first and the last line of photos on a page are paid photos. Hence, you need to consider that while searching for free stock photos on this website.
  • No videos: It serves high-quality free stock photos and no stock videos or footage.

License

All of the photos on Skitterphoto are licensed under one single CC0 public domain license. This means that all photos are free to use for any of your commercial or non-commercial uses. You can even edit or modify these photos and use them for your commercial purposes, without asking for permission.

32. Good Stock Photos

Good Stock Photos

Good Stock Photos is yet another wonderful free stock photos library. You get one new photo every day resulting in fresh content every day. All of the photos on its platform are shot by the founder and not sourced from anywhere. Therefore, you would get totally unique pictures.

The owner of this platform understands how time-consuming it is to find a decent picture to use. Therefore, he has created a platform where everyone can find stock images and use them for free in their work. They themselves say that- “the photos are free, so keep it that way”.

Pros

  • Unique content: All of the photos on Good stock photos are taken by the owner himself. Therefore, these photos are totally unique and won’t be found on other stock websites.
  • Category: All of the photos are well-categorized. Therefore, it’s easy to locate an image and also results in a quicker search.
  • Suggestions: It also suggests some other similar images to the one you open to download. So that you can have a quick look at other similar content as well.

Cons

  • No videos: There are no stock videos or footage available on this platform.

License

Good stock photos have their own custom license. Under this, you are allowed to use the photo anywhere and anytime without any attribution required. Whilst you are allowed to sell the modified copy of these images, redistribution or selling content is prohibited.

33. NegativeSpace

NegativeSpace

NegativeSpace is a CC0 licensed stock photography library for both personal and commercial use. Most of these images are basically crowdsourced from different people.

It is perfect for artists and designers who are looking for natural and beautiful pictures of daily surroundings.

Pros

  • Allows you to crop, edit and modify all of the images
  • Offers High-quality images
  • Provides an in-built color filter
  • Comes with an easy to use search option to browse images

Cons

  • You may run into copyright issues with image owners

License

All photographs and raw image files are licensed under the CC0 license. You can use them for any personal and commercial purposes, but reselling or redistribution isn’t allowed.

34. FreePhotos.cc

Free Photos

FreePhotos is something you should keep on the list for your stock content. It has a variety of free stock photos and if they are out of content then they also suggest some paid content relatable to your search. FreePhotos uses the APIs from a few stock photo providers and gathers images in one place so that it’s easy to preview and download. This way you can view content from various providers all in one place.

Another great thing about FreePhotos is that you can edit the images right away on their platform in just a few clicks. You can resize, crop, apply filters, draw, add texts, stickers, frames, and edit photos in many more ways. It also works as an affiliate for Shutterstock and hence has one full page dedicated to paid stock images from Shutterstock.

Pros

  • simple UI: It has a very simple user interface that is extremely easy to navigate.
  • Photo Editor: It has a built-in photo editor where you can edit your photos within minutes. Therefore, there won’t be a need for any external photo editor while using FreePhotos.
  • Search by categories: It has a page named categories where they have a list of all the categories available. Therefore it’s easy to search for what you are looking for.

Cons

  • No Videos: It only offers free stock photos. There are no stock videos available on this platform.
  • Multiple License:  There is more than one license available. Therefore, be careful and read the license properly while using the photos.

License

FreePhotos offers two types of licenses namely standard and extended for their stock images. The standard license allows non-exclusive, worldwide, and non-transferable rights. You can use the images for your commercial and non-commercial uses. You can even edit or modify the content as per your needs.

35. Startup Stock Photos

Startup Stock Photos

Startup Stock Photos as the name suggests provides you with free startup, office, and tech photos. It has a super-simple interface and is easy to use. You can download the content in just a few clicks. You can even preview the content before downloading it.

It was developed with an aim to provide stock images to people who are struggling to maintain their social media for their startup to create their brand image. And now about ten million people are using it.

Pros

  • Simple UI: It has a simple and easy-to-navigate user interface. You can find what you are looking for in no time.
  • Tech Photos: It is just filled with lots of tech and office photos. And there are multiple photos from different angles. You can just choose the one you like.
  • Preview: You can preview the images before downloading them.

Cons

  • No Videos: It is only limited to photos. It does not provide stock videos.
  • Limited to tech photos: you can keep it as your go-to source for tech photos. But you’ll have to have in mind other platforms for other subjects as Startup Stock Photos would only provide you with tech, office, or startup photos.

License

All of the visual content on Startup Stock Photos is published under a single CC0 license. You are free to use these stock photos for your personal as well as commercial uses. There is no need for attribution as well. Although doing so would be appreciated.

36. Dreamstime

Dreamstime

Dreamstime is one of the world’s largest communities of royalty-free stock photos and videos. You can find stock content starting at 15.39/download or Free. It has a vast collection of stock content enriched daily by contributors all over the world.

You will definitely find the best content for your project but you need to create an account first in order to download it. They also provide a free trial if you want to try the paid versions. Another great thing about them is that they donate 10% of royalties to their contributors as a COVID-19 relief stimulus.

Pros

  • Multiple formats: It provides us with stock content in multiple formats such as photos, illustrations, vectors, editorial, video, and audio.
  • Multi-lingual: It is available in German, English, French, Spanish, and many more languages.
  • Advanced filter: They provide you extra filter options where you can filter your search by license, image orientation, etc.
  • Download size options: There are various image sizes available for you to download according to your preferences.

Cons

  • UI: It does not have a very user-friendly interface.

License

All the content on Dreamstime is either under the royalty-free license or the extended license. The royalty-free license lets you buy the image once and then use it for your personal or commercial use as many times as you want.

Free Stock Photos – Final Summary

Whilst I have the design skills to create visual content of my own, it would have taken me ages to find what I managed in under an hour with these sites providing free stock photos. This is the main benefit of using stock platforms. It saves your time and you can find the best suitable content for yourself.

In case you don’t find what you are looking for then many stock images even allow you to modify the content the way you please. Therefore, you can pick up an image close to your needs and then edit or modify it the way you want. Please remember to check the license first before modifying a photo.

Here I tried to cover all the awesome free stock photo platforms that might be useful for all of you out there. Hope you would find a suitable source for your visual content needs.

Which of these free stock photo sites are you planning to use the most? Let me know in the comment section below.

More from Smashitbuck: Do check out my other articles on Youtube Alternatives, Digital Marketing, and Customer Loyalty strategies to read this year.

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Authored By Amey Sarode
Amey Sarode is a Lead Web Developer in GOMO Group with expertise in multiple software verticals. Before starting this blog, Amey managed multiple projects for startups and now reviews the best software to run your online business.

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