10 Free Stock Photo Websites To Use Instead of Shutterstock

I don't know about you, but seeing photos like this on a website make me cringe.

They’re so stale, cold, and unrelatable. Is she even a real person?! Does she feel real feelings?!

High-quality imagery is important to highlighting written content and making it easier to understand, but settling for average, staged, unrealistic stock photos can actually detract from your site and Inbound Marketing efforts. They can make your company look phony, out-of-touch with your market, and not trustworthy.

Unfortunately, hunting for the perfect visual to aid your copy (and look credible) can quickly turn into a daunting, uninspiring task.

If you're like me and usually need photos quickly but don't have the time (or courage) to sift through all those cheesy, inspiration-killing stock sites, check out these game-changing free resources that will help breath new life into the hunt and your website.

1. Stocksnap.io

Stocksnap.io is my go-to site. What’s special about this site is that it compiles images from several different stock sites and takes a lot of the legwork out of searching.

2. New Old Stock

New Old Stock focuses in on vintage photos. Depending on what you're doing or how creative you or your brand wants to get, this site is full of retro gold.

3. IM FREE

IM FREE is an awesome source to find photos or templates for almost anything you need. All of the photos are divided into categories for easy searching and are free for commercial use.

4. Pexels

Pexels not only has awesome photos but high-quality video too. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is worth a million.

5. Picjumbo

Picjumbo does a wonderful job of categorizing its content to make finding the right photo a quick and painless process. The style of photos it offers are far less staged and more realistic than most big-name stock sites.

6. Unsplash

The quality of photos on Unsplash is unmatched. Their wide variety and artistic style offer a great way to break up the monotony on a page. Plus, the company has a pretty awesome origin story too.

7. Gratisography

Gratisography’s photos are fun and quirky. Their bright and humorous selection can be a gold mine for bloggers in search of an eye-catching, unusual featured image.

8. Startupstockphotos

Startupstockphotos is the perfect place to find photos themed around tech startups, creative environments, and millennials. Their photos are casual, candid, and realistic.

9. Getrefe

Getrefe has a wonderful variety of photos ranging from technology to landscapes. Even if you don't need an image, this site offers some quick, high-quality inspiration for future creative projects.

10. Photos.Oliur

Photos from Oliur just launched so there isn’t too much content, but it’s definitely a site to keep your eye on. The caliber of work coming from Oliur is top shelf so I see this site being part of every internet creator's toolbox.

Key Takeaway

As a designer, all I’m trying to say here is put in the extra effort to find and use high-quality photos on your website.

Using visual aids from the resources above will not only help your brand look more credible and human, but it will help it stand out in from all of its other stock-riddled competitors. Sound good?