Top 22 Best Free Stock Image Sites To Use in 2022

‌‌‌‌Advertising and marketing are great aspects of each business. Images provided better ways to do both works. Images can be counted as a simple yet effective way of advertising any platform. Using images is effective but time-consuming if one goes with the traditional way of hiring a photographer to use. Copying any available image is also another offence one can commit when related to plagiarism.

Apart from them, there are different options available for one to select their images from. One great option is to go with the facility of stock image sites.

This site provides easy outsourcing of images which can then be used for multiple purposes such as marketing, advertising, personal projects, etc.

Stock images are the available images one can prefer to use by following the terms and conditions provided to them. Currently, there are multiple sites available on the net to facilitate the use of stock images or to outsource images. In this context, the sites that allow free image stocks in 2022 are listed:

1. Unsplash
2. Burst
3. Pexels
4. Free Images
5. Stocksnap.io
6. Kaboompics
7. Canva
8. Pixabay
9. Flickr
10. Life Of Pix
11. The Jopwell Collection
12. Gratisography
13. Negative Space
14. Death To Stock
15. Picjumbo
16. Crello
17. New Old Stock
18. iStock
19. SplitShire
20. Nappy
21. FreeRange
22. Startup Stock Photos

1. Unsplash

Unsplash was launched in 2013 by Mikael Cho. In the year 2021, Unsplash was acquired by Getty Images. Unsplash is counted among the top photo-sharing websites availing free stock images. Unsplash is considered a website dedicated to sharing images freely for different motives such as marketing, blogging, etc. One can use the images for personal and commercial use under the Unsplash license.

Pros of Unsplash:

• Allows the facility of creating and maintaining the image collection.
• Also allows the sharing of photos in wider aspects.
• One can easily get the notification of newly uploaded photos from desired accounts.
• Unsplash has nearly 3.48 million images available for download on its website.

Cons of Unsplash:

• Searching for a particular image requires the knowledge of keywords. Hence it can be tricky to search for a single image from a pool of images.

2. Burst

Burst is a Shopify-owned free stock image platform. Shopify is a multinational Canadian-based company founded in the year 2006 by Tobias Lütke and Scott Lake. Burst is highly acknowledged due to its high-resolution images. It is a single place having a collection of images that can be used for different purposes such as business, personal, etc.

Pros of Burst:

• Burst has two different options for downloading images with different resolutions. So a user can easily select the resolution they want in their image.
• Burst also allows the user to easily edit an already existing image and re-post the image with the edited version as a new stock image.
• Burst is an easy-to-use platform with the availability of one-click tools for a better experience.
• Burst has a large community of images the user can select from.

Cons of Burst:

• Bursts allow better access to Shopify users only.

3. Pexels

Pexels is another great photo-sharing platform availing the service of free stock images to its users. Pexels was founded in 2014 by Bruno Joseph, Ingo Joseph. It was taken over by Canva in 2018. Pexels is an online platform giving out free images to be downloaded and edited for business or personal uses. Pexels allows the users with free sharing of videos and images on its platform.

Pros of Pexels:

• Allows the users to build up their portfolio and albums easily.
• Pexels is not limited to images only, it also allows the easy sharing of videos.
• Pexels is one in all platforms for both the photographer as well as one using their clicked images.
• Pexels have above 3.2 million images available for free download.

Cons of Pexels:

• Due to its wide use and multiple categories, searching for a particular image can be time-consuming.

4. Free Images

FreeImages was earlier known as stock.xchng. It was established in 2001 by Peter Hamza. However, in 2014 it was bought by Getty Images and was renamed FreeImages. FreeImages or stock.xchng is an online platform enabling high-quality stock images to be used by users. FreeImages platform allows the user to use their licensed images for a range of uses including both their personal and business.

Pros of FreeImages:

• Free Images has a wide range of collections and categories to go with.
• Free Images provide their user with a similar experience to social media sites. They allow them the facility of sharing an image, setting up a profile, writing a blog, conversing with others in a forum, etc.
• Free Images have approximately 300,000 stock images available to download.

Cons of FreeImages:

• Even though it is a free-sharing platform, for some images, the right to share an image still lies in the hands of its owner.

5. Stocksnap.io

Stocksnap.io was founded in the year 2015 by the team of Snappa. Stocksnap is an online platform giving out free stock images to download and modify as per the individual needs of users. Stocksnap.io provides a good collection of free stock images that can be edited, downloaded, and copied for multiple uses.

Pros of Stocksnap.io:

• Stocksnap.io has an easy search directory to use with good browsing techniques explained by them on their official site.
• Stocksnap.io has better customer support for their queries.
• Stocksnap.io gives out credit to the actual owner of the image, so it can be a better option for any photographer planning to build their portfolio.
• Stocksnap.io has many images available for users to download from. It also has the planning of showcasing 5000 images from the same collection for providing better options to users.

Cons of Stocksnap.io:

• Ads can be a little bothersome.

6. Kaboompics

Kaboompics was founded in 2014 by Karolina Grabowska to provide free Images for business and personal use. Kaboompics provide the facility of surfing through several images without the need to pay a single penny. They can be used for business and personal use.

Pros of Kaboompics:

• Easy user interface with timely updates.
• Allows the modification and distribution of the images without the need to take prior permission for both commercial and personal use.
• Allows the subscription to the newsletter at zero fees. One can easily get newly updated images to their inbox.

Cons of Kaboompics:

• Lacks few categories of images as compared to similar sites.

7. Canva

Canva is a graphic designing platform mostly famous for its services to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, and other possible visual content. It was introduced in the year 2012 and founded by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams. Canva also has several free stock images in it for use. The best point in using Canva is that it allows easy conversion of images into a custom graphic.

Pros of Canva:

• Allows good planning of content with the facility of graphic designing and stock images on the same platform.
• Stock images can be converted into custom graphics without the need for an extra process.
• Has easy-to-use services.

Cons of Canva:

• Even though it allows free stock images to users, one might feel the need to purchase its premium for better options.

8. Pixabay

Pixabay allows copyright-free stock images to its users. It also provides royalty-free stock images and videos that can be used for sharing without the need of giving credits. Pixabay was launched in 2010 by Hans Braxmeier and Simon Steinberger. Pixabay is an acquired branch of Canva.

Pros of Pixabay:

• They provide good quality images with the addition of videos and music.
• Pixabay is a multilingual platform, having 20+ languages available for use.
• Pixabay has many similarities with a social media platform. Hence it is easy to use.

Cons of Pixabay:

• Ads can hinder the search results.

9. Flickr

Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting services providing platform founded in the year 2004 by Ludicorp. Flickr also provides a great platform for new photographers to share high-resolution images on its platform. Flickr has an option for the users to find images that can be later used for commercial purposes by filtering the search bar.

Pros of Flickr:

• It has additional storage attached to it that can be used for downloading the images.
• It is easy to use.

Cons of Flickr:

• Flickr is easy to use for editing, however, can delay the response while trying to share the link.

10. Life Of Pix

Life of Pix provides high-quality resolution images at free cost. It was founded in 2014 to share high-resolution images with no copyright issues on them. They can be used for both personal as well as commercial uses.

Pros of Life of Pix:

• Consists of advanced features used on their platform.
• One can easily search for the desired image by colour or format.

Cons of Life of Pix:

• Life Of Pix is a free version but with a partnership through Adobe Stock. Adobe Stock is a paid image stock providing site. Hence one might find the need to pay for more images.

11. The Jopwell Collection

Jopwell is a hiring startup that helps different companies to get connected with job seekers. The prime job seekers helped by Jopwell are Black, Latinx, and North American candidates. The Jopwell Collection contains several albums all dedicated to the people of the Jopwell community. The albums shared by Jopwell are free to use and distribute as per the need.

Pros of The Jopwell Collection:

• Images provided by Jopwell Collection are of high resolution.
• For commercial use, there are many different options available to use.

Cons of The Jopwell Collection:

• For any person to use images from the Jopwell Collection, they must give the attribute of "Jopwell" in their use.
• The albums share several images, however, they lack many available categories which other sites can provide easily.

12. Gratisography

Gratisography contains a large community of quirkiest free stock photos. Gratisography was introduced in the year 2011 by Ryan McGuire. Gratisography was introduced to provide a completely free platform for downloading and editing images that can be used for both personal and professional uses. They have a wide range of images with the best-shared quality.

Pros of Gratisography:

• Gratisography is a great alternative for finding attractive, unique, quirky images on the web.
• Has a unique category to search from.
• Images provided on Gratisography are of great quality.

Cons of Gratisography :

• Gratisography is a great platform to select a unique and attractive image, but it does lack some regular categories from other sites.

13. Negative Space

Negative Space is all in one free stock image providing site. They provide free stock images almost related to all categories. The Negative Space company plans to provide a better platform for sharing images that can later be used for personal or commercial uses without the need of worrying about copyright issues.

Pros of Negative Space:

• They keep updating their images every week. Hence increasing the options available on their site.
• The search console is quite easy to use with all given categories.
• The real concept behind the foundation of Negative Space is a much-needed chance for photographers.

Cons of Negative Space:

• Negative Space is a growing community and not a fully developed platform.

14. Death To Stock

Death To Stock is not a typical platform similar to all other sites shared above. Instead, it is a membership that provides easy access to 20 new photos monthly. The only required thing to do is to register with the email address.

Pros of Death To Stock:

• It's easy to get images.
• Surfing time can be saved as images are directly sent to the mailbox.
• One can easily get access to new photos monthly.

Cons of Death To Stock:

• The options given are limited.
• They provide a premium plan for any other uses.

15. Picjumbo

Picjumbo was introduced in the year 2013 by a designer and photographer named Viktor Hanacek. Picjumbo is a great site providing free access to stock images without the need for a single registration on its platform. They also provide the facility of getting new images daily after subscription.

Pros of Picjumbo:

• They provide high-resolution images for free download with no watermark on them.
• The quality of images and categories available are best to give a try.
• One can easily subscribe and get one new image daily in their mailbox.

Cons of Picjumbo:

• Searching for images requires additional time due to a large number of available images on the platform.

16. Crello

Crello (Vista Create) is a great alternative to Canva in terms of a graphic designing platform. Crello is a free graphic designing platform also giving out the facility of free stock images on its site. Crello allows the easy search and use of stock images with royalty-free stock images.

Pros of Crello:

• Crello is a big platform giving out multiple services to use.
• Crello has many available categories one can look to use for stock images.
• The images shared by Crello are of high resolution and royalty-free. Hence can be used for multiple purposes.

Cons of Crello:

• Different platforms are giving out better service than Crello.

17. New Old Stock

New Old Stock is a collection of vintage photos perfectly edited that can be used for different purposes now. These images can be freely used for personal use only. They have few restrictions on them being used for commercial purposes.

Pros of New Old Stock:

• It is not easy to find vintage photos on every platform.
• The vintage photos are available in the perfect condition to use with good quality and required editing.

Cons of New Old Stock:

• They can be used for personal use only, commercial use is not permitted.

18. iStock

iStock is an online part of the royalty-free providing iStock company working towards the method of sharing and uploading free stock images on its site. iStock was founded in the year 2000 by Bruce Livingstone. iStock allows the easy editing and sharing of free stock images available on its site.

Pros of iStock:

• iStock allows the free download of selected new images every week from its library of paid images.
• stock gives out the facility of receiving a batch of free stock files every week after subscribing with the free membership on it.

Cons of iStock:

• Not all images are free to use, they require payment plans to use.

19. SplitShire

SplitShire was introduced in 2014 as the best platform for providing free stock images and videos. SplitShire was started to distribute the recorded photos from disk to the people free of cost. It allows the free stock images to be used for personal as well as commercial use without the need to worry about any copyright problems.

Pros of SplitShire:

• The images available on the platform of SplitShire consist of commendable quality.
• SplitShire provides access to several categories one might want to search from.

Cons of SplitShire:

• The images can be shared for personal and commercial use freely. Yet, there is the need of going through the license terms before downloading each image. This uncertainty can delay the process and consume extra time.

20. Nappy

Nappy is the free stock image providing platform mostly focusing on sharing the photos of black and brown people. Nappy was started with the thought of making it easy for companies to be purposeful about their presentation in their designs and advertisements. They plan to share the images of black and brown people with the world.

Pros of Nappy:

• It is a great alternative to go with the reality of life by considering the logic behind starting Nappy.
• Nappy gives services to startups, advertisement agencies, etc. Hence one can assume the images to be of a professional level.
• Nappy has its mission of providing high-resolution images to users.

Cons of Nappy:

• Instead of Stock images, the site focuses on black and brown people more.
  

21. FreeRange

FreeRange Image stock has provided high quality with good resolution images to the users since 2007. The FreeRange images are licensed and allowed to be used for personal as well as commercial uses without the need for attributing. They have their collection ranging from photos, textures, illustrations, etc to provide to users.

Pros of  FreeRange:

• They allow easy searching options for the image.
• FreeRange is a completely free website hosting a range of images to download from.

Cons of FreeRange:

• They consist of images from both professionals and in-house photographers. Hence some images can be not up to the mark.
  

22. Startup Stock Photos

Startup Stock Photos are ready-to-use photos for the startup, office, tech, project, etc. Startup Stock Photos allows entrepreneurs to work with better tools and options when it comes to images. Apart from that, these images can also be used by newbies to ease out their project work.

Pros of Startup Stock Photos:

• They provide the best quality images for business work.
• These images can be used for personal as well as professional work.
• They have a wide range of categories, irrespective of business, Startup Stock Photos can find images related to it.

Cons of Startup Stock Photos:

• It is more applicable for a business.

Conclusion

Getting a perfect image can be a tiresome job. Images are the best way of illustrating your thoughts. They are an essential component in making any project. They are equally needed in business parts and personal projects such as websites, blogging, etc. However, going through different ways for getting an Image is not required currently.

One can easily take the help of free stock image sites and get the needed image without the worry of copyright issues. The free stock image-providing sites have been listed above.

FAQs

What is the best stock photo site?

Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay, Canva, Flickr, Nappy, and Burst are some of the best stock photo sites.

Which stock image site pays the most?

Alamy is a stock image website that pays really well to its photographers, the site pays 50% to its photographers.

Are all stock image sites free?

No, not all sites are free to use. Few sites have a subscription plan available for the users to select according to their needs.

Which are the best-paid stock images sites?

Some of the best-paid stock images sites are Shutterstock, Deposit Photos, Canva Pro, etc.