Free Stock Photos for Commercial Use: Where to Find Them and Use Them Legally

The best free stock photos for commercial use come from Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay, which let you use their photos on your website and in ads without crediting the photographer. Magnific, formerly Freepik, also works if you add the credit its free plan requires.

What almost nobody tells you is that free doesn't mean copyright free. We read each official license in October 2026, and a lot of what ranks is out of date. Pixabay isn't CC0 anymore, Freepik has a new name and Google's AI answer got Unsplash wrong in Spain. Here's what each site allows and how to get every photo ready for your web design.

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Public Domain Images, Creative Commons and Free: What Each One Means

Most photos online are not in the public domain: someone owns them, and a license tells you what that owner lets you do.

A free stock photo site is a platform that collects photos, illustrations or videos that creators let you download at no cost, under a license that spells out what you can do with them. The license decides whether you can use the image in an ad, whether you must credit the author and what's off-limits.

What it's not: it isn't the same as public domain images, which have no copyright left or were dedicated to the public, and it isn't permission for everything. If you're only building an internal mood board, any reference is fine; the risk starts when you publish.

What is the difference between CC0 and CC BY?

CC0 waives the rights: you can use the work, commercially too, without asking permission or giving credit. CC BY 4.0 requires you to give appropriate credit, link to the license and say if you made changes. Both belong to the creative commons license family, which is why creative commons images aren't all equal: always read the letters after CC. When a site labels cc0 images, that's the most open option there is.

The Best Free Stock Photo Sites and What Each License Allows

The best free stock photo sites for business are Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay; Magnific works too if you credit the author.

This table sums up the official license pages as we read them in October 2026. Licenses change: if you're reading this much later, check the site before you download.

Site	License	Commercial use	Credit required?	What you can't do
Unsplash	Unsplash License	Yes	No	Sell photos without significant modification or build a competing service
Pexels	Pexels License	Yes	No	Sell unaltered copies, upload them to other stock sites, show people in a bad light, imply endorsement or use as your trademark
Pixabay	Pixabay Content License	Yes	No	Sell or distribute on a standalone basis, or use images with logos or brands commercially for goods or services
Magnific (formerly Freepik), free plan	Magnific license	Yes	Yes, on the free plan	Use without credit (paid plans drop it)
CC0 works	Public domain dedication	Yes	No	CC0 doesn't cover trademarks or other people's rights
CC BY 4.0 works	Creative Commons Attribution	Yes	Yes, with a license link	Use without credit or without noting changes

The Unsplash license is the clearest of the group: commercial use without permission or attribution.

Is Pixabay still CC0?

No. Pixabay has used its own content license for years, and its official license summary doesn't mention CC0. Plenty of pages still say it does, including one of the top results for free stock photos for commercial use in the US. In practice it's similar (free, commercial, no credit), but it has limits CC0 never had, like the one on logos and brands.

Free Stock Videos: Best Sites and What Each License Allows

The best free stock videos come from the same sites as the photos, plus one video specialist. Pexels and Pixabay cover video in their licenses, and Coverr only does clips. Here is what their official pages say, read in October 2026:

Site	Video license	Commercial use	Credit required?	Watch out for
Pexels	Same as the photos	Yes	No	Selling unmodified copies or implying people or brands endorse you
Pixabay	Content License, which covers images, video and audio	Yes	No	Selling the clip as is, or using it on products when logos or brands appear
Coverr	Coverr license	Yes	No	Reselling the clip, training AI on it and using the brands that appear without permission

Before a clip goes on your site or into an ad, do three things:

1. Strip the original audio and add music with a license you've read.
2. Check people and brands, as with photos. Coverr says it doesn't hand over model or brand releases.
3. Trim and compress it. A 10-second 1080p background loop weighs far less than the 4K original, and Notablia has free tools to trim and compress video in your browser.

How to Use Free Images for Commercial Use Step by Step

To use free images for commercial use safely, decide the use, pick the site, save the license, check what's in the photo and optimize it.

1. Decide what you'll use the photo for

   Done

   A blog post isn't the same as an ad, a T-shirt you'll sell or your homepage hero. The more commercial the use, the closer you read.

2. Pick the site that fits that use

   Done

   For websites and ads, Unsplash, Pexels or Pixabay. For an illustrated look, Magnific, with credit.

3. Save the license the day you download

   Done

   Screenshot the photo page and the license, with the date. If the license changes tomorrow, your proof is today's.

4. Check who and what is in the photo

   Done

   Recognizable people, logos, brands, artwork or landmark buildings. No free license covers third-party rights.

5. Download the size you need and compress it

   Done

   A 6,000-pixel photo for a 1,200-pixel slot is dead weight. Crop it and run it through our image compressor.

6. Rename the file and write alt text

   Done

   "austin-bakery-counter.webp" instead of "IMG_4432.jpg", plus a useful description for people who can't see the image.

7. Note the author and credit them when you can

   Done

   Even when the license doesn't ask for it, credit takes one line and shows good faith.

Model Release, Logos and Editorial Use Only

A license comes from the photographer, not from the person in the photo or the brand on the shirt, so it doesn't clear their rights for you.

That's why Pexels bans implying endorsement, Pixabay limits commercial use of images with logos and CC0 doesn't cover trademarks or other people's rights. For an ad with a recognizable face, the safe options are a photo with a signed model release or your own shoot.

Do you need a model release for stock photos?

For editorial use, usually not. For ads, packaging or anything that suggests a person endorses you, you want one. Free sites don't hand you the release, so for sensitive campaigns (health, finance, politics) use your own photos or a paid license that includes it.

What does editorial use only mean?

Editorial use only means the photo can illustrate news, articles or educational content, never ads, packaging or products. You'll see it on photos with brands, celebrities or events, because nobody signed permissions for commercial use.

How to Check If an Image Is Copyrighted (Reverse Image Search)

Every photo is copyrighted the moment it's made. The U.S. Copyright Office says protection exists from the moment a work is created in a fixed form, and registration is generally voluntary. So the useful question isn't whether it's copyrighted, but whether the owner gave you permission. A reverse image search helps you find the owner.

1. Run the search. In Chrome, right-click the image and choose Google Lens. In another browser, go to Google, click the search by image icon, and upload the file or paste the image link.
2. Read the matches. Google lists websites with the same image or a similar one. Look for the source: a photographer's portfolio or a stock site.
3. Check the license on that page. If the photo sits on a paid site such as Getty Images or Shutterstock, it isn't free. Buy a license or skip it.
4. Check the file. On Windows, right-click, Properties and Details can show a Copyright field. An empty field proves nothing.
5. If you find nothing, don't use it. No license found is not the same as free.

A photo that appears on many sites with no credit isn't free either. Usually they all copied it.

Copyright Free Images: What Happens If You Use One That Isn't

If you use a photo without permission, the owner can demand you take it down and pay damages, even if you made no money from it.

In the US, 17 U.S.C. § 504(c) sets statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work, up to $150,000 if the infringement is willful, and as low as $200 for an innocent infringer. There's a catch the scary blog posts skip: under § 412, statutory damages generally require the work to be registered before the infringement, or within three months of first publication. Without registration the owner can still claim actual damages and profits.

The takeaway is simple: copyright free images with a clear license are everywhere, so there's no reason to risk a random one from Google. This is general information, not legal advice.

Before You Upload: File Size and Alt Text

Before you upload a stock photo, resize it, compress it and write its alt text: that's speed and accessibility in one pass.

Stock photos download huge. On the Notablia site, for example, the rule for a featured image is 1,600 × 900 pixels and under 200 KB. Then write the alt text, which describes the image for screen reader users and for Google, and is one of the basics of WCAG compliance.

Frequently asked questions about free stock photos

01

What is the best website for free photos?

The best website for free photos depends on what you need. Unsplash has the most polished, editorial-style photography and the simplest license. Pexels is strong for lifestyle shots and also offers free videos. Pixabay adds illustrations and vectors to its photos. For a small business website or ads, any of the three works, as long as you save the license and check for people and logos. If you want a look nobody else has, nothing beats your own photos.

02

Which photo app is 100% free?

No photo app is free for every possible use. Free stock sites and their apps let you download without paying, but each one sets limits in its license, such as not reselling photos unchanged or not using them as your logo. Photo editors with a free plan usually lock some features or assets behind a paid tier. Before you rely on one for business, read what the free plan covers and what it doesn't, and keep a copy of those terms.

03

Where can I find free stock photos with no watermark?

Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay all give you full-size photos with no watermark, for free. If you see a watermark, you're looking at a preview from a paid site such as Shutterstock, Getty Images or Adobe Stock. Those previews are there so you can test a layout, not to publish. Cropping or removing the watermark and using the image anyway is infringement, and removing it can make things worse if the owner finds out.

04

What is royalty free?

Royalty free means you pay once, or nothing, and can use royalty free images many times without paying a fee per use, view or copy. It does not mean copyright free: the photographer still owns the image and the license sets the limits. Paid sites like Shutterstock sell royalty free licenses; free sites like Pexels give them away. Either way, read the license, because royalty free can still exclude uses like reselling the image or putting it on merchandise.

05

Is Unsplash free for commercial use?

Yes. The Unsplash License lets you use its free photos for commercial purposes without asking permission or crediting the photographer, according to its license page checked in October 2026. You can't sell the photos without significant modification or compile them into a competing service. Unsplash also sells Unsplash+, a paid plan whose license includes a legal guarantee of up to $10,000 per licensed photo, which can be worth it for ads with recognizable people.

06

Is Freepik free for commercial use?

Yes, but with credit, and Freepik is now called Magnific: its terms page redirects to magnific.com. On the free plan, your use is conditioned on attributing each resource, for example with a line like Designed by the author on Magnific near the image or in the footer. Only the paid plans remove the attribution requirement. If you can't add credit where the image appears, such as in a paid ad, pick a site that doesn't require it.

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