9 Free Sources of Free High-quality Images, Illustrations and Icons

High-quality images and illustrations have always been an important part of web design and content creation. Unfortunately, until this day, the vast majority of people choose to display all known stock pictures of people chatting & laughing at the meeting, whether they run a consulting business or a boiler repair company.

The main problem with this approach is that there is no originality nor uniqueness to differentiate the site from its rivals. That said, more and more websites are starting to take their designs seriously, and we are now seeing some beautiful images appear on many websites.

With the number of great stock photo platforms, there are simply no excuses not to get an attractive visual for your site.

In this post, we’ve created a comprehensive list of websites that offer free images, illustrations and icons.

If you’re looking for a tool that searches for images across multiple websites, check out this free photo finder.

1. Pixabay

With a collection of over 750,000 images, illustrations and vectors, Pixabay is my number 1 site that I use to find images to use on my site. All images are released free of copyrights, which enables you to download and modify for both, personal and commercial use. Pixabay also has an excellent database of free stock videos.

Attribution: No attribution required
Note: Not all images and videos are top-notch quality. You may find repetitive pictures.

2. FlatIcon

Flaticon has an enormous database of over 210,000 icons that you can use for free. These are grouped into handy themed packages, which makes it easier for you to choose the preferred design.

You can download any vector for free in PNG, SVG, EPS or PSD format, as long as you credit the author.

Attribution: Attribution required with a Free Plan
Note: No attribution required with a Pro Plan ($9.99/month)

3. Unsplash

Unsplash is a great source of high resolution & quality images for your website or blog. To ensure easy navigation, all images have been allocated under relevant collections.

You are allowed to copy, edit, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes.

Attribution: No attribution required
Note: The database isn’t as large as Pixabay’s, but, generally, images from Unsplash are higher quality.

4. StockSnap

With hundreds of images added weekly, StockSnap has a huge inventory of high-quality photos that fall under the Creative Commons CC0 License. This means you can edit, download, copy and use all images for personal and commercial use.

Attribution: No attribution required
Note: All photos are real-life, which means you won’t be able to find illustrations on StockSnap.

5. Picjumbo

Another collection of free stock photos with wide range of categories, such as Animals, Business, Fashion, People, Technology and many more. You are allowed to copy, edit, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes.

Attribution: No attribution required
Note: Premium Memberships available from $10/month.

6. Pexels

Pexels offers an amazing range of high-quality images and videos. They add roughly 100 new images every day that you can use, modify and distribute for free, for personal and commercial use.

Attribution: No attribution required
Note: The vast majority of images on Pexels come from other Free Stock websites, such as Pixabay and Unsplash.

7. Google Advanced Image Search

Google has millions of images in its database. However, most of those images are set under license. You can use Google Advanced Image Search to find images labelled to reuse with modification.

Type in your preferred image name in a search box > go to images tab > search tools > usage rights

Attribution: No attribution required when selected “labelled to reuse with modification”.
Note: Please make sure to select appropriate usage rights before using images on your site or blog.

8. Freepik

Freepik is an extensive database of Free graphic resources, such as Vectors, PSD files, Icons, Photos and Illustrations that you can download individually or in packages. Freepik allows Free downloads as long as you credit the author.

Attribution: Attribution required with a Free Plan
Note: No attribution required with a Pro Plan ($9.99/month)

9. Gratisography

Gratisography has a beautiful selection of top-notch high-resolution pictures that you can use on your personal and commercial projects. Most images are exceptionally good looking.

Attribution: No attribution required
Note: The database isn’t as large as on Pixabay, but the quality is just a whole new level.