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10 Free Stock Image Sites

Never pay for stock images again if you use the following list of sites to source your images! These are all royal-free, high quality, high resolution images that don’t suck like the ones you get when you search cheap stock photo sites (we won’t name any names). Most of these sites are created by photographers themselves and are a way to share their work. Some are curated from multiple photographers and most have some sort of money making spin to them such as banner ads, premium photos or donate to show your gratitude and/or appreciation.

The top 10 are our own favourites and listed in order of which ones we think are best. These may differ for you.

1. ISO Republic – Free stock photos for creatives is its motto. Covers categories such as architecture, food/drink, nature, people, urban, technology, textures and various others. Has a search feature as well as browse through categories so fairly easy to use. Runs banner ads and sells premium packages as well.
2. Picography – Free images to use however you like by Dave Meier.  Has search feature but no browse by categories. Sells premium membership which has curated photo packs and collections which make it easier to browse.
3. Raumrot – 1366 and counting free handpicked and curated stock photos for commercial and personal use. Has curated sets and categories for easy browsing although lacks a search feature. Sells special curated sets to make money.
4. Unsplash – Free high-resolutions photos. Has search feature as well as collections so easy to browse. Curated by a group of creatives so you get a good variety of types of photos. Doesn’t appear to have a revenue model as there is no advertising or subscriptions.
5. Gratisography – A project by Ryan McGuire providing free high-resolution pictures anyone can use for both personal and commercial projects. Site has both a search feature as well as categories which include animals, nature, objects, people, urban and whimsical. Photos are quirky and unique. Site has ads on it and you can also donate (buy Ryan a coffee).
6. Magdeleine – Motto is hand-picked free photos for your inspiration. Site has photos by categories as well as other useful search filters such as by license type, dominant colours, or popular tags. Site runs ads as revenue model.
7. Public Domain Archive – 100% free stock photode. Every. Single. Week. High quality images of public areas and things. Site runs ads and has a premium package product. No search or categories list on the home page but once you get into the image itself, those features are available on the right hand column.
8. Foodies Feed – If you want high quality food photos, this is the place to get them. Site is user-friendly with a search and browse by categories although it is riddled with banner ads.
9. Jay Mantri – Motto is free pics. make magic.  Nice images that make for good background shots. Site doesn’t have browse by categories or a search feature so can make it time-consuming to find the right picture.
10. Death to the Stock Photo – They ship a set of beautiful free photos to your inbox every month. Can browse or search so limited use but receive good high quality images to your inbox free without ads.

Enjoy hours of browsing around and looking at beautiful photos. If you see one you like, just download it and use it for whatever purpose without worrying about breaking the law. It might even inspire you to write a new blog, run a new campaign or totally revamp your site.

If you have any other free photo sites you like, we’d love to hear from you.

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Michael Lam

Co-founder of Cornerstone and web junkie, Michael knows just how to diagnose your online problems and remedy the issue. An online enthusiast who believes in technology as an enabler of growth, Michael worries about all the details so you don't have to.