Pixabay

As a designer and marketer that serves several small businesses and nonprofits, I often have a limited budget when it comes to stock assets. Pixabay has been absolutely AMAZING for this.

Honestly, I would say that I find exactly what I need 95% of the time searching for free images on Pixabay. And their images have full commercial licenses, which eliminates all the extra work of determining how many times the image will be reproduced and how that affects the licensing tier.

• Price! All the images on the site itself are free and public domain. Many of my clients really appreciate not having to pay the usual license fee for stock images.
• Ease of use. When I'm billing hourly to budget-sensitive clients, it's nice not to spend 20 minutes digging for a good free image.
• The recommendations for premium images are always perfect; there have been multiple times when I've clicked through to buy an image that fits my client's needs better than any of the free ones.

• It brings down costs significantly, especially for nonprofits that have to watch every dime. The quality images provided for free are amazing.
• Curation of premium images. If Pixabay doesn't have the right image, they automatically recommend premium images that are ALWAYS a great match. Saving me the time of re-starting my search from scratch on iStock, Getty, et cetera.
• Image quality is great, too, giving me a better reputation among clients for the quality of my work created with these image assets.

Unsplash for Brands, Pexels, iStock, from Getty Images, Adobe Stock and Shutterstock

Audacity, Adobe Premiere Pro, Pirate Ship

As a creative in the advertising and marketing world, I often need to create composites and mockups for client presentations, helping them imagine what a final ad, product, or website will look like. Pixabay is an excellent resource for free, high-quality imagery for use in these mockups. Additionally, I often create social media posts and other ads for clients with limited budgets who cannot afford to pay top dollar for videos, images, and sound effects; Pixabay is an incredible resource for those clients.

• Free, high-quality images
• Ability to sort by transparent
• Library of free music and sound effects

• Saves us hundreds on stock photography vs using competitors.
• Can sometimes make the stock search longer if Pixabay doesn't have what you're looking for, which takes up valuable time.
• Useful for making high-impact, impressive presentations to clients.

Getty Images Enterprise Solutions

Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator CC, Pexels

I need to find photos and videos for social media that are not copyrighted. This includes weekly postings on social media, as well as photos that may be used in a course or for ads. It addresses finding some photos and videos that everyone else isn't always using. Sometimes people use Canva so often that you see their photos everywhere and it doesn't let your brand show. I also needed to find music for some podcast advertising and there is a plethora of styles available.

• The many photos that are copyright free
• The video that is copyright free
• The music that is royalty free.

• It has helped to make me look more professional.
• It has given me new options for social media and putting together things for emails or ads.
• Since it's free, I haven't had to spend money to get professional looking items.

Canva

Canva, Zoom, GarageBand

I use the photos from Pixabay due to them being copyright free. I have not used the music or video material YET, however, I use their photos for backgrounds for other compositions I create or I will grab a photo once in a while to add to a plan I am building. I have also used their photos on my websites.

• No copyright issues
• Beautiful photos
• FREE

• The photos from Pixabay have helped make our projects shine with quality photography.
• The photos they have look professional which in turn makes us look more professional.
• They also have a WordPress plugin so that you can add their photos from within your website, making things a lot easier.

Pixabay addresses the need for free stock photography and images that do not need royalties. The best uses within my organization are for sharing photos, graphics, videos, and illustrations. In the companies I have worked for this has been food related. The other great thing about Pixabay is the minimal restrictions within it.

• Wide range of subjects
• Massive database
• Very easy to use

• improved work speed
• better than other software's
• productivity increased by 10%

AllRetailJobs.com, Amazon Advertising Sponsored Products, Amazon Polly, Sizebay and Simplified Nutrition Online

JumpStory, Shutterstock, Pexels, Unsplash for Brands