Good photos have always been one of the vital attributes to grab attention and get the messages across. Many are well aware of Pixabay, one of the major popular stock images websites that provide free pictures that are easily accessible to all users.
Pixabay offers over 400,000 images under the Pixabay license so that people can use the images without any attribution or credit or permission from the creator.
Pixabay does provide featured pictures for the projects, a lot of content is also available for free but what if it’s not enough, what if you cannot find the desired images on Pixabay? Therefore, considering various Pixabay alternatives can prove effective in such situations. Following are some of the best and popular Pixabay alternatives stock images that can be used to access more content.
1. Unsplash – Pixabay Alternative
It is a free stock images website that offers a collection of top-quality and high-resolution photos. One can use these photos for blogs, digital projects, etc. It facilitates you with pictures submitted by content creators and photographers, which falls under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, which means anyone can use the images for any personal or commercial use.
The images are classified under different tags like architecture, health, etc. and thus making browsing easier using tags. Also, trending images can be viewed on the tending page.
Pros
- It’s completely free.
- Thousands of beautiful images under a category range are available.
- User-friendly interface and easy navigation.
Con
- Majorly focus on abstract images.
- Sometimes search becomes difficult due to the keyword relevance.
2. Pexels – Pixabay Alternative
Pexels provides high-quality and free stock images within a wide range of topics and niches along with a CC0 license. The search button of the website is easy to use, comes with multiple search parameters, and all the images available on this website are searchable and tagged.
In addition to the images, Pexels also provides free stock videos, and a user can access them through the discovery page. Currently, more than 2,700 photos are available on the website. Plus, there is a collection of 10 new high-quality images almost every day, and thus increasing its library.
Pros
- Highlights top images and displays unique categories
- Availability of a wide range of high-resolution images.
- Contributors can directly contact through the platform.
Con
- Video qualities are not up to the mark sometimes.
- Searching might take hours making users annoyed.
3. Shutterstock
It is one of the most renowned global providers of stock images. It features more than 70 million pieces of content, a brilliant collection that not only includes images. Adding to that, it also has videos and music, and is famous for its free content and paid content. The site offers free content every week and guarantees the availability of the latest styles and trends on their content. 24/7 support is also provided along with the absence of any daily download limit.
Pros
- Authentic and premium pictures to choose from.
- Around 2000 images are added daily.
- Licensing isn’t complicated but simple.
Con
- Paid content is not always affordable.
- Finding the appropriate image amongst endless options becomes tiresome.
4. StockSnap
Like Pixabay, all the images available on StockSnap are completely free from copyright restrictions and they do not require attribution. It is known for updating its database with high-resolution images on daily basis, thus users can find something new every day.
The images on this website can be viewed or filtered by the date on. All the images on the website fall under the CC0 license, enabling people to use images according to their free will.
Pros
- Through the account, photos can be saved, accessed, and transferred anytime.
- Images under numerous categories including business, patterns, wallpaper, etc. are offered.
- Trending page to see the loved images worldwide.
Con
- Not enough free options to choose from.
- Absence of the creator’s credit for the creators.
5. Flickr
Flickr is a well-liked and reliable website that offers free images for public use. This site is a bit different in terms of conditions from other websites. The photographs here are listed below the creative commons page having a Creative Commons license, but 8 different license categories are meaning all images cannot be used on Flickr the same way.
The images in the section of Free to Use Photos are available for anyone without any attribution to the creator. Also, the Attribution License section provides free access to all the images.
Pros
- The best images are handpicked by the Flickr team themselves.
- No storage limit.
- Offers Organizer tool to work with images.
Con
- Complex licensing system.
- No official tool to batch downloaded pictures.
6. Gratisography
The platform is known to provide the free quirkiest, creative, and high-resolution images.
All the images are picked by the team providing users with access to the exclusively creative and witty images available, some photos from Shutterstock might also feature here.
The images offered by the site are known to break barriers, give genuine smiles to the users, and at times even scare them or break their hearts.
The pictures can be for both personal and commercial projects as pleased, can be adapted and modified but can strictly be not redistributed.
Pros
- All the images are 100% free.
- Simple web layout, easy browsing.
- Easy to understand licensing
Con
- Fewer choices compared to other sites.
- Some pictures are difficult to use due to borders.
7. Wikimedia Commons
It is a non-profit website promoting creativity that gives access to many free images to everyone. The platform is free and thus allows every individual to copy, use and modify any file as long as the terms specified by the specific author are followed like giving credit to the author or redistributing the files. These license conditions of every media file can be found on the description page.
Apart from downloading the images for offline use, users can also use the available media content from this platform on other Wiki projects like Wikipedia, Wikinews, Wikibooks, etc.
Pros
- Absence of monetary cost.
- Files can be improved even after being uploaded.
Con
- Lack of monetary benefit to the creator.
- Different conditions by different creators to use their content might be confusing.
8. Freeimages.com
Freeimages.com is another stock image website that offers a wide range of high-quality photos that are majorly uploaded by users and offers over 300,000 licensed media content that can be used for daily and commercial purposes free of cost.
All the media content published on this website is under CC0 license giving freedom for the usage of images without any attribution except when used for editorial purposes and can be edited, modified, copied, or reproduced according to the will of the user. The site provides a special lightbox feature that allows the user to build a public custom list of favorite images.
Pros
- Images are tagged to make navigation easier.
- Multiple categories to browse from.
- Images can be downloaded in numerous sizes
Con
- Account creation to download content.
- Lack of community.
9. Freepik
It has become a renowned stock image website over time. Unlike other mentioned sites, Freepik is not completely free. It consists of both free and premium content and thus can be called a freemium model. It stands out because of the fashionable and modern tone of its content. The interface is easy to use and which makes the navigation to different kinds of photos simpler.
Pros
- Registering is not necessary to download images.
- Offers wide resource library.
- Offers high-resolution PSD and vector illustrations.
Cons:
- Fewer resources compared to other sites.
- Overused templates that can decrease the originality.
10. Photogen – Pixabay Alternative
It is another platform known for providing free standardized stock images in a well-categorized database. Multiple categories like places, technology, nature, culture, etc. are diligently covered in the media content. Using the intuitive search bar and easy navigation, appropriate and specific photos can be efficiently searched. Although no registration is required to access the images from the site, the users do need to adhere to certain terms and conditions laid by the website owner.
Pros
- Easy to use user interface.
- The library database is updated regularly.
- No account is required to download images.
Con
- Does not support any audio uploads like Pixabay.
- Offers some restrictions when the images are used.
11. Burst
It is another free stock image platform that is a subdomain of Shopify.com i.e. it is powered by Shopify. The library of the site constantly uploads photos and adds new categories to reflect the current trends and aims to be free and best for the creators. All of the pictures are royalty-free, with no attribution required; users can edit, crop, or modify these images as per their requirements.
Pros
- The images can be used in school projects, printing ads, or design mugs, etc.
- Free signup to get all the updates.
- All the images have Creative Commons licensing.
Con
- Limited image themes.
- Multiple images cannot be given the same name.
12. Pikiwizard
It offers a huge collection of unique and high-quality stock images in multiple topics, subjects, and niches. Free stock photos are available that can be used for commercial and editorial purposes.
The images can be freely used without any attribution and users can also make basic edits free of cost while to avail a full-featured online image editing tool, the paid version is to be bought.
Most of the tools and templates available are of premium styles that will mostly be able to satisfy the user’s needs. Moreover, Pikwizard provides links to a web icon editor by which it can directly be used without opening the browser.
Pros
- The images can be used in school projects, printing ads, or design mugs, etc
- Free signup to get all the updates
- All the images have Creative Commons licensing.
Con
- Limited image themes.
- Multiple images cannot be given the same name.
13. Librestock
It is an indexing platform that is optimized to search for free photos online from the net when the user places a query or a question. It provides the best results after tallying the images from different stock image websites like Flickr, Shutterstock, Pexels, etc.
The interface is user-friendly and all the fresh images get displayed virtually on the front page as the result of the query placed. Also, if it cannot index the photographs, it may offer the results from Shutterstock which is paid for the user to further decide.
Pros
- Easy to use the search function and highly functional tag-based system.
- Registration is not necessary
- Simple web layout and easy browsing.
Con
- No track for the downloads.
- Absence of messaging interface.
14. Reshot – Pixabay Alternative
It is one of the newest and upcoming free stock photo providers with a growing stock image library. They offer high-definition, top-quality, and professional-grade photos on their website. Every image is unique and stands out from the rest.
All the images present on the site have a comprehensive custom license that allows the user to use them for both personal and commercial purposes. Soon, the company website is also planning to be a contributor network in Beta.
Pros
- Simple search function.
- Easy download with just one click
- Offers unique images.
Con
- Smaller image library compared to other stock image sites.
- Lack of theme-based image organization.
15. Morguefile – Pixabay Alternative
It is one of the oldest and popular free stock image websites that work on the motto ‘By creatives and for creatives.’ The picture library can be filtered by the date of upload, popularity, etc., and is known to provide a more social and engaging experience.
It has some extraordinary features that other stock image websites lack like it includes a built-in social media function that allows users to follow and message one another. Also, every image is displayed with likes, views, downloads, and comments they receive so that some people can express their views and others can know about how people are reacting to that particular content.
Pros
- Built-in social media function.
- Free and easy to set up user accounts
- Offers direct-link downloads that make Morguefile quicker and easier to use.
Con
- Sorting of the library according to the categories.
- Lack of theme-based image organization.
Thus, you can very well choose the best one, as per your requirement, and use it for your professional or personal work.