Free stock photo sites
11 picks · Updated
Free stock photo sites have gotten good. The trick is knowing which one fits the job: lifestyle, food, people, vintage, or public domain art.
Most of these sites use their own license instead of a standard one. They usually allow commercial use without credit, with limits on things like selling the photo as is. Read the license once for each site you use.
1. Unsplash
Unsplash is the biggest source of high quality free photos, with a strong search and a clean look. Popular photos show up everywhere, so dig past the first page if you want something less familiar.
Good for: High quality photos for anything
2. Pexels
Pexels has free photos and videos, which makes it handy when a project needs both. Quality is good and the search works well.
Good for: Photos and video from one place
3. Pixabay
Pixabay has photos, vectors, videos and music under one license. Very large, with mixed quality, so filter by photo and sort well.
Good for: A large mixed library
4. Burst
Burst is Shopify's free photo library, made for online stores. Lots of product, retail and small business shots.
Good for: E-commerce and small business
5. Kaboompics
Kaboompics is run by a photographer and has lifestyle and interior photos with a consistent look. It also shows a color palette for each photo.
Good for: Lifestyle and interior photos
6. Nappy
Nappy shares beautiful photos of Black and Brown people, free for commercial use. A good answer to stock libraries that show the same few faces.
Good for: Photos of Black and Brown people
7. Foodiesfeed
Foodiesfeed is all food photography. If you design for restaurants or food apps, it is faster than searching a general library.
Good for: Food and restaurant projects
Gratisography is the odd one: quirky, funny and surreal photos. Good when a project needs personality instead of polish.
Good for: Quirky photos with personality
9. StockSnap
StockSnap adds new photos often and many are under CC0. Simple search and no account needed to download.
Good for: Quick downloads without an account
10. Openverse
Openverse searches openly licensed and public domain images from many sources at once. Each result shows its license, so check it before use.
Good for: Openly licensed images from many sources
11. New Old Stock
New Old Stock collects vintage photos from public archives that are free of known copyright restrictions. Great for a historic or editorial feel.
Good for: Vintage and archive photos
Questions
- Are free stock photos safe to use commercially?
- On these sites, usually yes. Most allow commercial use without credit, but each has its own license with a few limits, such as not selling the photo unchanged. Read it once per site.
- Do I need to credit the photographer?
- Usually not required on Unsplash or Pexels, but it is appreciated. Openverse results can have licenses that do require credit, so check each one.
- Where can I find free food photos?
- Foodiesfeed is made for it. Unsplash and Pexels also have strong food sections.
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