17+ Best Stock Photo Websites

Stock photography has become a big part of the web. There are thousands of sites offering free stock photos, but finding the best ones can be tricky.

17+ Best Stock Photo Websites

There are plenty of options out there, but some sites offer better value for money. Here are 17 of the best places to get free stock photos.

1. Pixabay

This site offers more than 3 million free stock photos that you can use in any way – commercial or non-commercial. The collection is updated every week with new content.

You can browse through categories such as landscapes, people, animals, food, abstracts, and much more. You can also search by keyword or location.

Pixabays’ interface is easy to navigate, and it displays all the information you need at once: image sizes, license types, usage rights, copyright status. This is one of the biggest sites on the internet with over 20 million free images. 

2. Unsplash

Unsplash is an online community dedicated to providing high-quality photographs for free. All photos are released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Which means you can freely copy, modify and distribute the work without having to ask permission from anyone.

Photos are divided into different themes like nature, travel, architecture, food, fashion, etc. If you want something specific, you can always search using keywords.

Another huge collection of free photos that have been optimized for professional use.

3. Pexels

Pexels is another good resource for free stock photos. It was created by a team of designers, developers, and photographers who wanted to create a place where people could share their work.

It features both free photos and videos. For example, its “Nature” category includes photos of flowers, mountains, oceans, and many other natural scenes.

Videos are categorized based on genre including music, movies, animation, sports, and so on. A newer site than Pixabay, it’s still growing. They have an easy-to-use interface and good SEO.

4. FreeImages

FreeImages is a popular source of royalty-free stock photos. Its library contains millions of pictures and videos. Some of its most popular categories include business, lifestyle, arts & culture, and travel.

The site has a simple design and clean layout. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for, and it’s fast loading. Search results are displayed right away after entering a keyword.

The most popular image hosting service in the world. With millions of free images available, this is a must-visit for any photographer.

5. iStockPhoto

iStockphoto is another well-known photo sharing platform. It allows users to download images for personal use only.

It is one of the first stock photo websites ever created. Now owned by Getty Images. It has millions of free stock photos with many new pictures added daily.

6. Freepik

Freepik offers a great variety of stock photos in various categories. Users can choose between paid plans and free ones. You can view all the licenses offered before downloading any picture.

Freepik is a great resource for vector graphics. It offers thousands of icons, illustrations, vectors, and clip art.

A simple way to find inspiration for your next project. Simply type what you need into the search box. Then decide from different topics.

7. Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is a subscription-based website designed specifically for graphic designers.

It lets you browse through more than 100 million creative assets and download them directly to your computer or mobile device.

An online resource provided by Adobe Systems Inc., Adobe Stock offers premium access to over 3 million royalty-free images, videos, graphics, assets, and templates.

8. Dreamstime

Dreamstime is a reliable resource for free stock photos and illustrations. It’s one of the oldest stock photo sites out there.

The site also provides a wide range of illustration styles such as line art, cartoons, charts, graphs, diagrams, logos, typography, and web elements.

Dreamstime offers more than 2.9 million high resolution images along with creative tools and custom services.

9. Corbis

Corbis is a global media company that owns some of the largest collections of content in the world. It offers millions of royalty-free images, video clips, audio files, and documents.

Offerings include everything from editorial to consumer stock imagery as well as lifestyle content.

10. iStockphoto

iStockphoto

iStockphoto is a leading provider of royalty-free stock photographs, illustrations, and vectors. It is one of my favorite resources when I need something specific.

There are several reasons why iStockphoto is such a powerful resource. First, its collection is vast—over 15 million images.

Second, they offer a huge selection of images under multiple license types. Third, they update their database every day. And lastly, they provide a free trial period.

It offers a variety of images including vectors, photographs, illustrations, and even video clips.

11. Fotolia

Fotolia is yet another popular choice among photographers around the globe. This site features over 20 million digital photography images and is growing.

This resource is best known for its user-friendly interface, amazing customer support team, and easy access to downloads. It offers photo editing software and a massive collection of free stock photos.

12. Shutterstock

Shutterstock is an amazing source for both free and premium quality stock photos and illustrations.

The site offers many images with a wide variety of licensing options. There are three main types of images: free, standard, and unlimited.

They have a large selection of free images such as vectors, photos, illustrations, and even HD videos.

13. Zoonar

Zoonar is a German based service that specializes in providing high-quality, hand-picked stock images.

Their collection includes 10 million unique images with a focus on nature, animals, travel, and architecture. They offer free stock photos for commercial use only.

14. Bigstock

Bigstock is an international stock image agency that has been producing high-resolution images since 1996.

They have a huge collection of images available for purchase. Their prices start at $0.99 per image and go up depending on the size and complexity of the project.

15. iStockvideo

iStockvideo is a great place if you want to find stock footage. They feature a huge library of royalty-free stock video clips.

You can choose from different categories like people, food, technology, pets, sports, vehicles, and many others. Find hundreds of thousands of free stock video clips.

16. Canva

Canva is a simple, fast, and effective tool that allows anyone to create beautiful designs quickly without any coding skills or design experience.

With this platform, you don’t need to be a designer; just open your browser, type what you want, and instantly get professional results.

Create stunning visuals at no cost using text, shapes, images, fonts, videos, and other design elements all within an easy drag-and-drop editor.

17. GraphicRiver

GraphicRiver is a site where you can download absolutely free graphics for personal use.

All the images found here are licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0), which means you can do whatever you want with them.

Find the perfect graphic for your business and creative needs.

Conclusion

There are so many sites offering free stock photos online, but these 17 sites have some special features that make them stand out above the rest.

Some resources listed here include free trials, mobile apps, and more. If you are looking for a particular type of image, then check each website before downloading.

Katie Dawson