It’s not news that people respond to posts filled with beautiful images, but finding those photos in the first place hasn’t always been the easiest task. High prices, confusing copyrights and just plain cheesy-looking shots have plagued the stock photo world for decades, but don’t worry, those days are good and gone. Narrowed down to a clean 10, here are the best free stock photo sites on the web (with copyright licenses that couldn’t be any easier to comprehend)!
10. Negative Space
From tech images to landscapes and everything in between, Negative Space is like a free stock photo aggregator, providing hundreds of quality pictures from all over the web. Think of it like a one-stop shop for all your stock photo wants and needs! Love a lot of options? New images get added to the database every week.
9. Stocka
Stocka doesn’t have a huge variety of photos available, but the ones that they do provide for free are great! Need a simple image of nail polish for a beauty post? Their clean catalogue has got you totally covered.
8. Pexels
Just like Negative Space, Pexels gathers the best free stock images available and categorizes them easily for you on their site. New additions to the collection go up daily and you guessed it, they’re all CC0 licensed. Score.
Offering up “beautiful travel moments” this is the source you’ll want to use when seeking out interesting images from around the world. Subscribe to the site and get notified whenever new photos are released or download the whole catalogue and use the pictures as you need them!
6. Unsplash
Get ready to have your mind blown by the totally unique Unsplash collection! 10 new photos are added every 10 days and every single shot is CC0 licensed. If you thought stock images were boring, Unsplash is sure to change your mind.
5. Picjumbo
A huge collection of free stock photos taken by Viktor Hanacek, all organized by category and super easy to search! There’s a premium option for those that want even more access to the catalogue and a Photoshop plugin that makes formatting images for projects as easy as possible.
One of the most popular free stock photo sites on the web, Death To Stock is used by Pinterest, Uber and even TED. Sign up to their newsletter for browsing access and you’ll get a a monthly email packed full of awesome images. Their copyright details are a little different - no distributing or using them for pornographic projects, for example.
3. StockSnap
Sort the StockSnap collection by the date the image was added, what’s trending within the community, the number of downloads, and even the number of views. There are tons of awesome shots to choose from and the only images listed are ones that fall under the Creative Commons CC0 license.
2. Jay Mantri
Photographer Jay Mantri takes some stunning high-res photos, and the best part is he offers them all for free on his Tumblr (new ones go up every Thursday). Use them any way you want without ever asking for permission, but prepare for everyone to ask where the shots came from because most are absolutely gorgeous.
If you’re looking for awesome vintage photos straight from the public archives, then this is the site for you! New Old Stock offers free stock images best suited for blog posts and other personal web projects. Quick note: the photos may or may not be available for commercial use - the team at New Old advises checking the details just to be sure.
About the Author:
Taylor Marsden is a copywriter, blogger, and digital content manager based out of Toronto, Canada. She's worked with a variety of clients including Perez Hilton, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Toronto Fashion Week and The Home Depot! When not writing, you'll find her scouring the web for travel deals and/or pinning delicious looking recipes (that she has no intention of actually cooking).
