Visual content is one of the most important aspects of web design. Because photos and videos improve engagement and click-throughs. In this post, I have curated a huge list of awesome websites for finding 100% free stock photos and stock videos ⇣
In this article, I’ve outlined 90+ free best stock photo sites and video sites out there. Just bookmark this list of free stock photo and video resources and come back whenever you need fabulous photos or videos for your website.
| Website | Attribution | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Pixabay | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos, Vectors, Illustrations |
| Pexels | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Unsplash | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Wallpapers, Textures, Patterns |
| Life of Pix | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Gratisography | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Negative Space | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Splitshire | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Burst | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Rawpixel | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Vectors, Frames, Templates, Mockups, Graphics |
| Picjumbo | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Wallpapers, Abstract images, Mockups |
| Libreshot | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Picspree | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Vectors, Illustrations |
| Moose Stock Photos | Required | Photos, Collages, Memes, Icons, Vectors, Audio |
| Skitterphoto | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Style Stock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| FoodiesFeed | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Stocksnap.io | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Kaboompics | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Rgbstock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Avopix | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Vectors, Videos |
| BucketListly Photos | Required | Photos, Videos |
| Good Stock Photos | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| ISO Republic | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Cupcake | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Stockvault | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Vectors, Illustrations, Textures |
| Freerange | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Dreamstime | Required | Photos, Videos, Audio |
| FancyCrave | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Albumarium | Required | Photos |
| Reshot | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Freestocks | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Picography | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Crow The Stone | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Death to Stock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Foca Stock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Pikwizard | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| DesignersPics | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| FindA.Photo | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Splashbase | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Startup Stock Photos | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Travel Coffee Book | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Snapwire Snaps | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Moveast | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Mazwai | Required | Videos |
| Superfamous Images | Required | Photos |
| Jay Mantri | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Refe | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Foter | Required | Photos |
| Freeimages | Required | Photos |
| Free Nature Stock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Free Media Goo | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Textures, Videos, Backgrounds |
| Freepik | Required | Photos, Textures, Icons, PSDs, Vectors, Portraits |
| Good Free Photos | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Vectors, Clipart |
| Hubspot | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Image Finder | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| IM Free | Required | Photos, Icons, Templates |
| Little Visuals | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| New Old Stock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos, Vectors, Templates |
| Morguefile | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Magdeleine | Required | Photos |
| Smithsonian Institution | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Space X Photos | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos |
| Stock Up | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Barn Images | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Jeshoots | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, PSDs |
| ShotStash | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Looking Glass | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| StockPholio | Required | Photos |
| StockPhotos.io | Required | Photos |
| Stokpic | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Wikimedia Commons | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos, Audio |
| Wylio | Required | Photos |
| 123RF | Required | Photos, Vectors, Videos, Music |
| AllTheFreeStock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Videos, Music, Icons |
| BigFoto | Required | Photos |
| Compfight | Required | Photos |
| Public Domain Review | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Films, Music, Books |
| ABSFreePic | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Visual Hunt | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Photo Rack | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Wunderstock | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Pickup Image | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Clipart |
| Pablo | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Ancestry Images | Required | Photos |
| PhotoPin | Required | Photos |
| Photober | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Textures | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
| Ultra HD Wallpapers | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos, Wallpapers |
| FreeFoto | Required | Photos |
| A Digital Dreamer | Not required (but appreciated) | Photos |
Leonardo da Vinci once said that a poet would be, and I quote, “overcome by sleep and hunger before being able to describe with words what a painter is able to depict in an instant.” That fully supports the famous English adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words.“
I don’t need to tell you that images are amazing at grabbing attention and passing your message across. Your users process images and videos faster than text. On top of that, pictures and videos are vital for eliciting the right kind of emotions in your users.
Besides, a website lacking images is annoying to the core. Visual content brings life to your projects and keeps users longer on your website. A website that looks like a formal report by the government will kill engagement and won’t work for your goals.
However, finding the perfect images or videos for your website can be a pain in the neck. In the past, you had to contend with tacky photos, high costs, and licensing issues.
Nowadays, you can run a simple Google search and find free stock photos and video resources. But I want to save you the trouble of Googling your way to great images.
But first, here is a short note about different licenses to keep you safe as you add some color to your website. Or scroll down to the best free stock photo sites and video sites ⇣.
Differences Between Royalty-Free, Public Domain, and Creative Commons
There are several licenses to keep in mind when choosing free stock images and videos for your website. Having a good understanding of the licenses can protect you from the concerns of copyright infringement. Below are three common types of image licenses.
Royalty-Free License
A royalty-free license allows you to buy an image once and use it as many times as you wish without paying royalties or purchasing additional licenses for each use.
Keep in mind that you are only acquiring the right to use the image in accepted ways, and not the image itself. The creator or photographer still owns the image. In other words, the owner holds the copyright.
Royalty-free images are NOT copyright-free or free images at all. They are widespread on microstock websites such as Shutterstock.com, among others.
Note that you can download and use royalty-free images for free on some websites such as Pexels, which offer the photos under the Pexels License.
Public Domain
It’s not a license per se; it’s the term used to describe the expiration of a license. If an image exists in the public domain, it’s available to the entire world.
In other words, images in the public domain are not licensed. You can use public domain images however you want without crediting the author.
Usually, an image becomes part of the public domain 100 years after the creator’s death, which is how long the copyright takes to expire.
Some works, such as images created by NASA and the U.S. government, are automatically entered into the public domain. So feel free to use pictures of space shuttles, and the White House provided they weren’t created by an individual other than the government.
Accessible sources of public domain images include Wikimedia Commons and Public Domain Review. Public domain images and videos are free to use commercially.
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons licenses (yes, there are six) allow creators to retain copyright while allowing you to copy, distribute, edit, remix, and build upon their images all within the confines of copyright law.
Usually, Creative Commons licenses let you use images for commercial or non-commercial purposes, all while crediting the creator.
The idea of Creative Commons licenses is inspired by the GNU General Public License, which is used by many free and open software projects such as WordPress.
According to the Creative Commons website, “Creative Commons licenses require licensees to get permission to do any of the things with a work that the law reserves exclusively to a licensor and that the license does not expressly allow.”
Creative Commons images are found on many websites, including Flickr, Creative Commons, Pixabay, and so on.
Now that we have image licenses out of the way, let us move on to the next part. What image copyright rules must you adhere to?
What are the Image Copyright Rules You Need to Adhere to?
As you source and use images on your website or blog, it’s crucial to adhere to copyright rules so as not to court huge penalties down the line. As far as copyright goes, the owner has the exclusive right to:
- Republish or reproduce the image
- Remix or produce new images based on the original image
- Distribute the image to the public
- Display the image to the public
That being said, here are a couple of things to remember as you use online images:
- You need explicit permission from the copyright owner to use a copyrighted image.
- Post images on Facebook with the permission of the copyright owner, even if it’s a picture of relatives and friends.
- You don’t need permission if the image is in the public domain.
- If an image has the Creative Commons license, read the license first to ensure you’re permitted to use the picture. Always remember to attribute the owner.
- Don’t ask for permission to use an image if the copyright owner has reliably stated you can use the image freely.
- Respect the moral rights of attribution when using images on your website.
- Purchase stock photos or download free ones.
- Use your images if plausible.
Copyright is a broad field, which needs an entire blog post. To learn more, please check out Copyright.gov or Copyrightlaws.com. I also found an excellent copyright article on Social Media Examiner.
That out of the way, you’ll find 90+ free stock photo and video sites in the following section.
List of 90 Best Free Stock Photo and Video Resources
The following websites offer you extensive collections of all the images, vector graphics, and videos you will need to spruce up your website. Without further ado, let us get down to work.
You should also go and check out my curated list of the best AI art generators you can use your imagination to create unique images, graphics, art and more to replace stock photos.
Pixabay
Pixabay is a German company founded by Hans Braxmeier and Simon Steinberger. It is a free stock photo website offering over 1 million high-quality photos, videos, vector graphics, and illustrations from contributors around the globe. Honestly, users claim that this website offers probably the best free stock photos & videos.
They feature a wide variety of visual content in multiple categories, meaning you can get what you need quickly. I run to Pixabay for most of my blogging needs, and I have never been disappointed.
Verdict: Pixabay is an absolute time-saver. They offer free-to-download images in multiple sizes. You can sign up to enjoy faster downloads.
License: Pixabay License
Attribution: Crediting isn’t required but highly appreciated.
Type of resource: Photos, Videos, Vector Graphics, Illustrations
Pexels
Pexels is an excellent alternative to Pixabay, offering you high quality and 100% free stock photos. Contributors on Pexels tag images nicely, making them easy to discover.
They host a massive database of carefully curated pictures sourced from Pexels users and free image websites. Pexels offers you Discover pages, that help you to find popular and trending images.
Other than that, they have a Leaderboard, which features users with the most viewed photos per month. To boot, they have Challenges, where you can upload images and win cash prizes!
The free stock photo website was launched in 2014 and is run by a trio comprising of Bruno Joseph, Ingo Joseph, and Daniel Frese.
Verdict: If you’re looking for a beautiful collection of hand-picked high-resolution photos, you’ll have a great time at Pexels. That, plus, they’ve worked on their website. It’s intuitive.
License: Pexels License
Attribution: Not required but highly appreciated.
Type of Resource: Photos, Videos
Unsplash
Our third place (it’s not like we’re ranking) goes to Unsplash, a free stock photo website with easy navigation. But Unsplash didn’t make the cut because of the quick nav bar at the top.
The site brings you a vast collection of high-resolution images ranging from textures to patterns and wallpapers to everyday photos, among others.
You can never go wrong with Unsplash thanks to multiple categories and collections that make finding your next image a breeze. For accessibility purposes, Unsplash offers you apps for iOS and a Chrome extension (which, btw, doesn’t do much than show you a random image).
Unsplash is made possible by the big hearts of over 150,000 photographers at the time of writing. With over 1 million sharp photos that are also accessible on third-party platforms such as BuzzFeed, Squarespace, and Trello, you can say goodbye to the pain of finding great and usable imagery.
Verdict: Unsplash is widely accessible, and if you already use platforms such as BuzzFeed, Squarespace, and Trello, you will love this stock photo website. It’s the perfect fit for graphic designers looking for artwork, mockups, and presentations, among other visual properties.
License: Unsplash license
Attribution: None required, but be awesome and link back.
Type of resource: Photos, Wallpapers, Textures, Patterns
Life of Pix
Life of Pix is a close-knit community of photographers suitable for the blogger or website owner looking for unique photos not found elsewhere.
Life of Pix offers photographers the chance to donate images to the public domain. They organize their images in galleries attached to an individual photographer.
You can then follow your favorite photographer, or join as a photographer to build a community around your work. Overall, it’s a great platform (you can even think of it as a social network) for photographers to connect and share their passion.
Life of Pix offers you high-resolution photographs that are perfect for myriad uses. The website is brought to you by Leeroy, a creative agency in Montreal, Canada.
Verdict: If you are looking for a small and well-controlled community of dedicated photographers, you’ll find a home at Life of Pix. It’s a great platform to find great photos and share your passion for photography with peers.
License: Public domain
Attribution: Not required, but a link brings back good karma, don’t you think?
Type of resource: Photos, Videos (on a sister site)
Gratisography
Gratisography is brought to you by Ryan McGuire, a passionate web and graphic designer who is all about building community through art.
His is a unique collection of over 500 of his best photos that you can download freely. Gratisography is not your typical stock photo website with lame pictures. He offers you the world’s quirkiest collection of free high-resolution photos you won’t find elsewhere.
Gratisography is the place you want to go if you’re looking to stand out from the crowd. The website is divided into nine categories and seven collections. You’d think it’s a portfolio of sorts because it revolves mainly around his work.
Verdict: Gratisography is perfect for bloggers who need few but unique photographs. If you are the eccentric type, you will fit right in. If you are interesting and unique, you know, odd in a way that’s not off-putting, you will love Gratisography.
License: Custom license with some limits. Contact him and perform due diligence before using a questionable picture.
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Small collection of high-quality photos
Negative Space
Negative Space is a platform where photographers of all levels can share their photography with the world. It’s based in London, so you can expect to see a great deal of British architecture and scenes.
They have multiple categories, such as animals, abstracts, architecture, food, landscapes, business, people, technology, and street, among others. Negative Space allows you to search for images by title, tags, and color.
Negative Space is brought to you by the same guys who created 1stWebDesigner, PSDDD, and a suite of other web developer tools, including DNS-Lookup.
Is it worth checking out? Definitely! Negative Space is regularly updated, so be sure to subscribe to their newsletter to receive regular updates.
Verdict: Negative Space, just like Life of Pix, is a great place to connect and share with other photographers from all over the world. If you’re a website owner, you’ll enjoy their unique collection of high-quality photos.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Splitshire
Another small collection with about 1,100 photos at the time of writing, Splitshire is a free stock photo website that hosts pictures that Daniel Nanesou has collected for more than ten years.
Today, Splitshire has garnered over 2 million downloads and 6 million page views, making it one of the most popular small-scale stock photo websites.
Photos on Splitshire have made appearances on prominent websites such as The Huffing Post and CNN. Now you don’t have to wonder where such sites find crisp pictures that you can’t find on most photo-sharing websites. The images have also been used in magazines and book covers, meaning you are in safe hands.
You have about 20 photo categories at your disposal and a collection of excellent videos that you can use, however, and wherever you wish. The website is updated with new images daily, so yay!
Verdict: Splitshire is a fantastic photo and video resource for anybody looking to avoid big and oversaturated photo sites we’ve all been accustomed to. Their unique set of pictures and videos will have your readers wondering, “Where did they get that picture?”
License: Custom license similar to CC0 with a sensitive use clause that prohibits you from selling the images as they are downloaded. To resell, you must first alter the photos.
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
Burst
Burst is Shopify’s stab at free stock photography. The website offers you high-resolution images that you can use for personal or commercial use.
They offer beautiful pictures in popular categories that span everything between animals and technology. In other words, you can find a great photo in no time with relative ease.
If you use Shopify to run your online store, choosing Burst for the bulk of your free stock photos is a no brainer.
Verdict: Burst is a carefully curated source of thousands of high-quality free stock photos perfect for any use, commercial or otherwise. You can use the images freely on your online store, blog, or social media posts.
License: Creative Commons CC0, Custom Nonexclusive License for some photos
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Rawpixel
Rawpixel is a diverse collection of the best free and premium stock photos. The photos are grouped in boards, just like Pinterest, making it incredibly easy to find the perfect image for your next project.
You can download ten free photos daily, or purchase the premium plan that allows you to download unlimited royalty-free images. However, you have unlimited downloads from their public domain collection.
Verdict: Rawpixel is perfect if you need less than ten images per day. If you need more images, you must bump up to paid membership plans that begin at $3/month for personal use only. To use pictures commercially, you’ll shell out $19/month if you need more than what is available in the public domain collection.
License: Creative Commons CC0, Personal license for non-commercial use, Commercial license for exclusive photos you won’t find elsewhere
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Vector art, Frames, Templates, Mockups, Graphics
Picjumbo
Created in 2013 by designer and photographer Viktor Hanacek, Picjumbo is a free stock photo site offering you thousands of beautiful photos, backgrounds, wallpapers, abstract images, and so much more.
Hanacek started the website when regular stock photo sites rejected his photos, citing “lack of quality.” At the time of writing, Picjumbo has over seven million downloads, making it one of the most popular stock photo websites around.
Verdict: Picjumbo is a vibrant free stock photo website offering you thousands of high-res images ideal for personal and commercial use. You can’t go wrong with Picjumbo since Viktor is a trusted stock photographer who has taken the time to license all pictures.
License: Creative Commons CC0
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos, Wallpapers, Abstract images, Mockups
Libreshot
Libreshot is the result of hours and hours of work by Martin Vorel, a passionate photographer and SEO consultant. All images on Libreshot are created by Martin, meaning you don’t have to worry about the origin of the photos or other copyright issues.
Martin allows you to download and use all the images on Libreshot for free. It doesn’t matter how or where you use the photos.
Verdict: I think it’s quite generous of Martin to give away all of his photos in this manner. You can use all images on Libreshot for personal or commercial use. And even though a solopreneur runs the site, you get thousands of free images.
License: Creative Commons Public Domain with no copyright restrictions
Attribution: Not required, but Martin would be happy if you linked back to Libreshot
Type of resource: Photos
Picspree
Piscspree is a relatively new entrant in the free stock photography market, offering you high-resolution stock photos, royalty-free images, illustrations, and vectors for private and commercial use.
Getty Images back the website via istockphoto.com, one of the most renowned names in the industry. You can quickly tell since Picspree includes upsells for premium photos from the mentioned websites.
Verdict: Picspree is backed by one of the most reputable stock photo companies around, making it a reliable source of imagery in multiple categories.
License: Custom License. You may need the permission or consent of a third party (e.g., the owner of a brand, identifiable person, or author/rights holder of copyrightable work depicted in the Content), depending on how you want to use the Content.
Attribution: Recommended but not required
Type of resource: Photos, Vectors, Illustrations
Moose Stock Photos
Moose is not your typical free stock website. They have a unique approach to stock photography, and I’m sure you’ll love it.
On top of providing free stock photos, icons, vector art, collages, transparent PNG, backgrounds, and memes, Moose offers you a powerful online image creator that helps you to recompose images.
In other words, they allow you to create your stock photos from transparent cutouts of models, crisp backgrounds, objects, and fonts. You can even upload your images to develop free stock photos that are perfect for your needs.
Verdict: I tried the free online image creator, and I’m sold. I created a couple of memes for fun, but you can create any type of image you desire. Moose is a designer’s paradise offering you all you’d need for various projects, personal or commercial.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported, and a paid license that allows you to download PSD files
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Stock photos, Collages, Transparent PNGs, Backgrounds, Memes, Icons, Vector art, Audio
Skitterphoto
Skitterphoto identifies itself as “a place to find, show, and share public domain photos.” As such, all photos are in the public domain, which means they are free to use for any purpose, personal or commercial.
Skitterphoto offers you thousands of beautiful photos that you can download, edit, and repurpose as you see fit. The massive collection of images is provided by contributing photographers from around the globe.
Verdict: Skitterphoto is an excellent source of public domain photos that are out of copyright. You won’t have to worry about infringing on a copyright.
License: Creative Commons Zero(CC0) Public Domain
Attribution: Not required, but a link is always appreciated
Type of resource: Photos
Style Stock
Styled Stock is your one-stop resource for feminine stock photography. It features fresh, modern, and minimalist stock photos that are perfect for just about any project.
You can use all the images on Styled Stock for commercial and non-commercial purposes, but there are some restrictions. As such, make sure you read their license agreement before using any of the images. Image copyright is still the property of the owner.
Verdict: Style Stock offers you clean and free stock images with a defined feminine style. Due to unclear licensing (or who is licensing the pictures), you must perform due diligence and contact Styled Stock before using any image for commercial purposes.
License: Custom license similar to Creative Commons
Attribution: Not required but appreciated.
Type of resource: Clean and minimalist images
FoodiesFeed
Are you a foodie looking for the next hit photo for your blog post or website? If so, you’ll love FoodiesFeed, a colorful collection of food photos from creative photographers led by Jakub Kapusnak.
They offer thousands of fantastic food stock photos under Creative Commons Zero (CC0), meaning they are free to use for commercial purposes. You will love the wide selection of photos revolving around mouth-watering delicacies.
Verdict: If you ever need great photos of food, FoodiesFeed should come to mind. You can find pictures easily using a search box or browse the website by category.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required, but crediting the original photographer is highly appreciated.
Type of resource: Food photos
StockSnap.io
StockSnap.io is brought to you by the same guys who created Snappa, an online graphic design tool. StockSnap is a massive collection of images shared by the developers and other users.
All images are free. They cover a wide range of categories. The website is incredibly straightforward to use; you can find and download images in a jiffy.
Verdict: StockSnap.io is perfect for all graphic designers and website owners. The wide selection of images and an easy to use stock photo site are an added plus.
License: Creative Commons Zero CC0
Attribution: Crediting isn’t required but highly appreciated
Type of resource: Photos
Kaboompics
Kaboompics is the brainchild of Karolina Grabowska, a confessed coffee addict who spends her time creating digital art.
All 16,000+ images on Kaboompics belong to Karolina, who offers them all for free. She creates terrific photos for many categories, including food, medicine, plants, technology, and so much more.
All her pictures are high-resolution and perfect for multiple uses, from blog posts to social media and beyond. You can easily find the ideal image for your next project on Kaboompics.
Verdict: Being a personal collection of Karolina, you don’t have to worry about copyright issues. At the same time, she warns you to be careful when using photos that have brands or trademarks. Still, it is an excellent collection of beautiful images to cover all of your bases.
License: A custom license that allows you to use her photos freely, even for commercial purposes. However, you must alter the images before reselling them. Redistribution is also forbidden without permission. Finally, there is a warning regarding the commercial use of photos with brands and trademarks—for example, a picture of Apple’s iPhone or MacBook Pro.
Attribution: Not required, but appreciated more so if you share Kaboompics with friends on social media
Type of resource: Photos
Rgbstock
Rgbstock is a simple free stock photo website offering you more than 100,000 photos in multiple categories. No matter how specific your imagery needs are, you can find an image on rgbstock.com.
They offer you photos, wallpapers, backgrounds, and textures for personal and commercial use. You must register a free account to download the images.
If you’re a photographer, Rgbstock offers you the chance to create a free photo gallery in minutes, so you can share your images and get more exposure.
Verdict: Rgbstock offers you a wide variety of free stock photos perfect for any type of use. There is a wide variety of pictures from artsy shots to business images and beyond.
License: A custom license that permits the use of images for commercial purposes. Read their license agreement to learn more.
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Avopix
Avopix is a fantastic collection of beautiful free stock photos in multiple categories, including health, people, business, animals, architecture, education, religion, and life in general. On top of that, Avopix offers you videos and vector art upsells in collaboration with Shutterstock.
With more than 400,000 photos, you are spoilt for choice whether you need an image for personal or commercial use. If you need something with a premium feel to it, Avopix offers you over 290 million royalty-free photos.
Verdict: Avopix is a brilliant library of high-res photos contributed by users. Finding a great photo is incredibly easy thanks to easy navigation and a straightforward user interface. License information is readily available, but be vigilant when using photos with brands and trademarks.
License: Creative Commons Zero CC0 (public domain)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Vector art, Videos
BucketListly Photos
BucketListly Photos is a free creative commons collection of more than 10,000 travel photos from all over the world. At the time of writing, all the images are by Pete Rojwongsuriya, a travel blogger and filmmaker who has traveled to over 65 countries.
You are free to use all the photos for personal use, but you must provide credit to the owner of the images as per the license. Unfortunately, you must not use the pictures for commercial purposes under any circumstances. If you’d like to use any of Pete’s images commercially, contact him directly.
Verdict: BucketListly Photos is a fantastic resource for travel bloggers, school projects, individual desktop backgrounds, and posters meant to inspire others. You have plenty of great photos from multiple locations across the globe.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Travel photos and videos
Good Stock Photos
Web designer, marketer, and webpreneur Steven Ma is the brains behind Good Stock Photos, a collection of over 1,000 photos that he shot himself. The images are of high quality, making each shot perfect for business use.
Categories include animals, nature, activities, architecture, transportation, food, landscapes, and people, just to mention a few. All photos are free to download for personal and commercial purposes.
Verdict: Steven Ma knows what he is doing, and Good Stock Photos is proof enough. It’s a well-curated collection that is free of copyright issues since all photos belong to Steven.
License: A custom license that allows you to use the photos for personal or commercial purposes. However, the license restricts you from redistributing and reselling the images as-is.
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
ISO Republic
Created in 2014 by photographer Tom Eversley, the ISO Republic free stock photo website has something for everyone.
The site is maintained by a small enthusiastic team that curates and makes available thousands of high-quality photos that you can download and use for free.
Whether you need a photo or video for your blog or business website, ISO Republic doesn’t disappoint. You can easily find both artsy and formal photos in an assortment of categories.
Verdict: The ISO Republic site is the free stock photo resource of choice for everyone. They have many categories and pictures to cover just about any need you have.
License: Creative Commons Zero CCo. You can use the photos and videos freely, personally or commercially.
Attribution: Not required but appreciated.
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
Cupcake
Whether you’re creating a personal blog or brand new business website, you need images. Modern-day internet users expect beautiful pictures that complement your message and conjure up the right emotional response.
If you’re looking for great and unique photographs for your website, you’ll love Cupcake. The site is particularly useful to website owners looking for photos of city life, nature, and landscapes.
Verdict: Although Cupcake offers you a small collection, the images are fantastic and legally safe to use for personal and commercial purposes. They are all high-resolution photographs suitable for a million and one uses.
License: Creative Commons Zero
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Stockvault
Stockvault is a fabulous free stock photo website offering you over 140,000 photos on the most varied topics. High-quality images on the site are provided by over 99,000 photographers and creatives the world over.
I haven’t seen another free stock photo with such a big category menu, making it easy to find the perfect image for your project. To boot, they offer not just pictures, but also illustrations, textures, vector images, and backgrounds.
Verdict: Stockvault is a vast library of beautiful photos, which means you have more choice on one website. However, be vigilant when using the images for commercial use since users submit them. Also, they offer their pictures under three licenses.
License: Creative Commons CC0, Non-Commercial License, Commercial License
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Vector art, Illustrations, Textures
Freerange
Freerange is a well-designed free stock photo website brought to you by Freerange Stock, LLC, a company that was created with the sole goal of providing quality and free stock photos for personal and commercial use.
The photos on Freerange come from their in-house photographers, archives as well as open submissions by creative and talented photographers from around the world.
The in-house image editors at Freerange put a lot of work into each image, including manipulating some photos in Photoshop to make them more useful. They also offer a free photo API for app developers.
Verdict: The guys over at Freerange are genuinely committed to bringing you sharp and free stock photos that you can use commercially without limitations. If you work with many images, say you’re a graphic designer working in Photoshop, Freerange offers you a lot of content to create your PS composites.
License: Equalicense, CC0
Attribution: Appreciated but not required
Type of resource: Photos
Dreamstime
Free stock photography is the gift that never stops giving, and if Dreamstime is not proof enough, I don’t know what is. Dreamstime is a modern-looking website offering you more than just free stock photos.
The site is dedicated to providing free stock photos, royalty-free editorial images, illustrations, clipart, vector graphics, videos, and audio resources. Over 69 million images and 19 million members mean there is a wide variety of media.
They offer both free and premium stock photos and videos to meet diverse needs in many categories. All images, videos, and audio are way above average in terms of quality, considering what you get on many free stock websites.
Verdict: Dreamstime is your one-stop-shop for stock photos, videos, and audio files. They offer a wide selection from which to choose, so you’re covered in that regard. If you need more, you can always spring for the premium options without necessarily going to another website.
License: Royalty-Free, Limited Royalty-Free (RF-LL), Extended Licenses. Please read their legal terms carefully if you have any doubts about any media file.
Attribution: A credit line is required for media used for editorial and related purposes.
Type of resource: Photos, Videos, Audio
FancyCrave
FancyCrave is mainly a travel blog that offers tips and photo packs to travel bloggers from all walks of life. Instead of providing a single photo, FancyCrave brings you blog posts that are simply collections of various images.
For instance, you can get a blog post covering “32 Free Stock Pictures of Flowers,” “60 Pictures of People for Personal and Commercial Use,” and so on.
Other useful topics include SEO, web design, WordPress, freelancing, social media, and so on – mainly revolving around travel and lifestyle. Still, you can make good use of the advice even if you’re not a travel blogger.
In other words, FancyCrave offers you free stock photos as well as tips for guest post blogging and entrepreneurship.
Verdict: FancyCrave is more than just a free stock website. It’s the regularly updated website of Igorovsyannykov, who is genuinely in love with travel and photography. All the photo packs are amazing and perfect for many purposes, including personal and commercial.
License: Creative Commons Zero CC0
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Great blog posts on travel and digital marketing
Albumarium
Albumarium claims to be the best place to find and share beautiful images. But is the free stock photo website worth its weight in salt? Let us see what the site has to offer you.
Albumarium is a collection of albums in popular categories such as nature, people, babies, Africa, cats, sleeping, office design, city life, women, birds, and animals, among others.
The website is authored by Vilem Ries, an interaction designer at Google. He is a great and talented designer from Zurich, Switzerland. Albumarium offers you high-quality photos for personal and commercial purposes.
Verdict: Albumarium is an excellent collection of photos. I particularly loved their nature album that’s full of clear and high-def images. You must, however, check the licenses before you use any of the pictures.
License: CC Attribution, CC Attribution-NoDerivatives, CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Reshot
Reshot is home to thousands of unique free stock photos. The photos are handpicked by the Reshot team to ensure you only get non-stocky images that you can use as you wish.
That means you can use all the photos on Reshot personally or commercially without attributing the photographer or Reshot.
At the back of it all, Reshot’s mission is to unify creators via a free exchange of the world’s best imagery. They aim to help photography newbies and professionals elevate their creative projects.
In other words, Reshot is “a community of creatives who are as passionate about our craft as we are in helping foster the pursuit of creativity in others.”
Verdict: Reshot is a fantastic community for passionate photographers and other creative professionals. They offer a wide variety of photos in all verticals. The images are of high quality and uncommon.
License: Custom license similar to Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Freestocks
Freestocks is a free stock photo website featuring a candid compilation of rare photos that you can use both in personal and commercial projects.
The website features over 4,500 high-resolution photos divided into seven broad categories, including animals, city & architecture, fashion, food & drinks, objects & technology, nature, and people.
Are you looking for a beautiful photo for your blog? Freestocks won’t disappoint. Need something unique for your restaurant website? Again, Freestocks won’t disappoint.
Verdict: Freestocks.org is a free stock photography website hosting a good number of beautiful photos perfect for all types of uses. You will find just the image you need for your website and other social purposes.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Picography
Are you looking for free, gorgeous, and high-resolution photos that you can use however you like? If that’s a resounding yes, we point you to Picography, a welcome addition to our list.
Picography makes finding your next great photo as easy as A, B, C. They’ve curated the high-quality images in categories and added tags that make find lovely photos a breeze.
Categories include abstract, animals, cultural, hospitality, wildlife, nature, landscapes, sport, and so much more. As such, you’re bound to find exactly what you need.
Verdict: Simple to use, Picography is a fresh breath of air in an industry chockful of sites that can be bothersome. They feature a fabulous assortment of images ideal for personal and commercial needs.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Crow The Stone
Are you a fan of Tumblr? Crow The Stone is one more Tumblr blog you need to follow if you need some cute images for your next project.
Brought to you by Abinav Thakuri, Crow The Stone is a fantastic resource for free stock photography not found elsewhere.
It features original shots of nature, animals, buildings, people, landscapes, and so much more, meaning you can quickly find a suitable photo for your needs.
You can subscribe to the blog to receive new photos direct to your inbox every week, even though – I must tell you this – the website hasn’t been updated in a while. Still, it carries many photos under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
Public Domain Dedication license.
Verdict: Crow The Stone is an excellent Tumblr blog, which – for some reason – reminds me of The Crow movie franchise.
I don’t know why that’s the case, but that’s just me. All the same, Crow The Stone offers you a great deal in terms of free stock photography. Abinav is working on relaunching the site, so you expect more photos in the future.
License: Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Death to Stock
We are moving on swiftly. Enters Death to Stock and changes the game. With the promise of making the internet beautiful, Death to Stock offers you thousands of authentic stock photos and videos to brighten your day.
Unlike competitors who provide cheesy and overused stock imagery, Death to Stock brings you new and fresh stock resources every new day.
It’s a killer stock photography website that promises to change the game, and they are living up to the claim. Death to Stock is owned and operated by a team of artists, so you can expect fantastic content.
Verdict: Death to Stock is the place to go if you need unique stock photos and videos. They charge for membership, but there is a 14-day free trial to test the waters. If you don’t like what you see, you can unsubscribe at no cost.
License: Custom Death to Stock license
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
Foca Stock
Built by Jeffrey Betts, a product and UX/UI designer from New York, Foca Stock offers you an extensive collection of free photos, videos, and templates that you can use for personal or commercial projects.
On top of that, Jeff offers you a brilliant online photo editor that helps you to create free custom social media graphics ranging from Facebook covers, Pinterest stories, YouTube channel covers, and Tumblr photo posts, among others.
Whether you want images for your website, themes, templates, projects, print materials, social posts, and more, Foca Stock has your back.
Verdict: You can see a great stock photo website from a mile away, and Foca Stock is superb. Throw in the online photo editor we mentioned earlier, and you have a powerful tool to win as far as free stock photography goes.
License: Creative Commons 1.0 Universal (CC0). You can use the resources however you want.
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos, Online Photo Creator
Pikwizard
We are still at it 😉 I know the post is becoming a long, but stay with me, amigo. Pikwizard offers you over 1 million stock images and videos. They are all royalty-free, meaning you can use the resources for personal and commercial purposes.
They have a comprehensive collection of stunning photography perfect for any need under the sun. The images are arranged in categories, which means you can navigate the website easily.
Verdict: Variety is the name of the game, and Pikwizard knows that very well. Theirs is a vast collection of images and videos, making the website the go-to solution for all and sundry.
License: Custom Pikward license
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
DesignersPics
Jeshu John is the artist and the brains behind DesignersPics, a well-curated free stock photo website. While it’s not a massive collection like some of the contenders on our list, you get unique and crisp photos perfect for personal and commercial uses.
With just ten categories at the time of writing, DesignersPics is a simple website that ideal if you’re looking for more high-resolution photos. It’s straightforward to use, and finding a good photo didn’t take long.
Verdict: DesignersPics is clean and straightforward. Jeshu has done his best to steer clear of junk, unlike many other free stock photo websites.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
FindA.Photo
A project of Chamber of Commerce, FindA.Photo is not a free stock photo website in itself. It is a directory that helps you to find high-quality stock photos on multiple free and paid stock photo sites.
The Chamber of Commerce is aimed at entrepreneurs looking to build a small business from the ground up. Now, thanks to FindA.Photo, you can find pictures easily while learning how to grow your business.
Verdict: Are you looking for great advice on how to navigate the tricky world of business? Do you need some stock photos to go with that? FindA.Photo is the website you must bookmark.
License: It’s just a directory of other stock photo sites, meaning you need to check with the specific website where you download the image.
Attribution: Again, check with the website from where you download the image.
Type of resource: Photos
Splashbase
Splashbase is a fabulous free stock photo site offering you thousands of images and videos in various categories. It’s a great resource if you need a quick picture for your next project, personal or commercial.
Splashbase is a search and discovery platform for several great photo sites. The images and videos are aggregated from many sites as well as passionate contributors from around the world.
Verdict: Splashbase makes finding your next great photo easy. There’s a variety of images and videos on the website, which makes your work even more comfortable.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
Startup Stock Photos
Are you looking for startup photos? If that’s a yes, you’ll love the collection at Startup Stock Photos, a website that’s dedicated to startups.
That’s right; they don’t cover any other category. It’s a project by Eric Bailey, a developer, and the guys over at Sculpt.
Startup Stock Photos is a website with a simple purpose: provide writers, developers, and entrepreneurs access to a library of beautiful, usable, and free “startup-focused” images. – Sculpt
Verdict: For people looking for free photos revolving around startups, Startup Stock Photos is a brilliant choice. They are focused on startups only, which means zero clutter for you. The images are of high quality too.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Travel Coffee Book
If you’re in the traveling niche, you will feel right at home at Travel Coffee Book. They host a massive collection of travel-oriented images from various destinations around the world.
They share beautiful travel photos taken by photographers from all walks of life. Travel Coffee Book has been providing free pictures since 2014, covering more than 150,000 miles across the world.
The photos are perfect for personal blogs as well as large travel sites. All images are provided under the CC0 license meaning you can use them however you want.
Verdict: Travel Coffee Book is an excellent source of high-res photos. They host a vast collection that will come in handy at any given time. If you travel a lot and take pictures on your journey, you can also submit to Travel Coffee Book for more exposure.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Snapwire Snaps
Another excellent Tumblr blog, Snapwire Snaps offer you seven free beautiful photos every seven days. The images are submitted by over 200,000 talented photographers, meaning there is diversity on the website.
You can get beautiful pictures in multiple categories, including city life, animals, vehicles, people, and virtually anything else you can think of.
You can subscribe to the blog for regular updates. The images are released under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
Public Domain Dedication, meaning you’re free to do what you want.
Verdict: If you want to grow your Tumblr blogroll while enjoying a free resource of some of the best photos the internet has to offer, Snapwire Snaps is a great option. You can download the images easily.
License: Creative Common Zero (CC0)
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
Moveast
Moveast is a free stock photo website covering the experiences and travels of Joao Pacheco, a designer born and raised in Portugal.
The website covers a vast collection of images ranging from Asian cuisine to landscapes and people to streets, just to mention a few.
Moveast is a beautiful view of the world, as seen through the lens of Joao. His is a small collection compared to the likes of Pixabay, but the photos are of exceptional quality. It’s kind of him to offer the images for free.
Verdict: Moveast is a fantastic resource for free stock photos. Pacheco hasn’t uploaded new shots for three years, but still, Moveast is a gem.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required, but a shout out is welcome. Come on; he’s put in a lot effort 🙂
Type of resource: Photos
Mazwai
Have we covered a website that offers free stock videos only? I don’t think so. So here comes Mazwai. The site was built with a single aim: “to provide free, high quality, cinematic style stock footage that can be used in a wide range of creative projects.”
Handpicked by their team of video experts, Mazwai videos are something else. They are amazing guys, and the best part, free. You can download the videos to use in your projects, whether personal or commercial. There are multiple categories from which to choose, so you’re sorted in that regard.
Mazwai works directly with a select team of artists to bring you an unrivaled selection of high-quality visual content. If you’re a videographer or a filmmaker (what’s the difference, btw?), you can contact the folks over at Mazwai via email for some much-needed exposure.
Verdict: Do you want to be different? Of course, you do. Mazwai offers you unique and free video content to get your audience going. Categories include slow motion, urban, city, timelapse, skyline, and others.
License: Creative Commons 3.0
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Videos
Superfamous Images
If you want a teacher, try a waterfall. Or a mushroom or a mountain wilderness or a storm-pounded seashore. That is where the action is. —TMK
Come on; it’s a great quote. And the first thing you see when you load Superfamous, a fantastic free stock photo website brought to you by Superfamous Studios, a company based in Los Angeles.
Just like the above quote, they are mainly into landscapes with a dash of over 36 color gradients. There are two-ish photos of women, but it’s nothing to write home about.
Verdict: Superfamous Images is a small collection of mostly landscapes. Most are aerial shots, so if you’re looking for something along those lines, feel free to check out the website.
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Jay Mantri
I’m loving personal collections as opposed to the larger websites. The images are more authentic and unique, and Jay Mantri is not different.
The work of Ajay Mantri, a designer based in Los Angeles, Jay Mantri offers you a wide range of cloud storage for photos and videos all under the CC0 license.
That means you can use the images however you want, or as Ajay puts it, to “make magic.” Categories include animals, landscapes, city life, and everything in between.
Verdict: If like me, you’re into personal collections, you’ll have a field day at Jay Mantri. The website is full of all the free stock photos and videos you’ll ever need.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: None required but a link is always appreciated
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
Refe
Do you want to make a bit of cash from your mobile photos? If so, Refe is a free/paid stock photo website that offers you an active market that helps you to make some money from your favorite photos.
If you’re just out for some free stock photos, Refe helps individuals and organizations to bring ideas to life in a memorable way. The website offers you a wide selection of high-res and royalty-free images that you can use for personal and commercial projects.
They handpick photos by the most talented photographers. With nine categories at the time of writing, Refe offers high-quality imagery perfect for aspiring designers, bloggers, and freelancers.
Verdict: Refe offers you free and paid stock photos that grab attention and increase conversions and sales down the road. If you’re tired of fluffy images, Refe is the perfect free stock photo resource.
License: Royalty-free license
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Foter
And when you think you’ve seen all there is to free stock photography, here comes Foter and you hit the gold pot at the end of the rainbow.
With over 335 million free stock photos, Foter could be the only stock site you’ll ever need going forward. I mean, that’s a staggering number of photos!
Don’t worry; the website is organized well in easy-to-spot categories, meaning finding a great photo is easy. Plus, there is a search box, so yeah, you’ll have a great time at Foter.
Verdict: The significant number of photos on Foter is their main selling point. You can find just about any photo you need.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Freeimages
I’m nearly running out of words and risk sounding like a broken record. But you know what? I love holding it down for you all. Freeimages is a beautiful free stock photo website with thousands of amazing images for personal and commercial use.
With more than 25 categories, finding a great image to improve your blog posts, website, and promotional material is a matter of when and not if. You can sign up on the site and upload your images as well.
Verdict: The Freeimages website offers you beautiful and free stock photos for all needs, no matter how diverse. You can download high-res images on the website immediately without signing up.
License: Freeimages Content License
Attribution: Required if you’re using content for editorial purposes
Type of resource: Photos
Free Nature Stock
We’ve already covered free stock sites dedicated to specific niches as well as websites that offer a la carte options. And now we have Free Nature Stock, which serves – you guessed it – royalty-free nature stock photos and videos.
Created and maintained by Adrian Pelletier, a professional graphic designer, Free Nature Stock is updated regularly with fresh visual content perfect for any need, business or personal. You will find beautiful photos of mountains, clouds, forests, and so on.
Verdict: Free Nature Stock is a great free stock photo resource for nature photography.
License: Creative Commons Zero
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos
Free Media Goo
Free Media Goo was launched back in 2001 and offers you an assortment of free pictures, textures, backgrounds, videos, and digital art.
The free stock photo website offers you complete free resources meaning you don’t have to worry about trademarks and copyrights. It’s a relaxed place to find more stock photos for your schoolwork, personal needs, and commercial projects.
The website’s mission is to “…create a means for anyone to gather a library of images that can be used for free in print, film, TV, Internet – heck, project it onto the moon with a laser for all we care!” They don’t care how you use the images.
Verdict: Free Media Goo is a great place to find great resources for your next project. While they don’t have that many pictures (they are still migrating the website to a real CMS), you can find images in categories such as beach, aviation, buildings, finance, food, wildlife, and so on. They also offer you product reviews revolving around drawing pencils and paper cutters.
License: Creative Commons Zero
Attribution: None required but always appreciated
Type of resource: Photos, Textures, Videos, Backgrounds
Freepik
If you’ve been having a difficult time finding the perfect graphic resources, you’ll love what Freepik has to offer. The website offers you a wide range of free vectors, portraits, textures, stock photos, PSD files, and icons.
To cover all bases, Freepik offers you millions of free and premium content in multiple categories including, but not limited to, animals, Easter, graphics, Christmas, signs, symbols, maps, travel, food, shopping, spa, community, and wood.
Verdict: Freepik offers you a wide variety of resources perfect for graphic designers. PSD files allow you to customize your images to your heart’s desire. You can start with a free account or sign up for premium membership, which offers you more features.
License: Freepik License, Freepik Premium License
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos, Textures, Icons, PSD downloads, Vectors, Portraits
Good Free Photos
Good Free Photos is a larger Public Domain photo repository with high-quality stock photos, clipart, images, and vectors. They host more than 27,000 free stock photos, royalty-free photos, and CC0 photos that you can download and use however you want.
The website is easy to navigate since you can browse images by category or make use of the search box. They also run a travel blog that you can follow for regular posts and videos. Subscribe to their YouTube channel for even more videos.
Verdict: All the photos on Good Free Photos are under the Public Domain license, which means you can use them personally or commercially on any project without asking for permission.
License: Public Domain license. However, note that any trademarked models or logos that are in these pictures do not have release authorization(such as brand name cars, etc.), so you may have to obtain permission from the trademark holder for such photos.
Attribution: None required, but they politely ask you to consider giving credit
Type of resources: Photos, Vectors, Clipart
Hubspot
Hubspot is all about inbound marketing. They offer you great marketing advice and a nifty tool that help you to increase traffic to your website. As such, I didn’t expect HubSpot to crop up when I was searching for free stock photo websites.
Well, they hired a photographer and took over 550 royalty-free stock photos you can use to give your content some pizzazz. The photos come in four collections. HubSpot’s photos are great for businesses, marketers, and holidays, among others.
Verdict: Feel free to use the photos from HubSpot on your website homepage, landing pages, Facebook posts, Pinterest boards, Calls-to-Actions (CTAs), emails, blog posts, and SlideShare/PowerPoint presentations, among others.
License: Creative Commons Zero
Attribution: Not required, but they would never say no to an inbound link or two 🙂
Type of resource: Photos
Image Finder
Image Finder offers you over 240,000 high-quality free stock images from the world’s best photographers. You can use the free images on Image Finder for personal or commercial purposes without attribution.
The website used to be a search engine for Flickr, but nowadays, they mine CC0 photos from multiple stock photo websites. They cover a wide range of categories, including business, technology, women, family, love, work, fashion, and so on.
Verdict: Images on Image Finder belong to the original photographers. The main aim of the website is to offer the photographers more exposure by making the images easier to find from a single place.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), Public Domain, Other Creative Commons license, which means you should check individual images for licensing details. Still, all the images are free 🙂
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
IM Free
IM Free is a curated collection of free web design resources, all for commercial or personal use. On top of offering you high-def free stock photos, they offer you icons and website templates that you can easily customize in an easy visual editor.
In other words, IM Free offers you a website builder (e.g., Wix or Squarespace), and free stock photography on the same platform. How sophisticated? Choose your website template, customize, pick the perfect stock images, and publish your website all on the same website. Speak of convenience.
IM Free offers you a good number of categories, including people, business, technology, health, food, sports, education, fashion, nature, and objects, among others.
Verdict: IM Free is both a free stock photo site and a website builder. They offer paid plans to publish the website you create, but all the templates and images are free. Just make sure you credit the creators.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos, Icons, Templates, Website Builder
Little Visuals
A passion project of the late Nic Jackson (RIP), Little Visuals is a small but beautiful collection of free stock photos. While Nic never got the chance to run and grow Little Visuals, his family has ensured the website remains accessible to all.
All the images on Little Visuals are licensed under Creative Commons Zero, meaning you can use them for personal and commercial use without asking for permission. Attribution is not required, but feel free to support Nic’s family. The website is quite popular, with over 130 thousand subscribers and 15.5 million views.
Verdict: Seeing as Little Visuals is a personal collection, the images are unique. It’s unlikely you’ll find the images elsewhere, which is always a welcome thing more so when you want to stand out from the crowd.
License: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Attribution: None required
Type of resource: Photos
New Old Stock
New Old Stock is a collection of vintage photos from public archives curated by Cole Townsend, a product designer, and web developer. Are you feeling nostalgic? Do you sell vintage items? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, New Old Stock might pique your interest.
All images on New Old Stock are free of known copyright restrictions. In other words, the images are in the Public Domain hence perfect for personal and commercial use without attribution.
The website offers you the chance to recapture history with free stock photo images. If you need editing and curation services, Cole Townsend offers you pro photo packs.
Verdict: New Old Stock offers you great imagery for your 404 error page medium articles blog posts and a slew of other personal projects. If you are not sure about an image (since Cole gets the images from Flickr Commons), check the license before using said image.
License: Public Domain, but check the rules of Flickr Commons on a per-image basis
Attribution: None required, but confirm attribution requirements by visiting the original image on Flickr
Type of resource: Photos
Morguefile
I am unsure how I feel about the title of the website, but I’m 100% confident I like their free stock photos. Morguefile is a free stock site made for creatives, by creatives. They offer you over 350,000 free stock photos ideal for both personal and commercial use.
Additionally, Morguefile comes with a wide selection of videos, vectors, and templates provided by third-party websites such as iStock and Shutterstock. All in all, the random collection of free stock photos spans many categories. And if you sign up, you can bookmark images with likes and like boxes allowing you to create shareable collections of your favorite images.
Verdict: I would have chosen a better title for the website, but if you can overlook that, Morguefile is a beautiful mishmash of some of the best free stock images on the web.
License: Creative Commons Zero
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos (Third-party microstock websites provide videos, Vectors, and Templates)
Magdeleine
Magdeleine takes a different approach to free stock photography. Instead of going with a cluttered home page, they offer you a free hi-resolution photo every day. If you don’t like the picture of the day, you can browse the ever-growing collection.
So I hit the Browse button because – curiosity. Long story short, I was impressed with what I found behind the button. Magdeleine features a hand-picked collection of inspiring photos in the usual categories. Whether you need nature photos, abstract images, food snaps, technology shots, and people images, among others, Magdeleine is a brilliant resource.
Verdict: Magdeleine hosts some beautiful and bright photos perfect for personal and commercial projects. The only downside is the small collection compared to competitors. Still, they offer some unique images that are perfect if you’re looking for some inspiration.
License: CC0/Public Domain, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution: Required for some photos.
Type of resource: Photos
Smithsonian Institution on Flickr
Founded in 1846 with funds from James Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, controlling 19 museums and the National Zoo. The mission of the institution is to shape the future by sharing resources with the world, discovering new knowledge and preserving the heritage of the American people.
They host a huge collection of CC0/Public Domain free stock images on Flickr. All the images are free to use for personal or commercial purposes. The collection features photos in fields such as history, culture, art and science from their museums and archives.
Verdict: The Smithsonian Institution page on Flickr offers you a lot of vintage photos and artwork perfect for all of your needs. If you need more, you can check out the official website.
License: Public Domain
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Space X Photos
Space X is all about the future of space exploration. Their ultimate goal is to enable people to live on other planets. They focus on building and launching advanced rockets and spacecraft, and they have gained worldwide attention for a series of historic milestones.
Company history aside, Space X has a media gallery, which is a nice collection of free stock photos that you can use however you want. They mainly feature photos of rockets, spacecraft, satellites, hangars and that kind of thing. If you’re a rocket scientist or hobbyist looking for stunning space-focussed photos, Space X Photos is a great choice.
Verdict: Space X free stock photos are perfect for anybody with a fascination with space, and everything that goes with it. They offer a huge collection, and you can find more pictures on the Space X Flickr page.
License: CC0/Public Domain
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos might be added in the future (I found none at the time of the writing, but they have the link)
Stock Up
Created by Steven Benjamins for the readers of Site Builder Report, Stock Up is a fantastic free stock photo website offering you over 25,000 free photos aggregated from multiple photo sites such as Burst by Shopify, Life of Pix, Jay Mantri and 28 other websites, most of which we’ve covered in today’s article.
Still, Stock Up helps you to find beautiful stock images easily without having to dig deep. On top of that, Stock Up does you one better. They offer you detailed guides on website builders, portfolio builders, and e-commerce software, all courtesy of Site Builder Report.
Verdict: Think of Stock Up as a directory where you can find a great assortment of beautiful free stock photos from multiple sources. Something like the FindA.Photo website we covered earlier.
License: Since the Stock Up website sources images from many different free stock photo websites, the license for each photo will vary. Still, many of the websites offer photos that carry the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, meaning you’re safe legally. But to be sure, do your due diligence.
Attribution: Depends on the license, but mostly it’s not required. In other words, “while you can do just about anything with most of the photos on Stock Up you should always refer to the original photographer for the license.”
Type of resource: Photos
Barnimages
Barnimages was created in March 2015 by the duo comprised of Roman Drits and Igor Trepeshchenok, both photographers from Latvia. The main goal of Barnimages is to redefine traditional stock imagery.
The free stock photo website offers you quality images that are fresh, with nothing that duplicates the stock photos you’ll find on most photo sites. Barnimages offers you unique photography that the creators call their ever-growing collection “non-stock.”
Verdict: Barnimages offers beautiful high-resolution images for everyone, whether you’re a blogger, designer, graphic artist or business person, among others. All photos are free to use for personal or commercial projects.
License: Barnimages License
Attribution: Not required, but a link back to Barnimages and sharing the good news on social media is appreciated
Type of resource: Photos
Jeshoots
Jeshoots is a brilliant photobank created by Jan Vasek, a generous photographer who wants to make the world a better place by offering free photos and Mockups. He is the sole author of all the photos, meaning you don’t have to worry about licensing.
Jeshoots has been operational since 2014 and offers a wide variety of images in multiple categories. Popular categories on this free stock photo site include technology, casino, health, education, summer, sports and so much more.
Verdict: Jeshoots offers you original thematic photos and PSD mockups. At your disposal, you have thousands of unique images to elicit favorable emotions with your media content. All photos are 100% free for personal and business use. However, some mockups are not free.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required but appreciated
Type of resource: Photos, PSD Mockups
ShotStash
ShotStash is a clean and minimal free stock photo website offering a wide range of images for all creative professionals. With thousands of high-definition photos from which to choose, you will have an easy time finding the perfect image for your next project.
ShotStash covers the whole gamut of free stock photography, what with many categories such as business, nature, people, animals, technology and so on. All images are licensed under CC0, meaning they are perfect for personal and commercial uses.
Verdict: ShotStash is a database of over 5,000 high-quality stock photos that are great for a wide range of uses. They also offer you a curated selection of photos that are great mobile wallpapers.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Looking Glass
Yet another Tumblr blog, Looking Glass is brought to you by Lisa, a talented writer, and photographer. The website features original pics by Lisa with a few donations from other creatives.
I love seeing the world through the eyes of the lens, which forces me to look for the good, the interesting, the beautiful and the unusual wherever I go. – Lisa
Without her camera, Lisa says that her mind usually races ahead to the future, and she can’t ever seem to be present in the moment. What that means is you can expect to find unique and varied pics on Looking Glass.
Verdict: While Looking Glass is a hobby, it has created a huge surplus of photos that you can use however you want personally or commercially. Lisa doesn’t fiddle with photos, so take them as they come. You can expect anything from artsy to just plain old practical.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
StockPholio
StockPholio is your ultimate resource for free stock photos thanks to a brilliant collection of over 1 million images. Whether you’re looking for photos for social media, blog, business website, or any other creative use, you’re bound to find the right image for your needs at StockPholio.
The website is super-duper easy to use. There are no categories on the homepage, but the search functionality comes in handy. On the photos page, you have images divided into the usual categories such as abstract, animals, art, beauty, fashion, backgrounds and textures, just to touch the tip of the iceberg.
Verdict: If you don’t mind digging deep when hunting out your perfect pic, bookmark StockPholio for some inspiration. You can browse their collections or use the easy search functionality to find exactly what you need. All images are provided absolutely free of charge. Also, the images come in multiple sizes.
Licence: Multiple Creative Commons Licenses, Public Domain
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
StockPhotos.io
StockPhotos.io takes a whole different approach to free stock photography with a Pinterest-like design. Now, you can repin, like and comment on your favorite stock photos. The website features public domain and creative commons images from their users as well as websites such as Flickr.
They have multiple categories and over 27,000 images that you can use for personal and commercial projects provided you credit the original photographer. Other than free stock photos, the website offers you pages that help you to find a lot of resources such as free fonts, icons, photo editors, photo gallery scripts and so much more.
Verdict: StockPhotos.io offers you free stock photos and many other resources in one central place. Now, you don’t have to scour the internet especially when great photo resources are hard to find.
License: Public Domain, Creative Commons (But check each photo independently)
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Stokpic
What a beautiful collection this is. The website was created by Ed Gregory, an international photographer and the guy behind In Color Studios, Dance Lovely and Photos In Color companies. With thousands of photos in multiple categories, finding the perfect pic for your needs has never been easier.
When you subscribe to Stokpic, Ed promises to send you 10 premium photos every fortnight. The aim is to help you to focus on other important things without worrying about stock photos. The photos are really beautiful and capture many types of moments such as weddings, vacations, and other live events.
Verdict: Stokpic is an impressive source of free stock photos. They offer many categories and a relaxed Stokpic license that allows you to use the images commercially without hiccups.
License: Stokpic License
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is one of the biggest and greatest sources of public domain media content, be it free stock photos, videos, and audio files. Currently, the website carries over 60 million freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
It’s a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, the same guys who brought you Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikidata, Wikibooks and several other non-profit projects. They offer an extensive database, but they could improve their search functionality, seeing as finding a great media file for your project can take time.
Verdict: Wikimedia Commons is a leader as far as providing public domain images goes. They are probably the best there is, and for a good reason. It’s a huge media repository that welcomes contributions from users from across the globe. Their model has led to the growth of a media repository like no other.
License: Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Mainly Public Domain and Creative Commons licenses.
Attribution: Required for some photos
Type of resource: Photos, Videos, Audio Files
Wylio
Wylio is a fresh breath of air in a crowded marketplace that’s free stock photography. Ridiculously easy to use, Wylio makes finding the perfect image a breeze. They use the Flickr API to aggregate a wide range of pixel-perfect images that are great for any use.
Once you find your perfect image, you can add it to your website via an embed code or download the image to your computer first. On top of that, they offer you an image editor that allows you to see how your image will flow with your content. You can align your images and resize them accordingly using a simple slider.
Verdict: Finding images on Wylio is easy, what with an Ajax-powered search engine. And since they get the images from Flickr, one of the biggest image sharing site, you can expect variety and fresh images in whatever category.
License: Licensing depends on the image you need, so check
Attribution: Required for some images
Type of resource: Photos
123RF
Say you have the budget to splash on stock photos. Where would you look? Most of the stock photo sites on our list offer photos for free. 123RF, on the other hand, sells royalty-free photos. Then, why did the website make the cut? Well, for starters, they offer you high-quality images in a range of industries.
Still, they don’t offer images for free – you must pay up to download premium images from 123RF. The website has a great collection, but it is suitable for people with the money to spend on stock photos. If you want free images, go with the other options.
If, however, you’re looking for millions of high-resolution and royalty-free stock photos, vectors, video clips, and music files, 123RF is the place to be. It is also a great place to sell your photographs.
Verdict: While they don’t offer free images, 123RF offers you quite a bang for your buck if you take the premium route. The images are high-quality, unique and in multiple categories. Always go with a premium plan that works for your budget and needs.
License: Custom Royalty-Free Licenses
Attribution: Required for some works
Type of resource: Photos, Vectors, Video Clips, Music Files
AllTheFreeStock
AllTheFreeStock was created by Saijo George, an SEO consultant from Melbourne, Australia. It’s not your typical free stock photo website. It’s a directory that aggregates stock photos, icons, videos, and music from a dozen websites.
All the free stock photos on the website are listed under the Creative Commons Zero license, meaning you are free to use them in commercial projects. However, videos, sound effects, and icons offer different licenses, which means it’s a good idea to check the terms of use on each site before you use them.
Verdict: AllTheFreeStock is a simple directory that helps you to find free stock images, videos, music, and icons in one place. They offer you a substantial number of resources meaning you’re in good hands if you need an extra image, video clip, music file or icon.
License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0) for images and varying licenses for the other resources
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Videos, Music, Icons
BigFoto
Are you looking for travel photos and articles? If that’s a yes, you’ll love BigFoto, a blog that’s dedicated to sharing free travel photos and stories from various locations around the globe.
BigFoto is well organized, which makes finding great stories and beautiful photos extremely easy. You can find images by continent or category.
They also have a miscellaneous section where they post random images. If you won’t like the travel stories, you’ll surely love the great images on the website.
Verdict: If you’re a travel blogger, you will find a ton of inspiration on BigFoto. Are you looking for real travel photos? BigFoto is the answer. The website is regularly updated so you know you’ll get fresh content, be it an image or a story from the opposite side of the globe.
License: A custom license that allows you to use the images however you want, provided you link back to bigfoto.com.
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Compfight
Compfight is an image search engine much like Google Images. It uses the Flickr API to efficiently locate images for blogs, comps, inspiration, and research. I took the website for a test drive, and I was impressed by how fast image searches were. I found images with relative ease, and licensing was clear upfront.
The website is a great resource to find a lot of free stock photos quickly. It steers clear of clutter, which is probably why it’s so fast. You simply have a search box and “Popular Searches” section on the homepage. The image results page is also easy to navigate you’ll have a great time on the site.
Verdict: Compfight is a fantastic image search engine. While Google Images has the might, Compfight makes finding images and licensing information as easy as A, B, C.
License: Various licenses, so check individual image
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Public Domain Review
Here is another interesting source of free stock photos in the public domain. Mostly, The Public Domain Review hosts vintage photos, audio files, films, and books without known copyright. Still, you can find a gem even if you’re not into vintage photos.
They host huge collections of images covering everything from beauty, history, art, animals, politics, mythology, nature and everything in between. All the images are available to download and use on personal and commercial projects.
Verdict: The Public Domain Review is a fabulous source of vintage photos, films, books, and music files. If you’re feeling nostalgic, you’ll have a great time on the website.
License: Public Domain
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos, Films, Music Files, Books
ABSFreePic
Vintage photos aside, ABSFreePic is yet another free resource for all stock photos you’d ever need. All the images on the website are under the CC0 Public Domain license, meaning they are free to use personally or commercially. If you’re a photographer, the creators of ABSFreePic encourage you to upload your photos as well.
Finding photos on this free stock photo website is a breeze. You have adequate categories and search functionality that makes your work a lot easier. You can find images by color, seasons, events, type, and many other categories.
Verdict: ABSFreePic is brought to you by a young team of creatives who wanted to build a useful website. The beautiful stock photo collections on ABSFreePic are proof enough they succeeded.
License: CC0 Public Domain
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Visual Hunt
Visual Hunt is a huge database of over 350 million high-quality stock photos that you can use however you want. They hunt for amazing creative commons images from many online sources including Flickr. The images are perfect for a host of purposes, whether personal or commercial.
With such a huge number of images, finding the right image for your next project is the stuff of fourth-graders. Simply use the search box, or browse the categories. Visual Hunt offers you an extensive selection of some of the best images around.
Verdict: Thanks to their huge database, Visual Hunt offers you plenty of high-resolution photos and images for your blog, business website, social media posts, print ads, video commercials, and so much more.
License: Creative Commons, CC0 – Check with the respective image
Attribution: Not required but always appreciated
Type of resource: Photos
Photo Rack
I never imagined someone would build a free stock website on a forum because that’s exactly what Photo Rack is; a forum filled to the brim with all types of stock photos. And while the website was last updated a couple of years ago, it still hosts a wide selection of images.
To be precise, Photo Rack offers you over 3GB of free stock photos that you can download and use as you will. That’s over 27,000 images in 149 categories all for you. Since Photo Rack is a typical forum, the website is quite easy to use you should find what you need quickly.
Verdict: Photo Rack organizes their free stock photos cleanly making finding a great pic simple. The photos are above average in quality, so don’t hold back. They also offer you a slideshow that allows you to navigate the images quickly.
License: Custom License
Attribution: None required, but greatly appreciated
Type of resource: Photos
Wunderstock
Wunderstock is a free stock photo website that offers you access to over 10 million creative commons and over 100,000 public domain photos. They source the creative commons images from Flickr. All in all, you get a wide selection for any need no matter how diverse.
As creative professionals ourselves, we understand how hard it can be to find “just that photo.” Wunderstock, too, was made by creatives to support other creatives in their work. That’s why they work so hard to archive as many public domain photos as possible in one place.
Verdict: Wunderstock is a great free stock photo resource offering you a huge selection of creative commons and public domain photos perfect for both personal and commercial purposes. They genuinely hope you can make use of Wunderstock and find the best free images for website for your next project.
License: Public Domain, Creative Commons licenses vary per image
Attribution: Not required
Type of resource: Photos
Pickup Image
Pickup Image is one of the largest collections of free stock photography. They offer you high-quality premium free stock photos provided by over 300 photographers and creatives from around the world.
All photos are in the public domain meaning you can download, modify, distribute and use them for anything you like, even in commercial applications.
They have an entire category known as “Destinations” where you can browse amazing places to see before you die. On the same page, you can download beautiful travel photographs from hot tourist spots across the globe.
That’s not all, Pickup Image comes with a powerful online image editor. The tool helps you to customize free stock photos extensively before downloading.
Verdict: An all-round source of the best free stock photos in multiple categories. Thanks to the robust photo editor, you can edit and style your free stock photos until you drop. The tool is particularly useful if you’re creating social media posts, posters, and featured images for your blog.
License: CC0/Public Domain
Attribution: Not required but appreciated
Type of resource: Photos, Cliparts, Photo Editor
Pablo
Pablo is part of the wider Buffer community. It’s a magnificent tool to create beautiful images for every social network. You can use Pablo to create quotes, announcements, promotions, and other outreach posts in less than 5 minutes.
You can start with a template, upload an image, or choose from 600k+ free stock images (which, btw, is why Pablo made the list). Now you don’t need to traverse the vast space that’s the internet looking for beautiful images for your social media posts.
Verdict: Pablo is a social media management tool with over 600k free stock photos at your disposal. And the best part? You can post to your social media accounts directly from inside Pablo or download the images to use at your discretion.
License: Creative Commons Zero
Attribution: Provide the proper attribution when and if necessary
Type of resource: Social Media Management Tool, Photos
Ancestry Images
Are you a historian looking for a free image archive of historical prints? If so, you’ll love Ancestry Images. This free photo website is dedicated to “…historians, genealogists and anyone undertaking family history, ancestry or local history research.”
Ancestry Images is a big collection of over 36,500 images including maps, portraits, and antique prints spanning between the 17th and 19th centuries. All the images are of high quality and particularly of interest to historians, students, and family history researchers.
Verdict: Ancestry Images is the perfect resource for historians, family history researchers, and genealogists looking for royalty-free stock images of old and antique prints.
License: Custom License
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos of antique prints
Photo Pin
PhotoPin is a free stock photo site that is all about helping bloggers and creatives find high quality stock photos and add them to their blog posts easily. All you have to do is search for any topic, preview your fave photo, and click the Get Photo button to download the photo and the proper credit link.
The website relies on the powerful Flickr API to find beautiful creative commons photos that you can use freely on your blog. They host a wide variety of beautiful images in all categories. After all, their database contains millions of free stock photos ready for your blog.
Verdict: Photo Pin is the ideal source of free stock photos for bloggers and creatives who need a great picture for their blog quickly. They offer an amazing assortment of high-quality free stock photos.
License: Creative Commons
Attribution: Required
Type of resource: Photos
Photober
Photober is a free photo-sharing website offering you images that are perfect for personal or commercial use. What that means is you can reuse the images commercially with or without modifications. You can do nearly whatever you like save for redistributing, reselling, or offering images as part of printed products such as greeting cards.
Theirs is a beautiful and well-curated selection of high-resolution images you’ll love using in your projects. On top of that, Photober is dedicated to photographers. They have a blog section that offers tips on improving your photography chops.
Verdict: Photober is a simple free stock image website for all creatives across the board. They have a nice collection sourced from contributors.
License: Custom License
Attribution: “When possible, please include a photo credit. “Free Image via Photober.com”.”
Type of resource: Photos
Textures
Are you looking for textures for 3D, graphic design and PhotoShop? If so, look no further than Textures.com, a website that’s dedicated purely to textures. The textures find great application in graphic design, movies, game development, and anywhere else you need a beautiful background.
Textures.com offers a wide range of digital pictures, free website images, and patterns. Their collection includes pictures of wood, bricks, metal, plastic, fabrics and so much more. Free membership allows you to download 15 free images daily. If you need more, you can purchase a subscription plan.
Verdict: Founded in 2005, Texture.com images have been used in many (if not all) Visual Effects companies and game studios in the world. That’s right, their collection of over 135k textures and patterns is that good 🙂
License: Custom License similar to Creative Commons Zero (CC0)
Attribution: Depends on the specific image
Type of resource: Textures
Ultra HD Wallpapers
Ultra HD Wallpapers provides thousands of beautiful 4k UHD and HD wallpapers for your favorite devices, desktop or mobile. But who said you can’t use the “wallpapers” for other purposes other than backgrounds? Considering they are 4k ultra-high-definition, you can only imagine the quality you’re getting here for free.
They offer different licenses perfect for personal and commercial use. In fact, it’s the only website on our list that’s offering the most license types. Still, they have a huge collection of amazing photos. Whether you’re looking for wallpapers for your devices or a nice image for a blog post, you will find something at Ultra HD Wallpapers.
Verdict: Ultra HD Wallpapers is most definitely a valuable resource for anyone looking for wallpapers. All the same, there is nothing stopping you from using the images as you will, provided you don’t infringe on copyright.
License: A ton of licenses, so check each image first
Attribution: Depends on the license
Type of resource: Wallpapers
FreeFoto
FreeFoto is a comprehensive, yet easy to use free stock photo website offering you over 130k images with 180+ sections organized into over 3500 categories. It’s a perfect resource for images that you need for personal use. If you need to use an image for commercial purposes, they offer higher quality versions at a price.
For non-commercial users, you’re free to download FreeFoto images to use off-line in church services, school projects, cards, leaflets and so on. Just make sure you’re not using the images for commercial purposes. If you use the images online for personal projects, you must attribute FreeFoto.
Verdict: FreeFoto offers a sizeable collection perfect for personal use. You will need to purchase a commercial license to use the images for commercial projects.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
Attribution: Compulsory
Type of resource: Photos
A Digital Dreamer
Free stock websites come and go, but the need for better stock photography grows every day. As such, you need all the resources you can get your hands on, and A Digital Dreamer doesn’t disappoint. They offer royalty-free stock photo collection of over 1,000 images.
No matter what you need, you can relax since A Digital Dreamer offers you high-quality images in a range of categories such as water, textures, fire, animals, jobs, buildings, technology, and so much more. The images are completely free to download and use for personal and commercial purposes.
Verdict: A Digital Dreamer makes a great addition to your free stock photography collection. Besides, they provide free fonts and PhotoShop brushes as well as career information on video game development, graphic design, and computer animation.
License: Royalty-Free
Attribution: Not required but appreciated
Type of resource: Photos
Bonus
Below, find a list of other free stock photo and video resources:
Takeaway
A few years ago, finding the best free stock photos & videos shared by talented creators, free video sites, and other resources was an uphill task. There were far fewer images than we have today, and high-quality images back then used to cost an arm and a leg.
While it’s good progress, having a lot of choices can also hinder you from finding the perfect photo for your personal or commercial projects. Things become worse if you don’t know where to look.
Besides, you have to contend with copyright and licensing, which can throw you a curveball, especially since most of us aren’t lawyers.
That is why I hope this resource helps you to find the best stock photos and video resources to take your project forward. All without worrying about licensing or copyright.
2024 update: I have pretty much stopped using free stock photo and stock video sites. I now use Canva Pro. What are your favorite free stock photo and video resources?
