Pexels is a free stock photo and video website offering high-quality, free stock photographs and stock footage, without requiring attribution.
With over 3 million free stock photos and videos, Pexels is a great resource for finding free, high-quality images and videos for your blog posts, videos, social media, and most other online purposes, whether you need them for personal or commercial projects.
Pexels is one of the highest traffic sites in the free image space, with over 10 million people worldwide visiting the website every month.
Looking for free photos for your website?
With Pexels photos you can choose from more than 3.2 million (according to Wikipedia) free stock photos (and videos!), in a wide variety of categories, ranging from nature to business to food.
Get inspired for your next website project
If you’re looking for some inspiration when getting started with your project, you can try clicking the ‘Explore’ feature. Great if you don’t know where to start.
Just click the ‘Explore’ button (on the top menu bar) and Pexels will serve up 34 collections – dynamically tailored for you – and hundreds of other curated collections.
Pexels background images for your website
Pexels is one of the most popular websites for free stock photos and videos. One of the things that allows the Pexels website to stand out in this crowded space, is its selection of beautiful background images.
Their collection is constantly growing, so you’re sure to find something that fits your needs. Plus, all of their images are free to download and use, so you don’t have to worry about paying any royalties.
Pexels video
Pexels offers a wide range of free stock video footage, from aerial drone footage to nature scenes to cityscapes.
Pexels video is a great way to add professional-looking video to your website, blog or channel. Their video library is constantly expanding, so you’re sure to find the perfect clip for your project. And best of all, as with all the assets on Pexels, Pexels Video’s footage is completely free to use.
Can I monetize Pexels videos?
Yes, you can – that is, as long as you incorporate them into your own creations. In other words, you can’t just download a royalty-free video from Pexels and then upload it to YouTube, with nothing more added to it. They are free to use in your YouTube videos, but not as if they are your videos.
Pexels Music
Pexels has no free music, sounds, or audio for download. I only include this section of this post because so many people search for it, so it’s worth mentioning that there isn’t any. Nuff said.
Tell me more about the Pexels license
What makes Pexels different from many other stock photo sites is its commitment to offering only royalty-free images and videos.
This means that all photos and videos on Pexels can be used for commercial or personal use – without attribution.
Additionally, all photos are released under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) or Pexels’ own license, very similar to the CC0 license, making them completely free to use.
You can modify and distribute the photos and videos, and you don’t have to give credit to the photographer, or Pexels, when doing so.
Here you can check out Pexel’s full Terms and Conditions. There’s also a simplified version where it states the following:
What is allowed?
- All photos and videos on Pexels are free to use.
- Attribution is not required. Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.
- You can modify the photos and videos from Pexels. Be creative and edit them as you like.
What is not allowed?
- Identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in a way that is offensive.
- Don’t sell unaltered copies of a photo or video, e.g. as a poster, print, or on a physical product without modifying it first.
- Don’t imply endorsement of your product by people or brands on the imagery.
- Don’t redistribute or sell the photos and videos on other stock photo or wallpaper platforms.
So, long story short, you can use Pexels images online for commercial or personal work, modify them or not, for your own or other’s websites, videos, blogs, etc., without needing to attribute them at all, as long as you don’t use them for anything considered as harmful, offensive or pornographic.
The only other thing you can’t do online is redistributing the photos or images to any other competing site, such as another free wallpaper, image, or video download site.
You can also use the images offline, for example on T-Shirts, mugs, posters, and other physical products you intend to sell, as long as you substantially alter the image creatively.
In other words, you can’t just use the images exactly as you downloaded them, without any substantial alteration, if you intend to sell the physical products you create with the images you downloaded. Only the copyright-owning photographer can do that.
Of course, if you can get the copyright holder’s permission to do so, then all’s good.
Some license questions answered…
Is Pexels free to use?
Yes, Pexels is a website that offers free stock photos and free stock videos.
All of Pexels’ pictures and videos are free for download and use. Considering the professionalism of the assets available here and the ease of use of the site, it’s still hard to believe all of this isn’t a pay-per-use image/video site!
Is Pexels ‘Creative Commons’?
Some of the free stock photos and videos are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license.
And the rest are available under the Pexels license, which is almost as free and easy as the CC0 license.
This means you can download, modify, and use the photos for free, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
Is Pexels copyright-free?
No, Pexels photos and videos are not copyright free. The copyright for all photos and videos still belongs to the contributors who uploaded the images and videos. So, you can’t just claim their work as your own, as you could if it was in the Public Domain.
They are though, royalty-free and fee-free, which means you can download the photos and videos on the site and use them for any commercial purpose, as long as that purpose is legal and moral.
Pexels does not own the copyright on any of the images and videos on their site. The people who took the photos and shot the videos remain the copyright holders. That said, those contributors have released the licensing rights over their creations so that you can use them without having to pay them. You don’t even need to provide credit to them or Pexels, although it’d be nice to do so when possible.
Is Pexels content in the ‘Public Domain’?
Some of the images on Pexels are sourced from the Public Domain, but they are then issued under the Pexels license. This means they are not as limitless as actual Public Domain assets, but the advantage is that, on Pexels, they are nicely tagged, searchable, and easier to discover through their discover pages.
Is Pexels content safe to use on your website?
Yes, Pexels is a safe website. It’s legal and owned by Canva, a much larger parent company.
However, as with any free image website, there are always a few risks. I’m not a lawyer, so this is just my opinion, from one website owner to another, but as most copyright holders don’t properly register their copyrights, the chances of being successfully sued for Copyright Infringement are minimal.
There are no guarantees that downloading images from Pexels is 100% safe. Otherwise, why would they indemnify themselves, but not you? As they say in their (Terms and Conditions) “You agree to defend, indemnify and hold Pexels and its affiliates harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, losses or demands arising out of or in connection with
- your use and access to the Website and/or Service;
- your violation of these Terms;
- infringement of third party rights (copyrights, trademark rights, personal rights, etc.) by you or your Content. The indemnity obligation includes the reasonable costs of legal defence, in particular lawyer’s fees, necessary to defend against such claims.
The best article I’ve found online, that goes a long way to answering whether it’s worth downloading images and videos from free image sites, is this one: Photographer in Legal Battle Over Unsplash Image After a User Uploaded the Image to Photo-Sharing Site Illegally
Please read it and make up your own mind. Or consult an attorney you trust and ask them for their far-more-qualified-than-mine opinion.
Final thoughts on using Pexels stock content
Pexels is a great resource for anyone who needs high-quality images or videos for their website or video channel. New photos and videos are added daily, so you’ll always have fresh content to choose from.
The site may contain copyrighted material – Although Pexels tries to screen submitted images for copyright infringement, some copyrighted material may slip through the cracks and end up on the site anyways (meaning you could get into trouble if you use one of those images in your own project). This disadvantage is shared with all free image sites to varying degrees of course but something to keep in mind.
Whether you’re a professional photographer or someone who just wants to spruce up their blog with some great images, or looking for free, high-quality stock video, Pexels is sure to have what you need.
The site also has one of the easiest-to-use search engines, making it simple to find the perfect photo for your next project. It is really one of the best sources for high-quality and royalty-free images and videos on the Internet.
If you think I’ve left something out of this review, or have a great tip for how to use the Pexels service or assets, please let me know in the comments section below.
