Are you looking to increase the efficiency and impact of many targeted audiences in a unique way? Well, have you heard of stock photos and stock photo sites? They are mostly used in images for web designs, editorial, commercial, artistic, and entertainment activities as they have a greater impact on these project types’ target audiences. As there is a popular saying that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and it is true indeed.

There is much research these days pointing out that human beings have a better reaction to images as compared to audio or text. When there is a visual stimulus, it improves communication that makes it more effective to broadcast messages to a larger public. Due to this, stock photos are the main point of marketing, publishing, branding, and artistic productions. In case you are required to catch the audience’s attention, you need to make use of these images. Stock photo is a supply of photos that are mostly licensed for precise use. The main reason for using stock photos for your projects are:

• It saves time. Stock photos are already developed, edited, and are easily available to download and can be used as it is.
• It saves money. The stock photos that are under Royalty Free license are available at a lower cost as compared to photographer charges on hiring them. 

Using stock photos, you just need to pay for an image and use it after downloading it. So, if you do not have much visual material, you can get it from the best stock photo sites. Many of these photos are free of copyright-licenses or restrictions. This would mean that you can copy, update, distribute, and develop the work even for any commercial use without requesting permission. There are many growing websites with good stock photos exploding from all over the web. In this article, you will get to see the best stock photo websites that you can use. 

1. StockSnap.io

This is the best stock photo site free of cost. It has a large selection of wonderful free stock photos. All the images are of high resolution. This best stock photo site has an easy search feature that makes it easy to browse almost thousands of images that are available in it. Also, this free stock photo site tracks the various views and downloads so that you would be able to find the most popular photo available. This site keeps adding many images per day and all the photos it has been released under the public domain.

2. Pexels

This is another best stock photo site that is ideal for your projects. Pexels is a free stock photo site that provides video as well. It has its app as well that helps the bloggers, designers, and all those who look out for images and videos easily downloadable. You can easily download a photo from this website for free. Pexels offers you with high-quality free images. Its stock photos are certified under the Creative Commons Zero (CCO) license.

In Pexels, all its photos are very well tagged, easy to discover, and searchable using their discovery pages. It provides the following:

• Photos – The website provides numerous free stock photos and each day new high-quality images get added to the website. All the photos are taken carefully from images that are uploaded by Pexels users or they are sourced from free image websites. The website ensures that all the published images are licensed and are of high-quality. 

• Photo Sources – Pexels adds only free photos that are provided by their photographer’s community.  These photos are included in their photo database and the website constantly tries to deliver many high-quality free images to people who make use of the website.

3. Unsplash

Yet another best stock photo site is Unsplash that provides a huge collection of high-quality free images and is one of the best sources for stock images. It is a platform driven by the Amazon community that has provided numerous photos to trigger creativity worldwide. So, you can sign for this free site and get access to millions of photos and can do whatever you require with it.

The photos on this platform are licensed and can be used for free. These photos can be used for commercial and non-commercial use. You need not request permission for using it. This site provides you with a worldwide copyright license to copy, update, download, and use these photos. 

4. Burst

A best stock photo site from Shopify, Burst provides free photos for entrepreneurs. Few of the photos in this site are licensed under Creative Commons CCO while few other photos are licensed under the own license of Shopify. This free stock photo site has been introduced to help entrepreneurs to make better products, marketing campaigns, and websites. Most of its photos are original ones that were taken by the in-house and are themed across the current business domains.

5. Reshot

Yet stock photo website, Reshot is a huge handpicked photo library that is unique by itself. These photos are specially designed for freelancers, start-ups who are always on the search for photos. This is a free stock photo website and can be used editorially and commercially. This site provides the best emerging photographers and they share their beautiful work on the platform for free to be used in good and creative projects.

The site aims to provide creators a free exchange of the best visual content in the world. As the Reshot site is a creative site, it aims to bring creative people to a common platform. The site updates in a slow fashion and takes out its time to get a shot. The team here looks at many things uniquely and ponders on the way it can be done better. Also, the site is unique and authentic. 

6. Pixabay

Also a best stock photo website, Pixabay provides a big collection of free stock photos, art illustrations, and vectors. All the photos in this site are licensed under the Creative Commons CCO. It is an international site and a free stock photo site. It can be used to share many photos, film footage, music, illustrations, and vector graphics. It provides almost 1,188,454 free photos, vectors, videos, and illustrations. On this platform, users can get and provide footage films and high-quality images.

To upload and download images of full size, you need to have free registration. When a contributor uploads the files, the copyright is waived off and its rights. Shown content may be protected by publicity, trademarks, or privacy rights. To ensure that all the uploaded photos meet up with the high-quality standards and to avoid legal issues, these photos will be checked manually by the team members.

7. Freestocks.org

This is one of the best stock photo sites that provides a collection of high-quality free images. The images can be used for personal projects and commercial under the license of CC0. The photos placed in this platform are new and useful in style. It is taken care of that it would fit each one’s daily purpose and for more specific and complex projects. In the site, there is a wide range of themes that can be used for many purposes and occasions.

This site’s image collection is divided into many categories like nature, people, food, drinks, nature, and many more. Dividing into many categories would help you to easily browse through the specific category you require. Using the search box, you can easily browse through the category you require. Instead of browsing the entire page, you can narrow down the searching of the desired category. 

8. Picography

This site is excellent among all stock photo sites, that provide splendid images to many people for the past few years. At present, this site is one of the top sources for high-resolution, gorgeous, and free photos. You can make use of the site in whichever way you like without any attribution. It is a free license and can be used in any way. The site provides a search option for users to enter the photos that they are looking out for.

The site also provides the photos listed category-wise. Each category has its photo sets and it can be taken going to the specific category. Dividing into many categories would help you to easily browse through the specific category you require. Using the search box, you can easily browse through the category you require. Instead of browsing the entire page, you can narrow down the searching of the desired category.

9. Foca

One of the best stock photo sites, Foca offers free CC0 photography for both commercial and personal use. The photos can be used on projects, websites, apps, themes, and many more. It was formed during the year 2014 and ever since its formation, there are numerous photos, and many are available for free as well. The photos spread across many categories that include city scenes, nature, macro, and workspaces photography. These photos are available for free and can be used for commercial and personal use.

The main features of this stock photo site are:

• Free To Use – Free photos are all licensed under the CC0 license. Hence, the photos here are freely used and can be redistributed.
• New Photos Every Week – This site has new photos being added every week. So, users can keep checking the site on a regular basis. 
• Highly Curated – The photos of the site are good and best, tagged for easy search and find. 

10. Picjumbo

Picjumbo is a group of totally free photos. These photos can best be used for commercial and personal use. Every day, new photos are added, and the photos are arranged category-wise that includes nature, fashion, technology, and many more. The site has many categories like free food photos, business photos, abstract photos, technology photos, and nature photos. You just need to use the search bar on the menu and go-ahead to get the photo. The free images of Picjumbo do not have any watermark and all the photos are free. The site has free photos that can be used for blogs and commercial purposes. Also, the site has very high-resolution images, free website images, and templates. The photos that are published on the site are free and can be downloaded.

Its main features are the following:

• The photos of this site do not have a watermark
• The photos of this site are of high-resolution
• The photos are free of charge and can be used for commercial use
• The photos are easily downloadable

11. SkitterPhoto

Also regarded as a best stock photo site, SkitterPhoto has been in since 2014 and provides an opportunity for the photographers across the world to showcase their work. They can also share their work worldwide through this platform. The photos uploaded on SkitterPhoto are available in the public domain.

This would mean that all the photos on this site are available to use freely and for any purpose. You can also download the photos from the site and update the photos as well. It can be used for commercial purposes also. The photos are arranged in category-wise and can search using the categories and can be searched using keywords.

12. Picspree

Also a best stock photo site, Picspree offers a huge selection of high-quality free images. You can easily search and download photos. It is an excellent site for web professionals and small businesses. You can look out for high-quality photos and need not worry about licensing. The photos can be used for personal and commercial purposes.

The site also provides the photos listed category-wise. Each category has its photo sets and it can be taken going to the specific category. Dividing into many categories would help you to easily browse through the specific category you require. Using the search box, you can easily browse through the category you require. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many great growing resources for stock photos. These stock photo sites have become easy for marketers, website designers, and bloggers.