Learn about the top 10 sites on the internet from where you can get the best free background images for multiple purposes.
These days, images and pictures can be seen all around us. Take one glance at the digital world, and you will see the overwhelming majority of images spread everywhere. From marketing to social media, they make an important part of our lives now.
Under such circumstances, it is necessary to keep up with the world. If you are looking for some cool backgrounds to incorporate in your projects or simply for desktop wallpaper, you should know where to look. Here, you will find some of the best HD background images and pictures, which you can use in multiple ways according to your liking.
Let’s get started!
01Unsplash
Rating: 4.5/5
Unsplash is an amazing website, which is dedicated to sharing royalty-free stock images. Owned by Getty Images, the website has over 200,000 contributors who share their photos on a monthly basis. Unsplash has a photo library that has grown to an impressive size over the past few years and has currently reached over 2 million in terms of image numbers.
The intricate design of the website captivates the viewer at first glance. The cool backgrounds and HD images on the website are entirely free. Anyone from around the world can download and use them easily. Unsplash also has a blog dedicated to the users, talking about all the latest features and inquiries. You can even submit a photo of your own to the website if you like.
02 Pixabay
Rating: 4.8/5
Similar to Unsplash, Pixabay is also a web-based service providing its users free stock images, videos, and audio files. Pixabay contains some stunning imagery and royalty-free stock that can be used in all types of content creation. You can also sign up using your email ID and contribute to the growing library of over 2 million stocks in Pixabay, sharing your pictures in the public domain.
The Pixabay License enables users to use the pictures without claims of copyright and credits. The blog posts also let you have a detailed insight into the website's uses and different features. Pixabay also holds photography competitions on a routine basis, making users actively contributing to the platform and receiving worthy rewards.
03Pexels
Rating: 4.3/5
Pexels is yet another service offering you some cool backgrounds and images for free. The website’s library also contains some stock videos in HD quality that you can use. All the content on the Pexels website is royalty-free and can be used by anyone. You can also join the Pexels community and upload your images and videos, contributing to the Pexels library.
The website also features a leaderboard, where you can see the most viewed or used photos in recent days or the all-time favorite ones too. You can also contribute to the Pexels challenges and win cash prizes. Pexels also has an application for Android and iOS, an extension for Chrome, plugins for Figma and WordPress, and add-ins for Microsoft Office and Google Slides.
04FreeImages
Rating: 3.8/5
As the name indicates, you can use the FreeImages website to find free stock images for your projects without any cost. Some impressive visuals can be found on the site, although not all of them are of the best possible quality. You can browse images by subject, photographer, or even by the camera used on the FreeImages website.
FreeImage only acts as a site for hosting images. You might still need permission from the artist who uploaded the image in order to avoid copyright claims and lawsuits. You can directly contact the artist from the options available on the website. FreeImages has a wide collection of images ranging from architecture to religion, education to fashion, and multiple other themes.
05Shutterstock
Rating: 4.5/5
Shutterstock is a premium tool for obtaining stock images and HD background pictures for your projects. The website is a provider of HD-quality photos, videos, vector images, royalty-free music, and photo editing tools worldwide. You can search for different objects, themes, and ideas on Shutterstock, and it will give you the best HD images from its extensive library.
Being a contributor on Shutterstock has its own perks. You can earn a percentage of the total amount, ranging from 15% to 40%. But the tool isn’t free. Using a 1-month free trial, you can download up to 10 images for free. After that, there is a subscription package that you can opt for on a monthly or a yearly basis, depending on the number of images you choose.
06PNGtree
Rating: 4.3/5
Looking for the best PNG background images to brighten up your project? PNGtree has got you covered on that front. This esteemed website contains numerous free graphics available at your disposal with a single click. Several images on the website are freely available for download, but some can only be accessed using a Premium package subscription.
PNGtree contains a wide range of products, including vector images, clipart, 3D pictures, PNG wallpapers, banners, photographs, PowerPoint templates, text effects, and templates for flyers, invitations, certificates, resumes, etc. The website also offers routine sales, where you can acquire premium products at a much lower rate.
PNGtree contains a wide range of products, including vector images, clipart, 3D pictures, PNG wallpapers, banners, photographs, PowerPoint templates, text effects, and templates for flyers, invitations, certificates, resumes, etc. The website also offers routine sales, where you can acquire premium products at a much lower rate.
07iStock
Rating: 4.5/5
iStock is an international provider of free stock photography on a web-based service. You can discover some of the best and authentic visual graphics and illustrations on the iStock website. The premium-quality stock images and videos created by some of the best creators, designed with innovation and a creative outlook towards skills and talent.
You can search for exclusive videos and images powered by AI on iStock. The heartfelt illustrations and artistic graphics are royalty-free, and the contributors are paid good money accordingly. There are different subscription plans, based on an annual or month-to-month basis, where you can choose the number of images.
You can use iStock on your PC or Mac. iStock also offers apps for Android and Apple, as well as plugins for Adobe Creative Cloud, Craft Stock, and Dropbox. Above all, iStock offers services as an image editor, optimizing and resizing your images for the better.
08Freepik
Rating: 4.3/5
Freepik is another online resource tool providing users with some really cool backgrounds and images. You can get vector images, product photography, templates, and much more with the website. The wide collection of Freepik contains everything ranging from business to HD nature wallpapers and illustrations.
Freepik also offers a Premium collection, which contains an ad-free service and unlimited downloads of stock photos and PSD files. You can subscribe to a monthly plan or pay once every 12 months.
09Rawpixel
Rating: 4/5
Rawpixel is home to a large number of creative resources for your every need. The website contains some of the best safe-to-use designs, with creative boards and easy integration. The images are all free to use and royalty-free, so you don't have to worry about copyright infringement and other such things.
You can get texture background images or even wallpapers for Christmas on Rawpixel. The flower background images or HD nature wallpapers can easily be downloaded from the site.
10Pinterest
Rating: 4/5
Pinterest has been an all-time favorite image resource tool for users. The tool offers its services on the web or through its apps, which are available on both Android and Apple. You can get all sorts of images, GIFs, and video clips on Pinterest. You can pin your favorite items on your mood board and even look at other user's boards for inspiration.
You can download HD images on your device from Pinterest and easily incorporate them into your project. You can also choose to export images on other apps directly. The online pinboard, meant for image sharing and social media services, is available as a visual search engine. Users can take ideas and inspiration from the catalog of content and make the best out of it quite easily.
Wrapping Up: Living in the digital era of today, it is essential that one learns to match their pace with the rest of the world. You will need to include background images in more instances than you can count. Be it school projects, product marketing, building a website, making an Instagram feed, creating a YouTube thumbnail, or simply for your phone wallpaper, pictures are an evident need.
Hence, it is important to learn the proper resources where you can get these images easily. You now know some of the best online sites where you can find some cool backgrounds for your requirements. You can use these sites to get royalty-free HD background images for free, with a simple click.
