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Best Free Stock Photo Librarys of 2026

Updated · 3 picks · live pricing · affiliate disclosure

Pexels ships photos and videos under a CC0-style license with no attribution required.

BEST OVERALL6.5/10

Pexels

Pexels ships photos and videos under a CC0-style license with no attribution required.

Free indefinitely; no card required
Try PexelsSee full review

How it stacks up

  • Free 3.2M photos

    vs Unsplash 6M photos only

  • Free 2M videos

    vs Pixabay vectors and music

  • No attribution required

    vs Adobe Stock paid

#2
Pixabay6.4/10

Free

View
#3
Unsplash+4.0/10

From $12/mo

View

All picks at a glance

#PickBest forStartingScore
1PexelsBest pure-free stock photos and videos under one CC0-style licenseFree6.5/10
2PixabayBest for asset breadth across photos, vectors, illustrations, and musicFree6.4/10
3Unsplash+Best for the largest free photo library with an optional premium upgrade$12.00/mo4.0/10

Quick pick by use case

If you only have thirty seconds, find your situation below and skip to that pick.

If You need photos and videos from one library under one licensePexelsPexels License covers photos and videos under one CC0-style license with no attribution required and no subscription.If You work primarily in Figma, Notion, or Squarespace and want native integrationUnsplash+Unsplash runs native API integration into Figma, Notion, Trello, and Squarespace and ships about 6 million free photos under the Unsplash License.If You build mixed-media projects that need photos, vectors, illustrations, and musicPixabayPixabay covers photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, and music under one CC0-style license; the asset-breadth fits slide decks and social posts.

Compare all 3 picks

Top spec
#1Pexels6.5/10Free——Free 3.2M photos
#2Pixabay6.4/10Free——Free 6M assets
#3Unsplash+4.0/10$12.00/mo$96.00/yr$96/yr moreFree 6M photos
#1

Pexels

6.5/10

Best pure-free stock photos and videos under one CC0-style license

Try PexelsSee Pexels alternatives

Pexels ships photos and videos under a CC0-style license with no attribution required.

PlanMonthlyWhat you get
FreeFreePure-free Pexels License for photos and videos with no attribution required

Pexels is the right pick when the goal is one free library covering both photos and videos with the cleanest commercial-use license. Founded in Berlin in 2014 by Bruno Joseph, Ingo Joseph, and Daniel Frese; Vimeo acquired the platform in September 2018 and the library has remained free with revenue from sponsorships and the Vimeo platform integration.

The Pexels License is CC0-style and explicitly grants free use for any commercial project without attribution and without payment. The library covers about 3.2 million photos plus 2 million videos as of late 2024, all community-uploaded under the same license. The platform also ships a free mobile app for browsing on the go and an API for programmatic access by developers building tools on top of the library.

The trade-off is library breadth and search depth relative to paid competitors. Pexels does not match Adobe Stock or Shutterstock on niche concept photography, on editorial-grade visuals, or on recent-event coverage. For general blog-post imagery, marketing slides, and casual content creation, Pexels covers what most readers actually need at zero cost. Combined with Unsplash, the two libraries cover roughly 8 million photos with no payment.

Pros

  • Pexels License grants free commercial use with no attribution required
  • About 3.2M photos and 2M videos in the free library
  • No subscription, no credit card, no payment ever
  • Owned by Vimeo since 2018 with stable platform support
  • Free mobile app and developer API access

Cons

  • Library smaller than Adobe Stock or Shutterstock by orders of magnitude
  • Search and discovery UX less sophisticated than paid competitors
Free 3.2M photosFree 2M videosNo attribution requiredFree indefinitely; no card required

Best for: Bloggers, marketers, and slide-deck builders who need general imagery a few times a month and want one library covering photos and videos.

Library
9
Search
7
Licensing
9
Value
10
Support
6
Try Pexels
#2

Pixabay

6.4/10

Best for asset breadth across photos, vectors, illustrations, and music

Try PixabaySee Pixabay alternatives

Pixabay ships photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, and music under a CC0-style license.

PlanMonthlyWhat you get
FreeFreeFree photos, illustrations, vectors, and video under the Pixabay License

Pixabay is the right pick when the project needs vectors, illustrations, or music alongside photos and a single library handles all of it under one license. Launched in Germany in 2010, the platform has grown to roughly 6 million pieces of media across photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, and music tracks, all community-uploaded under the Pixabay License.

The Pixabay License is CC0-style and grants free use for any commercial project without attribution and without payment. The asset-type coverage is the wedge: a marketing slide deck that mixes a photo background with a vector icon and a short royalty-free music clip can pull all three from Pixabay rather than stitching together Pexels for photos plus another vector library plus a music library. The platform also exposes an API for developers and a curated free section that filters out lower-quality contributions.

The trade-off is search and discovery quality relative to Unsplash and Pexels. The Pixabay search returns results across asset types in one feed, which can be useful for quick projects but cluttered for pure-photo work where Unsplash or Pexels search returns higher-quality results faster. For asset-breadth use cases, Pixabay leads. For pure-photo work, Unsplash or Pexels covers it more cleanly.

Pros

  • About 6M free assets across photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, and music
  • Pixabay License grants free commercial use with no attribution required
  • Asset-type breadth covers slide decks and social posts in one library
  • Developer API access for programmatic licensing
  • No subscription, no credit card, no payment ever

Cons

  • Search returns mixed asset types in one feed, less clean than Unsplash for pure photo work
  • Image quality varies more than Unsplash or Pexels because moderation is lighter
Free 6M assetsPhotos, vectors, musicNo attribution requiredFree indefinitely; no card required

Best for: Marketers and creators building mixed-media projects who want photos, vectors, and music from one library under one license.

Library
9
Search
7
Licensing
8
Value
10
Support
6
Try Pixabay
#3

Unsplash+

4.0/10$96/yr more

Best for the largest free photo library with an optional premium upgrade

Try Unsplash+See Unsplash+ alternatives

Unsplash ships about 6M free photos plus an optional Plus tier for curated premium.

PlanMonthlyAnnualWhat you get
Unsplash (free)Free—Free 5M+ photo library usable for any commercial project; attribution appreciated but not required
Unsplash+ Individual$12.00/mo$96.00/yrOptional premium tier with curated content, model releases, and legal indemnity

Unsplash is the right pick when the goal is the largest free photo library on the web with an option to upgrade later if curated premium becomes load-bearing. Founded in 2013 by the Crew design agency in Montreal; Getty Images acquired the platform in June 2021 and kept the free library running.

The free Unsplash library ships about 6 million photos under the Unsplash License, which grants free commercial use with attribution appreciated but not required. The library integrates natively into Figma, Notion, Trello, and Squarespace through the Unsplash API, so designers and writers in those tools can search without leaving the app. The optional Plus tier at the entry monthly rate adds curated premium content with signed model releases and legal indemnity.

The trade-off is asset-type coverage. Unsplash is photos-only and does not ship videos, vectors, illustrations, or music; Pexels covers photos and videos under one library, and Pixabay covers vectors and music alongside photos. For pure photo work, Unsplash leads on library size and integration. For mixed-media projects, Pexels or Pixabay fits better as a primary library.

Pros

  • About 6M free photos, the largest free photo library on the web
  • Native API integration into Figma, Notion, Trello, and Squarespace
  • Unsplash License grants free commercial use without attribution required
  • Optional Plus tier adds curated premium with model releases and indemnity
  • Owned by Getty Images since 2021 with stable platform support

Cons

  • Photos only; no videos, vectors, illustrations, or music
  • Plus tier annual prepay drops the equivalent monthly by about a third
Free 6M photosPlus $12/mo optionalAnnual saves about 33%Free indefinitely; no card required

Best for: Writers and designers working in Figma or Notion who want a free photo library integrated natively into their tooling, with an upgrade path.

Library
9
Search
8
Licensing
9
Value
10
Support
7
Try Unsplash+

How we picked

Each pick gets a transparent composite score from price, features, free-tier availability, and editor fit. Pricing flows from our live database, so when a vendor changes prices the score updates here too.

Free-tier framework: license clarity for commercial use without attribution, library breadth and search quality, asset-type coverage beyond photos, and an honest path to a paid upgrade if and only if the reader eventually needs premium curated content. See parent /best/stock-photo for full coverage including paid picks.

We don't claim "30,000 hours of testing." Our methodology is the formula above plus the editor's published verdict for each pick. Verifiable, auditable, and updated when the underlying data changes.

Why trust Subrupt

We're a subscription tracker first, a buying guide second. Every claim on this page is something you can check.

By use case

Best free photos and videos

Pexels

Read the full review →

Try Pexels

Best free largest photo library

Pixabay

Read the full review →

Try Pixabay

Best free asset breadth

Unsplash+

Read the full review →

Try Unsplash+

Didn't make the list

Dreamstime

Cut because the Dreamstime free section is smaller than Pexels or Unsplash. But the platform pairs a free tier with cheap credit subscriptions; useful as a step-up path when free does not cover.

How to choose your Free Stock Photo Library

Three free libraries cover most casual reader needs

The free stock-photo search lands most readers on three libraries that together cover the majority of casual use cases. Pexels covers photos and videos under a CC0-style license and reads as the cleanest single pick when the project needs both. Unsplash ships the largest free photo library on the web with native integration into Figma and Notion and reads as the best primary pick for writers and designers working in those tools. Pixabay covers vectors and music alongside photos and reads as the asset-breadth pick when slide decks or social posts need mixed media. The honest framework: pick one as the primary and treat the other two as fallbacks for the gaps. Most casual readers do not need to subscribe to any paid stock-photo service; the combined free libraries cover what they actually use.

License clarity: when free really means free for commercial use

The three free libraries all run permissive CC0-style licenses, but the legal language matters when the project is paid client work or commercial advertising. Pexels License grants free use for any commercial project without attribution. Unsplash License grants free commercial use with attribution appreciated but not required. Pixabay License runs functionally identical CC0 terms. All three explicitly cover paid client work, marketing materials, advertising, blog posts, and book illustrations. The exceptions across all three: you cannot resell the unmodified photo as a stock asset, and you cannot use photos of identifiable people for purposes that imply endorsement of a sensitive product like alcohol, weapons, or gambling. For news and editorial-sensitive subject coverage, free libraries do not work; see the parent /best/stock-photo guide for editorial-license picks.

When to upgrade: the cancel-test for stepping up to a paid pick

The honest cancel-test for free-tier readers runs in reverse of the paid-tier test. Track 30 days of stock-photo searches and note where the free libraries did not cover what the project needed. If every search returned a usable result, the free path is the right call indefinitely. If three or more searches per month returned nothing usable and the project required a paid library or a paid AI generator, the upgrade path opens. The most common upgrade triggers: niche concept photography that the free libraries do not cover, editorial-grade or news visuals where Pexels and Unsplash do not work, and Creative Cloud licensing where Adobe Stock integration drives real workflow value. For everything else, the free libraries cover the surface and the upgrade does not pay off. See the parent guide for the full upgrade path.

Asset-type coverage gaps and how to bridge them

The three free picks together still leave coverage gaps for some use cases. None of them ship Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator integration; designers in Creative Cloud who want one-click licensing inside the apps need Adobe Stock. None of them ship comprehensive editorial or news photography; newsrooms and brands writing about sensitive topics need Getty Premium Access or iStock Editorial. None of them ship signed model releases by default; agencies running paid advertising with identifiable people need a paid library where the contributor signed a release on upload. For the bridge cases, Unsplash Plus at the entry monthly rate adds curated premium content with model releases and legal indemnity for marketing teams who occasionally need them; for sustained editorial or designer work, the parent /best/stock-photo guide covers the full paid lineup.

Frequently asked questions

Are these prices guaranteed not to change?

Free tiers stay free across all three picks. Pexels and Pixabay run free-only models; Unsplash runs free-plus-optional-paid where the free tier has been free since 2013 and remains so under Getty ownership since 2021. The optional Unsplash Plus tier currently runs at the entry monthly rate with about a third saved on annual prepay; the rate has been stable since 2022. Verify on the vendor site before relying on a specific number.

Can I really use these photos for paid client work?

Yes. All three licenses explicitly grant commercial use including paid client work, marketing materials, and advertising. Pexels License, Unsplash License, and Pixabay License all run permissive CC0-style terms with no attribution required. The exceptions are uniform across the three: you cannot resell the unmodified photo as a stock asset, and you cannot use identifiable people in ways that imply endorsement of sensitive products. For everything else, free really means free.

Why is Pexels ranked first when Unsplash has more photos?

Pexels leads because the platform covers both photos and videos under one library, which fits the most common casual-reader use case where a blog post needs a hero image and a short clip. Unsplash takes second on raw photo library size at about 6 million versus 3.2 million on Pexels, and runs the cleanest API integration into Figma and Notion. Writers and designers in those tools may prefer Unsplash as the primary pick.

Do I need to credit the photographer if attribution is not required?

Legally no, but most readers credit anyway because it is good practice and does not cost anything. Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay all suggest a credit format on the photo page; pasting the photographer name and library name in a caption or footer takes a few seconds and signals respect for the contributor. For paid client work, credits are a polish touch that some clients expect; for personal projects, credit is up to the publisher.

When should I upgrade from a free library to a paid stock-photo subscription?

Upgrade when three or more searches per month return nothing usable and the project requires premium content. Common triggers: niche concept photography the free libraries do not cover, editorial or news visuals, Creative Cloud workflow integration, or signed model releases for paid advertising with identifiable people. For everyone else, the free libraries cover most needs indefinitely. See the parent /best/stock-photo guide for the full paid lineup.

Is Unsplash Plus worth the upgrade over the free Unsplash tier?

Only for the rare reader who genuinely needs curated premium content with signed model releases or legal indemnity. The free Unsplash library covers most casual use cases at zero cost. The Plus tier at the entry monthly rate adds curated content from professional photographers and the legal-indemnity backing under Getty Images ownership. For paid client work involving identifiable people, Plus is worth it; for general blog imagery and slide decks, free covers it.

Are AI-generated images included in these free libraries?

Policies vary across the three. Pexels added an AI-generated section in 2023 with clear labels. Unsplash currently restricts the main library to photographer-submitted human work. Pixabay accepts AI-generated content alongside photos without strict labeling. For projects where AI provenance matters, prefer human-photographed selections; for general blog imagery, the AI-generated content is functionally equivalent.

Does Subrupt earn a commission from any free-stock-photo picks?

Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay are free-only and most do not run affiliate programs. The optional Unsplash Plus tier may. We track which picks have approved affiliate programs in our database, and the FTC disclosure block at the top of every guide names which ones currently have a click-tracking partnership. Affiliate revenue does not change ranking. The composite math runs against the same weights for every pick.

When does this guide get updated?

We refresh free-stock-photo spinoffs quarterly when there are no major shifts and immediately when there are. Major triggers: license-term changes at Pexels, Unsplash, or Pixabay, AI-content policy shifts, ownership transitions like the 2018 Vimeo acquisition of Pexels or the 2021 Getty acquisition of Unsplash, and new free libraries entering the lineup. The lastReviewed date at the top reflects the most recent editorial sweep.

Subrupt Editorial

The team behind subrupt.com. We track subscriptions, surface cheaper alternatives, and publish buying guides where the score formula is on the page so you can recompute it yourself. We do not claim 30,000 hours of testing. What we claim is live pricing from our database, a transparent composite score, and honest savings math against a category baseline.

Last reviewed

Citations

Affiliate disclosure: Subrupt earns a commission when you switch to a service through our recommendation links. This never changes the price you pay. We only recommend services where there's a real cost or feature advantage for you, and our picks are based on the data on this page, not on which programs pay the most.

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