We all love free stock photos. Finding a site with the perfect royalty free images your project needs and for free is like finding gold. But it does take some mining.

A great free stock photo site isn't just the one that has more photos, or even the one with the better photos… but the one that has safer photos.

Today we put our stock photography expertise to work to bring you this big list with the absolute best free stock image sites to get cool and safe, completely free stock photos!

Unsplash offers over 1.5 million high quality amazing free stock photos with a cool, artsy vibe that screams Instagram image worthiness.

License Info: The Unsplash License that grants free use in commercial projects with no attribution required. It does forbid image download compiling though.

Love

The artsy & super trendy library

Useful search tool

Meh

It's entirely crowdsourced with the quality variations that entails

Unsplash is run by design pros. It has a sleek site, valuable images and a custom license that makes up for the open-to-all submission policy.

Pixabay is a clear example of neat German engineering applied to free stock photography. The site hosts over 1.8 million good free stock photos plus videos, vectors, and even music files.

License Info: Custom Pixabay License that covers free use in commercial projects digital or print, with no attribution required. They add a sensitive use clause and restrict redistribution and resale.

Love

The high quality images

That videos and music are also available

Meh

The library is built on user submissions which affects the overall legibility

Pixabay reviews all submissions, which increases the value and legal safety of their image collections.

PikWizard is Wavebreak Media's free stock photo site and the expert touch of pro photographers and videographers is everywhere. They offer over 1 million stock images and also stock videos with great commercial appeal.

License Info: The own PikWizard License enabling free usage for commercial purposes. Terms include a sensitive use clause and restrict all resale uses.

Love

All content is submitted by professional contributors

Cool on-page image editing with DesignWizard

Meh

The library could use a bit more of an artistic edge

PikWizard is as pro as it gets, and for free. A very safe place to find photos that are ready to jump into your ad's layout

Pexels is a free stock photo site that offers a large collection with hundreds of thousands of free high-resolution photos, some submitted directly and some aggregated from other sites. Pictures are trendy and super-relevant, with a nice artistic edge that makes the difference.

License info: They have a Custom License that allows free use of a photograph in print and digital, commercial projects. It has a sensitive use clause and also forbids reselling the images as-is, redistribution, and endorsement.

Love

Super current commercial photos with a touch of art

Sister site for free videos

Meh

The user submissions and aggregator factor isn't the safest of methods

Pexels is great resource in terms of photo quality and variety, and their custom license adds more legal safety.

Gratisography is the brainchild of an experimental artist and photographer Ryan McGuire, and the image collection reflects it. It's the place to find a crazy, out-of-the-box free image.

License Info: Custom Peace of Mind License that permits almost all commercial uses, no attribution required. Adds a sensitive use clause and restricts redistribution and claiming authorship. Also includes a disclaimer on trademarks and other intellectual property that is up to the user to clear before using the photos.

Love

Fun-loving style

Unique photos that fit great in social media posts

Meh

It's a small collection, which limits your creative options

Gratisography is very original at core and the fact all images are owned by the site owner himself make it very trustworthy.

Splitshire features over 1000 professional images, all courtesy of professional photographer Daniel Nanesou. They're commercial-ready, cover various popular themes, and the pro factor is definitely there.

License Info: A Custom License that says images are free to use for commercial purposes. It adds a sensitive use clause and forbids reselling images as they are — you must alter them before using them.

Love

Super trendy images

Perfect for websites, adverts, blog post, artistic projects…

Meh

It's a very modest collection in terms of size, with the limitations that implies

Splitshire is a valuable free photo site for commercial-oriented projects. Legally speaking it's very safe as images and license are developed by a photographer.

Picspree is backed by the renowned Getty Images –experts in royalty free images–, and it shows. The website offers thousands of super high quality and commercially valuable photos in all relevant genres, with the Getty Images trust stamp.

License Info: It's a Custom License. It gives you perpetual, worldwide, unlimited, and unrestricted use of images, with no attribution required. However, it warns of the need to clear extra rights when applicable.

Love

Superb selection of images

Ready to use in commercial projects

Meh

Not a lot of photos of people. It makes sense for legal safety but it is creatively limiting

Picspree is partnered with one of the most renowned names in stock photography, with the legal safety that comes with it, and their images are par to any paid site.

StockVault aims at providing high quality images, not just in terms of aesthetics but also regarding technical aspects. And they do, they have over 110,000 of them, all ready to download and use in your work.

License info: There are three licensing options: 1. Commercial license that enables free use for commercial purposes 2. Non-commercial license that means images are free for personal and editorial use only3. Creative Commons Zero (CC0) that grants free use for commercial projects with no attribution required

Love

The place to find a technically perfect image

Big library to choose from

Meh

Not all images are available for commercial use

StockVault has a large library of ready-to-use pictures, and the custom licensing is the safest of all the options they have.

Rgbstock is run by a team of photographers and graphic artists led by Jay Simmons. The site hosts well over 100,000 free quality stock photos that have been vetted for quality and are available for free download.

License info: It's a Custom License that lets you use the images for free for commercial intentions but has a sensitive use clause and a disclaimer for additional intellectual rights to be cleared when necessary.

Love

Rich, professional library

They enable direct messaging with image authors to discuss additional rights needed

Meh

The images aren't as fresh and modern as one could wish

RGBStock is very good if you don't need the artistic type of free stock images. It is a fast and easy to use website and we love that it is run by photographers.

Burst is a free stock images offered by Shopify. Their thousands of photos are sourced from both commissioned photographers and user submissions. They are intended for e-commerce storefronts but good to use in anything from social media and blogs to websites and ads.

License info: There are two licensing options: 1. Custom License granting free use of images for commercial intent (including products for resale) with no attribution needed. It restricts image compiling and has a sensitive use clause. 2. Creative Commons Zero (CC0) means free usage for commercial purposes without attribution.

Love

Highly commercial imagery with authentic, trendy style

Perfect for e-shops

Meh

The two licenses are near identical which adds unnecessary confusion for users

Burst is ideal for online businesses and it's backed by a leading company in the space. Their images are made for commercial use so there's the implication that they are legally verified.

Rawpixel has both free and premium (paid) photos available. The free collection counts with thousands of images in the trendy authentic style that sells today. Images are available for all but it's limited to 100 downloads per user and per month.

License info: It uses a Custom License that lets you use images for commercial purposes for free, including a sensitive use clause and forbidding resale of images

Love

Super trendy, Facebook and Instagram-bound images

Meh

Premium and free libraries share one search tool, so you must remember to enable the “free” filter in results

Rawpixel is actually a proper royalty-free stock photo agency and they know their biz. Their free photos are very safe for that reason.

Kaboompics is the work of photographer and designer  Karolina Grabowska, who shot and owns all the over 8,000 images available for free on her site. Her collection has a strong feminine vibe, with a lot of nature and outdoors concepts, and compositions that are made to beautify any Instagram account.

License info: This is a Custom License that enables free use of the photos for commercial purposes, including products for resale as long as the image is altered first. Terms that come with a sensitive use clause restrict redistribution. A disclaimer about additional intellectual rights that may apply is also present.

Love

The images scream “social media” and appear to be pulled from a top Instagramer's feed

The site is highly functional with cool photoshoot galleries and a color palette filter

Meh

There is an overrepresentation of some topics while other relevant themes are absent

Kaboompics is a dream come true for those after a new image for social media. The custom licensing directly from the image author makes it also legally reliable.

Good Stock Photos has a very transparent name. It offers over 1,000 stock photos for free, all by designer/marketer Steve Ma. These are images ok'd for commercial use, but they have a strong editorial feel about them.

License info: Images are under a Custom License for free use in commercial projects. Only restrictions are resale of images as they are (without alterations), uncredited compiling, and/or redistribution.

Love

The photos show an interesting mix of styles and perspectives

Great source of images for blog posts and blogging in general

Meh

Not all images are useful for commercial-oriented designs

Good Stock Photos is a goldmine for bloggers and marketers might find suitable images too. The custom license adds to the legibility of photos.

Styled Stock is a very small collection of around 100 images with a clear feminine, modern, and minimalist aesthetic. There is not a lot of info about the site owners, but all the images are available for free download.

License info: It's a Custom License which terms state you can use the photos for free for commercial purposes and with no attribution required. It also specifies authors retain copyright.

Love

The niche concept of clean, girly photos that is ideal for women-oriented projects

Advanced features like the color filter

Meh

It's a super small collection and there isn't any info about who owns it

Styled Stock is perfect for those designing with women in mind. The custom license is safer than others, but we take some points for the lack of background info on the site and who owns it

Libreshot is the work of photographer and SEO expert Martin Vorel that offers thousands of his fine art photographs free to download and use.

License info: It's a Creative Commons Public Domain license, meaning there are pretty much no copyright restrictions

Love

It's one of the few sites that offers fine art photography for free

Meh

Many images aren't commercially valuable and there are no photos of people

Libreshot is unique in its offer of fine art photography. The Creative Commons license isn't the safest but with all photos being owned by the same person it's not so bad.

Picjumbo is where tock photographer Viktor Hanacek shares over 2,000 of his professional stock images for free. His expert eye is visible in the commercial-ready style and the way people is portrayed without recognizable features.

License info: Creative Commons CC0 License that is free to use for commercial projects but he adds a warning about due diligence when using brands and trademarked subjects

Love

How obvious it is the images are made by someone who knows stock photography

Meh

It can be way too commercial, it could use an artistic edge

Picjumbo is the work of a pro stock photographer and it shows. We forgive CC0 license because all images are his. Should the library be bigger, it'd be a 10.

FOCA Stock features thousands of free photographs and templates by designer and photographer Jeffrey Betts. Images of nature and workspaces are predominant in this highly curated library.

License info: Images are under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, covering free usage for commercial purposes without attribution required.

Love

High-end imagery and curation

Bonus free videos and free image editor

Meh

Lack of photos of people

MMT Stock has its own forte themes and great image quality, and steps legal safety up a gear by offering images owned by the website's runner.

Life of Pix is run by digital marketing agency LEEROY and hosts hundreds of thousands of photographer-submitted and carefully curated images that are artistic, high quality, and free for all.

License info: Images are under the Public Domain, thus have no copyright and are free to use in any way. However, the site forbids mass distribution of their content

Love

The artsy vibe of the images

Great level of curation

There is a sister site with free videos

Meh

Photographer donations to Public Domain can be murky waters, you still need to verify which rights have they waived

Life of Pix is the place to go for commercial photos with an artistic twist. Public Domain images have no copyright so they're safer than other options, but it's up to you to verify them anyway

Stocksnap.io is developed by the same team behind Snappa editor. It offers tens of thousands very trendy photos in high resolution, submitted by users.

License info: They use Creative Commons Zero (CC0) which means free usage for commercial purposes without attribution required.

Love

How fresh and current images are, ideal for social media

Meh

The mix of crowdsourcing photos and CC0 licensing isn't the safest

Stocksnap.io is a great fit for social media images, but you have to make sure all rights are cleared before using their photos.

Reshot is run by stock photo agency Twenty20 and hosts thousands of free stock images submitted by users, the gross of them being Twent20 contributors. The library has the strong, mobile-photography-influenced authenticity feel of their parent agency.

License info: It's a Custom License that permits free use in commercial projects but points the need to get consent from models and trademarked items owners before using their likeness commercially.

Love

Super current images, ready to jump onto social media

Meh

The license is ambiguous, both permitting and warning about commercial use

Reshot is very valuable when it comes to photography but when it comes to legal safety in commercial use, it leaves it up to you to clear the necessary rights.

Freestocks.org is a project run by three photographers, who offer a small collection of stock photos with a great artsy vibe. All images are shot by them and two other photographer friends.

License info: They use CC0 license to provide free use of images in commercial projects, no attribution required.

Love

They offer artistic takes on popular and commercially valuable topics

Meh

It's a limited collection and the CC0 license is not the best

Freestocks has photos that fit great in modern-day advertising. Their licensing model isn't the best but as the image authors are licensing themselves it's a tad safer.

Startup Stock Photos has a transparent name. It has a small collection of free images on the topic of startups with diversity at the core. Owned by social media marketing agency Sculpt, most of the photos are by three in-house artists.

License info: Photos are under Creative Commons Zero (CC0, thus free to use in commercial projects

Love

Photos on a very relevant niche topic

Meh

Very basic site, with no search engine

Startup Stock Photos satisfies a very specific need in images. While CC0 isn't our favorite, the in-house production factor makes it better.

ISO Republic is run by photographer Tom Eversley and provides thousands of high-res, free stock images in most of the top sought-after topics.

License info: It works with Creative Commons Zero (CC0) which means free usage for commercial purposes without attribution required.

Love

The mix of traditional and trendy stock photography

Meh

CC0 license and user submissions is a bad legal combination

ISO Republic has a rich library for most designers, but you must be punctilious about the licensing.

Fancy Crave is owned by commercial photographer Igor Ovsyannykov. It has thousands of pictures by himself and contributing photographers. It's a curated catalog that offers themed photo bundles.

License info: All photos are under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) but adding a sensitive use clause and a disclaimer about the need to clear additional rights for commercial use.

Love

The themed photo packs are a great time saver

Meh

CC0 licensing and user submissions, with its legal loopholes

Fancy Crave is very useful to find inspiration or get a bunch of free photos with the same topic. But you have to be careful when using them commercially.

Foodies Feed belongs to food photographer Jakub Kapusnak and like the name gives away, offers thousands of food-related photos, some by himself and some submitted by users.

License info: They have Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license – Free usage for commercial purposes

Love

Very rich selection of food photos

Meh

CC0 license and user submissions mix. And the site has lots of ads

Foodies Feed is perfect for foodies everywhere, but if you're using the photos commercially, make sure to verify the rights are cleared properly.

Freerange tries to honor its name with thousands of free stock photos in all popular categories. Some images are in-house produced and some are submitted by users.

License info: There are two licensing options: 1. Equalicense – Free use for commercial purposes, forbidding resale and mass distribution2. CC0 – Free use for commercial purposes, no attribution required.

Love

Varied galleries and categories

Meh

Not many high-res images

Not a lot of info about site runners

Freerange is a decent offer in free stock photos, the in-house pictures are obviously safer. But they use CC0 license and have lots of photos of people, so you must watch it before using them commercially.

Skitterphoto is run by amateur photographers and offers all kinds of photographs for free, thousands of them. It's a very eclectic selection sourced from site runners as well as user submissions.

License info: They use CC0 license, making the photos free o use commercially without crediting the author.

Love

Interesting mix of commercial and artsy photos

They have copyright guidelines for user submissions

Meh

CC0 + user-submitted content, not the safest

Skitterphoto has valuable images. Site runners' photos are safer but hard to identify in the collection. So you have to be on top of the legals.

Negative Space counts with a small collection of free images in various themes and styles. Photos are user-submitted and carefully reviewed to ensure quality.

License info: It's Creative Commons Zero granting free usage for commercial projects

Love

Great quality thanks to a good review process

Meh

CC0 license and photos are not reviewed for legal status

Negative Space is valuable image-wise, but legally speaking you need to verify everything before using photos commercially.

Picography offers a small pool of around 1,000 photographs in high resolution, sourced from photographers' submissions and free to download and use.

License info: The photos are under Creative Commons Zero granting free usage in commercial work

Love

The pro-level style and quality of the images

Meh

It's a CC0-based site with virtually no info on who's behind it

While Picography has very good images, the lack of any background info mixed with CC0 licensing isn't a good combination, legally.

New Old Stock is a Tumblr site offering around 1,500 historic and vintage images curated by product designer Cole Townsend. These are pulled from Flickr Commons listed institutions and free to all.

License info: These images are under Public Domain due to no known copyright. But they're under Flickr Commons terms and not all are allowed for commercial use, plus some require a link back.

Love

Historically relevant images in a curated collection

Meh

Image quality is inconsistent and you have to check permitted uses individually

New Old Stock is super useful for projects needing historic and vintage photos but the constant need to verify permissions is tedious.

Little Visuals was a love project by photographer Nic Jackson, who passed away years ago. His family kept his collection of little under 100 images free for everyone to use, as a tribute to his memory.

License info: It's a CC0 license for free use in commercial work

Love

It's a reel of timeless photos, some are even trendy many years after being shot

Meh

It's a super small collection and licensed under CC0

We love the moving reasons behind Little Visuals and the quality of the images, but legally it isn't the best for commercial projects.

Moose Stock Photos is a cool concept that offers free photo cutouts that you can arrange to create your own “custom stock photo” using their free photo creator tool.

License info: There are two licensing options: 1. Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) that allows commercial use for free but requires to include a link back to their website, and works only for PNG/JPEG files. 2. A paid Custom License that lets you access to PSD files.

Love

The innovative photo collage concept

Meh

Image collection is limited and the free license demands attribution

Moose Stock Photos is one offer to explore if you want to customize your photo composition for free, but the licensing isn't the safest.

We hope this list helps you find the perfect match in a free stock photo site, that not only has the ideal royalty-free stock photos for your needs but also gives you the right legal coverage for your business' sake.

See you next time!

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I am the co-founder and editor of Stockphotos.com and its Blog and other magazines of Stock Photo Press such as Stockphotosecrets.com. I am an entrepreneur with a long history in the stock photo industry and have also created events such as the Microstock Expo. My expertise in the stock photo industry and my knowledge of AI make me a valuable asset to the world of stock photography. I have also developed several AI-based services, including an AI Image Upscaler, which enhances the quality of photos. My newest venture is an AI Magazine called aisecrets.com