Compelling, eye-catching, attention-grabbing work on the web especially needs sharp, arresting visual images to succeed. At one point or another you may require to use image(s) in your work. Choosing the perfect images for your work can be frustrating. But the more options you have, the more likely you are to find an image that meets your needs, and there’s no shortage of free media websites to choose from.
Whether you want to demonstrate a point or add clarity, images play an important role in content creation. Whether you’re a designer, writer, artist, programmer or any other creator, images are now part and parcel of our lives. Whether you’re building a business website, creating a print brochure, crafting a digital or magazine ad, or some other brilliant creative project, you know that a great image helps your content transcend good and become great.
Unfortunately not all images you come across maybe free to use. Some of the images are copyrighted and their use may land you in legal trouble. Even free images might not be available for commercial use, and figuring out which are can be confusing. Using images that are free for commercial use keeps you from worrying about licensing or copyright issues. It lets you test the impact of multiple images on your website traffic with no upfront cost.
Here are the best stock image websites for commercial use.
1. Pixabay
Pixabay is an international, copyleft and free-to-use website for sharing photos, illustrations, vector graphics, and film footage. Pixabay does more than just share free images with internet users. It also provides copyright-free videos and music, making it a great one-stop shop for creators and entrepreneurs who are looking to use various forms of media in their works and designs. All video and image files available on the platform can be used without attribution requirement and also for commercial aim. Pixabay’s license prohibits the sale of unaltered copies of the licensed works, or distribution as stock images or wallpapers.
2. Pexels
Pexels provides high quality and completely free stock photos licensed under the Pexels license. All photos are nicely tagged, searchable and also easy to discover through its discover pages. Pexels’ Discover page makes searching through its hundreds of thousands of free photos easy, as they’re tagged by theme and often divided into collections.
Its free stock photos are sourced from quality free image sites or hand-picked from the thousands of images that users upload to the website. The Pexels team adds new, high-resolution images to its selection every day. Only free images from its community of photographers are added to its photo database.
3. StockSnap
StockSnap offers beautiful, high quality stock photos for just about any use you can think of – including commercial usage – for free. Whether you need a picture of nature, computers, people, coffee, or almost anything else, you can easily find it on StockSnap. Its tag-based category system sorts thousands of photos in order of relevance to help your search. You’ll find no complicated credit requirements or expensive pricing schemes based on usage. In fact, all of their images are absolutely free to use, for absolutely any purpose whatsoever.
4. Burst
Burst is a free stock photo platform that is powered by Shopify. Burst provides an expansive platform for photographers around the globe to share their images with entrepreneurs, developers, bloggers, and creatives. Their image library includes thousands of high-resolution, royalty-free images that were shot by their global community of photographers.
You can use their pictures for just about anything – your website, blog or online store, school projects, Instagram ads, facebook posts, desktop backgrounds, client work and more. All their photos are free for commercial use with no attribution required. Burst also has a list of resources to help you get the most out of its free pictures.
5. Kaboompics
Kaboompics is a stock photo platform where every photo you download can be customized by size, and also comes with a color palette with free downloadable graphics to help make your website look more polished and cohesive.
6. Freerange Stock
Freerange Stock provides high-quality images to its registered users. The site also offers free Vintage Stock Photos (VSPs) – photos that have been sourced from old 35mm transparencies that the company has acquired the rights to. Freerange Stock lightly restores the images and converts them into jpg files for you to download and use in your creative projects.
7. Life Of Pix
Life Of Pix donates all its images to the public domain. Although it’s free for both commercial and personal use, the site doesn’t allow mass distribution. As such, you can only repost a lifetime maximum of ten images before you require Life of Pix’s express written consent.
8. Google Image Search
Google Image Search allows you to filter images by usage rights to avoid copyright issues. The downside is that, the images on Google Image Search tend to be pretty generic and not all that aesthetically pleasing. They are generally of lower quality and have a less professional compared to stock photography. Here’s how to filter images on Google:
- Search for any term and head to the Images section in Google, you’ll instantly find thousands of images
- Click on Tools. This will expand a drop down menu that lets you sort the images by their license
- Depending on what you need (you might want to use the image as it is or make certain modifications to it) select the category that best fits your intended usage
9. Unsplash
Unsplash is a website dedicated to sharing stock photography under the Unsplash license. Unsplash allows photographers to upload photos to its website, which are then curated by a team of photo editors. The permissive copyright terms on its photos have led to Unsplash becoming one of the largest photography suppliers on the internet.
Unsplash’s license terms restricts the sale of photos without first updating, modifying, or otherwise incorporating new creative elements into the photos, prohibiting selling unaltered copies, including selling the photos as prints or printed on physical goods. With the paid plan, Unsplash+, subscribers also receive members-only content, unlimited royalty-free downloads, and a comprehensive Unsplash+ Warranty and legal guarantee to provide extra cover against copyright claims.
10. Picjumbo
Picjumbo focuses on business photos and has hundreds of unwatermarked, high-resolution images available for free download. You can use Picjumbo’s search function to find the images you need, or navigate its library based on image categories like business, fashion, and nature. Once you find an image you like, downloading it is as easy as clicking the Free Download button. By upgrading to its paid plan, you get access to never-before-published photos along with new stock images sent to your inbox each month.
11. Shutterstock
Shutterstock has it all: photos, vectors, videos, and even music for your website. Its free trial lets you download a few free images per month, as well free photos from the site’s homepage. For editorial, video, and merchandising uses, Shutterstock requires attribution to the artist, to Shutterstock.com, or both. Editorial uses include publications that are of public interest such as books, news articles, and documentaries.
For merchandising, the attribution can be placed on clothing tags or on the bottom of the product. And in video, attribution should be included in the credits at the end of the film. Shutterstock also has paid plans that give access to unwatermarked photos for use in merchandise and templates, third-party transferability, and increased legal protections.
12. Canva
Canva is much more than just a stock photo site; it’s an online design and publishing tool that helps entrepreneurs and designers worldwide create novel content. It provides free photos and graphics, free templates, design types, and cloud storage for your creations. You can browse Canva’s stock images via its ‘Photos’ page.
Once you find an image you like, you can move it to Canva’s design tool by clicking the ‘Use in a design’ button. You can also access the site’s tools from its home menu. Canva lets you create everything from posters to infographics, social media posts, logos, and more for free. You should be aware that Canva doesn’t let you download stock images directly from its library to your computer.
You’ll have to create a design with Canva to make use of the site’s free image library. In its paid plan, you’ll gain access to premium stock photos, graphics, videos, and audio, premium templates, and more cloud storage. You’ll also be able to use its background remover tool, social media content scheduler, and 24/7 customer support.
13. Rawpixel
Rawpixel has one of the most diverse collections of stock imagery and design resources in the industry. Its mission is to create authentic images for designers that reflect society today. Its free plan gives you access to unlimited downloads from its ‘Public Domain’ collection, along with five daily images from its ‘Free’ collection.
Rawpixel requires you to attribute “rawpixel.com” every time you use or display one of its free images. This reference can be placed visibly next to the free image on the page, advertisement, or other medium you plan to publish. With an upgrade, your access expands to all of Rawpixel’s Premium collection, including vectors, mockups, templates, and more. Attribution isn’t required for Rawpixel’s premium content.
14. Media Bakery
Media Bakery‘s highly curated content is sourced from professional photographers and is constantly evolving to satisfy real-world needs. While the site focuses on business photography, you can access tons of other images from its home menu on topics like nature, sports, music, and more. The site lets you download a few free photos every month when you subscribe to its ‘Moments’ feature. You must pay for Media Bakery’s premium content on a per-image basis, with pricing affected by the image and license you choose.
15. Bigstock
Bigstock has royalty-free photographs, illustrations, and videos available for download covering a wide range of topics, including technology, lifestyle, food, and more. From Bigstock’s home menu, you can sign up for a free trial that allows you to download a limited number of free images from any one of its collections or resource categories. If you want to download more content you can upgrade your membership.
16. 123RF
123RF contains resources site-wide, including stock photos, illustrations, and vectors, not to mention loads of video and audio content. The site’s ‘Free Images’ section gives you unpaid access to a healthy library of 2+ million stock images, vectors, and 3D illustrations. You can’t use 123RF’s free images on products (unless the image is heavily modified) or as part of any trademark, though the images are suitable for many other commercial uses. And you’ll need to provide attribution when using 123RF’s free content.
To do so, simply copy the link provided when downloading an image and place it near where the content is used. For example, you could reference 123RF in your page’s footer or credits section. Attribution isn’t required for members of 123RF’s PLUS and Premium subscription plans, each of which unlocks additional access to the site’s resources. Alternatively, you can choose to purchase resources from the site on demand.
17. StockUnlimited
StockUnlimited is a stock image platform with visuals fit for personal, business, and commercial uses. The site features a variety of content, from stock photos to vectors, icons, and other design resources across several different topics. You can use the site’s content for advertising, marketing, social media, software applications, print, graphic design, and various other uses. However, the site’s license doesn’t permit its use in logos. You can download any image from StockUnlimited’s free collection.
However, StockUnlimited’s standard license for free and premium content doesn’t cover you for every commercial use – such as on merchandise and design elements on electronic media. For these uses, you’ll have to purchase an extended license. To access StockUnlimited’s premium content, either purchase a subscription or buy one of the site’s download packs. You’ll find options to purchase paid content once you create and sign in to your StockUnlimited account.
Conclusion
The best way to make your blog or website stand out is to include eye-catching photos that leave a lasting impression on your readers. But if your resources are limited – perhaps because your business is just starting out or you’re looking for ways to save money during uncertain economic times – you may want to avoid committing to expensive photographers or graphic designers. Professional-quality stock photos and illustrations are an efficient way to create engaging content on a budget. There are plenty of options available. You just need to know where to find them and to be sure they’re available for commercial use.
