15 Best Websites for Free Design Resources
If you're a designer on a budget, you know the struggle. Paying for premium assets like stock photos, fonts, templates, and more can quickly eat up your profits. However, creating outstanding designs doesn't have to break the bank. With the right free resources, you can level up your design skills without spending a dime.
In this post, I'll share my go-to websites for finding high-quality free design assets. From stock photos to UI kits, you'll find everything you need to create stunning graphics, branding, presentations, and more. Ready to save some cash while taking your projects to the next level? Read on!
Table of Contents
Why Free Design Assets Matter
Before we dive into the sites, let's chat about why free resources are so valuable for designers:
Save Money
This one's obvious but worth stating. Premium assets get expensive, primarily if you use them often. Free options let you invest those savings into growing your business in other areas.
Experiment with New Styles
Trying new styles and assets is risky when you're paying per download. But with free resources, you can grab various assets and play around to see what works best.
Speed Up Workflow
Hunting down the perfect paid asset can drain your time. Free libraries let you quickly browse and download hassle-free, so you can spend more time designing.
Find Inspiration
What sparks your creativity more than a stunning free stock photo or brilliantly designed template? Let high-quality free assets get your creative juices flowing.
Expand Your Skills
By experimenting with new kinds of assets, you can expand your design skills. Use a fancy font for a stylish logo. Create a brochure template to improve your layout abilities. The options are endless!
Now, let's check out those free resources, shall we? I've dug through hundreds of sites to cherry-pick the very best options.
1 – Pixabay – Free Stock Photos and Videos
Let's kick things off with the granddaddy of free image sites, Pixabay. With over 4.2 million stock photos, illustrations, and videos, you'll always have project options.
Key Features:
- Completely free commercial and noncommercial use
- No attribution required
- Striking nature, travel, food, and other images
- Helpful categories and search filters
- User rankings help surface quality picks
Pixabay is my go-to for lifestyle photos for blogs, cookbook imagery, nature backgrounds, and more. And the library expands by over 1,000 new assets daily! With Pixabay in your toolbox, you'll never have to pay for stock photography again.
2 – Unsplash – Beautiful Free Stock Photos
If striking photography is your thing, Unsplash should be your second stop. This curated stock photo site offers over 5 million (and counting!) ultra-high-quality images.
Key Features:
- All photos are free to use for any purpose
- Ten new images are added every 10 minutes
- Clean, modern photographic styles
- Handy search bar to find the perfect shot
- Beautiful user collections for themed assets
From product photography to inspiring nature shots, Unsplash has the photographic talents of over 290,000 contributors at your fingertips. And the intuitive UI makes hunting down the ideal image a breeze. Level up your blogs, websites, flyers, ads, and everything with Unsplash's stunning imagery.
3 – Iconfinder – Free Icons and Stock Illustrations
If it's icons, illustrations or other graphic elements you need, Iconfinder should be your go-to. With over 1 million assets, it's one of the largest free libraries.
Key Features:
- Enormous library of stylish icons and illustrations
- Great for website elements, infographics, presentations, etc.
- Handy editor to customize colors and sizes
- Advanced search filters, including style and file type
- New icons and illustrations are added daily
Infographics, websites, mobile designs, you name it. With Iconfinder's massive cache, you'll find vector icons, illustrations, and stylish graphics for any purpose.
4 – Freepik – Free Vectors, Stock Photos, PSDs, and Icons
Freepik offers a fantastic mixed bag of free resources, from photos to icons. If you need a one-stop shop for design assets, this is it.
Key Features:
- Massive library of over 5 million free resources
- Icons, vectors, PSDs, patterns, mockups, and more
- New uploads daily from talented contributors
- Handy search bar and category browsing
- Resources with unique styles you won't find elsewhere
Freepik has everything from floral frames to space scene PSDs to hand-drawn illustrations. If you can dream it up, you'll probably find it (for free!) on Freepik.
5 – Pexels – Best Free Stock Photos and Videos
Another fantastic free stock photo site, Pexels, offers over 1 million photographs, illustrations, and videos. All are free for personal or commercial use, with no attribution needed.
Key Features:
- Library of over 1 million stock photos and videos
- Gorgeous nature, travel, food, fitness images
- Handy categories, collections, and search to find the perfect asset
- New pics and vids added daily by talented creators
- Features like Popular and Trending help surface standout assets
Pexels offers a clean, ad-free interface that lets the striking images take centre stage. If you need gorgeous lifestyle photography for your marketing materials and more, Pexels is an essential bookmark.
6 – Burst – Free Stock Photos for Commercial Use
For a grab bag of diverse, dynamic stock photos, check out Burst. This site offers thousands of high-quality images covering all the bases.
Key Features:
- Free stock photos for any use
- No attribution required
- A diverse selection of lifestyle, business, food, and nature photos
- Handy category browsing to find what you need
- New pics are added daily for fresh inspiration
Shopify runs burst and is perfect for ecommerce images. But with categories like Office, Diverse, Technology, Hobbies, Concepts and more, every designer can find great stock shots here.
7 – Kaboompics – Free Stock Photos
If you love Unsplash, Kaboompics is another phenomenal photo library in your bookmark arsenal. Offering diverse, dynamic stock photos, it's a must-try.
Key Features:
- Free commercial use stock photos
- No attribution required
- Hand-picked, high-quality lifestyle photography
- Intuitive search and category browsing
- New pics are added daily for endless inspiration
Kaboompics offers over 9,000 photos spanning categories like Abstract, Technology, Nature, Emotions, Holidays and more. With full commercial rights and new additions uploaded daily, it's a fantastic one-click resource for striking project imagery.
8 – Gratisography – Free High-Res Stock Photos
As another excellent source for commercial-use stock photography, Gratisography is a must-bookmark. With nearly 400 photos uploaded weekly, it offers a regularly refreshed trove of inspiration.
Key Features:
- 100% free high-resolution stock photos
- Commercial and editorial use allowed
- No attribution required
- New pics added weekly in diverse categories
- Photos feature unique colour grading and editing
Gratisography's photos have a signature style with desaturated, gloomy tones and intriguing edits. It's perfect for nail salons, boutiques, restaurants, and anyone seeking an edgy vibe. The unique aesthetic makes it stand out from other free stock sites.
9 – Death to Stock – Photos for Creatives
If quirky, offbeat photography is more your style, check out Death to Stock. As the name suggests, this site offers a hip alternative to generic stock photos.
Key Features:
- Free monthly photo packs in different themes
- Past photos are available individually for free
- Quirky, edited photography with personality
- Perfect for creatives, startups, or fun brands
- Join the newsletter for access to new monthly packs
From camper vans to office dogs, Death to Stock's photography packs profound originality. If you want stock images brimming with life for a creative project, this is a goldmine.
10 – StockSnap – Free Stock Photos
With hundreds of thousands of free stock photos, StockSnap is another fantastic image resource for creatives. The site curates stellar shots covering all themes.
Key Features:
- Hundreds of thousands of free stock photos
- Diverse selection spanning all topics
- Hand-picked, high-quality photography
- Advanced search filters to find the perfect images
- Download individual images or in bulk
For gorgeous lifestyle photography to use anywhere, StockSnap is an excellent bookmark. And with robust search tools, you can quickly isolate the perfect pic for any project.
11 – Vecteezy – Free Vectors, Illustrations & More
If it's illustrations, vectors, or graphics you need, Vecteezy boasts over 1 million free options. From logos and icons to backgrounds, it's a goldmine of illustrations and vectors.
Key Features:
- Massive collection of over 1 million free vectors, illustrations, and graphics
- Also includes photos, video footage, fonts, templates, and more
- Handy category browsing and advanced search filters
- There is a vast variety of styles, from minimalist to retro
- Highest quality assets from pro designers around the world
Whatever your illustration needs – website assets, logos, infographics, posters, social media posts, and beyond – Vecteezy offers endless options. Bookmark it for ready access to on-trend graphic elements galore.
12 – Free Vectors – Download Free Vector Art
As another go-to for illustrations, Free Vectors offers over 310,000 options. Easily find crisp, clean graphics for any design project.
Key Features:
- 310,000 (and growing!) free vector illustrations
- Also includes free icons, templates, backgrounds, and more
- Handy categories and search filters to browse
- New uploads daily from a global community
- Easy, instant downloads for fast workflows
Free Vectors makes it simple to isolate exquisitely crafted graphics for websites, merchandise, flyers, packaging, clothing, digital ads, and everything in between.
13 – Vector Stock – Vectors & Graphics
If you need retro or vintage-inspired designs, Vector Stock is a true gem. Offering over 36 million public domain vectors, it's filled with groovy graphics.
Key Features:
- Massive collection of 38,000 retro and vintage vectors
- Logos, badges, labels, borders, backgrounds, illustrations and more
- 100% public domain and royalty-free
- Themed galleries for easy browsing
- Handy search bar to find specific graphics
For throwback graphics packed with nostalgia, Retro Vectors is a must-have. Pop those vectors into your tee shirt designs, business cards, packaging, or anywhere you want an old-school aesthetic. Far out!
14 – Free Design Resources – Free Photoshop Materials
If it's PSD templates, mockups, or other Photoshop materials you're after, Free Design Resources delivers. Offering everything from logo templates to mobile mockups, it's a true gem for Photoshop pros.
Key Features:
- PSD templates, mockups, shapes, brushes, styles, and other Photoshop assets
- Handy categories and search to browse effortlessly
- New files uploaded regularly
- Free for commercial and personal use
- A diverse selection of modern resources
Finding high-quality, flexible Photoshop materials can take ages. Free Design Resources lets you grab them instantly to spend more time designing.
15 – Canva Graphic Design Templates
Last but not least, Canva offers a stellar lineup of design templates for free. From social media posts to presentations, flyers, posters and more, these templates are a quick way to create polished graphics with no learning curve.
Key Features:
- Thousands of free design templates for different formats and uses
- Just swap in your text and images
- Template categories, including Instagram posts, YouTube banners, resumes, invitations, posters, infographics, and more
- Available on Canva's website or their app
- New templates are added regularly
Canvas ready-made templates help non-designers quickly create professional visuals. But they can also assist professional designers by helping you skip repetitive grunt work. Whatever your profession, don't miss this fantastic library of time-saving templates.
FAQs About Free Design Resources
If you're diving into free design resources for the first time, you may have some questions. Here are answers to my most commonly received FAQs:
Are free design resources 100% free to use?
Most free resources come with full rights for both personal and commercial use. However, always check an asset's license before using it. A small number require attribution, but the vast majority do not.
Will I get in trouble for using free design resources without attribution?
As long as you follow the resource's license, you will not get in trouble. Avoid copyright claims by only using assets released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0) or Public Domain licenses. These let you use resources completely attribution and payment-free.
How do free resources make money if they don't charge?
Many free resources are passion projects of solo creatives who enjoy sharing their work at no cost. Others make money by selling licenses for extended use or running ads. Some take supporter donations. Many creative, win-win models allow designers to offer assets for free.
Do free resources mean lower quality?
Not at all! Many talented designers generously offer their work for free public use. And curated libraries like Pexels and Unsplash feature incredible work by top pros. The free marketplace is highly competitive, so quality is relatively high.
Can I resell or redistribute free design resources?
Usually not. Always carefully read licenses. While you can use free resources in monetised projects, you cannot directly make money by reselling or redistributing the assets themselves.
Are free resources safe to use? What about viruses and malware?
The curated libraries featured in this post are safe, so there is no need to stress! Only download from reputable sites, never pirated or torrented assets. Most have protections to prevent malware-ridden files, too.
Conclusion and Next Steps
I hope this post helped you discover fantastic new sources for spectacular free design resources! From photos to icons to templates and beyond, these hand-picked sites offer everything today's designer needs to create visual magic.
Bookmark your favourites so you can grab high-quality assets whenever inspiration strikes. Ditch those steep premium subscriptions and rely on these generous freebies instead.
Now, over to you! Which of these sites do you find most helpful? Did I leave any stellar free resources off my list? Let me know in the comments below!
