When it comes to design, photography plays a very important part. Whilst you could go down the route and use the very tacky staged ultimately overpriced cheesy stock photos, there is another option. Thankfully, we’ve seen a big influx of high-quality beautiful free stock photos.
To help make your social media content, email newsletters, print, blog and web content more attractive, we’ve rounded up a list of the best royalty free stock photo sites.
The majority of these stock photo sites offer their content for free, however, some will require attribution or a subscription. We’ve done our best to let you know the details to help you narrow down the best stock sites suitable for your projects.
Royalty Free Stock Photo Sites
1. StockSnap.io
Why StockSnap.io?
- All images are licensed under Creative Commons CC0 license.
- Tons of different categories. New high-resolution images are added regularly.
2. Motosha
Why Motosha?
- All photos published on Motosha are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution (BY) License. You can copy , modify, distribute and even use the photos for commercial purpose.
- Tons of new high-quality unique photos added regularly.
3. Pexels
Why Pexels?
- Amazing collection of stunning high-quality photos.
- All photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means the pictures are completely free to be used for any legal purpose. (free for personal and even for commercial use.)
4. Unsplash
Why Unsplash?
- All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes.
- Very easy to search for specific photos. Unique and high-quality pictures ready for instant download.
5. Burst
Why Burst?
- Stunning unique stock images that are perfect for all blogs, websites and more. Plenty of categories to browse from.
- All free for commercial use 🙂
6. Pixabay
Why Pixabay?
- Over 1.4 million free stock photos and videos for instant download.
- You can copy, modify, distribute, and use the images, even for commercial purposes, all without asking for permission or giving credits to the artist.
7. Gratisography
Why Gratisography?
- Very quirky collection of high-resolution photos.
- Great use of categories and search functionality to find images easier.
- All images completely free of copyright restrictions.
8. FoodiesFeed
Why FoodiesFeed?
- Food photographers from around the world share their photos under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.
- Very high-quality pictures featuring mouth-watering foods and drinks.
9. Freestocks.org
Why Freestocks?
- All photos on freestocks.org are free and licensed under CC0 (Creative Commons Zero). You can copy, modify and use them both in personal and commercial projects.
- Several categories with plenty of high-quality photos.
10. Picography
Why Picography?
- Very beautiful collection of images from a variety of different categories.
- Images are free to download and use however you like with no attribution required. All photos are CC0 licensed.
11. MMT Stock
Why MMT?
- New photos and videos each week.
- Free photos and videos are licensed under a CC0 (CC0 1.0 Universal) license. They can be freely downloaded, used, and redistributed for both personal and commercial purposes.
12. Picjumbo
Why Picjumbo?
- All photos are free, however, respect registered trademarks and brands. See more info here.
- Lots of categories. Can download all images at once. Plenty of new images added regularly.
13. KaboomPics
Why Kaboompics?
- Lots of beautifully captured high-quality photos.
- All photos are Creative Commons licensed with the one exception – the rules of redistribution. In every other case, you are free to use our photos however you like.
14. Skitterphoto
Why Skitterphoto?
- All photos on Skitterphoto are public domain. Free to use for any purpose. You may download and edit photos and even use them commercially.
- Easily browse for photos via the categories or search by keywords. Plenty of images available.
15. Life of Pix
Why Life of Pix?
- Fantastic selection of high-resolution photos available for instant download. New photographies added weekly!
- No copyrights restrictions for personal and commercial use. All images are donated to the public domain.
16. Death to Stock Photos
Why Death to Stock Photos?
- Unique high-quality images.
- Free sets of images every month, or subscribe to access more than 2,000 images.
17. Jay Mantri
Why Jay Mantri?
- Great selection of high-quality photos
- CC0 License – You can use these images for both personal and commercial projects.
18. Epicantus
Why Epicantus?
- High-quality photos.
- Free to use photography. No permission or attribution required.
19. Shot Stash
Why Shot Stash?
- High-quality unique photos.
- Easy to use search functionality.
- You can use the photos for both commercial or non-commercial purposes.
20. Styled Stock
Why Styled Stock?
- Beautifully captured stock photos.
- Filter by popularity and latest.
- You are allowed to use the images for any commercial or non-commercial purposes.
21. Superfamous
Why Superfamous?
- Interesting collection of stock photos
- Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. You can use the photos for your own purposes if credit is provided.
22. Startup Stock
Why Startup Stock?
- Good selection of photos.
- Creative Commons Zero (CC0) License. You can use these images for both personal and commercial projects.
23. Realistic Shots
Why Realistic Shots?
- Free stock photos (high resolution) for personal and commercial use.
- 7 new photos each week.
24. ISO Republic
Why ISO Republic?
- High-quality stock photos
- A wide variety of categories, plenty of stunning photographs.
- Creative Commons Zero (CC0) License. You can use these images for both personal and commercial projects.
25. StokPic
Why StokPic?
- Free stock photos for commercial use. You can do anything with the images apart from redistribute. License info.
- A wide range of categories and search function to find suitable images.
26. Free Nature Stock
Why Free Nature Stock?
- All photos are licensed under Creative Commons Zero. You can use them without permission in both personal and commercial work.
- New photos are added daily.
27. Bucketlistly
Why Bucketlistly?
- Over 7,000 travel photos from all over the world licensed as creative commons (Attribtuion-NonCommercial).
- New high-quality photos added regularly.
28. Cupcake
Why Cupcake?
- All photos are licensed under the Creative Commons license CC0, which means that you are free to use the images without any costs. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking for permission.
- All sorts of stunning photos. Pictures from around the world, food and more.
29. Foodie Factor
Why Foodie Factor?
- 1,200 high definition photos of delicious foods. New photos added every week.
- All of our images are free to use on both commercial and personal creative projects.
30. SplitShire
Why SplitShire?
- Over 900 photos on SplitShire.
- All images are can be used for commercial use.
31. Snapwire Snaps
Why Snapwire Snaps?
- 7 free beautiful photos every 7 days.
- Most if not all photos are licensed under CC0.
Have any other free stock photo sites? Share them with us in the comments, we’d love to discover more!
