Websites are an important part of any business or organization. Generally, a website’s design and creativity help to gain people’s trust. This can be easily done by using high-quality images or artwork. But, you may not always get a professional photographer to click pictures for you. You may also find that some free stock images for commercial use are quite expensive.
In such cases, you can turn a blind eye to paid services and go for the free ones. Thus, you can find many websites that offer high-quality photographs that can be used for free with no copyright or infringement issues.
Best 20 Sites for Free Stock Images for Commercial Usage
Most of the following websites distribute free stock images under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. It states that a user is free to edit, use, share or copy the photo in any way he/she wishes to.
Moreover, the images are free for both commercial and personal uses. Although there is no rule regarding attribution, it is considered noble to do so.
Here, we have provided some of the best online free stock photo libraries based on their popularity, collection, and downloads.
1. Unsplash
One of the best websites for free high-quality stock images is Unsplash. There are thousands of images ranging from lifestyle to business themes. Moreover, 10 new photos are added to its library every 10 days.
Here, all the photos are available on the website under the CC0 license. Thus, you are free to use, copy or edit the photographs as per your needs and preferences. The photographs are nicely curated into their respective categories to make it easier to find.
2. Pixabay
Another giant, providing free stock images, is Pixabay. Similar to Unsplash, it provides images under the CC0 license as well. You can find both images and videos in this vast online library. However, the usage and distribution of these content are absolutely free and with few restrictions.
But, according to the CC0 license, you are prohibited from reselling the images or claiming it as your own. You are also restricted from using the content to support your political agenda or use it in obscenity. Overall, Pixabay is a great choice for artists and illustrators.
3. Pexels
Pexels is another vast online library that shares free stock images under the CC0 license. There are many categories and the search filters are easy to use.
Here, you can easily find the image you want through their filters. All the images are high-quality and free to use. But, make sure that you do not use it to resell the images or share it on other wallpapers or stock photography platforms.
Also Read: Photoshop Tips for Beginners
4. Picography
Picography consists of high-quality images by the professional photographer Dave Meier. However, there are pictures from other photographers as well.
The images are shared under the same CC0 license. Most of the images revolve around business, people and landscapes. Therefore, it is a perfect platform for finding amazing images for commercial usage.
The pictures are properly categorized and you can search them using hashtags as well. Currently, you can get 10 free Adobe Stock photos if you sign up on the website.
5. Burst by Shopify
Shopify is a popular online e-commerce website that provides various services to start-ups. Burst is a subsidiary site of Shopify where you can get high-quality stock photos for free. Besides, all the images are released under the CC0 license, which makes it free for commercial usage.
Also, the search process of the website is very intuitive and easy. Here, you can easily search its database for your preferred type of images. This site is best useful for finding business, website, and marketing-related content.
6. Life of Pix
Life of Pix is another great website for finding great stock images under the CC0 license. There are various categories to find and explore high-quality artwork and illustrations.
The search filters make it easier to find what you need from among thousands of collections. Moreover, they add new photos on a weekly basis, Therefore, you can always find something new for your commercial purposes.
7. PicJumbo
In comparison to other sites, PicJumbo provides beautiful artistic and creative photos for commercial usage. You can either browse the site for free or join the premium version. The images are available under their own license that may be subject to some restrictions.
However, you can get access to a wide range of stock images for a fixed monthly price. Some of the popular categories include technology, business, nature, fashion, and abstract.
8. Gratisography
Under CC0 license, Gratisography provides rich and crisp stock images on its online platform. Here, new photos are added every week and there are various categories to search and explore. Moreover, they emphasize displaying creative photos as opposed to normal bland ones.
Additionally, you can avail of a 30 day trial of Shutterstock if you sign up on their website.
9. Magdeleine
The online library of Magdeleine is carefully hand-picked and made available under the CC0 license. These photos are of superior quality with new ones being added on a daily basis. The search filters help to find exactly what you’re looking for commercial use.
Additionally, you can find images according to their color code. This will help organizations to find images that match their color or product theme.
10. Snapwire Snaps
Most of the images in Snapwire Snaps are available under the CC0 license. However, they might be available under the site’s own license for images. In such cases, you can find the terms and usage rights being mentioned under the image.
On Snapwire Snaps, 7 new photos are added to the website every 7 days. All the images are collected from some of the best photographers around the world. Hence, users are free to use, modify and distribute these images for marketing purposes. However, you cannot claim them as your own or sell it on other platforms.
11. StockSnap
StockSnap has an amazing search interface for finding relevant stock images with ease. The filters allow its users to narrow down their search to their preferred selections. Similar to most platforms, its images are available under the CC0 license. Also, new photos are added on the platform every week.
12. Kaboompics
Kaboompics is one of the few websites that adds new photos to its library on a daily basis. All its images are free for both personal and commercial usage. There are many categories to help you find the stock image that you need for your business or website.
Although you do not have to attribute the photographer but, help to promote them. Moreover, you are not allowed to sell it or distribute the image as your own.
13. ISO Republic
Generally, ISO Republic is considered the best website to find stock images exclusively for commercial purposes. All their images are available for free and can be used without the permission of the photographer.
However, its users cannot advertise the image as their own creation or sell it on other platforms. This website is the perfect source for finding and downloading commercial images.
14. Focastock
Focastock offers a huge collection of free stock images centered around landscape and nature photography. These images are available under the CC0 license where new photos are added every week.
Moreover, you can get 10 Adobe stock images for free along with a one-month trial of the same. For availing this, you simply have to register on the website. Although it offers free stock images, some are available with certain restrictions. Therefore, it is advised to properly go through the license agreement before using the image.
15. PicSpree
Getty Images is one of the leaders in providing stock images of various categories. PicSpree is a subsidiary of Getty images where you can get high-quality stock images for free. Also, it has a huge collection of images for different purposes.
Thus, it acts as a great resource for website designing or small businesses. PicSpree’s search filters make it easy to navigate and find the perfect image for commercial usage.
16. Realistic Shots
Realistic Shots offers a huge range of creative free stock images submitted by users around the world. You can find great image collections of technology, travel, people, nature and architecture.
On this platform, 7 new photos are added on a weekly basis. Similar to other sites, all its images fall under the CC0 license for free usage and modification. However, you cannot resell or claim the click as your own.
17. Startup Stock Photos
Startup Stock Photos is a great resource for websites, bloggers, designers and organizations for free high-quality stock photos. The majority of the collection on this site is related to business, technology, and startups.
Thus, it has a great archive for finding images for commercial usage. However, the website doesn’t have any search or filter functionality. Hence, you need to keep scrolling to find the image you’re looking for.
18. Travel Coffee Book
Based on the CC0 license, Travel Coffee Book is a great site for finding free stock images of landscape and tourism destinations. They add 10 new photos on the site every 10 days. Moreover, you can find good collections of architecture and nature photography as well.
19. Free Nature Stock
Free Nature Stock is another free stock image website where you can exclusively find nature photography. All the images on this site are clicked by Adrian Pelletier. You can find new images being added to the site on a daily basis.
Additionally, you can get a free one-month trial of Adobe Stock by signing up on this website. The photos are available under the CC0 license and its usage rights.
20. Foodie’s Feed
Compared to other sites on this list, Foodie’s Feed exclusively revolves around high-quality pictures of food. The images are handpicked from around the world and made available under the CC0 license. Therefore, it is perfect for users who are starting up a business in the food industry.
So, food bloggers and websites can also benefit from this site as well. As per the CC0 license, you are not allowed to resell or post it on other stock image websites.
Note – You can directly use Google Image Search to find and explore free stock images for commercial use. For this, search for anything on Google Images and click on the ‘Labelled for Reuse’ option below the search field. Hence, you will be able to cover more grounds at a time and find what you’re looking for.
Alternatively, Librestock.com is another great website where you can find free stock images. However, it does not have its own collection. It curates and searches from the top websites mentioned in the above list. Therefore, you can search for free stock images from multiple sites at a time.
Final Words
To conclude, this list of websites discussed here will help you to find high-resolution creative stock images for free. However, some photos may have certain restrictions like no redistribution, reselling or advertising the artwork as their own. There are various other free sites that offer artwork based on various needs and preferences.
Here, Pexels and Pixabay are the best websites to find high-quality photographs from almost any domain or category. But, Travel Coffee Book and Free Nature Stock are greatly focused on nature and landscape photography.
You can go to Foodie’s Feed for getting photos related to food items. Thus, you can go through the above websites and explore each of them. Then pick the pictures/images according to your requirements. As the majority of the photographs are free for commercial use, you’ll have the freedom to do whatever you want with them.
