Whenever we ask our designers to design something, the most hassling part of their task seems to be searching for suitable free stock photos for the job. Yes, photography itself is a very tough skill that requires years of practice and hard work. We are deeply grateful to the professional photographers for their hard work. But the sheer number of images any creative industry needs to swallow makes it an impossible task to buy images for every purpose. That is where some good people came up with websites that offer the best free stock photos to reduce our headaches.
Well, if you are looking for the best-quality images, you must buy premium stock photos. But if you need a large chunk of royalty-free, high-resolution stock photos, the following ones are the best places to look. We listed these platforms by categorizing and rating them all according to your needs. The basis on which these websites were rated is as follows:
Image quality: 25%
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 20%
Ease of Search: 15%
Disciplined Categorization: 15%
User-friendly UI: 10%
Hassles of logging in: 5%
Availability of Trending Items: 5%
Special Features: 5%
As well as rating these websites on the above criteria, we also added some footnotes after every website’s review, mentioning the pros and cons that would help you decide if it would be helpful for you to look for a particular stock photo on that website.
It must be kept in mind that each website mentioned in this article is great in its own way. We are in no way judging these websites or comparing them to one another. The ratings shown here are just assessed from a web designer’s point of view so that they can save the precious time and energy they spend searching for images and concentrate on their coding.
1. StockSnap – A random dose of happiness with a pinch of surprise!
2. New Old Stock- Wanna head back to the ‘60s?
If you are looking for images that evoke the golden era of the ‘60s and ‘70s, New Old Stock is the one to look for. This website is full of authentic vintage photos from the public archives.
Image quality: 20/25
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 10/20
Ease of Search: 10/15
Disciplined Categorization: 0/15
User-friendly UI: 5/10
Hassles of logging in: 5/5
Availability of Trending Items: 2/5
Special Features: 0/5
Total Score: 45/100
Pros: Authenticity- Guaranteed! And who doesn’t love a blast from the past?
Cons: Despite an amazing collection of retro images, this website is not very easy to navigate. You have to be “Marlin” to find your Nemo in this vast ocean. It’s good to go retro, but don’t take your whole website with you!
3. Fancy Crave- There is something different about their collection
Simplicity is always attractive, though it is not necessarily true for certain kinds of websites. But that is where these guys nailed it. The simple white background, blended with the overall design of this website, creates a feeling of nothingness within you. And that is when these guys strike you with their tremendous quality images!
Image quality: 20/25
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 15/20
Ease of Search: 10/15
Disciplined Categorization: 13/15
User-friendly UI: 10/10
Hassles of logging in: 5/5
Availability of Trending Items: 0/5
Special Features: 1/5
Total Score: 74/100
Pros: Free high-resolution photos from professional photographers. Two new images updated every day!
Cons: Page navigation is not that user-friendly.
4. SplitShire- Their logo itself is evidence of their awesomeness!
[A MUST TRY!]
Looking for single free stock photos? – Go to SplitShire.
Don’t have enough time, and looking forward to downloading a bundle for a low price? Go to SplitShire.
And with it, I rest my case. Have a look for yourself, and I think you’ll definitely agree with me.
Image quality: 20/25
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 16/20
Ease of Search: 15/15
Disciplined Categorization: 15/15
User-friendly UI: 10/10
Hassles of logging in: 5/5
Availability of Trending Items: 5/5
Special Features: 4/5
Total Score: 90/100
Pros: Some of the best free stock photos!
Cons: Relatively limited quantity.
5. Life Of Pix- Random images that make you happy!
“Free high-resolution photos, no copyright restrictions. Images for personal commercial use. New photographs added weekly! All images are donated to the public domain. Â Handmade with love.”- Copied directly from their website, and I guess there is nothing else needed to be said about these good people.
Image quality: 15/25
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 15/20
Ease of Search: 15/15
Disciplined Categorization: 7/15
User-friendly UI: 10/10
Hassles of logging in: 5/5
Availability of Trending Items: 5/5
Special Features: 4/5
Total Score: 76/100
Pros: A good amount of quality images.
Cons: You may not find their categories section on the home page. Go to the categories section, hover on the images there (which look like single images but are actually categories), and you’ll find what you are looking for.
6. Startup Stock Photos- The name says it all
If you are looking for some of the best free stock photos for a startup-related project, this is the place for you. But if you are looking for something else, this site is a strict no-go. All the images here are perfectly oriented for small agencies, startups, or creative agency stock photos, and nothing else at all.
Image quality: 25/25
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 15/20
Ease of Search: 0/15
Disciplined Categorization: 0/15
User-friendly UI: 5/10
Hassles of logging in: 5/5
Availability of Trending Items: 5/5
Special Features: 0/5
Total Score: 55/100
Pros: Object-oriented.
Cons: No search option available, and navigation is not that good either.
7. Picjumbo- If you have landed here, you don’t need to go anywhere else!
[BEST OF THE LOT!]
You will not believe how psyched one of my designer friends was when I suggested he check out Picjumbo. And his euphoria was not illogical. While browsing these websites for the best free stock photos, this was the one that set the bar really, really high. In fact, it scored a perfect 100/100 on all the criteria we assessed these websites on. Must check out their “Test Drive” feature; it’s one-of-a-kind!
Image quality: 25/25
Copyright Flexibility/Royalty-Free Availability: 20/20
Ease of Search: 15/15
Disciplined Categorization: 15/15
User-friendly UI: 10/10
Hassles of logging in: 5/5
Availability of Trending Items: 5/5
Special Features: 5/5
Total Score: 100/100
Pros: Whatever you are looking for, you will find it here.
Cons: We didn’t find any.
8. Pikwizard – A rich library of free photos
This is a new website with 100,000 free images, and it updates the library regularly. Also, they store a good number of people’s pictures, which is a great benefit for designing your websites or apps with dummy images. No attribution is required if you add the images to your project. Sounds interesting? Then, insert it on your favorite list.
That’s not all from us. We will be adding some more websites (including Pixabay, Pexels, Designers Pics, etc.) to this list very soon. Keep in touch until then, and let us know what you think of this list. And in the comment section, don’t forget to suggest to us your own favorite source of the best free stock photos that you think should be added to this list.
