Where to Find License-Free Photos in 2025: An Overview of the Best Sources

Today, everyone needs photos – whether for a school project, a company website, a social media post, or a marketing campaign. However, finding quality images for free and without a license is not always easy. That’s why we’ve prepared an up-to-date overview of the best stock photo sites and resources that in 2025 offer legally usable photographs.

Why look for license-free photos?

Using someone else’s photo without the author’s permission or without purchasing a license can lead to legal issues and fines. Stock sites with “royalty-free” or “CC0” licenses allow you to use images without having to pay or credit the author (unless explicitly required).

Advantages

• 💚 Legal and safe usage.
• 💚 Saves money compared to paid stock photo sites.
• 💚 Quick access to a huge database of images.

Disadvantages

• ❌ Not always available in high resolution.
• ❌ Lower originality (the same photos are used by thousands of people).
• ❌ Limited selection for specific topics.

Pexels: Modern photos and videos for free

Pexels is one of the most popular platforms with free photos and short videos. All images are under a license that allows both commercial and personal use without attribution.

Advantages

• 💚 Large database of modern images and videos.
• 💚 Easy keyword search.
• 💚 Well-functioning mobile app.

Disadvantages

• ❌ Less content in smaller specialized categories.
• ❌ Originality decreases with mass use.

Unsplash: Millions of high-resolution photos

Unsplash is another giant among free stock photo platforms. It offers millions of high-resolution images that you can use for free, including for commercial purposes.

Advantages

• 💚 Huge community of photographers.
• 💚 Great shots of architecture, nature, and lifestyle.
• 💚 Clear collections by theme.

Disadvantages

• ❌ No videos.
• ❌ Some photos look too “stock-like.”

Pixabay: Photos, illustrations, and videos in one place

Besides photographs, Pixabay also offers illustrations, vectors, music, and videos. The license is similar to Pexels – you can freely use the content, even commercially.

Advantages

• 💚 Universal platform (photos, vectors, videos, music).
• 💚 Easy filtering by resolution or orientation.
• 💚 Available API for developers.

Disadvantages

• ❌ Photo quality varies (from excellent to average).
• ❌ Requires registration to download higher resolutions.

Freepik: Combination of free and premium content

Freepik combines paid and free content. In the free section, you’ll find photos, icons, and illustrations, often requiring attribution of the author.

Advantages

• 💚 Wide range – from photos to graphic elements.
• 💚 Useful for designers.
• 💚 Easily searchable themed packages.

Disadvantages

• ❌ Some content is only in the paid plan.
• ❌ Attribution often required (unless you use premium).

Other sources of original photos

If you need something unique, we recommend, besides the big free stock sites, also checking out:

• Flickr – Creative Commons section (watch out for license type).
• Rawpixel (partly free, partly paid).
• Noun Project (more icons and illustrations).

Tips on how to use free photos legally

• Always read the license – even free stock sites may have restrictions (e.g., no resale on merchandise).
• Combine sources – don’t rely on just one stock site.
• Support originality by editing photos yourself (crop, color filters, adding text).

What about your own photos? Try Infiry

Using free photos from others is nice, but even better is having your own photo database. And that’s exactly where Infiry helps – a web application for photo organization:

• 📂 Store all your photos in one place.
• 🔎 Search by keywords, colors, or captions.
• 👥 Share photos with colleagues or clients in seconds.
• 🤖 Infiry automatically adds metadata and keywords using AI.

👉 Try Infiry for free and start organizing your photos as easily as you find them in online stock libraries.