As statistics show, humans process images way faster than they process texts. This also makes sense as attention spans get smaller day by day. As a result of these, you will need photos of quality to grab your audience’s attention and keep it.

However, as the number of stock photos websites has been skyrocketed, and many of them inferior or way too expensive, finding the right stock photo may not be so simple. Fortunately, we are here to help! Check the list of best stock photo websites that we created for you below!

1. Pexels

Pexels is a well-organized, professional, and must-be-checked website if you are looking for great stock photography with high quality. Also, all of the stock photos are completely free to use for commercial and non-commercial usage as all of them are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

On the contrary to many other websites, Pexels has great algorithms and search options that will help you find exactly what you have been looking for!

2. Pixabay

Pixabay offers thousands of free stock photos, and the number of them keeps increasing every day! You can be sure that the images you will find here will be of great quality as they have a specialized team just for evaluating the submissions manually.

All stock photos are completely free and open to commercial usage. However, they have some restrictions about the redistribution and resale of unaltered images that we highly suggest you check the details before using!

3. Kaboompics

The most impressive part about Kaboompics is that all of the images -there are over 8000 of them- are the work of the same person, Karolina Grabowska who is also the creator of the website!

You can find amazing stock photos with different aesthetics and topics from fashion to abstract. Also, here you can search by the colors and have access to the color pallet of each image. However, you should be careful about the licensing of this site as there are some strict restrictions about redistribution without permission.

4. Unsplash

Unsplash is one of the sites that I check first when I need a stock image with high quality. They have an enormous number of great photos with really optimized search options which ensures that you would find what you are looking for.

If you need more modern and artsy images, Unsplash should be the first site you check out. You can use every image for free and for any usage you would like to -commercial and non-commercial- as long as you don’t compile the images.

5. Burst

Shopify developed Burst to provide stock photos of quality to entrepreneurs, and as can be seen from their website, they are doing it great! They have a big library of images with a wide range of topics from technology, trends, lifestyle, business niches, and so much more.

If you are looking for professional photos for commercial use or e-shops you should check out Burst first! However, even though all images are completely free and royalty-free, you should remember that it is forbidden to compile them as yours.

6. SplitShire

SplitShire is not one of the sites where you can find millions of images, it has a relatively smaller library, however, once you take a look at it you will see that the quality of the photos narrows the gap of quantity!

Also, thanks to its detailed and specialized categories, you can find what you are looking for in no time! You can use any image from this site for commercial purposes as well.

7. Life of Pix

Canadian marketing agency LEEROY created Life of Pix by getting submissions from photographers. It is an amazing website, however, if you are looking for a specific thing, using Life of Pix may not be a great option. On the other hand, if you are looking for the final piece of your work but are not sure what it is, and need some inspiration, you should check out Life of Pix.

Also, all of their images are in the Public Domain which means you can use any of them as you wish!

8. Picspree

With its unusual categories, and its ability to provide great photos of quality under each of the categories, Picspree is one of the greatest websites for stock photography as well. Here you can find subcategories like seasonal, special occasions, travel destinations, and so much more!

Even though they are free, you need to check out the license of the site as there are some restrictions on your usage.

9. Picjumbo

Viktor Hanacek, a stock photographer, created Picjumbo for commercial and personal use. Thanks to his awesome personal collection, you can find great photos in all kinds of themes you could wish.

If you are willing to pay some amount, I strongly recommend you to take a look at the premium plans of Picjumbo as well!

10. Reshot

As the creators also say, Reshot is a website by designers, for designers. It has an enormous handmade library and very original works of art inside!

What Reshot offers is not limited to stock photos, you can find amazing icons and illustrations here as well, and the greatest part is they are all completely free and royalty-free!

11. Freepik

Freepik is a popular sourcing platform for graphic designers, web developers and other creative professionals. This platform features thousands of free vectors, photos, PSD files, icons and other graphic resources. 

Freepik's extensive library includes a variety of content, from drawings to photographs, backgrounds and logo designs. These resources are often offered for free or for a fee for use in personal and commercial projects.

12. Negative Space

Negative Space is a platform that offers royalty-free stock photos and graphics. Users can download high-quality and free photos and graphics in various categories and themes from this platform. 

Negative Space is especially useful for designers, bloggers, web developers, and other content creators because it provides royalty-free and free content and has a large collection that users can use in their projects. Such platforms make things easier for content creators and reduce costs because they do not need to pay additional royalties to use the content. 

Negative Space's user-friendly interface and wide selection of photos and graphics across various categories make it easy for creators to find content that suits their needs. In this way, it becomes a valuable resource for those who want to visually enrich their projects.

13. Styled Stock

Styled Stock is a styled stock website that allows users to discover and download professionally and curated stock photos and graphics. This platform aims to provide the aesthetic and quality images that content creators, bloggers, marketers and business owners need.

Styled Stock features carefully curated collections of photography in a variety of concepts and styles. Users can easily find photos that fit their business and projects by searching or using categories. The site has stock images in many categories such as fashion, business, creativity, lifestyle and more.

14. Rawpixel

Raw Pixel is a stock image platform that provides users with access to digital design elements such as high-quality stock photos, vectors, PSD files and mockups for a variety of needs.Through this platform, users have access to a large collection that they can download with appropriate licenses for commercial use. 

The platform also includes design elements such as product mockups and vector files. These files can help users present their products or projects in a more professional and impressive way.

15. Gratisography

Gratisography is an ideal resource for designers, marketers, and content creators who need unusual and interesting visuals, especially for their creative projects. Standing out with its unique style, this platform offers its users a wide range of options and provides creative freedom without copyright concerns. 

Unlike other stock photo sites, Gratisography attracts attention with its creative and interesting photographs. Ryan McGuire's unique style makes visuals on the platform stand out from others. All photos on the platform can be downloaded for free and used in commercial projects. Users can use these images without any copyright concerns.

We hope this list will guide you on your journey of completing your work with the perfect images! If you liked this article you can check out our blog for more content like this!