As B2B marketers, we all know that visual content in our blogs, emails, newsletters, and social media has to catch the reader’s eye and should be in high quality. When they don’t look like just another stock photo, they compliment the written content to be just as engaging. In addition, according to Social Media Examiner, posts with high-quality photos perform much better on social media, than a simple link or text.
It is easy to search for images using Google, but those photos might be protected. Another option is to sort through Flickr’s free Creative Commons images, but that could take hours before you find a gem. To save time and hassle, you could buy a membership or credits at other stock photo websites like Shutterstock, 123RF, and so on, but for many, it can be too expensive.
Well, good news! I’ve created a list of the best free high-quality stock photo websites with a review on the most important aspects so that you, as B2B marketers, don’t have to waste any time searching:
- Accessibility of the pictures: registration is required or not
- Is it possible to search on the website?
- Is it required to attribute the content to the creator?
- How frequently is new content added?
- What kind of photo categories are available?
Top 10 free high-quality photos stocks:
#1 Magdeleine
Magdeleine offers a simple website with a lot of free, high-quality images. Photos published on this site can be used however you want.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Available. You can search and browse by categories on the site and even according to the dominant color(s)
- Attributing: Required
- Updates: New photos added daily
- Categories: Nature, City & Architecture, People, Animals, Food, Technology, Objects, Abstract
#2 Picjumbo
Photos on Picjumbo are free for personal and commercial use.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Allowed. You can search and browse by categories on the site
- Attributing: Not required (for almost all images), but greatly appreciated
- Updates: New photos added frequently
- Categories: Abstract, Animals, Architecture, Business, Christmas, Fashion, Food, Nature, People, Roads, Snow & Winter, Sunlights, Technology, Objects, Wedding
#3 Gratisography
Pictures fall under the Creative Commons Zero license, so this website offers free high-resolution images and you can use them on your personal and commercial projects.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Not available
- Attributing: Not required, but always appreciated
- Updates: New pictures added every week
- Categories: People, Objects, Food, Animals, Landscape, Buildings, Sports
#4 Stocksnap
Photos on StockSnap fall under the Creative Commons license. You can copy, modify, and distribute photos for personal and commercial use.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Allowed but no clear categorization
- Attributing: Not required
- Updates: New pictures added daily
- Categories: Food, Buildings, Object, Landscape, Animals, People, Miscellaneous
#5 IM creator
IM Creator offers a collection of free resources, all for commercial use.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Available and you can browse by category
- Attributing: Some photos require attribution
- Updates: Not certain
- Categories: Templates, People, Icons, Technology, Food and Drink, Sports, Education, Objects, Fashion, Nature, Inspiration, Art, B&W, Occupation, Lifestyle, Recreation, Ambient, City, Transportation
#6 Public domain images
Pictures are free for personal and commercial use. You can copy, modify, distribute, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Available
- Attributing: Not required
- Updates: New images added weekly
- Categories: Abstract, Animals, Architecture, Art, Backgrounds, Bokeh, Book, Business, Craft, Crafts, Dream, Electronics, Fashion, Feather, Food, Free Stock Photos, Landscapes, Modern, Music, Nature, Party, Pastel, People, Plants, Public, Sports, Technology, Transportation, Vintage, Wood
#7 Getrefe
A pretty simple interface and royalty-free, high-quality, natural-looking photos.
- Accessibility: Registration required
- Search: Available, and you can browse by categories
- Attributing: Not required
- Updates: Photos added regularly
- Categories: Abstract, Business, Food, Free, Home, Lifestyle, Nature, Outdoor, Packs, Transportation, Travel
#8 Startup stock photos
Pictures are free, and you can use them however you want. Perfect for startup landing pages and simple websites.
- Accessibility: No registration required.
- Search: Not available
- Attributing: Not required
- Updates: Frequency unknown
- Categories: Startup, Office, Computers, People
#9 Foodie’s feed
Are you looking for pictures of food? Even if you’re a B2B marketer, sometimes food does help illustrate specific points. Well, now you’ve got it.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Available and you can browse among thematic packages
- Attributing: Not required
- Categories: Food and even more food
#10 New old stock
This site offers free old photos without copyright restrictions.
- Accessibility: No registration required
- Search: Not available
- Attributing: Not required
- Updates: Frequency unknown
- Categories: Random vintage photos
I hope the beautiful images you find on these websites help improve your reach. I’ll just quickly add that if you have great photos, people tend to hover their mouse over them. If you want to add another level of monetization to your blog, check out Imonomy–it’s a cool in-image platform that doesn’t make your website look like a spammy, untrustworthy billboard. To share your blogs in social media efficiently and see if they bring you leads, try Oktopost.
If you want to deep-dive into a comparison guide for stock photo websites, you can check out a 6,000-word guide on stock image websites.
Do you have another website that we should add to this list? Please tell us what you like to use most and why.
