Choosing the right images can elevate your website from good to exceptional—but buying stock photos before you’re sure they’ll work can lead to wasted time and money. Here’s a tip tip: Always try a watermarked preview on your site first. This ensures the photo fits the design, layout, tone, and color palette before you purchase the final version.

Here are some reliable places to find stock photos:

Pixabay

Pixabay offers free photos, illustrations, and videos. You’ll see some paid suggestions mixed in, but the free selection is solid. Just make sure to choose images that look natural, not overly staged.

Adobe Stock

Through MIGHTYminnow, we can license Adobe Stock photos for projects we work on, for a nominal fee. Alternatively, you can purchase them directly on your own. Adobe’s library is large, versatile, and typically higher quality than the free sites.

iStockPhoto

iStock offers generally inexpensive images and a wide variety of styles. It’s a great mid-range option when you need something polished but don’t want to pay premium prices.

Squarespace Free Library

If your site is built on Squarespace, you already have access to a huge library of free photos right inside the editor. High-quality, easy to search, and completely included with your site plan.