Pexels, Pixabay and Unsplash compete with paid stock photos from popular websites like iStockphoto.com (Getty Images) and Shutterstock.com. You can find pictures of almost everything at the latter – but at a juicy price.
Stock photography is a field of photography where images get produced in stock. The opposite of stock photography is, therefore, contract photography.
Now there are good alternatives with Pexels, Pixabay and Unsplash.
Apart from the fact that the photos are free, there are some things to consider when embedding and copyright identification.
Pexels review
Unlike many paid stock photo providers, Pexels focuses on actual photographs. The pictures are usually already processed or show already beautiful and in a form brought motives.
I like this very much, and bloggers should be much more satisfied with it, as they mostly look for meaningful pictures. There is also the possibility to load the images in different formats.
All in all, the offer still needs to be completed here. However, on the whole, it is surprisingly extensive. Therefore, there are matching pictures for many topics, whereby nature and random holiday shots in high quality determine the platform. Especially for smaller niche topics, it is still challenging to get the right image.
pixabay review
This site has a vast database with 1.6 million high-quality images. Pixabay is more business-oriented than a provider like Unsplash, which is often helpful for bloggers.
Another significant advantage of Pixabay is that it offers free vectors and illustrations. However, what is a considerable disadvantage of Pixabay is that anonymous owners do the upload. So there is the danger that the uploader doesn’t have the appropriate licenses.
Additionally, we are annoyed by the appearing Shutterstock, which should attract people to their offer. It annoys us, but we understand that such a platform should generate income.
unsplash review
With over one million free high-resolution images from over 150,000 photographers, Unsplash is our favourite in our listed group of three.
The photos are of the highest quality, and thousands of new images are added daily. The chances are excellent that you will find what you are looking for and get a superb snapshot for free.
You can use the pictures for non-commercial as well as commercial purposes. Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license allowing you to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos for free. This license includes commercial purposes without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash.
Most Natural Pictures
Most Natural Pictures
#2 Pexels
#3 Pixabay
Lowest Fraud Risk
Lowest Fraud Risk
#2 Pexels
#3 Pixabay
User Friendly
User Friendly
#2 Unsplash
#3 Pixabay
Image Source Control
Why is it not always a good idea to use such free images? The main reason is that the originator cannot get verified on these platforms.
Some foolish people may upload photos that do not belong to them. It is said that there have been photographers who intentionally and anonymously uploaded their pictures on such a platform and then waited until enough people used these photos on their websites.
Then the photographer had these users warned by a lawyer and collected a lot of money.
But even if the uploader is the originator of the photos, some uncertainties can lead to trouble. For example, people are visible in many of these free stock photos.
Using such pictures can be tricky because a warning costs USD 1,000 – 2,000. We recommend using the WordPress plugin Image Source Control so that you at least have the original link and have an excellent opportunity to prove that you “actually” acted correctly.
We prefer to pay for something and have decided to use the StockPhoto Secrets – 99CLUB. TIt is cheap, and the library contains a lot of natural images.
Please check our blog on the best WordPress Plugins in 2022.
8 Responses
Pixabay is a fantastic platform for anyone in need of high-quality and free stock photos, illustrations, and videos. It is an excellent resource for bloggers, graphic designers, marketers, and anyone else who needs images for their projects. The vast collection of images and videos on Pixabay makes it a valuable resource for users, as they can find the perfect image or video for their project without having to pay for expensive stock photography.
One of the best things about Pixabay is that all images and videos are licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means that users can use the images and videos for personal and commercial purposes without having to provide attribution to the photographer or the website. This makes Pixabay an attractive option for anyone who wants to use images and videos without worrying about licensing restrictions.
Pixabay’s search feature is incredibly intuitive, making it easy to find the perfect image or video for your project. You can search by keyword, image type, orientation, and even color. This feature is particularly helpful for bloggers who need images that are relevant to their blog posts.
Overall, Pixabay is an excellent resource for anyone in need of high-quality and free stock photos, illustrations, and videos. With its vast collection of images and user-friendly search feature, it is undoubtedly one of the best stock photography websites available.
Unsplash is my go-to website for finding high-quality and visually stunning images. I’m constantly amazed by the vast collection of photos, illustrations, and graphics available, all of which are completely free to use. The platform is easy to navigate and I love how it’s community-driven, allowing photographers and artists to share their work and connect with others. As a content creator, Unsplash has been an invaluable resource for me, providing me with access to a wealth of visual content that elevates my work.
I develop low-scale websites, and for this purpose, the three mentioned databases, Unsplash, pexels and pixabay, are lovely.
Those looking for licence-free image material do not always necessarily want to invest a large budget for media use. For these cases, there are also accessible sources. One of the most popular providers of free media is Pixabay.
Free is tempting, but it has a catch. If someone makes a photo available for download without authorisation, it can quickly become expensive for the user. As a rule, the free providers exempt themselves from any liability in their general terms and conditions. It is hardly possible to clarify the copyright of the photos yourself. Thus, when using free material, one always risks receiving a warning.
Many of the pixabay and pexels platform images are stolen images posted by members. Pixabay or these members do not have the rights to those images, so if you use them for commercial use, you can get in trouble.
You will get copyright claims if you use the music on youtube, so it’s not really “free” is it?
However, this is not the case at all, as after using some of pixabay and pexels in videos I have posted on social networks, they have almost all been removed or blocked by the sites.
While some of these copyright claims are legitimate, the majority are fraudulent. Obviously, at PixaBay, no verification of ownership rights is done when music is uploaded for users…
In short, never use this site if you don’t want to see your YouTube channel closed or stricken. You’ve been warned! Let’s hope that it will be more careful with the images…
Appreciable for the quality and for being accessible and usable. But it would be good to know who judges the photos and by what criteria. It seems to me that the guidelines for publishing photos are not always respected beyond reproach.
My preference is also unsplash.com.