Stock photos play a key role in many successful blogs and websites and help to give a professional look. However, professional companies such as Adobe Stock, Shutterstock and iStockphoto, own a huge proportion of the stock photo market and can charge extortionate amounts for a single image. The best solution is to search the web for free stock photos, but even then most are of a poor quality and uninspired.
Luckily there are plenty of resources available, which provide stock photos for free or for the price of attribution. The only trouble is, where to find them?
We’ve put together a list of our favourite free stock photo sites and given a brief background on each. But before you start using the images, it is important to be aware of certain restrictions in order to avoid trouble.
A Creative Commons license allows artists to share their copyrighted work for public use. Artists can choose how you use their work. When using some photos, you may be required to link back to the photographer, also known as an attribution. Attribution is simple, If you include on of these photos on a web page, add text that cites the photographer (“Photo by John Smith”) and is sure to include a link to his or her site, if there’s one. Other photos don’t require attribution. Some photos will be available for commercial use while others restrict the usage to personal projects only. So , it is important to check the license for each image you use!
Below is a list of 31 of the best free stock photo resources! Be sure to take your time and check each one out to find what you’re looking for. Some of the sites require attribution when using their images, so we’ve highlighted which can be searched, which need attributions and which don’t!
1 Death to stock photo
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
Death to stock photo is a membership-based stock photo library. Sign up is free and once subscribed, you will be sent a pack of 10 photos each month all linked to a particular category. The images are high quality and there are different project resources to download too.
If you do have some budget, Death to Stock offers a Premium membership for $15/month or $180/year. The paid membership used to fund photography trips, creative projects and other resources keeping the website ahead of the curve.
2 Negative Space
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
All of their photos are shared without any copyright restriction, use them for any job you want. The images are high quality, both in terms of image size and the library of images, no “cheesy” stock photos. The search functionality is more than capable of finding a great image for your business blog or upcoming presentation.
3 Pixabay
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Pixabay is a web designer’s dream, with over 780,000 free photos, vectors and illustrations. The site is easy to navigate and has search functionality with categories, making it easy to find what your looking for! Although a membership is not required, sign up is free and will allow you to bypass the captcha in future.
4 GetRefe
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
GetRefe is perfect for landscape or architectural shots. The gallery is quite small but all images are available for download at a high quality and offer some breathtaking photography.
5 Gratisography
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Appreciated
Gratisography offers high-resolution images captured by photographer Ryan Mcguire. The shots available have a touch of humour and are useful if you ever need some inspiration. There are categories on the site and a magic auto search.
6 Life Of Pix
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
Life of Pix offers high-resolution images for personal and commercial use with new content added each week. The images are donated from Canadian firm Leeroy Advertising Agency and its network of photographers based in Montreal.
7 Picography
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Easy to use and find images, Picography is a simple gallery with beautiful images. The random shots offered come from a handful of professional photographers all put together by Dave Meier. It is well worth subscribing to the mailing list to receive incredible stock photos each month.
8 Unsplash
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
Unsplash adds 10 new royalty free photos every 10 days. All the images are high resolution and certainly set a standard in terms of quality. The eye-catching photos are all free and don’t require attribution or membership.
9 Re:splashed
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Re:splash features exactly the same images as Unsplash. It works as a hack for the popular resource, providing enhanced functionality such as search and speed. Perfect for when you have something specific in mind and need to find it.
10 Little Visuals
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
Little Visuals offers seven high-resolution images every seven days. You can subscribe to these images by entering your email address or alternatively just download them straight from the website. There is a diverse range of images and all are of a high quality.
11 Lock And Stock Photos
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
Lock and Stock Photos features images from talented photographer AJ Montpetit. All of the images are free for personal and commercial use. The images range in genre and are all high resolution.
12 IM Free
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Yes
IM Free offers photos from around the web, free for commercial and personal use. The site features a search functionality to find images based on any search term and also has clear categories on the home page.
13 Free Range Stock
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Sometimes
Free Range stock requires a membership but sign up is free and fairly straightforward. The site offers a huge range of images, although not all are of a high quality.
14 Magdeleine
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Sometimes
Every image on the site is stunning. Beautiful and professional looking photos all available in high-resolution. The search feature on Magdeleine is unique in that you can search for an image by its dominant colour. Not all the images are attribution free so be sure to check the license before use.
15 MorgueFile
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Sometimes
Morguefile is one of the oldest and simplest sites on the list. Its selection isn’t as large as some of the other sites but the photos included cover a wide range of topics. Simply click on the desired image and download from the same screen, its as easy as that!
16 New Old Stock
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Created by Cole Townsend, New Old Stock features vintage photos from the public archives, free of known copyright restrictions. There is a range of images from events in history and all provide a quirky, nostalgic feel. Obviously, not all of these photos are of the best quality, but a select few are available in high-resolution.
17 Photo Everywhere
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Yes
With a selection of over 3000 travel stock photos, users can search for images based on geographic location. Perfect for any travel blog or website. You can also purchase images for a small fee to use without attribution, through Photo Everywhere’s sister site, ValueStockPhoto.
18 Picjumbo
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Picjumbo was created by web designer Viktor Hanacek and offers a huge collection of high-resolution images for personal and commercial use. A wide range of images which are all categorised, perfect for web design, sliders and apps. You can also signup for images to be directly delivered to your inbox. They also have plugins available for Sketch and Photoshop.
19 Public Domain Archive
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
An expansive online collection of images, Public Domain Archive brings images from past and present into one place. All images are high resolution and many have striking symmetry and muted colours. The site adds new stock photos weekly and an email subscription is available.
20 Stokpic
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Stokpic features an impressive gallery of images. The photos are categorised and high resolution with search functionality. The overall quality of the photos makes this a strong choice no matter what genre you are looking for.
You can also signup to get 10 new images send directly to your inbox every 2 weeks.
21 Superfamous
Superfamous
Searchable? By category
Attribution required? Yes
Dutch artist Folkert Gorter and his graphic-design peers at Superfamous curate this collection of incredibly high-resolution images, perfect for use in website design or as desktop backgrounds. Although you can’t search by keyword, you can search by category.
22 SplitShire
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Splitshire provides free stock photos from photographer Daniel Nanescu for personal and commercial use. Ideal for web designers, bloggers and graphic designers, all images are incredibly high quality.
23 Start Up Stock Photos
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
“Free photos for startups, bloggers, publishers, websites, designers, developers, creators & everyone else.” The team at SUSP were simply uploading photos they had already taken for their own projects but it has not stopped there, the team regularly uploads great corporate photography without the stock photo cheese that has become so common.
24 FreeImages
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Sometimes
Free Images boasts a huge gallery of over 400,000 images! Offering pictures from a diverse set of categories, this is a go-to resource for many bloggers. The search feature works wonders but unfortunately, the sign-up process is time-consuming.
25 Jay Mantri
Searchable? No
Attribution required? No
Every Thursday, seven new images are added to the site and made available for personal and commercial use by designer Jay Mantri. All though the size of the gallery is quite small, all of the images are high resolution and showcase beautiful photography.
26 Pick Up Image
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
Pick up image offers free public domain images, all at high resolution. Great for landscape images which you can easily search for. A nice feature is the most popular category, where you can see the most downloaded images. No attribution is necessary, but be sure to check the individual images.
27 RGB Stock
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No, but double check
RGB Stock is a huge gallery of over 100,000 free stock photos for any use. Perfect for businesses or just generic stock shots for blogs or websites. The site is easy to navigate and has a useful search feature with suggested categories.
28 Albumarium
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Sometimes
Albumarium is a beautiful site with a wide range of stock images for personal and commercial use. All images are high-resolution and demonstrate beautiful photography, ideal for giving a professional look to any site. Downloading images is hassle free and quick.
29 LibreShot
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No, but appreciated
LibreShot.com (former freepix.eu) is a free stock photos project for private and commercial use. All photos have been taken by Martin Vorel.
30 StockSnap.io
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? No
“We select nothing but the highest quality, highest resolution pictures and add them to our database on a daily basis. This is not your typical crappy stock photo site.”
With 100’s of images being uploaded every week it is hard to argue with the quality and quantity with no restrictions this site offers.
31 BigFoto
Searchable? Yes
Attribution required? Check individual photos
BigFoto offers free downloads of all its images from a constantly growing gallery. Most of the photos come from amateur photographers who are happy to share their work at no cost. As expected, some images may be grainy and not compete with the quality of other sites on this list, but there are still some eye-catching photos available for use.
Conclusion
All these sites provide a huge variety of free stock images available for both personal and commercial use. Professional looking photos can contribute to how successful your blog post or website is, and it’s easy to do it cost free! Just remember to always check the license first to avoid trouble. A photographer can simply drag an image of theirs into the Google search bar and find all the sites it has been used on, so it is important not to use images against their license.
If you know of any other free image sites that should be on our list, let us know. Don’t forget to share this post on social media!
