# Free images for commercial use: what you can actually use

> You can use an image commercially when its licence says so: CC0 and public-domain images with no conditions, CC BY images with a credit line, and free stock licences such as Unsplash's or Pexels' within their terms. CC BY-NC is non-commercial only, CC BY-ND forbids editing, and CC BY-SA makes an edited version share-alike. The licence covers the copyright only: recognisable people, logos and private property can still need releases in an ad.

Licensing guide, updated 2026-11-03. Which free image licences allow commercial use (CC0, public domain, CC BY, free stock licences), which don't, and what still needs a release.

## The short version

Every result on Image Asset Server carries a **verdict** that answers one question: can this go into something you publish commercially, such as an ad, a product page, a client website or a printed book?

| Verdict | Means | Typical licences |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial use OK | No conditions | CC0, public domain, museum open access, US government works |
| OK with credit | Use it and credit the source | CC BY, NASA media, MIT/Apache icon sets |
| Restricted | Conditions that usually rule out normal use | CC BY-SA |
| Needs a paid licence | Buy a licence or releases first | Shutterstock, Getty, Adobe Stock |
| Check the terms | Nobody has verified the rights | Archive items with no rights statement |
| Non-commercial only | Personal and educational use | CC BY-NC, CC BY-ND, personal-use licences |

Searches from AI agents are commercial-safe by default: only the first two rows come back unless the agent says the project is non-commercial.

## Where the licences come from

Wikimedia Commons, Openverse and Iconify record a licence per file or per icon set. Museums (the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art) release their open-access images as CC0. NASA's media guidelines apply to everything from NASA. The Library of Congress gives a rights statement per item, and "no known restrictions" is read as free to use.

## What a licence doesn't cover

A licence covers the copyright in the picture. It does not give you the rights of the people in it, the trademarks on a shop sign or the design of a private building. For news, articles and education that is normal. For advertising, packaging or anything that suggests a person or brand endorses you, pick images without identifiable people and logos, or get releases. NASA images carry an editorial flag for this reason: NASA does not allow its insignia or its astronauts to be used in ads without permission.

## Free stock sites

Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay give photos away under their own licences: commercial use is allowed, credit is optional, but you may not resell the photos unaltered or build a competing service from them. They can't be searched automatically here, so every search links to the same query on their sites.

Verdicts are a summary, not legal advice. Read the licence linked on each image before you publish something important.

## Questions

**Is 'royalty-free' the same as free?**

No. Royalty-free means you pay once (or nothing) instead of per use, but the licence still has terms. Paid libraries such as Shutterstock sell royalty-free licences; free stock sites give them away with conditions such as no reselling.

**Can I use a CC BY image in an ad?**

Yes, with a credit line that names the title, author, source and licence. Put it where the audience can find it: a caption, the page footer or a credits page.

**What does the 'editorial' flag mean?**

The image shows identifiable people, insignia or brands without releases. It is fine for articles, books and education, but not for advertising or anything that implies endorsement.

**Do I need permission to use a public-domain painting?**

No, when the museum releases its photograph as CC0 or public domain, as the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cleveland Museum of Art do for their open-access works.

## Try it

- [Commercial-safe mountain photos](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=mountain+lake&commercial=true)
- [Public-domain paintings](https://image.shep.bot/search?q=landscape&category=art.painting&commercial=true)

## Collections

- [Free 4K nature photos: mountains, lakes, coasts](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-4k-nature-photos.md): Free high-resolution nature photos, at least 4K on the short side: mountains, lakes, coasts and forests, with the licence and credit line on every image.
- [Public-domain Impressionist paintings](https://image.shep.bot/collections/public-domain-impressionist-paintings.md): Free Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from museum open access (Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne), released as CC0 by the Met and other museums.
- [Free SVG icons from open-source icon sets](https://image.shep.bot/collections/free-svg-icons.md): Free SVG icons from open-source sets (Material Symbols, Tabler, Phosphor, Lucide and more) via Iconify, with each set's licence and transparent backgrounds.

## Related guides

- [How to credit CC BY images on websites, slides and print](https://image.shep.bot/guides/credit-cc-by-images.md): The credit line a CC BY image needs (title, author, source, licence, changes) and where to put it on a web page, a slide, a social post or in print.
- [Museum open access: free public-domain art you can reuse](https://image.shep.bot/guides/museum-open-access-art.md): How museums release public-domain art as CC0, which collections Image Asset Server searches (the Met, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland), and how to use them.
- [Using NASA images: credit, logos and astronauts](https://image.shep.bot/guides/nasa-image-rules.md): NASA images are free to use with credit, but the NASA logo, endorsements and astronauts in ads have rules. What's allowed, what isn't, and partner images.

## Sources

- [Creative Commons: about the licences](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)
- [Creative Commons: CC0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Unsplash License](https://unsplash.com/license)

This guide is practical information, not legal advice.

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Source: https://image.shep.bot/guides/free-images-commercial-use