My Top 7 Free Stock Photo Resources

Posted by Christina Hills | Design Tips, Getting Started | 27

We all want our websites to be professional and appealing to our visitors, don’t we?

photographer The quickest way to make your website look attractive is to use great images from stock photo resources. Amazing images help set the tone of your site, grab your website visitors’ attention, emphasize your points, and do so much more.

While there are many sites where you can purchase great professional stock photos for a fee, the costs can add up if you need to buy lots of images. Also, it can be confusing as to what the terms of usage are when you find an image from a stock photo site that you want to use on your own website. (Always remember to check the terms of any website to see how they allow you to use the images provided)

Thankfully, there are lots of free stock photo services available to you. Below, I’ve listed my top 7 FREE stock photo resources with easy-to-understand terms of use. Hope this list will help you find the perfect images for your website!

My Top 7 Stock Photo Resources:

1. Pixabay (https://pixabay.com)

Pixabay is my go-to place for stock images. They have a huge library, and they have illustrations as well as photos. Simple terms make it easy to download the images. You don’t have to think hard about if you can use an image or not.

2. Unsplash (https://unsplash.com)

If you want a designer look to your website, Unsplash has gorgeous, professional photos that will make you look like a designer. All photos are in high-resolution. All public domain images. Their terms are very simple.

3. Morguefile (https://www.morguefile.com)

Morguefile’s photo collection is quite big, and I also like the easy search function. When you click on a photo, you’ll also see the terms of use very clearly.

4. Pexels (https://www.pexels.com)

This site doesn’t seem to supply their own photos but pulls in a variety of free photos from various sites. Each photo clearly shows the original source along with the usage term, which is very handy.

5. Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Did you mention a celebrity in your post? It’s normally very difficult to find an image of a famous person or celebrity that is not tightly protected by copyright. Wikimedia Commons is a great place to go to find such an image that you can use (often with attribution).

6. Stocksnap (https://stocksnap.io)

Easy to search, and when there are many images that fit your search criteria, you can use the handy sort tools they provide. All public domain images. Their usage terms are simple to understand.

7. Canva (https://www.Canva.com/photos/)

Canva has free and paid images. And the great thing about the paid images is that they are only $1. Canva also lets you create your own graphics in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

If you would like to learn more about using Canva, and more about graphics for your website, check out my Graphics Creation Workshop program!

Please feel free to share your favorite resources in the comment section below!

Here’s to your creativity!

(First published in March 2015)

About The Author

Christina Hills

Christina Hills helps entrepreneurs setup their websites using WordPress without having to rely on a webmaster. Her trainings are fun and she makes it easy! Get the free PDF "The Do-It-Yourself Website Creation Checklist" Report Here

27 Comments

zirah1 on March 20, 2015 at 5:51 am

Thanks! This list is very helpful. Will definitely keep as a future resource to refer to.
- Christina Hills on March 20, 2015 at 6:02 am
  
  Yeah it’s great to find photos for your WordPress website that are free!
Liuda on March 20, 2015 at 5:52 am

Hi Christina! Very helpful photo resources! I love it. Thank you very much for all information you are sending, it is very helpful as I just started building my website.
- Christina Hills on March 20, 2015 at 6:03 am
  
  Liuda,
  Awesome! send me an email when you get your website done 🙂
Kamala Murphey on March 20, 2015 at 6:42 am

This list is great, Christina! I recently got slammed when an image I’d used several years ago (using a Creative Commons license) was later copyrighted – and I’m having to pay a hefty fee, as well as deleting the image. Ouch!
- hys on March 20, 2015 at 3:42 pm
  
  Don’t ever be bamboozled into paying photo copyright trolls. There’s plenty of information on the Internet about how to deal with the scare tactics employed by such lowlife.
  - Christina Hills on March 27, 2015 at 5:51 am
    
    yes you have to be very careful when it comes to photo rights
Vicki Kaufman on March 20, 2015 at 6:56 am

Thanks, Christina! Can’t have too many great resources.
- Christina Hills on March 22, 2015 at 4:54 am
  
  Vicki,
  yes that is my attitude! You can never have too many image resources!
Mark on March 20, 2015 at 8:19 am

Thank so much Christina!

Those are seven totally awesome resources for some great looking stock photos!

Most of whom I had not previously heard of before!
- Christina Hills on March 22, 2015 at 4:55 am
  
  Mark,
  Yes with the web becoming so visual, have a lot of photography and image sites to go to when you need a picture makes blogging so much easier 🙂
Linda Waldon on March 20, 2015 at 9:19 am

Thanks a lot for these great sites! I’m always looking for the right photo to express a lesson or thought. Even though I’m okay with paying for license rights, it’s always nice to fill in with free photos. Keep it up! We love your work!
Linda
- Christina Hills on March 22, 2015 at 4:56 am
  
  Linda,
  
  Glad you brought up that point! Yes I pay for images too. Especially when there is something specific I want to do, and the free sites just don’t have it.
  
  I buy images all the time!
Linda on March 22, 2015 at 7:52 am

Great new photo resources Christina. Thanks so much!
Michaela on March 23, 2015 at 12:06 am

Thank you for your tipps.
Sometimes I see the same free pics allover…
I’m guessing not everyone knows these pages and I’ll find some “new ones”.

Blessings
Michaela
Lynn Moore on March 24, 2015 at 8:56 am

Hi Christina! Many thanks for these! Images are so important on the web these days. I’m using more and more. Lots to explore here.

Lynn
Martin on March 27, 2015 at 2:07 am

Hi, great list. You can try also my site: http://freepix.eu
- Christina Hills on March 27, 2015 at 5:50 am
  
  Martin,
  that is a great site!
  
  so with your site, we can use your images, but we must link back to your website?
  
  where does the link to your website need to go? anywhere on the site?
- zirah1 on March 27, 2015 at 6:26 am
  
  Wow, Martin, thanks for the tip. Just went to the site and will definitely spend some time getting to know what’s there. That’s for the additional resource.
Lars on April 7, 2016 at 2:39 pm

Hi Christina:
Just curious what your thoughts are on google images. I find the usage rights often confusing to people (not filtered by license, labeled for reuse with modification, labeled for reuse, labeled for noncommercial reuse with modification, labeled for noncommercial reuse, etc). I’ve never been comfortable using any image from google images more or less just to be on the safe side. Your thoughts? Thanks. Love your site by the way!
- Christina Hills on April 9, 2016 at 10:49 am
  
  Lars,
  safer to stay away from Google Images. There are some there that you can use, but I prefer to go to stock photo sites
  - Lars on April 9, 2016 at 11:49 am
    
    Thanks for your reply. I tend to agree with you about google images. Here is a site I sometimes use for free images:
    http://www.freeimages.com
    - zzirah1 on April 9, 2016 at 12:39 pm
      
      Thanks for the tip, Lars!
Elizabeth tobin on April 28, 2016 at 8:04 am

Thank you Christina! I was just asking in one of my facebook groups where to find free or low-cost images for my website. You must be psychic : ) I’m definitely book marking this post for future reference. Thank you again!
- Christina Hills on April 28, 2016 at 9:00 am
  
  Elizabeth,
  LOL! I just knew you needed this 😉
Kathy Pop on July 9, 2019 at 10:10 am

You can find a list of sites at http://allthefreestock.com/
a curated list of sites that offer free stock image, video and more
Elaine Christine on July 9, 2019 at 3:52 pm

Thanks again, Christina! Still following you after all these years.

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