Resources / Stock Photos
Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay are the go-to sources for stunning royalty-free photography, but this collection also surfaces smaller gems like Kaboompics, Nappy, and New Old Stock.
Quick Guide
Use CodeHelper's tools when you need:
- •Privacy & offline processing
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- •Fast, client-side operations
Use external tools when you need:
- •Team collaboration features
- •Cloud storage & synchronization
- •Extensive template libraries
All Tools
Pexels
Photo and video library curated from contributor submissions, searchable by keyword and color, downloads available without an account.
Pexels License: free for commercial and personal use, no attribution required, unlimited downloads.
Unsplash
Photo library sourced from contributor uploads, with a public API for apps; demo API keys are capped at 50 requests per hour.
Unsplash License: free for commercial and noncommercial use, no attribution required; production API access needs approval.
Pixabay
Community contributed library of over 6 million photos, illustrations, vectors, and videos, searchable and filterable by type and color.
Pixabay License: free for commercial use, no attribution required; a free account is needed for the largest image sizes.
Magdeleine
Curated gallery adding new high resolution photos regularly, each tagged with its own license, either CC0 or CC BY requiring credit.
Mix of CC0 and CC BY licensed photos; check each photo's own license tag, since not all are attribution free.
Burst
Shopify owned library of over 20,000 royalty free photos aimed at ecommerce and marketing use, downloadable without creating an account.
Free for commercial use, no attribution required; moved from burst.shopify.com to shopify.com/stock-photos.
Gratisography
Hand picked collection of quirky, high resolution photos released under a license with no copyright restrictions, updated a few times a year.
License without copyright restrictions: free for commercial use, attribution appreciated but not required.
Life of Pix
Small curated library of high resolution photography released under CC0, run independently since 2014 with new sets added periodically.
CC0 license: free for personal and commercial use, no attribution required.
Stock Snap
Growing library of CC0 photos with hundreds of new uploads every week, searchable by keyword and sortable by popularity or freshness.
CC0 license: free for personal and commercial use, no attribution required.
Morguefile
One of the oldest free photo archives online, built from contributor donations into over 350,000 images; may not be resold as stock on their own.
Free for commercial use in finished work, no attribution required; reselling the raw photos themselves is not allowed.
Kaboom Pics
Stock photos paired with matching color palette codes, useful for mockups and design work; a paid Kaboompics PRO tier adds more downloads.
Free tier usable for personal and commercial work; PRO subscription unlocks higher resolution and more photos.
New Old Stock
Small curated archive of vintage and archival photographs pulled from public sources, labeled free of known copyright restrictions.
Free of known copyright restrictions; a small, hand picked collection rather than a large searchable library.
Pic Jumbo
Free tier allows personal and commercial use without watermarks, while a paid membership unlocks the full catalog of 200 plus photo packs.
Free photos usable commercially with no account needed; a lifetime PRO membership unlocks every pack for a one time fee.
Public Domain Pictures
Large archive mixing true public domain images with Creative Commons photos that require photographer credit, each tagged with its own terms.
License varies by photo: some are public domain, others require attribution; check the license tag on each image.
Stockvault
Long running library of categorized photos, textures, and vectors from contributing photographers, with a free account needed for full downloads.
Free account required to download full resolution files; license and attribution rules vary by individual contributor.
Realistic Shots
Small set of free high resolution photos; the gallery shows no visible new uploads in recent years despite its stated weekly schedule.
Free to use; license details are not shown on the homepage, check the site's own Terms of Use page.
Negative Space
CC0 licensed photos added regularly across nature, technology, and lifestyle categories, free for personal and commercial use with no credit needed.
CC0 license: free for personal and commercial use, no attribution required, still updated as of 2025.
SkitterPhoto
Public domain photo archive past 13,000 numbered images, all released CC0 and free to download, edit, and use commercially without credit.
CC0 public domain: free for any use including commercial, no attribution required.
PicoGraphy
High resolution photography released under CC0, with new sets added periodically and individual photographers credited on each photo page.
CC0 license: free for any use without attribution, though crediting the photographer is welcomed.
PxHere
Large user contributed library of CC0 photos searchable by keyword and color, with every image released to the public domain for any use.
CC0 public domain: free for any use including commercial, no attribution required.
Piqsels
Public domain photo search engine built on the same CC0 licensing model as PxHere, with no account or credit needed to download images.
CC0 public domain: free for any use including commercial, no attribution required.
Nappy
Free stock photos of Black and Brown people shot by Black and Brown photographers, filling a gap most stock libraries leave underrepresented.
Free for commercial and personal use, no attribution required; built specifically to diversify stock photography.
Generated Photos
AI generated, fully synthetic model photos rather than real people, avoiding model release issues; a free tier exists alongside a paid API.
Free tier gives limited low resolution downloads; full resolution and bulk commercial use require a paid plan or API key.
Openverse
Search engine indexing openly licensed and public domain media from over 50 sources rather than hosting its own photos; license is set per result.
Maintained by the WordPress Openverse project at openverse.org, moved from wordpress.org/openverse; check each result's license.
Best Free Stock Photos for Developers & Designers
High-quality stock photos are essential for websites, apps, presentations, and marketing materials. Finding royalty-free images that are both visually compelling and safe to use commercially can be time-consuming without the right resources.
For raw volume and an API, start with Unsplash, Pexels, or Pixabay: all three let you use photos commercially without credit, though only Unsplash and Pixabay rate limit their APIs for unapproved apps. If you want zero licensing ambiguity, the CC0 cluster, PxHere, Piqsels, SkitterPhoto, Negative Space, and Picography, marks every photo public domain with no attribution clause to misread.
The pitfall in this category is mixed license galleries: Magdeleine and Public Domain Pictures tag some photos CC0 and others CC BY, so the attribution rule changes per image, not per site. For a distinct look over raw volume, Gratisography, Kaboom Pics, and Pic Jumbo suit mockups and marketing pages, Nappy fills a gap most libraries leave for photos of Black and Brown people, and Generated Photos sidesteps model release issues entirely with synthetic faces.
What to check before you pick one
- Commercial use license: Confirm photos can be used in client work and commercial products without royalty fees.
- Image quality: High-resolution photography (at least 1920px wide) ensures images look sharp on retina displays.
- Search quality: Good search and filtering by orientation, color, and category speeds up your workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best free stock photo websites?
The most popular free stock photo sites include Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, and StockSnap. All offer high-resolution photography free for personal and commercial use under their respective licenses.
Can I use free stock photos commercially?
Most free stock photo sites like Unsplash and Pexels allow commercial use without attribution, but always read the specific license. Some images may have model releases or property restrictions. When in doubt, use photos from sites with explicit commercial-use licenses.
What is the difference between royalty-free and public domain images?
Royalty-free images are licensed for use without paying royalties, but are still copyrighted: you must follow usage terms. Public domain images have no copyright restrictions and can be used freely in any way. Unsplash uses a custom license, while sites like Pixabay offer CC0 public domain options.