Royalty free images : The best sites

Since images produce a greater engagement effect than other types of content, you should use them to optimize SEO your website’s 

However, it is important that you take care to choose them carefully, because they do not all have the same uses. 

While some are protected by licenses and therefore restricted, others are free of rights and accessible from several sites or Image Banks. Some of these sites are paying, others are not.

In this post, you will find a presentation of the 45 best image banks, but first I will take the time to explain to you: 

• What an image bank is;
• The way in which one can consult the copyright of an image;
• The different licenses that can govern an image.

So follow!

Chapter 1: Image banks 

In this first chapter, I explain to you what an image bank is and how to distinguish a royalty-free image from one protected by copyright. I wouldn’t forget to show you the different types of license that can concern an image. 

1.1. What is an image bank?

An image bank or photo library is a database that brings together a large number of photographs, images or illustrations in one place.

Some sell news photos for journalistic publications. Others offer so-called archival photos.

Stock photos in particular have their own aesthetic. Since they were made without a special order, they are usually designed to fit many subjects.  

1.2. How do I know if an image is copyrighted?

One of the easiest tools to use to determine if an image is copyrighted or not is: Google Images.

To do this, simply: 

• Go to Google images ;
• Click on the camera icon;
• Upload/drag the image into the search bar; 

• Start a reseach.

This way, Google will not search based on a keyword, but directly based on the image you uploaded.

Google will recognize the image and search for the source. You can then determine if it is a free image or if the image belongs to a private blog. 

As a search tool, you can use Google Image’s advanced search features to find an image with a specific license. 

You will then have to: 

• Click on Parameters and on Advanced search.

• Wait for the new page to load and fill in the information about the image you are looking

At the level of the last box “rights of use”, You can select different licenses. 

This way you can find royalty free stock image sites without any hassle!

1.3. What types of licenses come with an image?

To properly use photos and graphics without any problems, you need to know and distinguish the types of licenses associated with them. 

Generally an image can be: 

• In the public domain;
• Or licensed.

1.3.1. Public domain 

images Public domain images are free and royalty-free images.

 This can be explained either by the fact that they are already expired, or that their authors offer free use. 

These images have no usage restrictions, which justifies their free use. 

By publishing them, you do not need to indicate the author or link to a third-party website.

1.3.2. Images protected by creative commons licenses 

 The Creative Commons license consists of several different licenses. Creative Commons licenses are legal contracts by which artists authorize the use of their works under certain conditions of use and indicate to end users that they respect them.

There are six different Creative Commons licenses:

• Creative Commons Zero (CC0) : is one of the most popular and widely used licenses for images provided for free, as it has few copyright restrictions. As in the infographic above, CC licenses have different degrees of terms of use. Some of them are for non-commercial purposes only. Others require, for example, the mention of the artist and/or a reference to the artist in the case of online applications. With or without restrictions, CC images are essentially royalty-free images that you can download and use with permission from the owner;
• Royalty-free license : The presence of the word “free” does not yet mean that you can take such photos for free. The right of use only comes after the purchase. Thus, you will be able to post the images to different resources repeatedly and without any additional payment. Some can only be used for private purposes, while others only for commercial purposes;
• Rights-managed license: This license requires payment for its use and a strictly specified number of times. If you need more, you will have to pay extra; 

• “Rights ready” license : Operation seems similar to “rights managed” images, but the license can be extended further;
• Extended License : Images that are under this license generally offer fewer uses when free and more when paid.

Important ! 

Placing photos on a blog that contains advertising information (banners, contextual advertising, paid links), or otherwise monetized is commercial use.

Now that you know everything about how an image is protected, check out some sites where you can find royalty-free images.

Chapter 2: What are the best sites to find royalty-free images?

There are quite a number of royalty free image sites, but they are all created in different ways.

To save you time, I’ve collected the top 45 free stock image sites here with different features, so you can find the best one(s) for your use.

2.1. Pixabay

If you’ve ever wondered how to download free vector images, Pixabay is probably one of the best choices for you. 

It is one of the best-known royalty-free image sites, with around 1.8 million images high-quality 

Thanks to its bank of free images, vector graphics and high resolution, you will certainly find images that perfectly match your different projects.

Summary of key points to remember about Pixabay

• Ability to sort artwork into different categories; 
• Ability to filter them by color and size or search for specific keywords;        
• Pixabay is another image repository that integrates images from other image hosting sites;
• The images on this site come under the Creative Commons license and are therefore made available to you free of charge;
• You are authorized to download, update, modify, share and even use them for free, whether for personal or commercial purposes; 
• Use of these images on social media platforms is permitted;
• Has a search function;
• Registration on the site is not compulsory;
• Attribution Required: Sometimes;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

The images available are offered with the license of the site. Also, you don’t have to ask permission or give credit to the artist of the content before using it. 

However, I recommend doing this to support the site and show the author respect for his work. 

4.2. AllTheFreeStock

As its name suggests, AllTheFreeStock offers you a treasure trove of free and license-free images. It collects the sources of these images from the web and offers them in a clear and orderly way. 

Thanks to the CC0 license, the images are also suitable for commercial projects.  

When you click on one of the sources, the web pages with the photographs are opened by means of iFrame in the body of AllTheFreeStock. Images you like can be selected and downloaded instantly from this site. 

A few of the websites offering this require you to create a free account, but for the majority the download works without any interruptions.

The quality of images offered by AllTheFreeStock compilation is unique and amazing. These are free and unlicensed images, but they are on the same level as paid images.

Of course, you can also browse the photos of the individual providers yourself without an intermediary by visiting the websites.

Many of the sites listed on AllTheFreeStock focus on quality rather than quantity and therefore only provide a handful of photos for download. 

This is what makes this site very valuable.

Summary of key points to remember about AllTheFreeStock Mockups

• and videos are free;              
• Images are licensed under CC0 and may be used for commercial purposes;
• It saves time that would be wasted searching and sorting, as all content is displayed centrally;
• You can copy, modify, distribute these images, and even use them without asking permission from the authors;
• Has a search function;
• Registration not required;
• No attribution required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Resolution: High.

4.3. Pexels

Pexels is an excellent platform that offers high quality and completely free images under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. 

It is a very good source of royalty free images for everyone. You will find a very large selection of photos, well sorted into several categories. 

All of these images can be used for personal or commercial projects. However, the platform’s archive photos are used by many Internet users.

Thanks to the large quantity and variety of themes, it will therefore be very easy to find images suitable for your e-commerce, blog, social network, etc.

What I find very good is the clear license information, which you can find directly in the menu. 

If you wish, you can also upload your own photos and make them available on the site.

In addition, the portal offers you special functions. For example, you can filter photos or currently popular search queries. This provides beautiful images or just good inspirations for your own research.

Despite having hundreds of thousands of photos, Pexels is easy to use and looks tidy.

Summary of key points to remember about Pixels

• Each Pexels image uploaded by the user or obtained from a free image site is of high quality;
• Has an excellent search function allowing you to quickly find the image you want;
• Use of the illustrations for personal and professional purposes;
• No registration required;
• No attribution required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Resolution: High.

4.4. UnSplash

Where can I find high resolution photos and images to download for free? If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, Unsplash is the perfect answer for you. 

It is a platform that collects high resolution photographs for each type of sector. All photos are royalty free and suitable for commercial use, provided by creators around the world. 

Thanks to the large number of creators, new images are added to the site every day. It is therefore a perfect site to download free images for your e-commerce.

Summary of key points to remember about UnSplash

• You may use the images for both publicity and personal use;
• All photos published are under CC0 license;
• You have permission to copy, update, distribute and use the images for free without asking permission from the authors;
• The photos are really very high quality and well selected;
• The royalty-free image database is also well organized and helps you find the right photos quickly;
• It offers authentic and truthful images from a group of experts;
• Has a search function;
• Registration not required;
• Attribution not required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Resolution: High.

4.5. DesignerPics

DesignerPics was started by Joshua John. As a web designer and developer, he faces different challenges due to the lack of free and high quality images. 

Therefore, he decided to create his own photo album and provide photos to those who need them. The images available through Designers Pics include several

subjects. You can browse categories or search for your own keyword. All photos available are high resolution, allowing for high quality reprinting and an image that is sure to display well on your blog.

Summary of essential points to remember about DesignerPics 

• Allows free use of images for your personal and professional works;
• The images are distinguished under different categories;
• No download limit;      
• Has a search function;
• Registration is not compulsory;
• No attribution is required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• Resolution: High.

4.6. Picjumbo

Created by photographer Viktor Hanacek, Picjumbo is the perfect place to find high-quality photography and royalty-free, market-ready images. 

On this site you will find thousands of Hanacek photos, with various popular themes, all available for free. Ideal for larger projects such as

websites, blogs, etc.

The people in each of the free images are intentionally unrecognizable, but still visible.

License Information   

: May be used for commercial projects at no charge. Warning for careful use of brands and brand-related objects.

Summary of key points to remember about Picjumbo

• Its images are available on several websites;
• A huge collection of photos with a wide variety of designs and free images that are also easy to search;
• Its images are perfect for theme developers, bloggers, web designers, and even web design agencies;
• All of these images are useful and eye-catching;
• At picjumbo, you can download a huge selection of royalty-free images in one package in one place;
• Has free images that you can use for commercial purposes;
• Has a search function;
• Registration is not compulsory;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Attribution Required: Yes;        
• Resolution: High.

4.7. Burst

In 2017, the e-commerce platform Shopify created the Burst, whose images can be used for free for e-commerce stores and commercial applications.

However, you can also use them for any application, like social media or a blog post. They have an extensive collection of thousands of high resolution images in a very contemporary style.

Images cover popular business topics such as lifestyle, fashion, technology and more.

Burst is an extremely easy site to navigate and finding free stock images for your e-commerce will be very intuitive. If you’re looking for professional quality free images, Burst is the platform for you.

There are two licenses:

1. Creative Commons Zero (CC0): Can be used for free for commercial purposes. 

2. Custom license, almost identical to CC0, which allows the use of photos on items for resale and a sensitive use clause. The advantage is that no other copyright restrictions apply apart from a compilation clause.

Summary of key points to remember about Burst 

• The images are very commercial and very trendy. These are authentic images perfectly suited for websites, e-stores, social networks, advertisements and much more;
• Due to the fact that they are provided by Shopify and the fact that the images are offered for commercial purposes only, security is not a big concern;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.8. PikWizard

PikWizard is a highly professional site containing top quality images with a variety of popular subjects. It is owned by Wavebreak Media, a video and photography production company run by Irish videographer and entrepreneur Sean Prior. 

Their hundreds of thousands of images come from various employees who are usually well-known stock media producers. They are available free of charge.

They have their own user license which allows free use of the images offered for commercial projects, but with a clause for sensitive uses. 

They do not allow resale or use on any product (t-shirts, posters, etc.). These are the only copyright restrictions.

Summary of essential points to remember about PikWizard 

• The harmonious blend of artistic and commercial images;
• The great additional function: quick editing of photos on the page with the DesignWizard tool;
• Creative and commercial offer of professional photographers;
• The images submitted are of top quality.

4.9. Rawpixel

Founded by Robert Churchill, the Rawpixel offers thousands of unconventional and authentic high quality images.

To have full access to the gallery, you must upgrade to an annual subscription. However, the quantity and quality of images provided for free are impressive.

The search engine for premium and free images is identical. So keep in mind that you have to activate the “Free” filter for every free search.

Personalized license: Usable for commercial purposes without charge, sensitive use clause, no resale.

Summary of key points to remember about Rawpixel

• It’s a super trendy collection, full of high-resolution images that are already taking over social media and the visual market in general;
• It allows a search by theme or by keyword to save time;
• You can use the images on your blog posts or marketing emails;
• Legal certainty is high.

4.10. Libreshot

Libreshot is a website with photographs that you can download for free. New images arrive weekly and all site content is the responsibility of artist Martin Vorel.

Its free images are of very good quality and cover a variety of topics. The advantage is that you can use any photo without any charge.

Most images do not feature recognizable people, brands or proprietary content. So you usually won’t have any problems.

Artistic photography is not something that every other photography site has to offer.

License Details: Creative Commons public domain license, virtually unrestricted copyright.

Summary of key points to remember about Libreshot

• Perfect for printing and various other purposes;
• Art images that can be downloaded simply and without watermark;
• Not all images have commercial value and there are a limited amount of human images;
• Popular images are categorized, which is important;
• Has a very powerful search function.

4.11. Magdeleine

Magdeleine is a collection of free images organized according to dominant colors, categories and other parameters.

Again, navigation on the site is extremely intuitive. Each photo also features information about the palette and camera used. 

All the beautiful images presented in this image bank are in high definition, free and for commercial use. But be careful, even in this case you have to attribute credits to the author! Be sure to look at the license before using it.

Summary of key points to remember about Magdeleine

• It allows you to search for high resolution images by keyword;
• You have the option to search by color, categories or license;
• You can also submit your images, as it encourages newbie photographers;
• Allocation is free;
• Images are shared with a wide range of audiences;
• The website has a search function;
• No registration is required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Attribution required: No, but sometimes;
• Resolution: High.

4.12. JayMantri

JayMantri is one of the simplest and most intuitive sites to find royalty-free photos to download. It offers seven high-quality, attribution-free images every Thursday.

There is no big difference between it and the other websites mentioned so far.

Summary of key points to remember about Jay Mantri

• High-quality, attribution-free images;
• Provides you with many free photos;
• It is easy to use;
• Does not have a search function;
• No registration required;
• No attribution is required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• Resolution: High. 

4.13. Life of Pix

Owned by Canadian digital marketing agency LEEROY, Life of Pix provides hundreds of thousands of highly artistic images. All are high quality royalty free images with a variety of popular themes. 

All files are from professional photographers and are free to download and use. The subjects are varied: food, people, nature, fabrics, etc. 

Each week, the collection is enriched with new high resolution images, taken by the photographer of the week. However, the site has some restrictions for distributors.

About the license, every image on this site is in the public domain, which means it is not copyrighted. This allows the application for commercial purposes without permission, although the site does not allow large-scale distribution.

Summary of key points to remember about Life of Pix

• No copyright issues;
• Images may be used for personal and commercial purposes;
• Allows you to filter the search by category, color and orientation;
• Has a very practical search function;
• Very easy download;
• No registration is required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• No attribution is required;
• Resolution: High.

4.14. Stock Snap

StockSnap is a site with free images from entrepreneurs Christopher Gimmer and Marc Chouinard.

Hundreds of free to use images and photos are added every week. The interface of this free image bank is extremely user-friendly and the illustrations are sorted by popularity, date, views, downloads, favorites and other parameters. 

This site offers tens of thousands of high resolution images that show all sorts of popular topics in an authentic, modern and trendy way.

The collection is based on user submissions, each of which can be downloaded for free.

Images are Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain. They are all intended for commercial use, without any copyright restrictions.

Summary of key things to remember about StockSnap

• Images are suitable for social media, blogging, advertisements and other business applications;
• Offers the best stock images worldwide;
• Features images taken by expert photographers;
• The images are of high quality;
• Has a search function;
• No registration required;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• No attribution is required;
• Resolution: High.

4.15. ISO Republic

If you’re looking for websites with collections of high-resolution images on popular topics for free download, ISO Republic is the place to be.

Founded in 2014 by photographer Tom Eversley, this site is currently run by a small team and provides thousands of excellent quality free images.

It’s a diverse collection that mixes more traditional stock photography with more artistic and hip images. There is something for every taste.

By downloading images from the site, you must agree to their terms and conditions.

Summary of key points to remember about ISO Republic

• Images are licensed under CC0;
• Use of images for personal or commercial purposes;
• You can download, copy, edit or share the images;
• You can use the content without necessarily giving credit to the author, although this is always encouraging;
• Search function available on the site;      
• No registration required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• No attribution is required;
• Resolution: High.

4.16. Kaboompics

Designer and photographer Karolina Grabowska is the creator and talent behind Kaboompics. On this site, you will find high-quality free stock photos showcasing various themes.

These thousands of proposed photos belong to him and all are free.

License Information: Licensed for free commercial use (with sensitive use clause). You are not allowed to resell the uploaded images (so you must modify the original).

Redistribution without permission is not tolerated. The terms and conditions provide a warning against commercial use of photos containing trademarks or registered trademarks.

Summary of key points to remember about Kaboompics

• Has lots of free, loving and detailed photos;
• Each of the images with its own color palette;
• Facilitates the collection of high quality images;
• Has very nice photos that can be published for your blog, social networks and others;
• The choice is really wide: nature, business, gastronomy, interior, animals, travel, beauty, etc. ; 
• Cool, modern photo aesthetics plus high-end functionality;
• It also offers a search engine to select colors and color palettes for images;
• No registration required;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Attribution Required: Yes;
• Resolution: High.

4.17. Wikimedia Commons

Everyone has heard of Wikipedia, but have you ever heard of Wikimedia? This is the jackpot for free and usable media resources.

Note that I said media assets, not photos or images.

Indeed, in addition to static images and photography, you can also access video clips, drawings, animations, etc. Like I said, jackpot. 

Fortunately, there are some pretty advanced filtering tools to help you find the right media for your needs. 

Search by keyword or subject, then filter by media type, source, licensing option, and more.

With many millions of multimedia content available on its database, Wikimedia Commons is a necessity for anyone looking for free, high-quality images.

It offers a truly amazing repository of images, ranging from lush landscapes to historical events.

The data provided on this site has different licenses which you must respect in each case. 

The big advantage is that you don’t need to register to use the free files.

However, the limits of Wikimedia Commons are sometimes so diverse that unfortunately you cannot use all the images you like without problems.

Summaries of key points about Wikimedia Commons

• Its database is full of royalty-free and royalty-free images;
• Has a filter option to facilitate your search;
• The images are of high quality;
• The size of the gallery: Large.

4.18. Splitshire

Splitshire is a website with many unique, exciting and highly professional photos. This website is maintained by a web designer named Daniel Nanescu.

The photos on the site are all ‘made with love’ and you can feel the affinity of photographer Daniel Nanescu in all these photos.

A colorful collection of high resolution images which are categorized into different categories such as fashion, food, landscapes, people, street, nature and many more. 

The subject selection is very good and provides additional added value with categories such as ‘Still life’ or ‘Blurred background’. Images are free to use on websites, in magazines, etc.

However, the site uses cookies and will ask you to accept them as soon as you arrive. 

This is a custom license, similar to Creative Commons Zero (CC0). Obtain images for commercial purposes with a sensitive use clause. You may not resell an image as you downloaded it.

You must therefore adapt it for commercial purposes with a sensitive use clause.

Summary of key points to remember about Splitshire

• All images are free;
• A perfect site to find very recent royalty-free images;
• You can also search for images based on keywords;
• No copyright restrictions;
• The download is instantaneous;
• The images are of trendy professional quality with high commercial value;
• Compatible for everyone;
• Presence of a search function on the site;
• Registration is not required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• No attribution is required;
• Resolution: High.

2.19. Gratisography

4.19. Gratisography

This site is composed of photos taken by Ryan McGuire (photographer and owner of the site). It offers them free copyright restrictions and adds new photos every week. 

You’ll find high-level artistic photos on this site, like a coffee can nestled in coffee beans or a little boy writing graffiti on a wall. 

The platform promises such unique images that you won’t be able to find on other sites. If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, this is the site to check out.

License Details: It uses a custom license, similar to Creative Commons Zero (CC0). Free to use for commercial purposes, with the addition of a sensitive use clause and guidance for further clearance of rights (trademarks, trademarks, model releases).

Summary of key points to remember about Gratisography

• The playful style of the site and the uniqueness of the images, which will fit perfectly into Instagram posts or visual communication for a young audience;
• Images may be used for commercial purposes;
• Fun, creative and always free images are uploaded weekly;
• It offers a collection of superior high images;
• The images are very intimate and unique, very different from typical commercial photos;
• Presence of a search function on the site;
• Registration not required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• Attribution Required: Not required, but appreciated;
• Resolution: High.

4.20. Morguefile

Morguefile was created in 1996 by Michael Connors. Launched as a small project at first, this royalty-free image platform already has a considerable collection of stock photos.

MorgueFile actually has a very impressive database with thousands of free illustrations, from amateurs to absolute professionals. What better for a free image resource! 

In addition to free stock photos, images are pulled from various other sources such as iStock, Getty Images and many more. 

However, it helps to separate images and paid sources on different tabs so you can clearly see what will cost you and what won’t. The photos cover nearly every subject and every style under the sun.

If the image is not modified (eg by a logo, etc.), the artist must be named as the source. 

Summary of key points to remember about Morguelife

• Free photo community website;
• Free download and reuse in your work for personal and professional use;
• Contributed by a wide range of creative people around the world;
• From novice photographers to professional photographers;
• Presence of a search function on the site;
• Registration required not required;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Attribution required: Search for an individual image;
• Resolution: High.

4.21. FreerangeStock

Freerange is a stock photo site with a huge collection of thousands of stock images that you can download and use for free.

The site’s stock photos come from a collection of photographers who provide free, royalty-free images from their stock photo arsenal. Its goal is to provide very good quality and very high resolution images for free.

It is based on two types of licenses:

1. Equalicense, a licensing model that allows free use for commercial purposes. It is slightly more controlled than Creative Commons and prohibits the use of the file in products intended for resale and mass distribution. 

2. Creative Commons Zero (CC0): Free to use for commercial purposes.

Summary of key points to remember about Freerange Stock

• Collection of valuable images;
• Provide quality photos for professional and personal use;
• The site adds extra work to each image submitted by a photographer to ensure it is of top quality before offering it for download;
• There’s a lot to choose from, it’s a diverse collection of galleries;
• The simple search function allows you to retrieve images based on the keyword or keyphrase of your choice;
• To get started on this site, you need to create a free account;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Attribution Required: Appreciated, but not required;
• Resolution: High.

4.22. Good Stock Photos

  

Good Stock Photos is a website with over 1000 high quality stock photos that are free to download and use. They are all created and owned by Steven Ma, a web designer and marketer. 

The image collection is perfectly suited for commercial use. It has a strong editorial feel, with a mix of everyday situations, social media inspired imagery, travel, landscapes, urban scenes and more.

It uses a custom license that allows free use in commercial projects, limiting only the sale of the images.

Summary of key points to remember about Good Stock Photos

• Allows you to use images on blogs or websites, social media, apps or software;
• You can include them in the products or services you sell;
• It’s an interesting mix of subjects, styles and perspectives;
• Presence of a search function on the site;
• Registration not required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• No attribution required;
• Resolution: High.

4.23. Rgbstock

Rgbstock a website with over 100,000 free stock photos. It was built in 2010 by a group of amateur photographers and graphic designers, led by Jay Simmons. He is well versed in the area of ​​image licensing. 

The collection is based on files submitted by users and judged by quality. This collection includes a multitude of popular subjects.

License Information

They have a user license that allows free use for commercial work.

The restrictions are: a sensitive use clause and a ban on the use of photos in products intended for resale.

Summary of key points to remember about RGBstock

• The photos are in a professional and very commercial style;
• There is enough variety to meet the needs of most users; 
• It specializes not only in directly usable images, but also in other elements such as backgrounds, textures and filters;
• Offers very useful free images;
• Their license to use is much more secure.

4.24. FoodiesFeed

As the name suggests, this is a food photo website that you can download for free. The site was owned by Jakub in April 2014 as part of a personal business.

His goal is to share his beginner food photos with the world. Over a thousand food photos available. 

The collection features images from food photographer Jakub Kapusnak and users who agree to use their content for free. It’s great to have a source of free food images!

They have a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license: May be used for commercial purposes without payment. CC0 license and user submissions should not mix. 

Summary of key points to remember about FoodiesFeed

• Photos are high resolution, very up-to-date and vary by theme;
• Finding suitable images for your e-commerce is very simple thanks to the user-friendly search functions;
• Perfect for blogs, social media posts, businesses and anyone who needs trendy food photos for free;
• You can find images suitable for any catering site;
• They are all high quality, royalty free and for commercial use;
• Site owner images are more secure than others;
• There are no people or brands in the images;
• Registration not required.

4.25. StockVault

Stockvault is a place where expert photographers, designers, and even students can share high-quality images and use them for their project.

A photo site with an extensive photo collection of over 110,000 images on various topics. This large collection of images from users around the world is free to download and use for any creative purpose.

Participating users select one of three available licenses:

1. Commercial license (free to use for commercial purposes). 

2. Non-commercial license (free for personal and editorial use). 

3. Creative Commons Zero (CC0): Free to use for commercial purposes.

Summary of key points to remember about StockVault

• There are enough images to choose from;
• Image quality is good, as submissions are judged on technical quality;
• Stock is 100% free and made by a community of over 95,000 artists and photographers;
• Stockvault is very simple and easy to access thanks to its very intuitive search engine; 
• A panel appears with detailed information each time you click on an image;
• Registration not required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Attribution Required: No;
• Resolution: High;
• Only flaw: The choice between three different licenses is not practical and not all images can be used for commercial purposes.

4.26. Skitterphoto

Skitterphoto is a very clear and upfront website regarding their content. Founded by a group of passionate photographers, Skitterphoto offers top quality free photography with a wide variety of styles and subjects.

All images come from the founders and users of the site with their copyright and other publication rights. They are reviewed for technical quality and are available for free download.

License information: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), allowing free commercial use.

User submissions, while warned of legal issues, are evaluated for quality only. You can therefore check and confirm their legal status before using them in commercial applications.

Summary of key points to remember about Skitterphoto

• The collection is eclectic, combining commercial photos with artistic images and sometimes unique and swirling images;
• With a very dynamic look, it allows the user to browse different categories, such as music, food and drink, sports and technology;
• No copyright restrictions;
• Credit to content authors is not required, but appreciated;
• You can browse, search and instantly download the image of your choice;
• Has a search function;
• Registration not required;
• Attribution Required: No;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.27. NegativeSpace

NegativeSpace is a user-friendly website with lots of free images in different themes and styles. These images are collected from contributors after portfolio submission and review and are of very good quality for professional use.

With no copyright restrictions, NegativeSpace aims to provide photographers with a space where they can get their work known to the world.

With some marketing effort, the site has really managed to add an enviable stock of photos.

It is based on the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license allowing free use for commercial projects.

Summary of key points to remember about NegativeSpace Trending

• concepts and topic versatility are the detailed image approval processes, which ensure content quality;
• You can copy, update and share the images without any problem;
• Distributed under the CC0 license;
• Has a search function;
• Registration not required;
• Attribution not required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• Resolution: High.

Attention:

Looking only at photography, NegativeSpace is very good, you will probably find valuable photos for your creations. But legally, they’re not the safest choice for commercial work. 

They work with user-submitted photos, and we don’t really know much about them to be sure. So you should check the condition of the photos yourself every time before use.

4.28. Startup Stock Photos

Startup Stock Photos is a free stock image site with, as the name suggests, high-quality photographic material aimed at startups and entrepreneurs. All images are in an authentic style that conveys diversity and authenticity. 

Owned by social marketing agency Sculpt, most of the free-to-use images are produced by three artists associated with the site and the agency.

It could be a useful platform to find free images for your e-commerce, thanks to the large amount of tech-related photos. 

In fact, many images represent computers, and offices. Again, these are all images for free and commercial use.

Images are under Creative Commons Zero (CC0): May be used in commercial projects at no charge.

Every image on this site is well suited to today’s visual needs and also very trendy. The license used isn’t the most secure, but with most images created in-house, it’s much more secure than you might think.

Summary of Key Things to Remember About Startup Stock Photos

• In a sequential blog format, Startup Stock Photos provides royalty-free images;
• The images are specially designed for displaying content, applications and other things so that you can make a professional appearance without much effort for your projects;
• Ideal for websites that have to do with technology;
• It has great images to download for startups, bloggers, designers, and programmers;
• The site is very basic, there is no search engine and it can be a bit difficult to find something specific;     
• No registration required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• No attribution required;
• Resolution: High. 

4.29. Creative Commons

You hear about Creative Commons quite often in the visual and creative world. Especially since he is a bit of a leader when it comes to copyright and licensing standards. 

This site combines images available from other specialized image sites and puts them together in a simple feed for users. More importantly, it does it for free. 

However, because of this merge, you won’t have as much control over the results you get. For example, a simple search for “cats” will return a few pages, but most of the results are clip art.

Therefore, the site is not responsible for the licenses found. The ideal here is that you use search to find the images, but check the terms of service for the items on the platform itself.

Summary of key points to remember about Creative Commons

• Brings together images from other sites, the majority of which are royalty-free;
• Use is free;
• No registration required.

4.30. PhotoPin

PhotoPin is another image database in English. Here you can use different sorting options according to commercial and non-commercial images. You can also sort by interesting, relevant or recently published files. 

The strength of PhotoPin lies in its simplicity. It’s an easy way for any blogger to search, combined with a visually appealing and non-intimidating interface. A simple search by keyword or key phrase returns many photos.

You can then filter these photos based on license type. How it works ? It pulls photos from Flickr via an API and also searches for Creative Commons. 

But be careful, in the first two lines, marked “Sponsored Images”, you will see paid images, for example from Shutterstock.

If you’re looking for something more predictable, Photo Pin offers a discount code for iStockphoto.

Summary of essential points to remember about PhotoPin

• Very useful for bloggers who are looking for images to integrate quickly and easily into their blog posts;
• Navigation is simple and easy;
• Thanks to its search engine, you can enter your search terms directly on the home page to bring up the appropriate photos;
• The images can then be downloaded in different sizes by clicking on “Get a picture”;   
• Has a search function;
• Registration not required;
• Attribution required with provided HTML code;
• Resolution: High.

4.31. DreamsTime

Dreamstime is one of the largest stock image websites, also known as the reliable provider of high quality digital photos at a reasonable cost. Launched in 2000, it has grown into an influential and vibrant community website.

Dreamstime offers a nice range of illustration. It allows you to search them by category, keyword or image type. 

Also, although there is a section with free images, this site also offers paid options. If you are then looking for free images, stay on the “Free images” tab. 

If you’re willing to pay, expand your options with everything from stock photography to vectors, web design images and more. 

There is a promo available to download five or ten images for free. To take advantage of this, see the subscriptions under rates and plans.

You need to create an account and fill in your personal information before you can complete a free download, which takes a little longer.

Summary of key things to remember about DreamsTime

• Images are reviewed and approved by expert editors to ensure they are of the highest quality;
• Regular renewal of the database with thousands of new images and titles;
• Browse by category, keyword and image types;
• Has a search function;
• Registration required;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Attribution required;
• Resolution: Medium.

4.32. Little Visuals

Little Visuals is a site that offers a timeless collection of free images. It contains images depicting landscapes and nature. It is necessary to register on the site in order to view and download them. 

Site navigation is beacon-based and very intuitive to use. All images are free, for commercial use.

Summary of key points to remember about Little Visuals

• Allows you to easily download 7 images in a zip format;
• Updates high resolution photos every 7 days;
• The photos are of high quality;
• Does not have a search function;
• Registration required;
• No attribution required;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• Resolution: High. 

4.33. Freepik

Consult : Freepik

The Freepik is a free image bank with more than 200,000 illustrations (vectors), icons, photos and files. The images are of excellent quality and are free for commercial use (provided the author is acknowledged). 

Also has a premium file in which you will find millions of content from a subscription of € 9.99 per month.

This is a paid subscription model, where you don’t need to credit images. This is a great site for anyone looking for editable images for their site.

Photos are from third parties and license varies by author. Totally practical and endowed with good aesthetics, this image bank already has more than 1.5 million free images and photographs.

To upload an image, simply click on it. You will see the license type and the source website.

Summary of key points to remember about FreePik

• Illustrations and graphic resources are of high quality;
• Images may be used for commercial purposes;
• Has a search function;
• Registration is required before uploading an image;
• Attribution required;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.34. Death to the Stock Photo

Deathtothestockphoto is another source of royalty-free illustrations. The site contains many attractive and free photos! 

The scheme is a little different here: Every month, many photos are added to the galleries and you can subscribe to the newsletter so that they arrive directly in your email.

It is incredibly easy to reach. You literally enter your email address on the registration page. Then you will receive each month in your inbox a zip file with several images on a topic. 

Again, you can’t choose what you receive and you only get them when they ship. No database search engine or keyword filtering.

However, the photos are different from what you’ll find elsewhere and are again available across your hangar for virtually any use. Please note that a premium service is available. Visit the site for more information.

The idea of ​​the founders is to make beautiful, high-resolution, royalty-free images available to everyone. 

Death to the Stock Photo Highlights Summary

• There is a wide variation of stock image collection available;
• It is mostly developed for commercial use;
• Here you will find less popular images, which will allow you to stand out from the competition with your own visual language;
• Provides HD images that you can use for your projects for free;
• Does not have a search function;
• Registration required;
• Gallery size: Based on enamel;
• No attribution required;
• Resolution: Medium.

4.35. Picography

Consult : Picography

Picography is one of the best banks of illustrations to download for free in high resolution. It contains hundreds of commercial photographs and a wide variety of images. You will surely find the perfect images for your e-commerce!

The photos look great, although the tagging system isn’t perfect for finding this type of content.

Picography Highlights Summary

• Provides high-quality images that are completely copyright-free; 
• You can copy, modify and share the images as you wish;
• Has a search function;
• Registration is not compulsory;
• The size of the gallery: Small;
• No attribution required;
• Resolution: High.

4.36. OpenPhoto

The Openphoto platform was created in 1990 by Micheal Jastremski. On this photo sharing platform, you will find beautiful illustrations under the terms of the Creative Commons license.

The most impressive thing is that you can download these photos without paying anything and integrate them into your various projects.

Summary of key points to remember about OpenPhoto

• Offers many categories;
• Has a search function that facilitates navigation for visitors;
• No need to register before downloading the images;
• Attribution depends on the images;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.37. Bigstock

Bigstock is a website that offers royalty-free images and videos. Its image collection is very large with over 72 million images to choose from. With this amount of images available, satisfaction is guaranteed to all its visitors.

It has a very practical search bar that simplifies and facilitates the search for users. With a 37-point legal agreement, its terms of service are much more detailed than those of Adobe Stock.

Its pricing model is quite reasonable, but you must be sure to respect its terms of use before joining. At the moment, it offers a 7-day trial period for free. During this period, users can upload up to 5 free images per day.

Summary of key points to remember about Bigstock

• All images are royalty-free and of high quality;
• Ease of navigation;
• Has a search function;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.38. 123rf

123rf is a popular royalty-free content resource that provides over 35 million photos, audios, videos, and vectors for a fee.

The free inventory of its library is constantly changing. Therefore, if you come across a photo that you admire, please upload it before it goes out of fashion.

123rf is a website that satisfies both searchers and content creators. They have a network of 300,000 creative contributors who upload up to 90,000 new content daily.

The website is very user-friendly and all contents are presented in tables for easy understanding. The pricing model is credit-based (the more credit you buy, the more images you receive). The license information is clear and precise.

Photoshop and Google add-ons are also offered by the site, so you can search for images without leaving the content you’re working on.

Summary of key points to remember about 123rf

• Has an intelligent search engine;
• Registration is free and required;
• Has enough sources of royalty-free images;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Attribution Required: Yes;
• Resolution: Low.

4.39. Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is a website that uses digital experiences to conquer the world. This website provides you with thousands of images, videos and graphics to create the applications you need.

By using Adobe software in managing your designs, you have the ability to preview watermarked versions of your images. For this fact, you must click on the “Save preview” icon before purchase.

Their license information is a bit complicated, as there is a slight difference between the standard license and the extended license. Then make sure to consult carefully.

Regarding pricing, the minimum price is $29.99 giving the right to 10 standard images per month. It is therefore a perfect site for companies that regularly use royalty-free images.

Summary of key things to remember about Stock Adobe

• Offers many resources, including photos, illustrations, and vector graphics;
• You can spend more time designing than researching;
• Ease of navigation;
• Has a search function;
• Registration is required;
• The size of the gallery: Medium;
• No attribution required;
• Resolution: High.

4.40. Stocksy

If you’re looking for an eye-catching, distinctive and highly usable collection of royalty-free images, Stocksy is the place for you.

The site is cooperative and believes in the reliability of innovation, the fair distribution of profits and joint ownership.

It can be considered the most ‘artistic’ website on the list. All images on the site are royalty free and users are charged a fixed fee for each download.

Smaller images are $15, while larger ones are $125. Users can also choose to purchase a “Market Freeze” for the exclusive use of an image for a selected period of time.

The image library on Stocksy is extensive with totally exclusive images. They are therefore more likely to stand out from the competition when you use them in your content.

Summary of key points to remember about Stocksy

• Pay-per-download;
• Provides exclusive images;
• Eye-catching and applicable 100% exclusive image collection;
• Gives all commercial customers access to high-resolution photos for free;
• Creates a better experience for clients and photographers;
• Has a search function;
• Registration is required;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Attribution required: Search for an individual image;
• Resolution: Medium.

4.41. Stock Unlimited

According to Stock Unlimited, their goal is to “help you find high-end royalty-free images without breaking your budget.” The operation of the website is based on a subscription mode.

Once you complete the signup step, you can access their comprehensive library, which contains almost a million royalty-free premium images, including photos and vectors.

Like Dreamstime, it also offers a free plan, but this one is very limited.

There may be times when searching for images on Stock Unlimited is a little troublesome, as the page is full of images related to your search terms.

However, there is a “refined search” section that allows you to make the search more precise by display format, file type and color.

Summary of key points to remember about Stock Unlimited

• Works on subscription;
• Has a free plan, but very limited;
• Allows filtering by file type, display format and color;
• The images are high quality and royalty free;
• Mandatory registration before having access to the premium list of images;
• Has a search function;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.42. AP Images

Although not the prettiest website, AP Images is a serious image bank. Before viewing the prices and downloading the images, you must register first by filling out a registration form which includes the company name and contact details.

The site offers up to 20 million images to its users. This is more than enough to ensure your satisfaction. It is true that not all of them are free of rights. Before you begin your search on the site, be sure to click on the “Royalty Free” tab.

The search function isn’t the most user-friendly either. However, you have the option of filtering your search by keywords.

Summary of key points to remember about AP Images

• All images are not free of rights;
• They are of superior quality and are chargeable;
• Has a search function;
• Mandatory registration before downloading;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.43. Photocase

Photocase is a site where you can find images that show real people and depict real emotions. All images are high quality and royalty free.

These images are not very expensive, but the basic license requires users to specify the photographer who made the work. 

Extended licenses can also be used for those who do not wish to specify the author of the content.

The search bar is very intuitive, with many optimization options, such as composition and location.

If you love Photocase, it would be great if you subscribed to their newsletter for valuable tips, new inspiration, and occasional discounts.

Summary of key points to remember about Photocase 

• Images represent reality in all its diversity;
• The images are fun and accurate;
• Requires account creation;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• The resolution: high.

4.44. StockPhotoSecrets

Stock Photo Secrets provides its users with more than 5 million images. However, you need to sign up for one of the payment plans if you want to upgrade to downloading these images.

The pricing plans offered are quite reasonable. 

The best known plan among them is the one that provides the downloading of 200 images per year for an amount of approximately 80 euros. 

To reduce participation, you can also purchase image packs.

All photos and illustrations available on this website are free of rights. It even offers the ability to search by image.

Indeed, it is the perfect recourse if you are blocked on any site by the copyright of an image that you like. 

Just copy the full image name and paste it into the Stock Photo Secrets search bar to find something similar.

Summary of key points to remember about Stock Photo Secrets

• The images are of high quality;
• All the images on the site are free of rights;
• Has a search function;
• The site is paying;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

4.45. Depositphotos

Physically, Depositphotos is a royalty-free content company headquartered in the United States, precisely in New York. 

Founded by Dmitry Sergeev in November 2009 in kyiv, Depositphotos now has over 80 million high-quality, royalty-free stock photos and vector images on their website.

These images are shared in more than thirty different categories. Like Stock Photo Secrets, you also have the ability to search by image and keyword.

The subscriptions they offer are really flexible and cater to a variety of needs.

Summary of essential points to remember about DepositPhotos

• Obligation to create an account before downloading an image;
• Has a search function;
• Images are categorized;
• Offers a paid plan to have access to many more results;
• The size of the gallery: Large;
• Resolution: High.

Conclusion

Visuals grab people’s attention quickly and play an important role in driving action, regardless of the area in which they are used. 

So you need to make sure you use them to showcase your business in the best way to gain the trust and loyalty of your customers.

In this article, you will find the best free stock image sites that you can use in your various projects. 

With varying levels of legal certainty, image quality, and commercial value, I’m sure with all of these royalty-free image sites, you’ll find the perfect artwork for your project.

See you soon.