The usage of images or photos on blogs, websites, and online projects is essential for various reasons, such as attractive images capturing and attracting visitors. Moreover, appealing images can also encourage readers to stay tuned to read your article.
Although content is still king, images are a crucial component to create a positive first impression. A combination of good text content and well-chosen images can be the difference if your visitors stay on your blog or not.
Furthermore, by using attractive and appealing images, you can actually increase your SEO rankings by adding explaining titles, tags, and descriptions to your images. Moreover, you can check out our post on optimizing images – Image Optimization for Web and Performance to further boost speed and performance.
Well-chosen images can also lower the bounce rate, which is an important factor for conversion. You can measure your website’s bounce rate via your Google Analytics account. I recommend reading Neil Patel’s article Bounce Rate Analytics: How to Measure, Assess, and Audit to Increase Conversions if you want to know more about bounce rate.
It is important to have photos on a blog or website, and in this article about Stock photos, I share some tips about free stock photos.
Furthermore, where do you find suitable photos for a blog or website? Do you need to pay for photos, or are they free? What about licenses? The questions are many, but I try to outline the questions below.
What are Stock Photos?
Stock photography is photos already created and existing. You can usually use the photos by paying a fee to the company that offers the photos to use the photos legally on your blog, website, or project.
Stock photos usually consist of photos, vector graphics, illustrations, and prices depending on different companies’ pricing. It is usually possible to buy memberships, packages, or single photos from the stock photo companies.
However, it is also possible to use stock photos for free! Many websites and companies also offer besides premium stock photos, free stock photos without any attribution requirements, such as backlinks. Furthermore, it is also possible to use these photos free for personal and commercial use. Sound perfect, right?
Some interesting facts about the stock photo industry are that it started as early as the 1920s.
One of the first examples of a stock photo was circa 1920 when American photographer H. Armstrong Roberts ensured that the people photographed in” Group in Front of Tri-Motor Airplane “all signed model releases. This allowed the photograph and others like it to be commercially viable. In an effort to save the cost of hiring photographers for commission-based photo shoots, publishers and advertisers began to consider stock photos as a less risky alternative. One of the first major stock photography libraries was founded in 1920 by H. Armstrong Roberts “.
Wikipedia – Stock photography.
In today’s article, I list the best websites where you can find free stock photos for your blog or website. Keep on reading.
Stock Photos Licenses
Before we continue to the best sites where you can find free stock photos, I want to mention that there are a couple of stock photo licenses to have in mind.
There are some stock photo licenses that stock photo companies and websites normally use. Furthermore, no matter what license you may use, it is always important to read and understand the license and the terms of use to handle the images legally.
I have listed the two most common licenses Royalty-free and Rights-managed; however, there are more licenses available such as Editorial Use License, Creative Commons License, Public Domain, and more.
Many stock photo companies use their own modified licenses with varying restrictions, so I want to point out once again, always read the fine print carefully in the license agreement.
Let’s take a look at what the most common stock photo licenses are:
Royalty-free – A royalty-free license is usually not free as the license suggests. It is usually a one-time license fee for the usage of images. However, you have the ability to utilize the images for almost anything, but with some limitations. In many cases, this is a license to prefer if you want to use stock photos with fewer limitations.
Rights-managed – A rights-managed license usually contains more restrictions than a royalty-free license. It is a stricter set of rules and may have restrictions such as limited time for the use of photos. What modifications you can and cannot do. Distribution, how, and where you can use the photos. I recommend you read the fine print in the term of use to understand which uses you can use the images legally.
In this post, I list 10+ stock photo sites where you can use photos for free for both personal and commercial use without attribution is required. However, there are (always) some restrictions, so make sure you read the license agreement before using the images.
10+ Sites to Find Free Free Stock Photos
Pixabay
Pixabay is probably a name that many people associate with free images and videos, which is quite correct. With over 1.8 million + stock images available, Pixabay is one of the most popular places online to download free images.
Pixabay was founded by Hans Braxmeier and Simon Steinberger back in 2010 and have since then expanded heavily. At the time of 2015, they already had over half a million images on their website and at the time of writing, over 1.8 million, which are impressive numbers.
All content on Pxabay can be used for commercial and noncommercial usage according to their Pixabay license. Furthermore, they address that no attribution is not required; however, credit the contributor or Pixabay is always appreciated.
The search function on Pixabay is fast, and the search results can be filtered with several options such as popular, type of file format, orientation, category, size, and color. Moreover, it is also possible to choose different and suitable image sizes when downloading an item.
Pixabay is a website and image-resource that I have used for many years with excellent results. You can easily find suitable images for your websites, blogs, presentations, or other creative projects.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Pexels
Pexels was created in 2014 by Bruno and Ingo Joseph. In 2015 Daniel Frese joined forces. Pexel’s mission is to help designers, writers, bloggers to access creative photos to create amazing products, websites, apps, designs, and more for free.
Their free images are licensed under the Pexels license, which means that all images and videos on Pexels are free to use. No attribution is needed. However, crediting a photographer is always appreciated. Furthermore, you can edit and modify the images and videos from Pexels as you like.
Pexels’ large selection with hundreds of thousands of free stock photos is ideal for websites, blogs, videos, and other online projects. Moreover, feel free to use their images, flyers, prints, invitations, albums, and more to boost your projects.
The search function is fast and efficient. The images are displayed nicely and can be filtered with options such as orientation, size, and color. After each search, keywords related to your keyword or phrase are also displayed.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Unsplash
Unsplash is a platform with over a million free images brought to you by over 211,000 talented photographers. They have a wide selection of images to suit all niches and purposes. Some of their categories are people, nature, architecture, fashion, plus many more.
Unsplash is easy to use, and their search function is fast. You can filter the images by orientation, orientation, color, relevance, and available keywords for your search. Click on your selected image and download it.
All photos from Unsplash can be downloaded and used for free and used for commercial and non-commercial purposes according to the Unsplash license. Furthermore, no credit or attribution is needed and required; However, the photographers certainly appreciate it if you mention or share their work.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
StockSnap.io
StockSnap is another popular website for downloading free stock photos to be applied for your website, blog, presentation, print, flyers, or other productive projects.
There are numerous categories with photos to choose from, such as business, beach, love, nature, people, computer, and many more. You can find all the conceivable images suitable for your projects.
The StockSnap About Us page explains that they offer images for free. Furthermore, no tricks, no gimmicks, no fine print, Just dazzling images for your creative projects.
Moreover, according to the StockSnaps license, you can use their images for free on your personal and commercial projects without copyright restrictions. Moreover, you can publish, revise, copy, alter, and share images from StockSnaps, even in commercial projects.
Their search engine is quick and presents relevant images you can filter by relevance, date, trending, views, and downloads. Select an image, download, and you have an image for more eye-catching content on your website or blog.
StockSnap is a valuable source with lots of free stock photos that I often use for my own websites, such as WP Webify.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
PicJumbo
PicJumbo is a stock photo site with a vast number of free images available to download. In 2013, designer and photographer Viktor Hanacek founded PicJumbo. The reason was that several stock photo sites rejected his photos due to “lack of quality.” The rest is, as they say, history. Read Viktor’s story here.
Today, PicJumbo is a comprehensive resource to find and download free stock photos, backgrounds, and high-resolution images for personal and commercial usage. With over 7,727,000+ downloads, you realize that PicJumbo is a popular source for free stock photos.
According to PicJumbo’s FAQ and terms page, all images can be used for personal and commercial use. However, read the guidelines to make sure you follow their terms. No credit or attribution is needed but is always appreciated to credit or mention the photographer.
Use the search function or the twenty image categories to find suitable images. Relevant tags are also displayed to find similar images, making it more straightforward to find great images. PicJumbo is an excellent free stock photos resource with over 3,000+ photos available for your website, blog, presentation, or online project.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Pikwizard
Pikwizard is another comprehensive source for free stock photos and videos. There are tons of visuals to choose from with a library of over 1 million stock images and videos. Pikwizard is operated by Wavebreak Media Ltd, a private company from Ireland.
With their huge amount of images, it is easy to discover suitable images for websites, blogs, or other creative projects. Furthermore, according to Pikwizard’s license, you are permitted to use their content free of charge for both non-commercial and commercial purposes. For example, on websites, business cards, brochures, artwork, multimedia presentations, CD or DVD cover, and more.
Pikwizard has lots of image categories such as nature, people, science, education, business, illustrations, vectors, interiors, to name a few. It is effortless to find suitable images for all kinds of projects.
Their search engine is speedy and efficient. Search for your criteria and select an image. However, before downloading the image, you can also edit the image with features such as crop, flip, add filters, change brightness, saturation, contrast, and more. This is a helpful feature as you can edit the image before downloading it.
Pikwizard is definitely one of the best places to download free stock photos without any restrictions. Moreover, you will find a ton of suitable images for your projects; it’s a promise.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Picography
Picography has been around for about 3 years and offers free high-resolution photos. All photos are CC0 licensed, which means that you can copy, edit, and use the photos for personal or commercial purposes.
There are thousands of images to choose from in categories like people, nature, sports, business, festive, landscapes, food, to mention a few. The range of images may not be as large as some competitors; however, the images are of high quality. It is easy to find suitable images for all conceivable projects.
The search function is fast, and the images are displayed in an organized way—select image and download. However, I lack filtering options, which means that you can fine-tune your search further. As a suggestion, to Picography- If possible, add some filtering options such as size, orientations, color, etc.
You can utilize the images from Picography for free for your website, blogs, presentations, or other creative projects without any attribution requirement. However, it is always appreciated to get credit for your work, so if possible, attribute the author.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Reshot
Reshot offers tons of handpicked, unique, and creative free stock photos suitable for any purpose. According to the Reshot license, the photos can be used for both commercial and noncommercial objects. It means you can download, copy, distribute, and modify the photos without any requirement to attribute the photographer or Reshot. However, it is always appreciated if you do!
Moreover, Reshot’s stock photos come from individual contributors, photographers, and additional photography communities. Furthermore, if you are a photographer, you can also get your photos reviewed and possibly included on Reshot.
Reshot mission is: Unify creators and elevate creative projects. We aim to unify creators via a free exchange of the world’s best visual content. Which is in line with their large selection of high-quality photos, and you find suitable images for all conceivable niches and topics.
Their search function is quick and presents the photos in an organized way, with a few tags available for searching for similar photos. However, I lack filtering options, which usually simplifies and improves image search for more accurate matching.
However, Reshot is a great alternative for finding great free stock photos for your website, blog, presentation, or other creative projects.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Burst
Burst is a free stock photo site powered by Shopify, one of the largest and leading ecommerce platforms online. However, you do not need to be a customer to use Burst’s open-source image library.
You’re welcome to use photos from Burst for both personal and commercial projects. You can crop, edit, modify, resize, add text, and modify stock photos as you see fit. However, it is always advisable to read their license and service terms to make sure you comprehend their rules and guidelines.
Burst has a vast selection of photos for all conceivable niches and projects. The search function is speedy and rich in results. I also like that clickable Similar Photos tags are displayed as a complement to a search. Furthermore, you can also choose between High resolution (High quality for web and print) and Low resolution (Best for small web graphics) to download suitable image sizes.
There are also various collections or categories to choose from, such as Animals, Around the World, Education, People, Holidays, to mention a few of the categories. More great stuff is that there are ready-made Photo packs for download, such as their Black Friday Cyber & Monday Photo Pack.
Burst is a huge and excellent resource for finding free stock photos you can use without any attribution requirement, such as linking back to the photo or photographer. But as I have said before, it is always appreciated if you do.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Gratisography
Gratisography is a website with the slogan “Free Use-As-You-Please Pictures that Stand Out,” and I can only agree. Gratisography is created by Ryan McGuire, who describes himself as a community artist. In addition to Gratisography, he has created several unique and eye-catching creations that you can see and read more about at mcguiremade.com.
At Gratisography, you discover images with a slightly different approach than other Stock photo sites. Their images absolutely stand out from the crowd defined by personality, authenticity, and a story to tell. Their idea is not quantity but quality. Furthermore, to become a Gratisography image, it must be perfectly composed, with the right amount of light and exposure, sharp focus on the subject.
However, it’s just the start, and I quote a selection from their about us page that explains their philosophy in the best way: “Gratisography images go further. They break barriers. They break stony faces into genuine smiles. They can break hearts. And at times even scare. “
If you are looking for images that stand out, Gratisography is the best choice for downloading free stand-out-images. According to their license, you can use their images for personal and commercial projects without any required attribution.
Their search function is uncomplicated. There is no filtering option, so what you see is what you get. However, you can choose from categories like all, whimsical, animals, people, urban, nature, and business. Gratisography is simply a website you must check out.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Freestocks.org
Freestocks.org provides a collection of free high-resolution stock photos with a wide range of photos suitable for your website, blog, presentation, or other creative projects.
A team of three photographers run Freestocks.org; however, occasional contributions by two other photographers. They work hard to expand their collection of quality photos, and it grows bigger every week.
The photos on Freestocks.org are licensed under the CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) and can be used free of charge for commercial and personal projects without any attribution requirements. However, there are restrictions, so I recommend you read their Terms of Use.
The photo search is fast, and the results are displayed in an organized and clear way. However, I lack the filtering options. Select image and download. Simple and straightforward. The download page also shows tags with similar keywords, which is useful, and you can search for similar images with a click.
Freestocks.org is not one of the largest players in free stock photos. However, their current photos are of high quality and have a wide variety of photos from categories such as animals, fashion, nature, and people.
- Attribution – Not Required.
- Usage – Free for Personal and Commercial Use.
Final Words
This is my selection of great websites where you can find free stock photos for your website, blog, presentation, prints, or other projects. If you are working from home in these somewhat turbulent times, it can be perfect for taking a closer look at these free Stock photo sites and what they offer.
You are guaranteed to find high-quality images that suit your projects. Moreover, if you are interested in images, illustrations, and image optimization, I have written some other articles on WP Webify – 10 Places to Find Beautiful Free Illustrations and Image Optimization for Web and Performance.
Furthermore, is there any website or company I have missed? Just write a comment in the comment field below so I can add the site to the list.
