Where to Get Free Stock Images:
The six best websites for Royalty Free photos
Finding high-quality images doesn’t have to be expensive, in fact there are many that are completely free.
Whether you’re designing a website, writing a blog, creating social media content, or producing marketing materials, there are plenty of trusted websites offering free stock images for personal and commercial use.
In this guide, we’ve rounded up the six best places to download free stock photos, illustrations, vectors, and graphics. We’ll explain what each site offers, whether attribution is required, and how you can use these images legally. From professional photography to AI-generated artwork and creative illustrations, you’ll find the perfect resource for every project.
Whether you’re a blogger, marketer, designer, small business owner, or content creator, these free stock image websites will help you create eye-catching content without paying for expensive image libraries.
A list of six free stock images with no sign up, no fees.
There are others, but often require you to sign up and often require your credit card details.
BEWARE. The big boys sponsor many of these sites and are a compete pain. You can easily download a copyrighted image. Ensure your staff do not make this costly mistake.
Where to Get Free Stock Images
- https://stocksnap.io
- https://unsplash.com
- https://picjumbo.com
- https://www.pexels.com
- https://pixabay.com
- https://kaboompics.com
When downloading is compete we suggest keeping the original downloaded image in a dedicated folder along with a copy of the readme file, license and any associated files if available. This way, you have a record of when you downloaded the image and can confirm that it was free.
- Read the License: if you are using Free Stock Images it’s important to familiarise yourself with the specific usage rules of the platform, they are not all the same. Always make sure to download the readme file, license and terms and save it alongside the original file.
- Commercial vs. Personal Use: Some websites limit usage to personal projects only. If you plan to use the image for business purposes, double-check that the license clearly allows for commercial use.
- Attribution: While it’s not always mandatory, some licenses may request or legally require you to credit the original photographer or platform. We always recommend including a link to the photographer on your website and, if you can, leaving a donation as a thank you.
- Editorial Use Only: Images labeled for “Editorial Use” are meant solely for news, blogs, or educational content. They shouldn’t be used for marketing or commercial products.
How do they know I have used a copyrighted image and not a free stock image?
Stock image companies have some pretty clever ways to track unauthorised use. They rely on automated reverse image search and digital watermarking technology. Big names like Getty, iStock and Shutterstock deploy web-crawling bots and specialised compliance software that continuously scour the internet, social media, and client websites to match pixels and pull out hidden metadata.
These automated systems are on the lookout for Visual Matches: AI algorithms compare images found online with their extensive catalogs, even spotting cropped or heavily edited versions. They also dig into the Metadata embedded in the image: Proprietary data, like IPTC tags and creator IDs, stays attached to the image file, no matter if it’s downloaded and re-uploaded.
Main image
Photo by Kevin Williams: https://www.pexels.com
Please note this is a guide only to where to get free stock images. Please ensure that you read all the terms and conditions and understand these before downloading any file.
