The right visuals for your brand speak volumes, and stock photos can play a part in that.
But design and visual content is the biggest challenge for about 24 percent of content marketers.
Using the right website to search for and discover quality stock photos can help. Stock photos are created by photographers that are available for use by others.
Many stock photos are free from copyright restrictions or licensed under the creative commons public domain, so you can copy, modify and distribute them without asking for permission, even for commercial purposes. But some stock photos do require attribution, so make sure that you keep an eye out for any usage restrictions or requirements.
Check out our five tips to select stock photos that aren’t obvious stock photos (or cheesy, in other words).
The following are 16 of the best websites that you can use to find quality stock photos. (And most of these are free to use.)
Shutterstock
One of the more well-known stock photo websites, Shutterstock offers more than 250 million high-quality, licensed images. It also adds about 200,000 more images daily. But Shutterstock is more than just photos. It also has vector images, editorial pieces, music, videos and more.
Shutterstock is available through such applications as PowerPoint, and you can also create social media posts with built-in editing tools.
Monthly plans start at $29 per month and increase in price as the number of monthly downloads increases. Pre-paid photo packs also are available if a full subscription does make sense for your business. A free trial is available as well.
StockSnap.io
StockSnap.io has thousands of stock photos organized into different categories for easy access, as well as a search function to dig deeper.
The website adds hundreds of images on a daily basis.
It shows each photo’s views, like and downloads so that you can get a sense of how commonly used any particular image is (so that you can ultimately use images that are not so popular and feel unique to your brand). This is a free website for you to use.
Pexels
Access hundreds of thousands of free stock photos for any need on Pexels. Images are hand-picked from user uploads, as well as other sources. The intent is to offer the best of the best.
Its stock photos are tagged, which makes them easily searchable. You also have a variety of sizing options when downloading, including custom sizing.
Unsplash
Unsplash is unique in the sense that you’ll likely find stock photos there that you won’t find elsewhere.
All images are free for you to use however you like without attribution because contributing photographers are essentially donating them to Unsplash for open usage.
The website releases 10 new stock photos every 10 days.
Getty Images
You may have already heard of Getty Images, which is a high-profile website with more than 200 million image, video and music assets (and more) that can be used for advertising, graphic design, print and online.
Once you find a stock photo you want, you’ll see multiple sizing options that vary in price. A single image can cost as much as $499, depending on the size.
Getty Images also offers a variety of tools, content and services for you to explore. If you’re interested in more than one-off image purchases or photo packs, you can request a demo from their team.
Pixabay
Pixabay offers more than 1.6 million stock photos for you to choose from. The website is easy to use, and you can filter based on image type as well.
It also offers free video content for you to use and is entirely free.
Foodiesfeed
If your brand centers around food in any way, you’ll want to check out Foodiesfeed. It features detailed food images.
Foodiesfeed has more than 1,300 stock photos that can be filtered by food types and other tag characteristics. You’ll also see related images as you view an image to help you discover more. This is a free website to use.
New Old Stock
New Old Stock features old, vintage photos that are pulled from the public archive via Flickr Commons. This is a great website to peruse if you’re looking for throwback stock photos that can bring a sense of nostalgia to your content.
It’s also a free website to use.
Death to Stock
Death to Stock bucks against how complicated it can be to find the right stock photos by offering a photo library membership that has curated images.
The website subscription costs $12 per month for small businesses, $21 per month for agencies and $399 per year for partners. Death to Stock features more than 3,500 photos, as well as hours of video footage that can be used.
Vecteezy
You can access millions of free, high-quality stock photos through Vecteezy. You also will find vectors, illustrations and 4K stock videos.
Most of the resources are free to download, but Vecteezy also offers premium resources through a subscription that starts at $9 per month.
Reshot
Reshot gives you access to icons and vector illustrations that you can use in various projects. You can even download the format you need, including SVG, PNG and more.
Everything is free to use on Reshot.
NegativeSpace
A great feature of NegativeSpace is the ability to filter stock photos by color, which can be very helpful. Otherwise, the website offers new and free images every week for personal or commercial usage.
You also can sign up for NegativeSpace’s email list to get the latest stock photos delivered to your inbox. This is a free website to use.
Kaboompics
Kaboompics has stock photos and features that are great for lifestyle and interior design brands. It features more than 12,000 free images than can be downloaded in several different size options.
In addition, you can download a color palette that complements your selected stock photo, and you can view images that match the photoshoot and download those related images as well. This is a free website that you can use.
StockUnlimited
Looking for a huge selection of stock photos? StockUnlimited has more than 1 million stock photos, vectors, icons and even fonts and templates with their subscription plan.
The website offers more than two dozen categories that include wildlife and beauty, among others. StockUnlimited adds thousands of new images every week.
The subscription costs $19 per month, $79 per year or $169 for three years. There also is a Download Pack plan, where you can download a particular number of assets for a fee.
Picography
Picography prides itself on well-organized free stock photos. You can browse the most popular search terms of the day, enter your own search query or explore the variety of categories available.
This website is entirely free to use.
Fancycrave
If your brand is seeking visuals that are more on the artistic, emotional side, consider Fancycrave. You can browse by category, whether its their free or paid stock photo options.
Fancycrave also offers a robust blog that typically features tips and advice on a range of topics that could assist your next project.
You can use the free section of the website, but if you want more, the $9.99 per month subscription gets you instant access to 41 premium collections and more than 2,250 stock photos, with more than 50 new photos added monthly.
In conclusion
The beauty of stock photo websites (the free ones in particular) is that you can explore without any sort of commitment until you identify the best sites for you. It’s important to bookmark what you like the best but also know that you don’t have to use just one.
As you begin to explore these stock photo websites, consider optimizing the digital marketing process that you’re using those images in. This includes email marketing, landing pages, as well as automation, audience segmentation and enhanced targeting capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.
