8 of the best image websites for free high-quality photos

High-quality photos are critical to a successful content marketing and social media strategy.

According to research, content with images gets 94 percent more views, and if a relevant image is paired with the same information, people retain 65 percent of the information three days later.

Unfortunately, people and companies use many bad stock images with their content.

There has been a growing number of websites with beautiful stock images. These images can help your content be more memorable. They can make it “pop” off the page.

The old expression “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings true here.

These free image websites utilize the creative commons zero (CC0) license. This license indicates ownership rights have been waived. Therefore, no attributions are needed.

They are simply in the public domain.

Image websites where you can find free, high-quality photos to use

Here is a curation of the best image websites for free, high-quality stock photos:

Unsplash

Unsplash adds 10 photos every 10 days via an email subscription or via their website.

You can browse the website by scrolling down the home page. You can also browse by new [photos]. Try searching by collection or keywords. Alternatively, search by photographer name.

You can switch to the grid format as well.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.

StockSnap

StockSnap images can be sorted by date, what images are trending, the number of views or downloads.

Its homepage has a big search area where you can search based on keywords or popular searches.

You can also browse by recently added photos.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.

Pixabay

Pixabay has over 940,000 photos, vectors and art illustrations.

You can browse by Editor’s Choice, photographers, videos, photos and cameras that took the photos.

It has a robust or advanced search button. This feature helps you find the right photo based on specific criteria. You can search by orientation (horizontal or vertical), color, and size.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.

Pexels

Pexels’s home page has a big search button that shows popular searches. At the bottom of the home page, they have a “while you were away” section that highlights popular photos.

You can also browse by popular photos and popular searches. You can view the photographer leaderboard. These are users with the most downloads of photos uploaded in the last 30 days.

Pexels curates photos from Gratisography and Unsplash to help you simplify the image search process.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.

Gratisography

You can search by categories such as animals, nature, and objects.

Or you can do a “magic auto search” to find a photo.

Photos are added to the website every week.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.

Negative Space

Negative Space adds new free stock images every week that are sortable by categories such as business, people, and nature.

The website also has a section for popular collections.

If you follow them on social media, you will get updates on new images.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.

Kaboompics

Galleries sort this website. If you click on an image, you will get its name. You will also see a button for related photos. Alternatively, you can quickly download the image.

Featured images also sort it. You can subscribe to their email to stay up-to-date with their blog and latest additions.

Visit their photo license page for the terms and conditions.