A little over a month ago I provided a list of websites where you can find free (or very low priced) images that are allowed to be used for personal or commercial purposes, and why it’s important to use these websites instead of just searching on Google.
Since then I decided to also provide in-depth reviews of the websites on my list, covering about 1-3 websites per post (depending on the amount of information I gather).
Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels are, in my experience, the easiest sites to use when looking for images to include in your blog posts. On each website, the main page offers some of the most downloaded images, while viewers can also browse the different categories or collections. If you’re looking for something specific, just type the words into the search bar--which is prominent on the main page of all three sites--and you can browse the results you are given.
One slight difference is that on Pixabay, if you are not logged into an account, each time you want to download an image you are asked to submit a Captcha proving you’re not a robot. It’s not a huge deal, but just a minor inconvenience that can be easily remedied by creating a free account.
I love the variety of media available within the pages of Pixabay, Pexels, and Unsplash, as well as the quality of photos and videos available. Categories, depending on the site, include animals, religion, music, industry/craft, women, nature, and many more. Pexels and Unsplash also offer what they call collections: Abandoned, Clean, Street Life Photowalk (Unsplash); Collect Memories, Breakfast Time, Botany (Pexels). Those are just a few of the collections or categories that are available for browsing.
You can also find free videos to use on Pixabay and Pexels. Just hover over Explore on Pixabay, and the three dots on Pexels, then select Videos from the dropdown menus.
Yes! The websites offer their images or videos under the Creative Commons CC0 License. The license allows for both personal and commercial use of the content found on these pages.
Images and Videos on Pixabay are released under Creative Commons CC0. To the extent possible under law, uploaders of Pixabay have waived their copyright and related or neighboring rights to these Images and Videos. You are free to adapt and use them for commercial purposes without attributing the original author or source. Although not required, a link back to Pixabay is appreciated.
All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.
It's hard to understand complex licenses that is why all photos on Pexels are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. This means the pictures are completely free to be used for any legal purpose.
- The pictures are free for personal and even for commercial use.
- You can modify, copy and distribute the photos.
- All without asking for permission or setting a link to the source. So, attribution is not required.
While Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels offer the use of their images under the CC0 License, I advise you still be extremely careful. There are times when an individual user of these sites will upload something that is copyrighted and pass it off as their own. While the websites strictly forbid this, sometimes something may slip through. And even with the CC0 License that the websites provide, if the image is already infringing on someone else's copyright, you cannot use it. Look out for images that have watermarks on them, or are clearly something that is licensed by someone else (i.e. Disney, Warner Bros, Marvel, etc.).
All three sites are completely free to use. There are no subscription plans, nor any prices at all. Everything is free to download.
As stated in the quotes above from each website’s terms, they do not require attribution. However, it is good practice to show respect by crediting the original photographer or artist. Proper attribution also lets people know that you are using the images legally and haven’t stolen them.
Here’s an example of a proper attribution for an image I found on Pixabay:
Unsplash and Pexels both have a neat feature that Pixabay doesn’t have in regards to attribution. When you download an image, they offer an attribution line that you can just copy and paste into your post.
I give both Unsplash and Pexels a 10/10, based on how easy it is to browse, search, and download images. Pixabay gets a 9/10, only because of the Captcha feature and the need to login to avoid that step.
I hope this review has helped you! I plan to do more website reviews like this, so be on the lookout for that in the near future!
