The Top 10 Websites to Download Free Images
There are many websites that offer free images you can use in your projects, and while they may not all be the best quality, they are completely free to use. To help you find some of the best sites with free images, we’ve rounded up our top 10 favorite websites to download free images from. Check them out below!
1) Pixabay
This is a website that offers photos under Creative Commons, which means they can be used for both commercial and non-commercial work. You’ll find an array of images in many different categories and you can even download them in different resolutions depending on your needs. If you use a lot of stock images, Pixabay is definitely worth checking out. The site boasts over 400 million public domain and Creative Commons-licensed images (as well as audio files).
2) Unsplash
If you’re looking for free (as in beer) and high-quality (ditto) images, there’s no beating Unsplash. The site, which has more than a million photos on offer, has a pretty simple credo: All photos belong to their respective photographers. Unsplash is not for commercial use. Learn more about how to credit us if you use our photos.
3) Pexels
With over 8 million (and counting) photos available for download, Pexels is a great site for bloggers looking for free images. The photos are free of copyright restrictions and can be used in commercial projects. In addition, there’s no account creation required, meaning you don’t have to go through any rigmarole before downloading images. Just use your existing Twitter or Facebook account to log in and you’re good to go! Oh, and did we mention that each photo comes with a CC0 license? That means there are no restrictions on how you can use them, which makes it perfect for bloggers who want to run paid ads while respecting their user’s privacy. Seriously: don’t miss it!
4) Flickr
If you’re looking for free photos, you’ll find plenty on Flickr. While many users don’t follow copyright law and upload other people’s work, most stick to their own. That means that there are lots of images available for commercial use with attribution. In addition, Flickr has Creative Commons photos from all over that can be downloaded and modified, which is perfect if you have a particular style or format in mind that isn’t easily found elsewhere. If you like what someone else has done with an image on Flickr, they may even allow you to use it as inspiration for your own creation.
Gratisography offers a variety of high-quality photos (including backgrounds, textures, and screenshots) that you can use without having to pay. Aside from photos, they also offer vector illustrations, PSD files, and fonts. You can download images in a range of resolutions. These images are free for personal and commercial use. Gratisography doesn’t accept requests or suggestions for specific stock photos but does periodically release free photo packs on their website and through their newsletter (sign up here). For more design resources, check out these 33 Amazing Resources for Designers Who Want to Boost Their Creativity.
6) Picjumbo
If you’re looking for some high-quality, completely free images to use on your website or blog, then look no further than Picjumbo. I regularly use and recommend their site, both because they have a great selection of high-resolution photos and graphics that are perfect for most blogs or websites—and because it’s completely free. Each photo comes with a CC0 public domain license (basically meaning you can do whatever you want with it) and there are no watermarks on them. Just pop on over there and pick out whatever images you like best—the photos are searchable by color, format, file type, resolution size, etc., so finding exactly what you need is super easy.
7) Magdeleine
If you’re looking for high-quality images that you can use for commercial purposes, Magdeleine is one of my favorite places to go. In addition to beautiful photography and artwork, there are plenty of hi-res graphics, such as buttons and icons. Magdeleine offers all of its content under a CC0 license—meaning they are in the public domain (which is pretty rare). The site has been around since 2010 and is updated daily.
In an effort to do more with less, designers have become much more efficient about incorporating images into their projects. With so many photos on platforms like Unsplash, Pixabay and Picjumbo (to name a few), it’s no wonder that images are taking center stage. With so many options at our fingertips, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite websites for free images and icons. Check out our top 10 websites below
9) Kaboompics
Kaboompics is one of my favorite places to find free images. It has a daily upload of 600 new pictures, which are all licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0), meaning they’re completely free for both personal and commercial use. I especially like their animal and lifestyle categories; but if you can’t find what you need on Kaboompics, check out some of these other sites.
10) Life of Pix
Pixabay has just about every image you could ever want for a photo project, and if you’re okay with CC0 images, they’re all free. With photos from both amateur and professional photographers, Pixabay is my go-to resource for any type of photo editing or creation project. The site makes it easy to download individual files as well as zip files. You can also make your own account so that you can keep track of your favorite images and downloads.