You need photos for almost everything online — a blog post, a landing page, a social graphic. And you don’t need to pay for them.
There are hundreds of “best free stock photo” roundups out there, most padded out with sites that went offline years ago, or that bury the fact you can’t actually use the image inside an unreadable licence. Here’s the short version: the sites that are still good, still free, and still around.
The sites I actually use
Pixabay — the biggest library, well organised, no attribution required. My default for “search anything.”
Unsplash — smaller, more editorial. Ten new photos every ten days if you want a curated feed rather than a search box.
Pexels — the one I reach for most these days. Big library, clean interface, and it’s adding video too.
StockSnap.io — good backup when the big three don’t have what I need. Smaller library, still high quality.
Shopify Burst — built for ecommerce, so it’s strong on product shots and “lifestyle” images. Free.
Gratisography — quirky, distinctive shots from one photographer. Wrong choice for a corporate site, exactly right if you don’t want to look like everyone else.
One rule that matters more than the list
Don’t Google Image Search a photo and hope nobody notices. Licence terms vary — some images need attribution, some don’t — and using the wrong one can get you a genuine invoice from a stock agency chasing unlicensed use. Check the licence on whichever site you use before you publish.
If you’re building a site properly rather than just grabbing the odd photo, my Tools I Use page has what I actually pay for — hosting, email, the lot.