10 Free Stock Photo Websites You'll Proudly Use for Your Business

Today's customers can tell if an ad or brochure design contains generic stock photos with so many images published online. Business promotions with these photos no longer stand out against all the other print ads showing styled and enthusiastic smiles. Unfortunately, the alternative of hiring a professional photographer, stylist, and an entire production team may not be within the budget of a small to medium business owner. Other photos online may require a license you'll have to purchase to publish and use for commercial purposes. Both options are costly for entrepreneurs with limited resources. So where can you get free stock photos for your website or other marketing needs?

To save money and time, you can search these free stock photo websites. These resources have thousands of original photos to complete your marketing collaterals, such as postcards, posters, and packages. Check out their best features and how you can maximize their extensive image libraries for your business.

1. Unsplash
Are you looking for photos straight out of a gallery exhibit or with that artistic touch you don't generally see on commercial images? Unsplash offers thousands of free images that include breathtaking sunsets, architectural details, close-ups of patterns and textures, and much more. The download feature lets you choose from the small, medium, large, or the image's original size.

2. Stocksnap.io
From food, technology, fitness to people, you'll find a photo that conveys your message or sparks a new marketing idea. The images are free thanks to the Creative Commons license that allows you to use them for your own branded designs. Apart from free use, you can also alter or revise the image at no cost. Check out their license page for more information.

3. Pexels
Pexels is also home to a vast collection of well-curated stock photos. The site's interface speaks to the visually inclined with categories such as backgrounds and cover photos, photography topics, and photos by color. The site arranges images under collections such as art, summer, fashion, and animals. The visual organization enables business owners or designers to find what they're looking for easily.

4. Burst by Shopify
Businesses building their site from scratch can find what they need from Shopify's stock image site. They offer commercial categories such as office, beauty, and fitness to fit your industry. But if you need more specific content, they also provide animals, mental health concept photos, and travel images worldwide.

5. Pixabay
Like Pexels, all images on Pixabay fall under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. You are not required to credit the artist, although they'd thank you for including them as a byline. While the images and videos are available for commercial and noncommercial purposes, it would be best to review the exceptions and model release guidelines here.

6. Canva
Canva doesn't just offer free layout templates. They also have a library of free stock photos you can easily integrate into your chosen design. Their library is divided into millions of free images and the pro or paid category.

7. Flickr
Sign up on Flickr, and you get access to a well-organized library of high-quality images. The site also lets you create an album from your photo uploads. If you're still sorting through options, you can favorite a picture, and Flickr will add it to your Faves section. The site takes the extra mile and organizes everything based on your needs.

8. Rawpixel
Rawpixel is the experienced designer's dream, with categories that go beyond the theme of the images. You can search according to formats such as PNGs, graphics, illustrations, and even mobile wallpapers. They also offer high-quality PSD mockups you can edit on Adobe Photoshop to suit your needs.

9. Stockvault
Stockvault's diverse image collection includes ground textures, futuristic backgrounds, and aerial views you can integrate into your design. The abstract patterns and unique color combinations give you more freedom in coming up with special marketing materials.

10. Reshot
If you're a small business owner looking for a designer's expertise at no cost, Reshot is your best bet. Expert designers from Envato elements curate the library of free, commercially licensed images. The commercial license allows you to use the pictures for editorial and commercial projects, social media posts, and online marketing ads. Even the different formats—vector, PNG, and SVG—come for free, so you won't have trouble adjusting the image to your preferred software or template.

Charge those creative juices and think beyond cheesy stock photos. Explore any of the free stock images websites above to develop the next big marketing design for your business.