The photos you use on your website or social media accounts can influence your brand or business either positively or negatively.
You should always use high-quality resolution photos to showcase professionalism and build brand authority.
Blog posts require images for both aesthetics and for on page optimization.
If you don’t have the resources to get your own images, you can rely on stock images.
In 2020, 29.5% of marketers used stock photos frequently as part of their marketing content [1].
And, 8.4% of these marketers were able to reach their marketing goals in 2020 using stock photos [1].
These numbers are only rising.
Stock Photography
We know you love stock photos just as much as we do!
You’ve probably searched for the perfect photo agency to buy high-quality images and quality photos from, but it’s no picnic in the park.
We want to make this easy for you when you are after new photos and imagery.
There are several websites where you can get stock photos (either for a token or free).
We have compiled a few of them for you in this article to save you having to do a manual search.
So, read on to know more.
Recommended Stock Photography Sites
Below, we will cover free, paid and premium stock photography sites where you can find high quality free images or pay for new images to be used for commercial purposes.
Let’s get cracking.
Shutterstock – An Absolutely Huge Site
With more than 220 million+ images in its library [2], Shutterstock is one of the oldest, largest, and most popular stock photo sites on the internet.
They were the first stock photo website to introduce subscription plans, which other stock photo sites later adopted.
Their image library consists of millions of illustrations, graphics, and royalty-free photos.
The photos, music, beats, and stock videos on the platform are all available in 4K, HD, and SD.
Tens of thousands of new stock images are added every day and you can find just about any photo type you need on this platform.
What makes it premium is its built-in photo editing tool on its website.
With this tool, you can resize and edit the image you bought without leaving the website.
If you aren’t proficient in photo editing, this platform is perfect for you.
Unsplash – Premium Quality Free Stock Photos
This is another free stock photo site for marketers.
Unsplash updates its database every 10 days and always adds 10 royalty-free photos.
The photos on the platforms are of the highest quality and would work on any website or marketing campaign.
Unsplash connects you to the image’s contributors, which cuts across freelance photographers, web developers, etc.
And since all the images are free (over 500,000), you can access them whenever you like.
However, the site uses a custom license, which allows you to download their images but prevents you from offering a similar service using their images.
Pexels – New Stock Images
Just like Unsplash, Pexels offers free high-quality stock images with vastly curated and well-organized photos.
Its search function is easy to use when compared to that of Unsplash, and like Shutterstock, they offer stock videos as well.
Pexels features lots of aesthetically pleasing images and some sponsored images from other paid stock photo sites.
These free stock photos and images are ideal for use on your websites, eCommerce store, or social media accounts.
Gratisography – We All Love Free Images
This stock photography site is a royalty-free photo platform that offers only free stock photos.
Ryan McGuire created Gratisography, and he took all the photos on the platform.
So, you get unique photos with no price attached to them.
If you run an E-commerce site or need some unique stock images for commercial use, use the photos on this website to stand out from the crowd.
Gratisography does not have as many images as other free stock photo sites, but it has unique photos that will stand out anywhere in terms of quality.
iStock – Microstock Agency
iStock is the first microstock company that started selling stock images online, opening doors for the vast industry of stock photo sites we can see today.
Although they operate under a royalty-free license, their content standard is strict, and images are not free.
They offer various subscription plans and credit packs.
Their services are not restricted to stock photos alone.
There is also a wide range of videos, audio files, vectors, and illustrations, which you can choose from.
And with their easy-to-use search box, you can look for specifics and browse through without hassle.
Canva Pro – Unlimited Downloads
Canva Pro is more than a stock photography site because it offers user-friendly editing tools that allow you as a non-designer to create designs according to your preference.
It is the premium version of Canva.com, which requires you to subscribe to any of their plans for complete access to every content and feature.
This versatile site has over 60 million photos and still allows unlimited downloads even with its low pricing.
Getty Images – Prestigious
If you are looking fora stock photography website with innovative stock photos or editorial content with high-resolution visuals, Getty Images has them all.
This platform offers royalty-free content and has an extensive library of top-notch images, illustrations, and videos to choose from.
Its curation policy is strict, and we won’t blame them because they opt for the best content quality.
This, in turn, influences Its pricing rate, making it more expensive than other stock photo agencies.
Getty images also offer a custom solution that allows you to create and design the photos and videos you want.
Its editorial content cuts across various topics and niches, giving you access to exclusive high-profile events and works of international photographers.
Top notch exclusive imagery and photos illustrations.
Adobe Stock – Great For Graphic Designers
Adobe Stock, which was previously called ‘Fotolia’, is one of the popular stock photo sites with a large collection of content in their library.
Irrespective of the device you access their site from, you will find the interface easy to use and navigate.
Adobe Stock features millions of royalty-free images, vectors, videos, illustrations, and editorial content.
The type and quality of the stock images you get on here are ideal for online and offline campaigns.
And if you need content to tell a story about an event, the editorial feature on this site offers several kinds of content to choose from.
Adobe Stock offers a free trial period, which gives you access to about ten images for free for a month.
After that, you can choose from their subscription plans to gain access to their amazing features.
Storyblocks – They Got Videos Too
Storyblocks is a stock image media platform that offers unlimited downloads for fixed subscription plans.
It began life as Videoblocks, which offered royalty-free stock footage under the brand “Videoblocks.”
Later it expanded its offering to include images and audio files, rebranding itself into Storyblocks we know today.
Each type of content has its own library with this being their main still imagery offer.
Making them one of best websites if you want an unlimited number of high quality stock photos!
Storyblocks is different from most stock photography websites.
They have a library with over 400,000 images and freely sell subscriptions to access them.
You can download as many assets you want for $65/month or less than that if you buy the annual subscription (which saves more money).
Their average per-image price goes down dramatically because of how much they offer in their collections compared to other sites!
StockUnlimited – Large Collections
StockUnlimited is a pioneer in the stock imagery industry because they were one of the first to offer unrestricted downloads.
Not only can you download images, but also media files like audio and font files.
Currently boasting over 1 million visuals that includes photos as well other types of media, StockUnlimited remains at the forefront with their unique offering
StockUnlimited is a stock photo site that offers on-demand packs starting at $9 for 10 downloads and up to $50 for 100.
So between $0.50-$0.90 per image.
But the star of their services are unlimited downloads plans which you can hire monthly for $19, yearly for 79$, or three years at 169$.
The plan includes all media types.
It’s a great deal because it grants access to an extensive amount of images without worrying about limitations in quantity like other sites do.
Stock Photo Secrets – Cheap Prices
If you want photos that are within a budget and don’t mind waiting for the duration of your subscription, then Stock Photo Secrets Shop is just perfect with its 99Club plan.
The 200 downloads (up to XXL size) per month come at $0.49 each.
Their customer service is also pretty responsive too which makes it even better.
Pixabay – Tons of Free Photos
Pixabay is a one of the best best free stock photo sites that provides over 1.4 million files, including free stock photos on nature and other topics on their website for users to download and use in projects.
They have amassed this collection while maintaining blog posts with industry updates.
As well as hosting community forums where people can share ideas or ask questions about the company’s services based on professional experience gained elsewhere within the field.
One of the biggest benefits is Creative Commons Zero license.
They have dedicated staff to review photos for their legality and quality so users can use them freely in both personal or commercial projects.
They make money through sponsored ads and redirecting users to other agencies if they click on an image from Shutterstock’s collection in your search results.
However, their native images are still 100% free of charge so you don’t have to worry about breaking the law when using them!
Pixabay also has experienced reviewers who review photos for potential copyright infringement before uploading, which adds further reassurance as well as peace of mind while exploring this great resource.
Summary
This article has covered many of the best stock photo sites.
They are great places to find high quality images for personal and commercial use.
There is a stock photo website for everyone, whether you’re a social media manager, someone running marketing campaigns, or an entrepreneur.
Not minding your budget or reason for wanting a stock photo, you’ll find a website that attends to your needs.
We hope that you make the most out of them.
Remember, you can use as many of these sites as you want to get the image, video, illustration, etc., or other features you are looking for.
keep in mind that you may need to pay for specific imagery.
Please make sure you read the license carefully on the stock site you go with.
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.