Have you ever wondered how these small businesses attain consumer engagement? Managing things becomes difficult when you have a low budget and limited resources. However, you can still make an impact with some intelligent choices. One of them is using free stock photos.
Undoubtedly, photos are imperative for user engagement. Some businesses manage real and custom photography, but others find it heavy on the pocket. Instead, they use free stock images, which are widely available.
Benefits of Using Free Stock Photos
Besides being pocket-friendly, these free stock images reduce the risk for start-ups. Since the new business owners have less experience, they have no idea how their setup will turn out. Therefore, the free ones are the safest option as an investment is not required.
Additionally, some fields require a massive collection of images. For instance, if your website is about travel destinations, you need to show a picture of every element. In this case, free photos can definitely help by providing you with an array of images at zero cost.
You can also choose to purchase stock photos from various sites. Paid stock images are comparatively high in quality but require paying a small fee. Besides this, the collection of paid photos is enormous, and they are unique too. Although not everyone opts for paid images, you can choose to go with them if you want a distinctive selection. They are also less common, and you will avoid the risk of having the same visuals as your competitors.
Purchasing these photos is simple. Many free stock photo sites also offer a paid plan.
Let us now jump to see some of the best free photo sites out there.
1. Unsplash
Unsplash enjoys a big name in the stock photo market. The platform has contributors from different parts of the world, making it a hub of over 2 million images. Also, the total count of photographers is 265,00. The numbers continue to grow, leaving you spoiled for choices.
The site guarantees to provide an image no matter which niche it is. Besides this, the website is user-friendly, and every image comes with a high resolution.
Unsplash Features
- Unsplash has many partners. Few of them include Trello, Buzzfeed, and Squarespace. It means that users can directly access Unsplash photos from these platforms.
- It features a visual composer, which cuts down the time of adding images in the content. You can directly add the image as per the desired size. Small, medium and large size options are available.
- It has an option called Collections. Here you can group the photos as per the colors, textures, themes, etc.
- It provides a free license to everyone.
- It is a platform of high-quality images and a vast repository.
- People from various fields download its photos.
Cons
- The site can improve its filtering option as users complain about getting the exact results even after using the keywords.
2. Pixabay
Pixabay is a diverse site and offers music clips and videos along with pictures. However, all of them are free for download. The site offers more than 2.5 million options in these three categories. Like Unsplash, joining the site is easy, and anyone can become a contributor too.
Pixabay Features
- Pixabay has an option of donations where users can donate an amount for photographers, musicians, and videographers.
- It transfers the donation amount through PayPal.
- It offers a plugin for MS Word and PowerPoint. This plugin enables you to add images with a single click directly.
- It features a safe search option that lets you avoid adult content.
- The site maintains its quality standard by sending a guideline to every contributor. Anything below the guideline is unacceptable.
Cons
- Users cannot run the image URLs on external sites.
3. Depositphotos
Surprisingly, this platform contains more than 222 million stock photos, vectors, music, illustrations, and videos. The vast collection of high-quality images has earned this site great fame in the market. Many top-notch businesses turn towards Depositphotos when they search for royalty-free images.
Furthermore, the site is intuitive and also offers a paid plan. However, people looking only for the free stock images also consider this site their first option.
Depositphotos Features
- It provides an AI-powered search option where users can type the keyword and search for photos.
- It segments the entire library into 35 categories, making it easier to search.
- Users can narrow the search by selecting the most popular, newest, and best-matched options.
- It features a live chat support option.
- It offers plans for individuals as well as businesses. In an individual plan, only one person can download the photos. In contrast, an entire group can use the site in a business plan.
- It provides a feature to create a folder and add all your favorite photos.
- Users can search images in 20 different languages.
Cons
- Since the collection is enormous, searching takes more time than other sites.
- The site offers many advanced search options, but they are accessible only for paid users.
4. Flickr
Flickr is designed to help those looking to showcase their photography along with people who can use their pictures. Thus, it accepts photos taken by any medium like smartphones, professional cameras, or even computers. It also intends to become a platform where users can get free images to share.
Moreover, the site maintains its quality by delivering a set of guidelines to its users. A separate section of rules is present on the site where photographers and other users can view the rules. Flickr is successfully serving its international clientele and also offers a paid plan.
Flickr Features
- It offers a mobile app.
- It provides a Flickr Pro option, which is a paid plan. The option has all the free plan features and some additional benefits.
- The site has a blog where it posts regular updates.
- It provides an option where friends and family can tag, comment, or add a note to the images.
- It has a massive team of professional individuals.
Cons
- Ads are displayed in free accounts.
Final Verdict
Since we have various options for finding free stock photos, picking up the right website looks difficult. Therefore, an ideal solution is to test the most popular sites and then opt for those that suit your needs.
Whether you are searching the stock photos for business, presentation, or personal use, you can always check out the above sites.
Pro-Tip
It’s always a good idea to read the licensing policy and terms and conditions before using any image from a free photo website.
