40+ Free Stock Photo Websites

Unsplash

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos are very high quality and include a lot of information such as, make and model of camera, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, dimensions, etc. Unsplash has 'collections' which are groups of photos with a similar theme to make searching easier. You can also create an account to favorite photos for later use.

SkitterPhoto

Unless stated by watermark, photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos include a lot of information such as; resolution, camera make and model, lens size, and ISO. Photos have many tags to help for searching. There are also handy preset search filters to find the Newest, Most Viewed, Most downloaded, and site Admin Picks.

Pikwizard

Pikwizard is a great website for finding high quality images of people and their travels. Every image falls under Creative Commons Zero so they are free for personal and commercial use. Photos have multiple tags attached to them so searching for the perfect photo is fast and easy. Pikwizard has 100,000 images of those 20,000 are exclusive to this site. What makes Pikwizard unique is that they have a built-in photo editor. The editor is straight forward and very easy to use. This is great for tweaking photos on the fly, without even downloading them first!

Finda Photo

All photos found on Finda.photo have CC0 licensing. The photos are pulled from other stock image sites on our list such as; Jay Mantri, Picography, Life of Pix and many more that aren't on our list. A cool feature that Finda.photo has is a browse by color filter. For the image I used to the left, I set the color filter to a magenta. Some photos have already been put into a collection with common themes, but if you would like to find the perfect photo, you can use the normal search feature at the top of the page.

Pattern Library

Pattern Library is a creatively designed website for sharing patterns. You can use the arrow keys or scroll wheel to cycle through wonderful, bright colored patterns. This website is great for getting inspiration on your next Illustrator project or if you are looking for a simple wall paper. Pattern Library doesn’t have a search feature so if you are looking for something specific I wouldn't recommend this website. This website is more like walking through a gallery, you will be surprised by the creativity and intricacy of these patterns.

Rawpixel

Don't let the name deceive you, the photos on Rawpixel are far from raw. The photos have a professional feel to them and have already been touched up with post processing effects. This makes Rawpixel great for anyone that is looking to create mockups or make advertisements without having to edit photos. Rawpixel has a search feature that returns a large amount of results so it is sure to have exactly what you are looking for. Rawpixel does offer a premium account for a fee, however it is totally optional and there are lots of free images you can access without an account.

Foter

Foter offers over 335 million free stock photos, royalty-free with Creative Commons 0 attributions. Photos have been professionally curated and edited so they are ready to go without needing you edit them yourself. Not only can you search by keyword, but you can filter by relevant, recent, interestingness (popularity) and even color! If you are looking for inspiration there are suggested categories and popular images on their homepage.

Plixs

Plixs is one of the few sites that offers digitally created artwork (and photos), with Creative Commons 0 attributions. Digitally created artwork can be a simple 'clip art' image or a highly detailed black and white image. This makes Plixs a great place to go if you are in the mood to color. The down side to Plixs is the somewhat limited selection of photos. Searches will return under 30 results for some common tags.

Free Images

Free Images has close to 400,000 images "all free for personal and commercial use" as stated on their home page. Free Images also displays images from iStock which do require a payment, but I'm sure you can find what you are looking for in the 400,000 free ones. They offer a very advanced search, allowing you to filter by orientation, resolution, color, and even camera make and model.

LibreStock

Librestock is more streamline than other stock image sites. Their claim is "we scan and index the best free photos from the top stock sites, so that you can find that perfect image much, much quicker" and they aren't wrong about the speed. I find Librestock to be one of the faster stock image sites, but this isn't always a good thing. Librestock has a only 42,620 photos so the perfect photo might not be there. That said, this site is great for creating mockups or when you're looking for inspiration. All photos have Creative Commons 0 attributions which will save you having to check the licensing on each photo.

Subtle Patterns

Subtle Patterns is another stock image site focused on patterns. They have close to 50 pages of unique patterns and a creative way to display them. Clicking the preview will turn the background of the website into the pattern you are previewing. Subtle Patterns has a search feature however searching for a pattern using descriptive words can be tricky!

You can use their patterns with the only requirement being credit them to Toptal Subtle Patterns.

Free Nature Stock

Free Nature Stock is exactly what you would guess - all the photos are of nature from scenic overlooks to close ups on plants. The photos aren't heavily tagged so searching isn't the best way to find images. I suggest using Free Nature Stock as a place for inspiration, rather than trying to find something specific. All photos have Creative Commons 0 attributions.

Life of Pix

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photographers must be approved to upload. This means there will be fewer photos but photos will be more professional in quality. Photos include tags to facilitate searching and a handy color search option too - each photo has the 4 most predominant colors included as tags, so when searching or filtering within a search, you can select the colors to filter by.

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum has a large section of CC0 images, you can use them however you would like! It is important to remember that not all images on the website have CC0 attributions, so when searching make sure to click Advanced Search and then check the "Open Content Program" box at the bottom. This site gives access to many sketches, oil paintings, pottery, and more from a huge selection of artists. This is great for picking color palettes for your next masterpiece.

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, (The Met), has over 200,000 images with no restrictions. In the search feature make sure to check the box titled "Public Domain Artworks" to ensure you are looking at an image with CC0 attributions.  This website is full of paintings, photos of pottery and sculptures, which are great for getting inspiration on your next project.

The British Library via Flickr

The British Library has made over a million vintage photos free for public use on Flickr. Images are taken from the library's collection of 17th, 18th and 19th Century books. This resource is great if you are interested in vintage and/or old time style images. Since the photos are hosted on Flickr, there are search features, tags on photos, premade galleries and groups, and many more convenient features.

NASA Images

Luna Imaging has partnered with NASA and released over one-hundred thousand science and space related images. This is a great resource for historical images about the NASA. The only requirements that Luna Imaging gives are that the photos are to be used for educational and personal use only. In other words not for commercial use. This website features an advance search filter. You can filter by the exact day and see what photos were taken.

Library of Congress

The United State Library of Congress publishes all of its images online under CC0 1.0 unless otherwise stated on the images. To make searching easier, images are grouped into collections. These collections it make very simple to find hundreds of images relating to the topic or era you are interested in. This website is a great source for images about American History.

National Gallery of Art

National Gallery of Art has a collection of over one hundred-thousand images free for public use, unless otherwise stated on the image. All of the images are of famous paintings from all over the world. National Gallery of Art has an advanced search feature that allows you to search by Nationality, Classification, and Medium. This makes it very simple to find a painting from a certain part of a world, during a specific era.  

Burst(by Shopify)

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos are catered toward entrepreneurs starting their own small businesses. Burst suggests ideas such as "Sell bath bombs online" and "Make your own lip balm" and will recommended photos for that business. All photos are high quality. However, their photos do not include many tags, resulting in low returns for searching.

Jay Mantri

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Jay Mantri is a photographer that uploads his best photos for free public use. All of his photos are of a professional quality. Most shots are of nature and scenery. The only downside of this website is the lack of a search feature.

Picography

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Picography's photos have a professional feel to them and many have post processing to improve the quality. Picography does have a search feature, although there are only around 200 photos, so search results will be low.

Death to Stock Photos

All photos can be used however the users would like, however they cannot be redistributed for profit. The website doesn't have a search feature but all photos have been placed into groups to make them easier to locate.

FoodiesFeed

FoodiesFeed doesn't use a Creative Commons copyright, but states "Practically the only condition I have is that selling and re-selling my pictures is not allowed." The subject of every photograph is food. FoodiesFeed has many categories for food such as; Easter, Vietnam, Exotic Fruit, etc. They do have a search feature but photos only have around 4 tags so results are low.

MorgueFile

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Their motto is "Free images for creatives, by creatives" and many of their photos are uploaded by users. MorgueFile does daily #quests, in which they challenge users to upload images that fall into the category of the day, for example #bookshelf, #hot chocolate, #leavesinwater, etc. Not every photo is high quality but there are a lot of photos. They have a well refined search feature so finding the photo you want is fast and simple.

Little Visuals

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Little Visuals has many artistic photographs of common objects and scenery. Photo resolution varies but most are 1920x1080 and above. Unfortunately Little Visuals doesn't have a search feature and will not be uploading new photos.   

Picjumbo

Photos can be used however you like. Lots of information is available about each photo such as; shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length and resolution. All photos are professional quality. Photos have lots of tags so searching for the right photo is very simple. Another helpful feature that Picjumbo.com offers is "download all". You can download all uploaded photos, this is useful if you will be working offline.

IM Free

Each photograph will have its own Creative Commons License but majority will allow commercial use. Some photos are high quality and have a professional feel, while others are user uploaded and most likely taken from a mobile device. Search returns few results if any. IM Free has organized its photos into collections and in those collections, categories that makes finding the right photo easy.

New Old Stock

Photos are free of copyright restrictions for private and commercial use. New Old Stock offers vintage images of landscapes and other scenery. Most photos are black and white or sepia tone. New Old Stock doesn't have a search feature or categories. They have about one thousand images.   

Getrefe

Photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication. There is a paid feature called "packs" but that is optional, they have a free image gallery as well. You will need to add images to your cart before downloading but each photo will tell you its price, most photos are $0.00. All of the photos are high quality. The search feature doesn't return many results.

Pixabay

All images and videos are under Creative Commons CC0. Pixabay offers photos,  illustrations, vector graphics and videos. All photos are very high quality and some of the videos are 4k resolution. Photos contain lots of helpful tags to make searching much easier. Each search returns thousands of images.

Negative Space

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos are high quality and have a professional feel to them, none are cell phone camera images. There is a search feature, however, Negative Space doesn't have as many photos as other site so results may be about 20 to 30 photos. Negative Space does have premade categories for locating the right photo.

Kaboom Pics

Photos follow the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) however the redistribution of the photographs is not allowed without permission. Photos are professional looking and high quality. Kaboom Pics offers a search feature that lets you look for photos by color. You can select a color and the search will return images that match. You can also filter by horizontal or vertical photos. They also have premade categories for faster searching.

Epicantus

All photos are free to use. Epicantus is a tumblr account that uploads high quality photos. All photos are taken by the same person and she would like everyone to have them for free. Epicantus does offer a search feature but due to the medium amount of photos (4000), searching won't always give any results. They are no categories for searching images either. Epicantus is more of a photo blog than stock image site, however images are free and could be what you are looking for.

Gratisography

Photos follow the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Gratisography photos are all high quality and don't allow user uploads. Most photos have a surreal or goofy subject matter, many photos are of people in silly scenarios. Due to the low amount of images search feature only returns around five to ten images. Gratisography does have categories to help when looking for a particular photo.

Makerbook

Licenses differ for each photo, however most are CC0 1.0 Universal (when downloading it will state if otherwise). Makerbook gathers photos from other stock images sites and they are updated frequently. Makerbook's slogan is "Largest Collection of  Hand-picked Free Stock Photos for Startups". All of their photos have the common theme of business and startups making it a great website for small business owners.

Pexels

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos are very high quality and high resolution. Pexels has 100s of photos uploaded daily so searching returns lots of results, even for unique searches. The home page is full of popular photos to help you get ideas for a new project. Photographers with the most downloads are displayed on the homepage, this is helpful if you enjoy looking through one person's style of photos.

ISO Republic

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos are high quality and have an artistic feel to them. Search feature doesn't return many results, however ISO republic has premade categories for finding the right photo faster. You can pay for premium photos from "photo packs" but this is not necessary, there are many free photos on the homepage.

Public Domain Archive

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. The photos are all professional in quality and subject matter. There is no search feature but some photos are in categories. They do offer a $10/month Premium membership for unlimited bulk downloads and removal of adds.

Snapwire Snaps

The licence for each photos is listed below the photo and the majority of them are CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0). Snapwire Snaps is a tumblr account that will upload the free images from snapwi.re. Snapwire Snaps does have a search feature but due to the small amount of images, you will most likely not get any results. Snapwire Snaps is a good stock site to quickly grab a photo for a project. For example, you want to try a new Photoshop filter, you can go on to Snapwire Snaps and download an image very fast.

StockSnap.io

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. All photos are very high quality and all look like they were taken by professional photographers. There is a search feature that works very well, each search will return 100s of photos. Stocksnap allows you to have an accounts so you can favorite photos and download them later.

MMT Stock

All photos are under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) – Public Domain Dedication. Photos are good quality. The subject matter is mostly landscapes or office supplies. MMT Stock does have a search but since photos don't have many tags, you will barely receive any results.