Arek Dvornechuck
Branding Expert
10 Best Photo Stocks for Bloggers
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I specialize in the development of brands—from brand strategy & identity, to web design, motion and beyond.
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We all know that blogging nowadays is more than just writing blocks of text—to make your blog successful, you need images to spice up your content.
What are the best photo stocks for Bloggers?
After all, a picture is worth a thousand words—adding high-quality visuals will draw more attention to your blog and efficiently convey your brand message.
Yes, you can buy a camera and try your hand at photography—but good cameras are not cheap and require artistic skills as well as an eye for photo composition.
You can also hire a professional photographer who will do the above on your behalf.
However, photographers charge a LOT of money, and when you are new to the industry, you may not have sufficient budget to spend on add ons.
And this is where stock photography comes in!
But before I explain the ins and outs in using stock photos, here is my list of the 10 best stock photo sites (free & paid) for bloggers.
Since there are a lot of photo stocks website available in the market today, it will be hard for a blogger like you to decide on which to invest.
To guide you in choosing the best photo stocks to fit your needs, here are the things to consider in picking one.
Here's a further explanation on why you should consider these things:
Stock photo sites should offer a range of plans and prices depending on quality, size, and use.
That’s why all of the top picks below have multiple subscriptions available, allowing members to sign up at the price point that suits them.
Is the site easy to navigate?
Can members browse through the database with ease?
Is the platform attractive to buyers?
Questions such as these and more were taken on board when ranking the best stock photo sites.
The best sites will enforce strict guidelines to ensure their database consists of only top-quality photos.
Over-edited, out of focus, or simply dull photos should get rejected.
As such, this article made sure to verify that low-quality amateur content wouldn’t qualify on any of the platforms below.
The price of stock pictures varies and ranges from free to a couple thousand dollars, depending on the license and photo library you choose.
For paid stock image subscriptions, bloggers will typically come across two types of licenses: Royalty-Free and Rights Managed.
The royalty-free license is perhaps the most affordable and flexible option for bloggers.
The prices for these are preset and allow you to use the pictures in unlimited projects.
The only drawback is the non-exclusivity that comes with the inexpensive pricing.
Since the royalty-free pictures are pretty cheap, there is a good chance of the same image you use appearing on another blog.
The rights-managed license is the more exclusive option available for bloggers and website owners.
The terms for using the pictures that fall under this license are customized according to the blogger's unique needs.
This simply means that the user can modify the license (and price) as per the time frame of use, geographical location of the display, distribution volume, and audience size.
The only disadvantage of using rights-managed pictures is the price—given the price tag, this license can be pretty expensive.
However, if you are looking for an exclusive option and want to ensure that you are the only one using these images, rights-managed stock photos are for you.
To help you narrow down your search, we have compiled a list of the top stock photo websites that will keep your readers engaged the moment they land on your blog.
StockPhotos.com is specifically aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.
Stockphotos.com is a budget-friendly photo library.
The prices for images available at Stockphotos.com vary depending on your selection.
Developed by a team of visual imagery experts, Stockphotos.com has a database with over 7 million high-quality images.
However, it is one of the most affordable photo collection and allows you to download your preferred pictures within seconds.
If you are a blogger, I can only assume that you are like me: always looking for better photos to illustrate your articles.
Of course, if you have your own images, this is great, but what about when you need to write about a new destination.
You need to add some representative images? That’s a problem we all face eventually.
That’s why Stockphotos.com is here to provide us with the highest quality photos that we can use for our blogs.
Royalty-free license
Shutterstock is one of the largest stock photo libraries with over 300 million pictures.
Shutterstock is the Wikipedia of images.
Besides images, you will also find video footage, music clips, and 3D models on their portal.
Tons of photos are added regularly, so you won't be limited to certain choices on this website.
The best part about Shutterstock is that the assets listed on their website are comprehensively curated.
They have strict technical standards that are maintained religiously and reject any material that does not follow their exclusive guidelines.
Pricing for Shutterstock varies according to the plan you select.
They also have a free one-month trial that lets you try out the repository before committing to a purchase.
Standard royalty-free license
iStock is probably one of the first companies to start the process of selling photos under a specific license.
iStock is the pioneer of the stock photo industry.
With over 18 years in the industry, iStock is famous for its highly curated photo, video, and illustrations libraries.
iStock photos are divided into two categories: Signature Collection and Essential Collection.
While the Signature collection offers only exclusive content, the essential features a variety of general photos at an affordable price.
You can also use the site's search filter or browse by category to find relevant images.
Pricing for iStock is dependent upon your preference for on-demand packs or subscription plans.
The good news is that you can get up to a 15% discount with this exclusive promo code.
Standard royalty-free license
Getty Images is one of the world’s most recognized stock photo websites..
Getty Images is the most popular stock photo site.
Starting before the internet era, Getty Images offered a super-curated library of stock assets from around the world.
Searching for an image on the website is very easy—simply use the search filters for your preferred category and click on the picture you like.
You will then see multiple image dimension options along with editing tools.
The only drawback to Getty Images is the price.
The price tag on each image varies according to the size and license.
Still, it can cost you anywhere from a hundred to thousands of dollars.
However, for exclusive content that no one has—Getty Images is worth the money.
Offers both royalty-free and rights-managed options
We all know Canva as one of the best image editing tools.
Canva Pro is the most convenient photo library for artists.
But there is also Canva Pro, which is a premium service for commercial projects and blogs.
Here, you will find over 60 million images, vectors, illustrations, and templates.
You can also use the available editing tools to create branded imagery for your projects.
Canva Pro subscription plans start at $9.99 per month.
The bundle deal gives you access to stock images along with all the easy-to-use editors.
A free trial is also available for 45 days.
At low pricing, Canva Pro is a perfect assistant for when you cannot afford a designer.
Standard Canva license
Pixabay is a free stock photo site with over 1.6 million pictures to choose from.
Pixabay has a high-quality selection of free photos.
Crowdsourced from authors worldwide, each image displayed on their site is manually selected by a professional curator.
The website interface of Pixabay is simple and easy to maneuver.
And if you need help navigating through the vast number of pages, there are helpful search filters available to narrow down your results.
Pixabay works under its own proprietary license that is similar to Creative Commons Zero.
They allow the use of their pictures in both digital and print commercial mediums with no attribution requirement.
However, they restrict the redistribution and resale of unaltered images.
Non-exclusive and royalty free license
Unsplash is a popular free stock photo resource that showcases images “not found anywhere else”.
Unsplash is the best overall free stock photos for bloggers
And what makes it better is the freedom to do whatever you want with these pictures—as long as it's legal and non-pornographic.
The site hosts over half a million photos from generous photographers all over the world.
New images are also added every week, so you can be sure of obtaining the freshest stock.
Unsplash has its own custom license for using its images.
They allow free use and editing without any attribution, but disallow image compilation.
Standard Unsplash license
Pexels is another popular free stock photo aggregator with hundreds of thousands of images.
Pexels is the best choice for trendy photos
Each picture offered on the site is hand-picked or sourced from other free stock photo websites, so you can be sure of the quality.
The Pexels website is also very user-friendly—each image is tagged for easy searching.
When you find a picture you like, the site allows you to choose between different size options, including a custom size, before downloading.
Pexels are entirely free to use, with no requirement for attribution.
Creative Commons Zero license
The FoodiesFeed website, as the name implies, is exclusively curated for food and related blogs.
FoodiesFeed is the best stock photos for food bloggers
The pictures here are so delicious that you will forget they are not real when you take a look at them.
The online library at FoodiesFeed contains over 1,300 pictures.
They are mostly works by renowned food photographer Jakub Kapusnak.
However, he also takes submissions from other' carefully vetted' photographers and adds them to his database for free.
FoodiesFeed gives free usage for commercial projects.
Creative Commons Zero license
New Old Stock is a compilation of old, vintage photos.
New Old Stock is the best for vintage images
If you have a historic touch on your blog or want to pull viewers' heartstrings with a feeling of nostalgia, then this site is for you.
The free stock photo website was created by Cole Townsend—some of the pictures are his own creations.
But mostly, he hand-picks works of other artists from the public archives of Flickr Commons, like museums, NASA, etc.
Currently, the site hosts over 1,500 historically relevant pictures.
New Old Stock has no known copyright restrictions.
However, the public archives do prefer a link back to the original institution.
Public Domain license
In order to become a good blogger, it's mostly about the content, but it also about the visuals and the photos you use to complement your articles.
Stock photos help you complement your articles.
Carefully reviewed, these are currently the top options in the market and will help you find the best visuals for your blog—regardless of your budget.
Don't let your website and blog suffer without pictures.
Instead, take it upon yourself and add photos from one of the above stock photo sites to represent your brand effortlessly.
As a blogger, which do you think is the best photo stocks for you?—Leave a comment below.
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I'm a branding expert and graphic designer based in NY. I specialize in the development of brands: brand strategy, identity & web design. Need help with your project?—Get in touch
