Unsplash

Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash

Unsplash has become more and more popular over the years and has quickly gained recognition as an industry-leading visual community. With over 1 million images being contributed by over 150,000 photographers they have a large library to choose from when it comes to picking the right images for your website or project.

They have a pretty simple license;

  • All photos can be downloaded and used for free
  • Commercial and non-commercial purposes
  • No permission needed (though attribution is appreciated!)

 

However these things aren’t allowed;

  • Photos cannot be sold without significant modification.
  • Compiling photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service.

Pexels

Free stock photos · Pexels

Pexels has a large library of high quality stock photos plus they also have a growing library of stock video as well which is nice. Each photo and video is tagged and searchable which makes it nice when you’re looking for a specific type of image to use for your website, blog or other project you’re working on.

Their license is nice and simple, here’s what you can do;

  • All photos and videos on Pexels are free to use.
  • Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.
  • You can modify the photos and videos from Pexels. Be creative and edit them as you like.

 

Here is what isn’t allowed;

  • Identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in a way that is offensive.
  • Don’t sell unaltered copies of a photo or video, e.g. as a poster, print or on a physical product without modifying it first.
  • Don’t imply endorsement of your product by people or brands on the imagery.
  • Don’t redistribute or sell the photos and videos on other stock photo or wallpaper platforms.

Pixabay

1.8 million+ Stunning Free Images to Use Anywhere – Pixabay

Pixabay has a huge library of over 1.8 million free stock images and videos but that not all unlike most other sites they also have a library of illustrations, vectors and even music that can be used royalty free.

Here’s what their license allows;

  • All content on Pixabay can be used for free for commercial and noncommercial use across print and digital, except in the cases mentioned in “What is not allowed”.
  • Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the contributor or Pixabay is not necessary but is always appreciated by our community.
  • You can make modifications to content from Pixabay.

 

Here is what isn’t allowed;

  • Don’t redistribute or sell someone else’s Pixabay images or videos on other stock or wallpaper platforms.
  • Don’t sell unaltered copies of an image. e.g. sell an exact copy of a stock photo as a poster, print or on a physical product.
  • Don’t portray identifiable people in a bad light or in a way that is offensive.
  • Don’t use images with identifiable brands to create a misleading association with a product or service.

StockSnap.io

Free Stock Photos (CC0) – StockSnap

StockSnap is another site that has beautiful high quality stock photos shot by both professional and hobby photographers. Each photo is meticulously tagged and categorized so that when you’re looking for the right image for your website or blog you can easily find the right image.

Here’s a simplified license showing what you can do with the images;

  • Download the image file
  • Publish, revise, copy, alter, and share that image
  • Use the image (as-is or as you’ve altered it), in both personal and commercial contexts
  • You don’t even need to attribute the image to the creator, the way you do with other CC or traditional copyright licensing schemes.

To learn more about their license and what you can and can’t do click the link License – Stocksnap.io

Freepik

Free Vectors, Stock Photos & PSD Downloads | Freepik

Freepik is a great site for various free resources such as vector graphics, stock photos, PSDs & icons. Unlike many of the other sites you’ll need to credit the author of the content you want to use. But they do offer a larger variety of content all in one area. Their site however isn’t 100% free, some of their resources are available with their Premium subscription. They also have some other useful tools Flaticon, Slidesgo, Stories by Freepik, & Freepik Editor.

Here’s the simple version of what you can do with their content;

  • Here’s what you can do with their content;
  • For commercial and personal projects
  • On digital or printed media
  • For an unlimited number of times and perpetually
  • From anywhere in the world
  • To make modifications and derived works

To know more about what you can and can’t do check out their Terms of Use Freepik Company