Stock Photos are the collected images in high-quality resolution, which is used for commercial, editorial, or entertainment purposes. Mostly, professional photographers and artists upload their pictures on stock photo sites to earn some money. If you are searching for a stock photos provider, Pexels is the best choice for you. It is one of the leading stock image websites that offers thousands of great pictures free of charge. Apart from photos, it also provides impressive videos that you can download for free. Further, the great things about Pexels, you can share your own created pictures and videos. Also, it has an appealing homepage for users. On the other hand, its main drawback is that it has limited categories or filter options to quickly find your wanted pictures. So, to give you the best sites like Pexels, I compiled the best websites for stock images as other references.
Pixabay
Distinctive feature: It has a “SafeSearch filter,” which blocks unnecessary and explicit images.
We consider Pixabay as the best alternative to Pexels since it provides quality images and videos for free. This website allows you to download pictures or videos without giving credits to the makers compared to other stock images contributors. Aside from photos and videos, it also offers Vector graphics and Illustrations. In case you would like to find a specific picture-genre, scroll down and click the "Discover Menu" to expand the website. You can hit the "Category" to select from the given list at the upper right part of the page. It includes "Animals," "Architecture," "Food," and more.
- It has enough filters to find the type of picture you are looking for easily.
- It has an “Orientation” tab to choose between Horizontal or Vertical type of images.
- It has a “Clear Filters” button to bring it back to its default set up quickly.
- It’s an excellent resource for HD and 4k resolution for videos.
- It takes several days before your own created images will be uploaded on the site.
Flickr
Flickr is next on the lists when you are looking for a free stock photos site similar to Pexels. It offers an extensive library for images that you can use for business or personal purposes. From its main page, hit "Explore" at the upper left part to check varieties of images created by different designers. From its "Explore" feature, you will see different categories, like the Recent Photos, Trending, The Commons, and others. Moreover, it has a search engine found at the upper right part of its page. You can use it to locate a particular picture that you are looking for.
- You can upload your own created photos up to 1000 and more.
- You can follow featured photographers to be updated on their recent posts.
- It has pop-up advertisements.
- You need to sign up first to access the website.
Burst
Another alternative to Pexels is Burst. It is designed to supply various collected photos, especially for commercial purposes, since some of the pictures are for trending business ideas. Also, you can see top free pictures of the week on its home page. All of the images that you can download on Burst are for free. Plus, you can save them in larger or smaller sizes and still retain its good quality through its "Photo Size" feature. Aside from this, if you are worried about violating any copyright contents, this site offers some Commons CC0 pictures. These types of pictures are royalty-free, so they are safe to download without breaking any copyright concerns. On the other hand, some photographs are protected with a photo license.
- It has the "Collections" feature to view all genres available on the site.
- It has a "Popular Categories" for to see the latest trends in every season.
- You can only sell your own photos or arts up to 14 days with its free trial version.
Kaboompics
Kaboompics is similar to Pexels since it provides a vast library of photos in high quality. The best thing about this website is its search bar. It has a color picker to help you find the perfect picture you desire. Apart from that, you can change the orientation of the image between vertical and horizontal. Furthermore, Kaboompics is divided into two modes, which are "All Photos" and "Photoshoot." From the "All Photos" mode, you will find "Featured Photos," "Newest Photo," "Oldest Photos," "Most Downloaded," and "Least Downloaded." In terms of "Photoshoots," it is sorted into three categories, which are the "Newest," "Featured," and "Oldest."
- All the images are for free, even if they are used for commercial purposes.
- It has a “Blog” feature where users can share their stories.
- Kaboompics requires you to avail Premium Version first before you can get Premium photos.
Unsplash
If you are looking for Pexels similar sites, then Unsplash is the right choice. This website has an extensive library of high-resolution and curated images under their license. Unsplash also offers relevant free stock images. The site compiles all the pictures by themes to quickly find the photos you are searching for. You can easily see its search bar since it is placed at the center of the homepage. All the photos available here are free to download. Apart from this, it also allows you to share and upload your own designed images.
- You can easily navigate the site since it has well-ordered filters to its homepage.
- Most of the images are not designed for commercial purposes.
Shutterstock
If you are looking for excellent Pexels alternatives for stock photos, Shutterstock is a reliable source. It has thousands of images and videos that you can download easily. Also, Shutterstock contains vectors, mockups, PNG, and the likes that you can use for graphic editing purposes. Besides, Shutterstock allows you to edit images, like adjusting the size to Facebook cover, posting, Instagram posts, Twitter posts, and more. However, you first need to sign up for an account to start with Shutterstock. But once you are registered, you can get a total of 750 images in a single day.
- The biggest provider of stock photos.
- You can choose a lot of high-definition images.
- You can't access the site if you didn't sign up.
- The free download photos contain watermarks.
Things to Consider for a Good Photo Site
There are a lot of stock images websites over the internet. All of them undoubtedly provide amazing pictures. However, we should consider the site first if it is good or not through the following categories below.
Things to Know:
- It should provide a massive collection of images and videos of high quality.
- It must have images that you can use for business or personal purposes.
- The web page has appealing and encouraging for the users.
- It should allow users to download photos for free.
- It provides enough filters to quickly find the pictures they are looking for.
