Pexels: free stock photos and videos, no account needed
Pexels says all its photos and videos are free to download and use, with no account needed and no credit required. The licence has limits on people, brands and resale.
Official publisher artwork hosted by its publisher. Official source. Independent guide, not affiliated or sponsored. Artwork and trademarks belong to their owners.
What it is
Pexels is a website with free photos and videos you can download and use in your own projects, such as slides, posters, blog posts and social posts. Its Help Centre says its goal is "an incredibly simple and fast way for the world to find free photos and videos". Pexels says it is a brand of Canva Germany GmbH. It is not an AI tool. We included it as a free resource.
Is it free?
Yes. Pexels says "All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free." Its Help Centre says: "Pexels offers completely free, no-strings-attached photos and videos" and that anyone can download without creating an account.
What you can do with it
- Download without an account. Pexels says you do not need one to download. An account lets you make collections, follow photographers and see your past downloads.
- Use the files without credit. The Pexels licence says attribution is not required, though it is appreciated.
- Edit them. The licence says you can modify photos and videos.
- Use them on a website, in print or on social media, per the licence page.
What to watch out for
- Rules in the licence: identifiable people may not appear "in a bad light or in a way that is offensive"; you may not sell unaltered copies, for example as a poster or print, without changing them first; you may not imply that people or brands in a photo endorse your product; you may not redistribute them on other stock or wallpaper sites; and you may not use them as part of a trademark or business name.
- Small edits do not make resale allowed. Section 5 of the full terms says filters, colour changes, resizing and cropping still count as standalone use. To avoid standalone use, the combined creative effort must make a new creative work. The terms also prohibit commercial use of content depicting trademarks, logos or brands in relation to goods and services, including on merchandise for sale.
- Extra rights can apply. Pexels' terms say some content may carry other rights, such as trademarks or the privacy rights of people shown. Check before using a photo that shows a face, a logo or a brand commercially.
- Read the full terms for commercial use. The licence page is a summary. The Terms of Service were last updated 15 November 2024 per the page.
Privacy and data
- Pexels' Privacy Policy says it collects usage and analytics data and uses cookies, and may use your activity to train its own machine-learning models. It says "If you don't want your Content to be used" for that, there is an opt-out, but we did not read the full steps.
- It says it works with third-party ad networks to show personalised ads on the service and may share some data such as email, location and cookie information with them. It says it does not sell or rent the information to those parties for their own marketing.
- It says children under 13 may not sign up on their own. This is a long policy and we did not read all of it. The page says "Last updated: May 22nd, 2024".
India
- We did not find a page saying Pexels is limited or blocked in India, and it is a website, so try it in your browser. No price is involved.
Frequently asked questions
Is Pexels free?
Yes. Pexels says its photos and videos are free to download and use, with no account needed.
Do I have to credit the photographer?
No. Pexels says credit is not required but appreciated.
Can I sell prints of a Pexels photo?
Not a standalone copy. Section 5 of the terms says filters, colour changes, resizing and cropping still count as standalone use. A combined creative effort must make a new creative work. The terms also prohibit commercial use of content depicting trademarks, logos or brands in relation to goods and services, including on merchandise for sale. Other rights and licence limits still apply.
Sources: Pexels License, Are the photos and videos on Pexels really free?, Benefits of joining Pexels, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy. Checked 16 October 2026.
No Pexels or Canva logo is used in this article. Independent guide, not affiliated.