Where to find great royalty-free photos for your website
You’ll have noticed how much difference good photos can make a website. But hiring a photographer or buying stock photos can get expensive – not ideal when you’re starting your business. Thankfully, there’s a solution: free royalty-free photos.
Yes, when you’re ready to commission professional photos, you’ll take your website to the next level. But stock photos will do a great job for you when you’re starting out on your website journey. And we still use some stock photos on our website.
In this blog, I’ll explain what royalty-free photos are and my favourite places to find them.
What are “royalty-free photos”?
First things first, let’s clear up what “royalty-free” actually means. When you use a royalty-free photo, you don’t have to pay ongoing fees to the photographer or owner. Once you download the image, you can usually use it as many times as you like, including for commercial purposes like your business website.
But keep in mind that “royalty-free” doesn’t always mean the photo is completely free. Some websites might still charge a one-time fee, so it’s important to look for websites that offer free royalty-free photos.
Where to find free royalty-free photos for your website
Here are my favourite royalty-free photography websites to start your search:
1. Unsplash
My favourite. Unsplash is one of the most popular sources for free photos, and for good reason. It’s packed with high-quality images from talented photographers all around the world. You can browse by categories like “business,” “nature,” “technology,” and more, making it easy to find something that fits your brand.
- Best for: Beautiful landscape shots, professional product photos, and artistic images to add flair to your site.
- Pro tip: While it’s not required, it’s always nice to credit the photographer. Plus, it shows a bit of appreciation for their work!
2. Pixabay
With over 2.7 million free images, illustrations, and videos, Pixabay’s a goldmine for finding just about anything you need. It covers everything from business-related snaps to lifestyle shots, so no matter what your website is about, you’ll likely find something that fits.
- Best for: a wide variety of images for all sorts of industries and website themes. Whether you need photos of office life or scenic views, you’re covered.
- Pro tip: Pixabay also has vector graphics and illustrations that are great if you want something a bit more creative than just regular photos.
3. Pexels
Pexels is another great resource for free royalty-free photos, with a library full of modern, professional images. It’s particularly good if you’re after clean, trendy photos that suit a more contemporary website.
- Best for: sleek, professional photos. It’s also great for images of people, such as entrepreneurs at work or happy customers using products.
- Pro tip: Pexels works well with design tools like Canva (but see number 6 too), so you can quickly create social media graphics or banners for your website.
4. Gratisography
Bit of a new discovery for me, and great if you want something a bit quirky and different. It’s a smaller collection, but the images are more creative and fun. If you want to show off your brand’s personality, Gratisography can help you stand out.
- Best for: unique, eye-catching images with a bit of a playful vibe.
- Pro tip: use these fun, bold images to add some personality to your pages. Great for blog headers or section dividers.
5. StockSnap.io
StockSnap.io offers free, high-quality images under the Creative Commons CC0 license, which means you can use them commercially without having to worry about attribution. The site is also easy to navigate with a useful search function.
- Best for: clean, modern images that are perfect for tech or service-based websites.
- Pro tip: have a look at their “Trending” section for inspiration, but if you want something less common, avoid the most downloaded images and dig a little deeper.
6. Canva
Canva is not just for designing (although it’s brilliant for that too) – it’s also an excellent resource for free stock photos. In addition to offering design templates, Canva’s library is filled with millions of free images, many of which are royalty-free. You can search for and add photos directly into your design projects, whether you’re creating social media graphics, website banners, or even presentations.
- Best for: integrated design and image sourcing all in one place. Perfect if who want to quickly create visuals and find photos in the same platform.
- Pro tip: while many images are free, Canva also offers premium options, so make sure you filter for “free” to avoid any unexpected costs.
Extra help
Now you know some great websites to use, read my blog on how to choose royalty-free photos and what common mistakes to avoid.
Once you’ve sourced your royalty-free photos, read our blog explaining how to add images to your website correctly, so your website will work beautifully as well as look beautiful.
Category: Demystifying Websites, Small Businesses