26 Awesome Sites That Offer Free Stock Photos

Many bloggers and website owners don’t realize that when you do a Google Image search, the resulting photos are not free stock photos for you to use as you wish.  

Most photos are covered by copyright and you can get into a lot of trouble if a photographer decides to take legal action.

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If you’re looking for photos to use for your blog and or on Pinterest, you need to locate websites that explicitly define the copyright license of each image.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for clear definitions on the different commercial licenses.

There are also many sites that purport to offer “free stock images” but in reality they do not let you download anything without paying first.

I’ve curated a list of sites that offer true, free stock photos that cover every niche.

Some of the sites are large, searchable databases while others are boutique operations run by photographers and bloggers who offer free stock photos as a way of promoting their sites.

26 Free Stock Photo Sites for all niches

Unsplash

This site offers a huge collection of professional photos from different genres including parenting, blogging and food. This is my favorite site to get great photos for social media.

Attribution Required: Not necessary but it is appreciated

Pixabay

This site is one of the largest with over 1.2m free images. Some of them are a bit cheesy, “stock” photo styles but there are some great options too.

Attribution Required: No

Pexels

This is another very large site and I often find the same photos on both Pexels and Pixabay. There are tons of photo options on here for every niche.

Attribution Required: No

Picjumbo

This is a great searchable site with new photos being added daily.

Attribution Required: No

Pikwizard

This is a new addition to the list and has a lot of really nice modern photos for all niches.

Attribution Required: No

Gratisography

Ryan McGuire of Bells Design offers up his photos on this site that has a lot of high quality, artsy photos. New photos are added weekly.

Attribution Required: No

Life of Pix

Life of Pix offers free high-resolution photos with no copyright restrictions for personal and commercial use.

Attribution Required: No

Free Images

This site offers over 300,000 free images. Be aware that the first couple of rows of each search are paid photos by istock so it can get a bit confusing.

Attribution Required: No

Picography

This site offers tons of gorgeous photos that fit many niches. They do have a more limited collection than some of the other sites.

Attribution Required: No

Free Stocks

Another great option for a range of categories.

Attribution Required: No

Negative Space

In addition to the searchable database of photos, you can sign up to receive 10 free images a week by email.

Attribution Required: No

ShotStash

New photos are added every day on this site.

Attribution Required: No

Styled Stock

This website offers lots of free feminine images for entrepreneurs.

Attribution Required: While not required, a back link is appreciated.

Pixistock

Alicia from Pixistock has a great collection of stock photos for bloggers. Sign up for her mailing list to receive a monthly batch of free photos in your inbox.

Attribution Required: “While it is greatly appreciated, members/purchasers/email subscribers are not required to credit me. But I would love to see how you used the photos and feature your business!  Tag me@pixistock so I can see how you’re using them to promote your brand!”

SC Stockshop

Join the Insiders club to get 20 free style stock images plus a monthly collection by email.

Attribution Required: None mentioned

CreateHerStock

CreateHerStock is a collection of authentic stock photography featuring black women. This is one of the best sites for modern, curated stock photos for bloggers and creatives. Sign up for the mailing list to receive free images every month.

Attribution Required: “Whenever possible, we appreciate photo credits to include a link to our web site: www.createherstock.com”

My Blog Style

My Blog Style is run by a UK-based blogger called Sarah and I just love the 70+ completely free stock photos she has in her password protected vault. 

Attribution Required : None mentioned. The website says; “access 70+ royalty free, commercial-use stock photos.  You can use each photo unlimited times”. 

Seaside Creative

Sign up to receive free stock photos from Seaside Creative, one of my favorite sources for photos.

Attribution Required: None mentioned

Haute Stock

Sign up and get 2 free images each month. This site is a favorite among many lifestyle bloggers. I personally subscribe to their paid plan as I just love the photos. 

Attribution Required :”Credit/Attribution is not required, but always appreciated. Remember to use #hautestock so we can see how you use the images and even feature your business!”

She Bold Stock

Grab 20 free stock photos plus goodies every month when you sign up. 

Attribution Required: “No, but its always appreciated! If you would like to give credit to She Bold Stock,  you can use @shebold_stock on Instagram or #sheboldstock so that I can showcase how you use them to my audience! She Bold Stock is the sole and exclusive owner of the stock photos. ”

Sage Media Marketing

Sign up for a starter pack of free stock photos from Sage Media Marketing. 

Attribution Required: No but if you’d like to credit the photographer please tag @sagemediamarketing and @thejennimarie

Ivory Mix

Get access to over 300+ feminine stock photos (mainly flatlays for female bloggers) at this awesome site.

Attribution Required : No photo credit or attribution required

Creative Market

Creative Market isn’t a free stock site per se but every Monday they give out 6 free products and the offering often includes some free stock photos. 

Check out this week’s freebie here. 

Attribution Required: No

Creative Commons Licenses and Attribution for Free Stock Photos

Although I have researched the sites above and listed the attribution requirements where possible, make sure to check before using the photos in case things have changed since this post was published.

For all the sites I have included, the license is generally easy to find. There’s typically a description of the license on every page or at least a link to the policies in the case of sites run by bloggers.

Here are two license types you’re likely to find on these sites:

Creative Commons zero means that you can use the photos in any way you’d like, without asking permission.

Creative Commons with attribution means that you can use the photo in any way you want, as long as you credit the creator of the photo.

What does attribution mean?

If you include a free stock photo on your blog,  add text that credits the photographer (“Photo by Jane Doe”) and be sure to include a link back to their site. You should also include their name on social media by tagging them. For Pinterest, you can mention them in the the alt text of your pin so that it pulled in the description.

NOTE: Most of the sites run by individual photographers (the last half of this post) do not allow you to use their images for any products that you are planning to sell such as ebooks or printables. Make sure to check the policies carefully for those products or consider purchasing a license for that photo from the blogger.

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