Best Free Royalty-Free Stock Image Websites

We all need stock images for work presentations, website designs, ads, etc. Unfortunately, most photos cost royalties which means that you need to pay the artist every time you use their pictures on anything. Luckily, royalty-free stock images found on royalty-free stock images exist and bypass that restriction. Some royalty-free stock image websites cost money, but many are free.

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7 Best Royalty-Free Stock Image Websites Are Below!

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What Are The Best Free Royalty-Free Stock Image Websites?
  • 1. Unsplash
  • 3. Pexels
  • 4. Pixabay
  • 5. Negative Space
  • 6. Gratisography
  • 7. Pikwizard
• Related Questions
  • Is Adobe Stock A Great Paid Royalty-Free Stock Image Website?
  • What Are The Differences Between Royalty And Royalty-Free Images?
  • Why Do Some Royalty-Free Stock Image Websites Cost Money?

Key Takeaways

• There are a lot of free royalty-free stock image websites available to make use of for your projects.
• Some free websites do have stock images that are not free for commercial use, so it is always best to double-check the rights of the stock images you want to use in your projects.
• Not all royalty-free stock image websites are free to access and require payment to access royalty-free stock images.

What Are The Best Free Royalty-Free Stock Image Websites?

Many free websites provide royalty-free stock images. Most of these websites offer high-quality royalty-free stock photos, but the quality can vary from image to image and website to website. Some free stock image websites contain royalty-free stock images that can be used for commercial use and stock images that cannot, so it is always best to check the rights on the stock images.

1. Unsplash

• Requires Signup: No
• Completely Free: Yes
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Unsplash is a website that provides royalty-free stock images completely free of charge. Although it does not have the most extensive library of stock photos, they are consistent of high caliber. These stock photos get donated by pro and semi-pro photographers. Although you do not need to credit the photographers for their photos, Unsplash encourages it as a nice gesture to do so.

Although you can manually search for stock images, it is an excellent idea to browser the Collections for fantastic stock photos. Collections include categories such as Light and Shadow, Street Photography, Film, and more.

Unsplash is a completely free royalty-free stock photos website that is consistently high caliber in content quality.

2. Adobe Stock Free Collection

• Requires Signup: Yes
• Completely Free: Somewhat – Stock photos are free for unlimited views on mobile, web, and social media. Marketing Collateral printing can get done up to 500 000 times. You can use these stock photos in a live, recorded, or digital production if the audience is expected to be less than 500 000 in numbers.  
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Adobe Stock Free Collection is a collection of royalty-free stock photos from the prestigious Adobe Stock website. There are over 70 000 stock photos in this fee collection, which are all of incredible professional quality. All items on Adobe Stock are royalty-free, but not all of them are free of cost. The free collection on Adobe Stock is royalty-free and free of charge.

Although Adobe Stock Free Collection has free royalty-free stock photos, some rules are to follow. Stock photos are free for unlimited views on mobile, web, and social media. Marketing Collateral printing can be done up to 500 000 times. You can use these stock photos in a recorded, live, or digital production if the audience is expected to be less than 500 000 in numbers.

If you are looking for a collection of professional, free royalty-free stock photos, there is no better place to look for them than on the Adobe Stock Free Collection.  

3. Pexels

• Requires Signup: No
• Completely Free: Yes
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Pexels has a vast collection of royalty-free stock photos on its free-to-use website. Any person can upload their taken pictures, and only what the curators deem are the best is uploaded to the service. Some of the stock photos are of average quality. The majority of images are of exceptional quality. This website is handy if you are looking for stock photos to design a website and mobile apps. You can also search for stock photos by themes such as emotions, business, sky, nature, etc.

The website and royalty-free stock images are completely free to use for your projects.

4. Pixabay

• Requires Signup: Optional – You must register in order to download stock photos at full resolution.
• Completely Free: Yes
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Pixabay is an entirely free website consisting of royalty-free stock photos for everybody to use for their projects. The website has one of the largest collections of free royalty-free stock photos of any free royalty-free stock image website. Unfortunately, the images can vary in quality, and not all are safe for work.

You have the optional option to register an account on Pixabay for free in order to download stock images at full resolution. If you do not make an account on Pixabay, you cannot download pictures at full picture resolution but only a lower resolution.

Not all the stock images are free for commercial use, so it is always best to check the license of the stock photo before using it for your projects.

Pixabay is a free royalty-free stock photos website with mostly excellent quality content and, unfortunately, also some average quality and not safe for work photos. Registration is required to download stock photos at full resolution.

5. Negative Space

• Requires Signup: No
• Completely Free: Yes
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Negative Space is an entirely free website to use with fantastic, creative, and original royalty-free stock photos. Most of the photographs get taken by photographers new to the industry. Content on Negative Space is frequently updated, so it is always best to look at the website often for new royalty-free stock photos for your various projects.

Although all of the free royalty-free stock photos are free to use, attribution to the photographer is encouraged but not required.

Negative Space is an excellent website for free royalty-free stock photos from talented upcoming photographers.

6. Gratisography

• Requires Signup: No
• Completely Free: Yes
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Gratisography is a unique free royalty-free stock photo website. 

All the images are the works of the very talented photographer and graphic designer Ryan McGuire. He specializes in the unique, whimsical, and strange in his works. Thanks to the talented Ryan McGuire, who runs the website, all the stock photos on this website are unique and never dull. 

Unfortunately, there is not as big of a selection of stock photos on Gratisography as other stock photos websites. What Gratisography lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. It is also always best to make sure that you can use the free royalty-free stock photos for commercial use, as you cannot use all the free royalty-free stock photos for commercial use.

You do not have to credit Ryan McGuire if you use stock photos created by him, but it is a nice gesture if you do credit him for his hard work.

Gratisography has a great collection of free royalty-free stock photos that are all unique, whimsical, and strange in the best ways. All of them are created and taken by the talented Ryan McGuire. They are great for a variety of your projects.

7. Pikwizard

• Requires Signup: No
• Completely Free: Yes
• Requires Paid Subscription: No

Pikwizard is an excellent free-to-use website with thousands of fantastic qualities, free royalty-free stock photos. All royalty-free stock images on Pikwizard are excellent in quality consisting primarily of people in natural poses in a broad arrange of environments. If you are searching for royalty-free stock photos comprised mostly of people in natural poses within different settings, look no further than Pikwizard.

Not all Pikwizard’s free royalty-free stock photos are free for commercial use, so always double-check the stock photos’ rights before using them in your projects.

Pikwizard is a great free-to-use resource of free royalty-free stock images if you are looking for stock photos in different environments for your projects. Unfortunately, not all stock photos are free for commercial use, so always use discretion when picking stock photos on Pikwizard.

Related Questions

You may have other questions other than the best free royalty-free websites. Such as the difference between royalty and royalty-free means for stock images and why you have to pay money for some royalty-free stock image websites. All these get elaborated upon below.

Is Adobe Stock A Great Paid Royalty-Free Stock Image Website?

• Requires Signup: Yes
• Completely Free: No – You either need to purchase credit packs or subscribe to a subscription to access royalty-free stock images.
• Requires Paid Subscription: Optional – The subscription is limited to the standard license only: First Tier: You can pay $49.99 a month for ten assets monthly. Second Tier: For $69.99 a month, you can access 25 assets monthly. The Third Tier: You can pay $249.99 monthly for 750 assets every month.

Adobe Stock is a prestigious stock image website where you can get high-quality and professional royalty-free stock images. The website contains over fifty million royalty-free stock images for every niche. Its royalty-free stock image library is continually growing and never lacking. Unfortunately, this service is not free. But you pay for the quality.

You can buy credit packs to access these images.

Even though these stock images are royalty-free, there are some minor restrictions on how you can use and access these stock photos. They come in the form of a Standard License, Enhanced License, and Extended License.

Standard License: The assets you get from Adobe Stock can be used: On your websites for unlimited views. In marketing emails, social media, and broadcast programs. They can get used for viewing and copying up to 500 000 times.

Enhanced License: The assets you get from Adobe Stock have the same restrictions and perks as the above license with this additional perk: The stock photos can get used to view and copy more than 500 000 times.

Extended License: The assets you get with the Extended License have the same perks and restrictions as the above two licenses along with this perk: The stock photos you get can get used in merchandising, products for resale, and templates.

You can access these royalty-free stock images by buying credits that range from – five credits at $49.95, sixteen credits for $149.99, forty credits for $359.99, eighty credits for $669.99, and 150 credits for $1 200.00.

Subscription options exist but only limit you to standard licenses of the royalty-free stock images. The first-tier costs $49.99 monthly for ten assets per month. The second-tier costs $69.99 monthly and gets you twenty-five assets monthly. The third-tier costs $249.99 monthly for 75 assets a month.

Even though this royalty-free stock image website is not free, it has a massive variety of stock photos that are always of pristine quality.

What Are The Differences Between Royalty And Royalty-Free Images?

There is a stark difference between stock images that require royalties and royalty-free stock images. Stock images that cost royalties need a paid license to be used on your projects, and you have limitations on how many times you can use the stock images that cost royalties as specified in the license. Royalty-free stock images do not require a specific license and can be used as many times as you want.

Stock images that require royalties require a paid license from the artist and can only be used a certain number of times, while royalty-free stock images do not require a specific license from the artist and can be used as many times as you want.

Why Do Some Royalty-Free Stock Image Websites Cost Money?

There is a stark difference between stock images that require royalties and royalty-free stock images.

Stock images that cost royalties need a paid license to get used on your projects, and you have limitations on how often you can use the stock images that cost royalties as specified in the license agreement. Royalty-free stock images do not require specific licenses and can get used as many times as you want to use them in your various projects.

Stock images that require royalties require a paid license from the artist and can only get used a certain number of times, while royalty-free stock images do not need permission from the artist and can be used as many times as you want.