They say that the best things in life are free. When it comes to love, that may be true but not in stock photography. High-quality images come with a price. They’re either affordable or expensive. But, stock photo sites don’t offer them for free. After all, these images don’t just enhance the overall design of your social media marketing and online content. They also protect you against copyright infringement.
If you are a novice designer, writer, or artist, the appeal of creative commons can be irresistible. With a minimal budget, you may be inclined to get a creative commons license instead of royalty-free or right-managed. If you are running a blog or social media account for personal purposes, that’s fine. However, commercial projects and marketing require the right license for specific uses. Check more info.
The chances of getting high-quality images from free stock photo sites can be very slim. But if you really need free photos for your next creative project, do read the terms of agreement. And, keep in mind that you’ll be at your own risk using these images. Nevertheless, here are the best stock photo sites for out there.
- PIXABAY
Pixabay is one of the most excellent stock photo sites to offer free content. They provide images that you can download and use in various resolutions. With over 1.4 million files in their library, you will surely find an image that suits your style and theme. Their content comes with Creative Commons license, so you can use them in commercial and personal purposes. To add more safety in their safety, they placed dedicated staff members on reviewing the legality of their photos. - UNSPLASH
Unsplash is a free stock photo download site with over 500,000 images from contributors around the world. They boast authentic, high-quality, and modern stock photography under Creative Commons license for personal and commercial uses. The owners use it mainly to fuel traffic and customers to their Crew services. Lately, they have also been using the stock site to develop business opportunities. - PEXELS
Another one of the best stock photo sites for free is Pexels. They provide authentic and modern free stock images for commercial projects, with no attributions required. Hundreds of thousands of content are available in the library, all of which include a Creative Commons license. Pexels sell sponsored images from paid stock photo collections but offer their own native photos for free. - LIFE OF PIX
Life of Pix is a free stock photography site that offers an extensive collection of high-quality photos with a strong artistic feel. They have hundreds of thousands of stock images donated by photographers around the world. All their photos are in Public Domain, so they don’t have copyright requirements. However, the stock site forbids mass distribution, limiting you to only 10 images per download. - GRATISOGRAPHY
If you are looking for extraordinary, quirky stock photos, you should check out Gratisogrphy. They have a modest collection of over 450 stock images, which are unique, more intimate, and more appealing that stocky photography. The licensing is pretty much Creative Commons with a few restrictions similar to Royalty-free. So before you use a stock image in commercial projects, make sure to do your due diligence.
Free stock photography generally comes with Creative Commons license, which makes them still very risky to use. However, some of the listed photo websites have the added reassurance of an experienced reviewer, making them worthy of a second glance. Yet, we still recommend you to be cautious, especially when using these images in commercial projects.