Unveiling the 19 Best Sources to Find Website Photos

Best resource for finding free, high-quality images

• Unsplash is used by 33% of the 85 respondents we spoke to
• 2 million+ photos
• License: Unsplash has its own license that lets you use its images for free – for commercial and non-commercial use

Unsplash Gallery

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Unsplash is the best free image resource, and by far the most used resource among the respondents we spoke to.

Unsplash provides interesting, engaging images rather than dull stock photos.

It’s easy to download your chosen photos – simply click the green “Download Free” button.

You don’t have to attribute the photos you use from Unsplash, but you can if you want to. Unsplash makes it easy to attribute photos, providing pre-written text for you to copy.

Out of the 85 respondents that we spoke to, made up of website owners, designers, and photographers, Unsplash was easily the most popular source of free images. It’s a huge resource of over 2 million free images submitted by photographers from around the world.

You don’t even need to enter an email to download images, making it a quick, easy, and free way of sourcing high-quality images.

Best for sourcing free videos as well as stock images

• 3 million+ free photos and videos on Pexels
• Useful download history feature
• License: Pexels has its own license that lets you use all its images and videos for free, for commercial and non-commercial purposes

Pexels Gallery

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Pexels has over 3 million photos and videos to choose from, all of which are free to download and use.

We like how easy it is to browse Pexels’ videos – hover your mouse over the play symbol to watch the preview, or click to watch it full-screen.

Pexels makes it easy to download your chosen photos – simply click the green “Free Download” button, no sign-up or payment needed.

Once your image has automatically downloaded, you can choose to attribute the photographer, or join Pexels to save your download history.

Pexels is a huge database of images and videos. Like Unsplash, Pexels has its own licensing, so you can download and use any of its images worry-free. Some of the photos feel a little more “stock image” than Unsplash’s collections, but there are still plenty of awesome finds. We especially like the inclusion of videos in Pexels’ library!

Best for easily sourcing different media in one place

• 2.2 million+ free images
• Pixabay doesn’t just provide photos – you’ll also find illustrations, vectors, music, and videos
• License: Pixabay has its own license that lets you download its images for free, for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Pixabay Gallery

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Pixabay is a great resource for free images, whether you need photos, illustrations, or videos.

As well as stock photos, you can also browse and download illustrations. This is a great resource for mixing up the visuals on your website!

When you download an image, you get to choose what dimensions and file size you want. You can also view how many times that particular image has been downloaded already.

Once you’ve downloaded your image, you have the option to credit the photographer, follow them on Instagram, or donate some money as thanks. These are all totally optional.

Pixabay is a large library of free of charge, royalty-free stock images. Its Pixabay License lets you download and use these images for commercial use, with no attribution needed. We like the fact you can choose your image size before downloading it. You get useful details about each image, too, such as how many times it’s been downloaded so far.

Best for personal websites

• Rawpixel has a handy integration with Pinterest if you want to save images
• Free version is limited – it’s unsuitable if you need more than 10 images per day
• Licenses: Personal, Commercial, Public Domain, Editorial

Rawpixel Gallery

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Rawpixel has plenty of photos to choose from, as well as illustrations and graphics.

Be careful about which license your chosen image has. It’s best to choose from Rawpixel’s Public Domain collection – you can use these for both personal and commercial use.

You can download an unlimited number of images from the Public Domain collection for free. However, you have less choice in this collection.

This image is for editorial use only, so can't be used for commercial purposes. Always check the license if you’re choosing from outside the Public Domain collection.

We really enjoy Rawpixel’s Pinterest integration. You can Pin your chosen images, which is ideal for personal use – particularly saving images for your own inspiration!

You can download unlimited images from Rawpixel’s Public Domain collection, but only 10 images per day from its Free collection, which offers more choice.

If you need a large number of images, you’ll need one of Rawpixel’s paid plans. This is why we recommend it for personal websites that don’t need a lot of images. You have to pay $19 per month for unlimited commercial downloads – something Unsplash provides for free!

Rawpixel’s licensing rules aren’t as straightforward as other sites either. Download from the Public Domain collection to be safe, as these images can be used for personal or commercial use without attribution. Otherwise, you need to make sure you pick images with the right license for your needs.

There are perks, however, and some pretty neat features that make Rawpixel stand out from the crowd. For example, you can save images to ‘Creative Board’ collections, and browse other people’s collections too. And if you’re a Pinterest fan, you’ll love the fact you can Pin images to your own Pinterest boards!

Best for large image collections 

• Flickr has tens of billions of photos
• A higher number of “real” photos, rather than generic stock images
• Licenses: Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works, Share Alike, Public Domain Dedication (CC0), Public Domain Work

Flickr Gallery

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You can filter your image search by license type on Flickr – we recommend searching under the “Commercial use & mods allowed” license filter.

A great perk with Flickr is that it tends to have less “stock image” type photos than other sites, with many more real and candid shots available.

A neat feature on Flickr is its color filter. In this example we searched for “business” images, then selected pink at the top.

Flickr is a frankly enormous image hosting platform, with tens of billions of photos to browse through. There are multiple license types on Flickr, so be sure to select “Commercial use & mods allowed” when you search to be totally safe. And always check each individual photo’s licensing terms, as they do vary – some will require attribution, for example.

Best for using images to create your own graphics

• 89 million+ photos (free and paid)
• Use images to create your own designs
• License: Free Media License Agreement – you can use Canva’s images for commercial and non-commercial use

Canva Gallery

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Canva has 958,928 free photos in its library at the time of writing, and 88,966,951 images for Pro users.

Once you find an image you like, you can use it in a design. Canva even automatically chooses the correct size for your needs.

Canva is a design tool first and foremost, and provides a free image library as part of its software.

We like how you have plenty of control over your images and your design in Canva. It’s perfect for creating your own graphics with free photos.

You can use Canva’s image library to create social media posts or other graphics. Add text, change the layout, and browse images and backgrounds to make it your own.

Canva is a hugely popular tool for creating graphics with ease – from social media posts to presentations and infographics. It has a free image library that it offers as part of its design software. You’ll need to create a free account to use Canva – some photos are reserved for Pro users, though, so you may want to upgrade to a paid plan if you use Canva a lot.

Best for sourcing stock images stress-free

• Stock images rather than candid shots
• New photos added to Stocksnap every week
• License: Creative Commons CC0 – you can download images for free and use them for commercial or non-commercial use, without attributing the creator

Stocksnap Gallery

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Stocksnap is a great place to find stock images for your website – some can look a little generic, but it’s still worth a browse.

You can view how many people have downloaded each image, get file information, and check the license before downloading for free.

Once you’ve downloaded your image, Stocksnap makes it easy to give attribution if you want to – it’s not essential with the CC0 license.

You may guess from the name that Stocksnap is dedicated to providing stock images. You’ll find less natural photos here than with Flickr, for example, but there’s still a great range of high-quality images to choose from. We like its simple licensing approach, and how easy it is to filter and search its image library.

A simplified alternative to Canva

• 5 million+ photos
• Free version of Snappa allows three downloads per month
• License: 100% royalty-free – you can use images for commercial and non-commercial use without attribution

Snappa Gallery

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Instead of starting by browsing through an image library, Snappa starts you off by choosing the type of graphic you want to create.

You then choose which template you want to use to create your graphic.

Once you’re in the Snappa editor, you can browse its image library for the photos you want to use.

You need to create a free account to use Snappa – similar to Canva, it’s a tool that helps you create graphics, and has an image library as part of its platform. You can only access Snappa’s in-editor image library, which is a big reason why we tend to favor Canva over Snappa. Still, it’s a nice, simple tool for whipping up quick graphics.

Best for finding inspiration 

• Same Energy has 19 million images
• Visual search engine
• License: Mixed – filter to only view CC-BY licensed images, which can be used for commercial and non-commercial use as long as you provide attribution

Same Energy Gallery

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Same Energy is a visual search engine – it has millions of images for you to browse, but its standout strength is its search feature.

Click the small CC button to filter for Creative Commons images, and click the camera icon to upload your own image to initiate an image search.

In this example, we searched using an image of some cupcakes (top left) and received tons of related images featuring cupcakes.

You can right-click on an image to view its source, licensing, and creator – you’ll need to create a free account to save images, though.

Same Energy is a cool visual search engine where you can browse its range of images, or upload your own photo to see tailored results. For example, if you upload a photo of a dog, the images you see will all relate to your search. This is an awesome tool for exploring styles and searching for images in a really visual way.

Because it’s a search engine, it pulls images from different sources – you can filter your search to only show results for Creative Common (specifically, CC-BY) images. It’s worth noting that CC-BY images will need attribution – right-click on any image to view its source and license.

Best for hidden gems

• Wikimedia Commons has 71 million+ media files
• Great variety of images
• Licenses: Multiple – mostly public domain, CC-BY, and CC-BY-SA – our advice is to check each image’s license before using, as many require attribution

Wikimedia Commons Gallery

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Wikimedia Commons is a huge, community-led source of images and other media files.

You can search for images, and filter by license type – such as “Use with attribution” or “No restrictions” – for peace of mind.

Click on an image to view more information about the size, content, creator, and license type.

If you visit the image’s dedicated page, you can download it, use it online, email a link to it, or preview it in the Media Viewer.

Wikimedia Commons is a collection of media files – anyone can contribute, and anyone can use these images for their own use. You can find some real niche photos in its archives, so it’s worth digging through!

Wikimedia Commons is free to use, but does come with drawbacks – it’s not as enjoyable to navigate as other image libraries, and the licensing is a little less clear cut. We strongly recommend checking the license of any images you want to use, and searching the Public Domain category for starters.

Best for high-quality, paid stock images

• Shutterstock has 360+ million images
• Pricing starts at $29 per month for 10 images per month (first month free)
• Licenses: Standard (unlimited web distribution) and Enhanced (allowed in merchandise)

Shutterstock Gallery

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Shutterstock has an impressive search feature. Filter by color, image size, orientation, with or without people, and more.

You can even search by image to view tailored results similar to the image you’ve uploaded.

You can’t download images for free on Shutterstock – you have to either choose a subscription, or buy an “on-dem” bundle.

Shutterstock was a popular source of images amongst the respondents we spoke to. You get your first month free, after which it costs a minimum of $29 per month (billed annually). There are different pricing levels depending on how many images you want per month, and which license you need.

Check out Shutterstock’s two license options to see whether the Standard or Enhanced license is best for you. The downside to Shutterstock is how expensive it is, especially for its Enhanced license, but the upside is the sheer volume and quality of images you get to choose from.

Best for sourcing topical images

• Getty Images has 350+ million images
• Pricing ranges from $175 (for one image) to $4,250 (for 10 large images)
• Licenses: Multiple – royalty-free, rights-ready, and rights-managed

Getty Images Gallery

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Getty Images is an awesome image gallery and comes with some really neat filters, such as recent events relevant to your search query.

Getty Images is full of beautiful, high-quality photos for you to use on your website. However, you do have to pay to download them.

Getty Images isn’t for those on tight budgets. The cheapest option is a single, small image for $175. You can save money per download by buying packs of five or 10 images.

Getty Images isn’t great for personal use because of its high prices, but it is perfect for businesses – especially if you need topical, relevant images. We love the Events filter, which shows you images from recent events linked to your image search.

So, how much does Getty Images cost? You can buy a single, small image for $175, or pay up to $4,250 for a bundle pack of 10 large images. Packs don’t expire, so you can download these at any time.

You can filter your image searches by license type – out of the three main licensing types that Getty Images provides, royalty-free is the most common, and is also safest.

Best paid option for creatives

• Adobe Stock has 60+ million images
• Pricing starts at $29.99 for 10 standard images per month
• License: Standard (fine for most projects) or Extended (suitable for merchandise)

Adobe Stock Gallery

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We love Adobe Stock’s bright, creative stock imagery – perfect for adding personality to your website!

Adobe Stock does have a free image collection, but they’re not quite on the same level as its premium photos. You’ll need an Adobe account to download these free images, too.

Adobe Stock is perfect for creatives with specific needs – you can filter by depth of field, pixel size, and more.

Adobe Stock has some beautiful, creative stock images to break the mold of dull, boring photos. This is the upside of paying for images – if you browse Adobe Stock’s range of free photos, they’re a lot more generic.

There are different payment options for its premium images. You can choose a subscription (which starts at $29.99 per month, billed annually), credits, or a combination of both.

Best for different, authentic stock images

• Death to Stock has 4,500+ photos
• Pricing starts at $12 per month, billed annually
• License: Multiple – Limited, Standard, Extended – all three let you use images for commercial and non-commercial purposes, but other terms vary

Death to Stock Gallery

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Creating your account is a personalized experience, supporting Death to Stock’s clear focus on helping you build your brand through great images!

Death to Stock has some truly beautiful images for you to use on your website.

Death to Stock has three subscription options, starting at $12 per month when billed annually.

Death to Stock has a fresh, creative take on stock images – it has a strong focus on creatives, and providing great branding tools. It adds new media every 30 days to keep its collections new and interesting – you even get to vote on which visuals get added to the library!

Pricing starts at $12 per month when billed annually, which is designed for small businesses, startups, and social media managers. Most images come with a Standard license.

We know it’s not technically a “place” to find photos, but when we asked other website owners, hiring a photographer was one of the most common answers to our question of where they source images for their websites.

Whether you take your own photos or hire someone else to do it, getting creative is one of the best ways to ensure you get original, brand-aligned images for your website. Sometimes, stock images just don’t quite cut it – here are some examples of times you may want to use a photographer instead:

• Product photos
• Team photos
• Photos of your office space
• Events

Find out more

Product photos are super important to take yourself, as it builds trust in the product and helps you provide details for potential buyers. Check out our guide on How to Take Product Photos for more information!

Best for AI produced images 

• DALL-E 2 comes with limitless images thanks to AI creation
• Pricing starts at $15 for 115 credits.
• License: Licenses need to be obtained by DALL-E 2 for commercial use.

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DALL-E 2 is one of the biggest AI image creators on the market.

DALL-E 2 creates realistic images from text prompts.

DALL-E 2 doesn't include real people in its images however the end result is always of a high quality.

DALL-E 2 is one of many new AI Image generators that have popped up on the market in recent months.

Led by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, the art platform creates images from text in a matter of seconds.

DALL-E 2 is super simple to use. You just type your image requirement into the search bar and the AI will generate an image for you. There are some limitations to the types of images you can create, with DALL-E 2 prohibiting harmful and political content as well as images of public figures in order to avoid deep fakes.

You can modify the image DALL-E 2 creates if it’s not quite right and your final image will be credited to you as the creator. It’s important to remember though that AI image generators such as DALL-E 2 use thousands of existing images and pieces of artwork already on the internet to inspire your piece, with no credit to those original artists. While this is totally legal, some people question if it’s the ethical route for sourcing imagery for your website.

Best for convincing AI images 

• Midjourney comes with limitless images thanks to AI creation
• Pricing starts at $10
• License: Paying members’ images are governed under General Commercial Terms and able to be used commercially.

Midjourney gallery

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Midjourney creates realistic images all via AI.

Many of Midjourney's most popular images have already gone viral online.

You can edit and tweak your Midjourney images in order to achieve your desired results.

Midjourney is an AI image generator that allows you to create images from simple text prompts.

Midjourney is simple to use and requires no coding or specialist software and the results can look strikingly realistic. Users access Midjourney via the Discord chat app.

The platform relies on machine learning to create images and there are next to no limitations on what you can create. In fact, some of Midjourney’s images have gone viral on social media thanks to how realistic (and entertaining) they were.

Unlike most AI image generators there’s no free trial option but pricing starts at $10 per month which will net you up to 200 image creations.

Best for AI art and image replication 

• Artbreeder comes with limitless images thanks to AI creation
• You can use Artbreeder for free, while subscription plans start at $8.99
• License: Each Artbreeder image is owned by the user who created it.

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Artbreeder takes a collaborative approach to AI image and art creation.

The Splicer tools lets you create graphics by editing together multiple images.

Artbreeder combines your prompts with existing art to create the finished result.

Another AI image generator, Artbreeder has made our list of best places for website photos thanks to the platform’s skill at creating unique artwork.

Artbreeder has two main uses, you can either use it to replicate an existing image or to create something totally new and unique.

One of the best features of Artbreeder is its Splicer tool that allows users to create your own graphics by combining and editing multiple different photos.

While Artbreeder will create content based on what the user inputs into the system, it also has the ability to use its own knowledge of what’s on the internet to make edits and changes to the final creation. Artbreeder uses a collaborative approach with artists in order to create the very best pieces of AI art.

You can use Artbreeder for free, or if you want to create masses of imagery and artwork you can sign up to one of the paid plans that start at $8.99.

Best for real-life images of your products/services 

• Limitless image potential
• You can collect user-generated photos for free
• License: In most cases ownership of the photos will sit with both the original user and the brand that posts it, providing permission is granted.

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The North Face is a great example of a brand that uses user-generated images across its website and marketing platforms.

The North Face encourages users to submit their images of The North Face products in action.

User-generated images help to increase trust in the quality of The North Face products.

User-generated images are images that have been taken by your audience and they are one of the best ways of sourcing images.

User-generated images are taken by users of your product or service in action that they then give you permission to use across your website and marketing platforms.

For example, if you’re a hairdresser and you use photos that your clients have taken of their new haircuts to promote your work, they are user-generated photos.

There are various benefits to using user-generated content including giving your brand social proof and showing potential customers how satisfied your existing customers are with your products or services.

If you want to use user-generated photos then you will need the permission of the user. The best way to collect both the photos and permission is either via social media or via a form on your website.

You can encourage users to share their images on social media using a specific hashtag and you can comment on any that you like asking if you can use them on your website. You can also set up a dedicated page on your website where users can upload their images of your products or services with the intention of being featured.

One of the hardest things about finding professional photos for websites is knowing whether it’s legally safe to use them. What if you use an image and get in trouble for not attributing it to the creator, for example?

There are different types of license, so we always recommend checking your images before using them.

Sites like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay have their own license, meaning you can use any of their images for commercial or noncommercial use, without attribution. If you want a worry-free way to source professional images, they’re a great go-to.

However, it’s still good to know which licenses to look out for when you’re sourcing photos online, so here’s a quick overview of the main license types you should know about:

Now you know the best places to find your images, it’s time to ask yourself exactly which images you should choose.

1. Use High-Quality Images

When choosing photos for your website, avoid blurry or pixelated images at all costs. Fuzzy images simply don’t look professional, and may reduce trust in your brand.

Our top tip to avoid pixelated images is to know the size you need before choosing photos. If you pick an image that you have to stretch to fit a banner, background, or featured image, it will distort the image and end up blurry!

It’s vital that you optimize your images before uploading them to your website – otherwise your site speed may suffer.

Compressing your images can affect the quality, so be sure to choose lossless compression – this shrinks the file size without affecting the pixel data, so won’t affect the actual quality of the image.

Find Out More

Our Image Optimization Guide walks you through everything you need to know about optimizing images for your website.

2. Use Unique Images

The problem with stock images is that they can appear bland, generic, and pretty corny too.

Users can tell when you’ve thrown in an image as a filler, and will ignore it. Think about how images can add value to your content, instead of just using them to break up text.

Avoid fake-looking stock images – opt for more natural, candid shots instead that will engage your users.

Some of the sites we’ve listed above show you how many times an image has been downloaded already. If you find an image with a small number of downloads, that reduces the chance your visitors will have seen the same image used across other websites, keeping your content feeling fresh and unique.

3. Add Meaning

While putting this list together, we’ve enjoyed looking at hundreds of beautiful photos. But you shouldn’t choose an image just because it looks nice. Instead, ask yourself what meaning images can add to your website. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so make sure your website photos are doing the right kind of talking.

A simple example of this is to show someone using your product, instead of only showing a photo of the product on its own – images are great for adding context and answering users’ questions straight away.

4. Use Images With Faces

People are naturally drawn to faces, so images with people in hold a lot of power.

You can even direct your audience’s gaze with images – indeed, it’s been found that people will follow the gaze of people in photos. So placing a call to action or a product next to a photo can draw more attention if the person in the photo is looking towards it.

You should also keep your target audience in mind at all times. Are you showing images that relate to them? This could apply to body shape, age, race, or more – be mindful about who you’re talking to and who you may be leaving out with your choice of images.

5. Think About Your Users’ Needs

Is a photo really the best thing to use here? This is an excellent question to ask before you pick your image. Would a graphic, illustration, video, or infographic actually be more useful to your audience?

Images should always add value to your content, and sometimes photos aren’t the answer. For example, if you’re explaining a complex topic, perhaps a diagram would work better!

6. Reflect Your Target Audience 

The images you choose to feature on your website should resonate with your target audience and their lifestyle, values, and aspirations.

When choosing images think carefully about the key demographics of your target audience including their age, gender, location, and cultural background.

This is particularly important if you’re including images that feature people. The people in your images should reflect the people you are hoping to target. For example, if your product is aimed at young millennials, don’t fill your website with images of pensioners!

7. Maintain Consistency

It’s important that you maintain consistency with your images across not just your website but all of your online and offline marketing platforms.

Be sure to choose images that match your existing branding and opt for the same styles, color schemes, and filters for all of your imagery.

It’s also important to make sure the image quality is the same throughout and try to pick images that use similar compositions and photography styles. All of this will help to create a strong sense of brand identity across your website.

This article has listed 19 of the best places to find both free and paid photos for websites online. We recommend exploring a few different options to find the best fit for you – you may even want to use a few different sites for different uses. For example, Pexels may be your go-to for videos, while you might use Pixabay for sourcing illustrations.

Our go-to site for finding free professional photos is Unsplash, thanks to its huge choice of images and its straightforward, generous licensing terms.

If your chosen site doesn’t have its own license, like Unsplash has, then the safest licenses to use are CC0 (public domain) and Attribution (CC-BY) licenses. Royalty Free images are also a good choice, but you may have to pay to use these.

You should now know where to find great website images, and feel confident on how to pick the best images for your website – remember to check they’re high quality, unique, and add value to your content!