50+ Free Image Sites
(Updated August 27 2021)
Free Pics websites – 50+ Websites With Free Stock Images (The Ultimate Resource). You are gonna want to keep these Free Image Sites in your back pocket.
Photos, we all use em’ right?
Finding the best free image sites for collecting free images can be a daunting process. There are hundreds of sites online, but some are better than others. Whether you’re looking for high-quality photographs or illustrations and vectors, you should be able to find whatever you need on these websites.
A few of the sites on this list are commercial stock photo sites where you have to pay for membership for access, whereas others are free sites where you can browse or search for photos and download them without cost.
I’ve created this list of the best sites to get free images for your projects so you can spend more time creating content and less time searching for images!
Over the last few years, I’ve been scraping together where to find free photos to use. There are some fantastic places. Albeit you do have to shrink the file sizes down if you want to use them on your website, I’ve heard the rule of thumb is 120kb being the largest they should be. We all know a great photo enhances your web content. Using images for visualization to describe your content or show what you mean without words makes the content better.
Why I Scraped Together The Free Image Sites A List
I started out working online, building websites, and managing people’s digital media marketing with no money. I didn’t have a budget to buy photos, especially stock photography photos. That is when I started my collection list. At the time, I didn’t know how to edit or change pictures either. Things changed. I now know a lot more, and I’ve been collecting these A-list free pic websites for several years. Last year I needed to learn where I could find photos for free, legally.
Over the last few years, a plethora of websites have emerged, allowing people to download high-resolution photos for free. These free image sites offer protected images under the Creative Commons (CC) license meaning they’re legally free for anyone to use on websites and blogs. (With some conditions, always make sure you read the fine print on the site you are using, they usually spell it out in their conditions.) There’s an explanation at the end of this post of what Creative Commons license means.
Through my investigation, I found a lot of free image sites. The ones I like best are in the list below. This is the list I created as a template of where to go for free pics. It’s fun to browse around and download photos that I may want to use later. Of course, you can get super carried away, and if you (or I) download pictures before I know what I am going to use them for, I often don’t ever use them, mainly because I forget about them. I promise that you will easily find photos or pictures for whatever you are doing from the sites below. I keep this list handy.
Best Places Online To Find Free Image Sites
Free Pics (Stock Images) Around The Web. I know you want to know!
I will no longer make you wait. But do let me know if I have missed any good ones?
Today I wanted to share the resources I use on where I look for photos, but I also wanted to show how I look for pictures online when I don’t want to take the time to go to one of the beautiful sites listed below.
1. Ancestry Images
They offer a free image archive of historical prints, maps, and artifact photos, like this print of Charing Cross C. 1837. Ok wait a second, I am not sure if you might have to pay for these. Okay, moving on…
Ancestry Images
2. Albumarium
Albumarium provides an outstanding selection of images across a pretty decent range of categories including animals, nature, and buildings (and yes, there is a section for redheads- we get our very own section). Photos are sourced from the site’s community. They are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license, which lets you modify and share images as long as you provide attribution to the creator. I give this site a 5 star just for that part :).
Albumarium
3. Bucketlisty
Travel photos that anyone can use. If you need images for a traveling theme, this is an excellent site for you. They have categorized high-res images by country. Super cool. You can even peruse these if you like to dream of traveling (I love traveling, so this one is a fave.) And check out the incredible types of photos.
Bucketlistly
4. Creative Market
This website has a lot going on. This is more of a paid resource but you can find some things for free. You have to go to the free ad at the top of the page (right in the middle). It might not seem like much as there are probably only six free things. But download one and see what you get. Yup, you get a whole package of things you can edit and use. They even give you the photoshop files. Now, I promise you, you can get lost on this site as they offer graphics, templates, and other super cool stuff. You can lose yourself here and spend time (and some money). I am in love with this site!
Creative Market
5. Death to Stock
Sign up. You will love it, but remember to resize all these photos. You can’t search, but you can sign up, and if you sign up every month, you’ll receive amazing photos in your inbox every month. And there is a money-back guarantee if the photos don’t float your boat. I am on the free plan, and I get some amazing things monthly. I would use the paid variety though I just haven’t had time to do everything I want.
Death to Stock
6. Deposit Photos
Depositphotos is the right spot for authors to look for high quality licensed stock photos, vectors, graphics, and videos. All these are shared by the most generous and talented artists across the world.
This site exposes the users to 210 million content. That is mind-blowing! All of them are royalty-free and high-quality, stock content.
They also have a thematic stock photography collection for your convenience. This will help you find the right content for your context.
Depositphotos is a highly reliable platform for audio and visual content and trusted by leading international companies.
Deposit Photos
7. Flickr
Yahoo owns it. The link is to the free photo download section. To use photos from Flickr for free (without attribution), use the advanced search function. Find & click “only search within Creative Commons-licensed content.”
Flickr
8. Fotolia
It looks like Adobe owns this one. This library includes millions of royalty-free images, vectors, illustrations, and video footage clips. You can download several items each week, but you have to purchase credits to do this, so if your budget is 0, you might not go here first. As I am still on a tight budget, I only mention this one as the pictures are great, but I didn’t buy credits, so I can’t show you more.
Fotolia
9. FreeImages
You have to sign up. There are free downloads and paid ones. The cool thing is that it is super easy to find free photos, and they group them in a way that seems quite intuitive. Plus, it looks like you can follow people you like. There are some restrictions. So check the image part where it talks about the license Agreement: a pretty cool site and one to keep in your back pocket.
Free Images
11. Getty Images
Getty also claims to be the largest repository of high-quality photographs in the world. The quality is usually always excellent, but prices can be high if you aren’t using the free ones.
A Getty image can now be used legally for free, but you must embed the code to the photo in an iframe (includes the Getty logo and links). If you don’t know, an iframe is a type of code that takes a piece of content that lives on another website and puts it on your site – think of youtube and how you sometimes use that snippet of code.
Same thing here. The site that hosts the code has complete control over what is displayed. They control the iframe code. Think data tracking here without getting into your server data. I have an acquaintance photographer with a gallery in New York who uses Getty to host his pictures.
They are amazing, but because I’m unsure how to utilize the free resources here, I wanted to list them, but I usually steer clear because it seems cumbersome and they really want you to pay for images.
Getty Images
12. Google Advanced Image Search
Have you ever needed an image for your blog post? Have you used Google Advanced Search to find one? If so, then you’re not alone. It’s a fast way to find images that are legal to use. If you don’t know anything about blogging, you may not realize that simply finding an image on Google and using it on your blog is a no-no. But Google Advanced Search enables you to search only for images that are legal to use.
Google Advanced Image Search
Simple steps to find royalty-free images using Google Images advanced search:
- Enter a search term in Google Images search.
- Click the Gear icon, then select Advanced search.
- Scroll down and use the usage rights drop-down menu to select free to use or share, even commercially.
13. Goodfreephotos
These high-res photos are free to use for any purpose. However, make sure you’re aware of the size of these pictures. They’re huge, so if you plan to use them on your website, be ready to resize them.
Goodfreephotos
14. Gratisography
Ryan McGuire is an amazing photographer and offers his photographs under a Creative Commons license. You can use them on personal and commercial projects without needing to give him attribution. You should visit his website and see what he has to offer. You might even subscribe to his newsletter.
Gratisography
15. Haute Stock
It’s safe to say that Rachel is one of the best stock photographers I have ever come across. I don’t know her personally, but I know that she has made some of the most incredible photos I have ever seen. The best thing about her site is that you can sign up (for free) and receive a month’s worth of stock photos. You can purchase any photo from her site or even have custom ones made.
If you are fortunate enough to get her monthly free images before you put them on your website, make sure that they are the correct size. If they are large files, they may make your site slow. You might have to resize the file before uploading it. Large file size usually means high-quality images — just download, resize, and upload.
Haute Stock
16. HiClipArt
HiClipArt is the best place for any transparent PNG artwork. For designers, it is a space for sharing their artwork and downloading necessary PNG clips. HiClipArt strictly enforces copyright law. So make sure you read the terms and conditions of the site before uploading your content.
HiClipart
17. HighResolution.Photography
All of the gorgeous photos on this site are licensed with a Creative Commons, which means you can use them on anything. You just need to credit the photographer. That’s not too heavy of a lift! You’re not going to regret it, as these pictures are perfect.
HighResolution.Photography
18. Image Base
Imagebase.net provides free graphics for personal or commercial use. You can edit the images however you want, but please don’t sell them.
Image Base
19. ISO Republic
For creative professionals, Tom Eversley’s website may be just what the doctor ordered. Tom is a designer and photographer from England and his website has published over 1000 high-resolution images so far. All of the images are free to download and use. New ones are added daily so you’re never out of stock.
ISO Republic
20. Jay Mantri
I came across this one and I am happy to have done so. I would definitely follow this guy on Instagram, as his creativity is evident in the few posts I have seen. The site is not very elaborate, but you can tell he knows what he is doing. You can do whatever you please on his website. If you want to look at some high-quality photos, go here.
Jay Mantri
21. Kaboompics
If you’re looking for pictures that are free and breathtaking, then this is the place to be. Picture-perfect free pictures for your personal or business needs.
Kaboompics
22. Life of Pix
Free high-resolution photos and video clips! These guys have partnered with an amazing company—Adobe. They also come with the Leeroy agency, full of professionals who take great pictures. Check out their about page for one of their latest animated graphics
Life of Pix
23. Little Visuals
This is a special site, run differently than most stock photo sites. Small and mighty!
Little Visuals
24. FOCA Stock
All photos and video clips are listed under CC0. That means they can be copied, modified, distributed, and even used commercially without asking for permission first. Super amazing! This site is a keeper!
FOCA Stock
25. MorgueFile
This is an excellent repository of high res images, and the best part is that they’re all completely free. You can sign up for monthly packs of Morguefile’s hand-picked “best of” collections of images. This means that every month you get to download a free collection of images right away! No waiting, just pure inspiration.
MorgueFile
26. Negative Space
Great name, right? Here is another one that is a great resource. Beautiful hi-res photos, all free stock photos, and distributed under the CC0 license. I know by now you probably think that is enough websites. But is it? Don’t you want the only resources you’ll ever need to find photos?
Negative Space
27. New Old Stock
This collection of vintage photos from the public archives will make you feel the nostalgia. Free of known copyright restrictions.
New Old Stock
28. Oliur Rahman
A small collection of CC0 licensed photography by Oliur Rahman, including technology and landscapes.
Oliur Rahman
29. Vecteezy
This uses the Flickr API. They search through so many photos. Try typing anything into the search bar; it is fantastic. The interface is excellent. Clean & easy to navigate. Plus, you will know what you need to do with each photo regarding using the images as what to do is printed right beside the download options. So for a novice, this is a great tool. You don’t have to search for what the user rights are, no confusion here.
Vecteezy
31. Picjumbo
These guys rock. Viktor Hanacek, the site’s founder, had images rejected from other photo hosting sites because of their size or quality. He remembers photographers’ obsession with size and quality. When you browse through his website, you’ll be thankful for his work. The images are amazing. You can even search for textures (scroll to the bottom of the page, and click “Abstract”). I mean, who doesn’t need a texture photo here and there. All photos here are free for commercial use. I signed up for their emails, did you?
Picjumbo
32. Picography
Crafted Ireland by Dave Meier, David is a designer. I have a good mind to reach out to him and ask how much it costs him to design a website. All photos on Picography are provided free of charge and under the CC0 license.
Picography
33. Pixabay
Pixabay is a website that features more than 2.3 million high-quality, royalty-free stock images. These images are copyright free and can be used by anyone for any purpose without permission.
Pixabay
35. Snapwiresnaps
All photos are listed under the CC0 license. The Url says Tumblr in it, so that is a bit confusing. Also confusing is; you have to click and then right-click to download. You might think you are doing something wrong; I did. The images are ‘snaps,’ or they are called that when you click on the above link. Super amazing photos. Some may seem too dreamy to be real, but they are —a real place in time and a real moment.
Snapwiresnaps
36. Splitshire
This is next on my alphabetical list of free pic websites. This site is excellent. There is a lot to look at and everything is categorized for you. You can do whatever you want with the photos. I will say downloading an image can be confusing because of ‘God, where do you click, there are so many buttons. Click right below the photos as all the green download buttons will start you downloading.
Splitshire
37. Startup Stock Photos
This site is just okay. Yup, I said it. It has some good images so I wouldn’t discount it. It was created because of a want and a need to keep photos they were taking anyway. It is nice to put them up and out there to share for free with no licensing or sign up. That part I like. The photos are good shots for blog posts and work-type depictions. All pictures are published under the CC0 license.
Startup Stock Photos
38. StockSnap.io
StockSnap is a helpful tool for finding photos to use. No more hassle searching for the original photo credit. It has a lot of great images. Sign up for free, and you get five images every month to download. The Photos from Stock Snap are wicked. Don’t forget to give proper credit.
StockSnap.io
39. Stockvault
The first thing you will notice about this site is registration. But don’t let that stop you from using it. Especially if you are looking for a free image. If you try to download a photo, you will be prompted for registration information. You can still browse the images and see which are free and which are paid. I like that there are beautiful big images here to use for personal or non-commercial design work.
Stockvault
40. Stokpic
Photographer Ed Gregory runs this site. I think he likes butts, lol. I say this as I saw a lot of beach butt shots. The photos are great, and I signed up to get free images sent to me every two weeks (I must remember to drag them into my inbox from the promotions or update tab in Google). All photos are under the CC0 license, meaning they are public domain, and anyone can use them for any reason they please.
Stokpic
42. Travel Coffee Book
An extensive collection of beautiful travel moments available as CC0 photos.
Travel Coffee Book
43. UHD Wallpapers
Lots of creative commons and public domain CC0 images here.
UHD Wallpapers
44. Unprofound.com
The images on this site are free for anyone to use in just about any way they’d like. The site owner states that you cannot redistribute them or sell them.
Unprofound.com
45. unDraw
This is an interesting one. When you go to search for images, you can set the colours so that they match your brand requirement. Not only that, but you can download those pictures yourself and use them for your own commercial or personal use. But be sure to follow the privacy policy, of course.
unDraw
46. Unsplash
Unsplash is a platform with images made by volunteers. It’s a great alternative for photos that are typically expensive, like royalty-free and stock photos. The platform has over two million high-quality images. You can explore all of the categories and download the photos under the Unsplash License.
Unsplash
47. Visual Hunt
Search through over 60,000 public domain photos, and search millions of more CC-licensed photos with the ability to filter them for commercial use. You can refine your search by colour and download in 6 different sizes without needing an account.
Visual Hunt
48. Wikimedia Commons
This is a great website for pictures, video and sound. You can post your own files or search for them. This is a must-have for teachers and students. To sign up, you just need an email address.
Wikimedia Commons
49. Wunderstock
This has more than three million free images ready for you to download and use. With such a massive range of photos, the site covers diverse categories, and you’ll easily be able to find any kind of pictures you need.
Wunderstruck
What is the Creative Commons License?
Hundreds if not millions of pieces of work (photos, songs, videos, etc.) are available under the terms of the Creative Commons license, and more are added daily.
The Creative Commons licenses relates to the name of copyright licenses released by Creative Commons, a United State nonprofit corporation. Everybody can put their creations under these licenses.
There are four basic license conditions.
- Attribution (by): Allow others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and evolved versions. They must give the original creator credit for the job.
- Noncommercial (nc): Allow others to copy, distribute, display and perform the work and evolved version of it. They are not allowed to make money with it.
- No Derivative Works (nd): Allow others to copy, distribute, display and perform the work. They are not allowed to change the work into something else.
- Share Alike (sa): Allow others to distribute evolved works only when they use the same license.
- You can combine the licenses: e.g., 1 & 4 combo- called “CC by-sa.” This stands for “Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike.” With this license, other people must give credit to the original creator, and when they make something new with the work, they have to provide it with the “CC by-sa” license.
Additional Free Image Sites Resources
- Photopea – A free image editing software. A lot like photoshop
- Figma – a simple design tool that has great collaboration features
- Tiny Png – PNG and JPEG image compressor
Let me know if I have missed any good ones? Want to get in touch? Contact Us for all your marketing needs.
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