Illustrations are critical aspects of any content, whether for branding or advertising. However, budding entrepreneurs and creatives prefer downloading free stock illustrations instead of paying steep professional fees for illustrators. This is where free stock illustration websites come into play if you want stock illustrations free for download. Check out these seven best websites to get stock photography and examples of “people illustrations” for each.
1. Freepik
Freepik loves helping users bring their ideas to life. The platform is growing daily, so expect to find the most suitable illustrations your heart desires. Freepik aims to provide creatives and marketers with high-quality mockups, icons, presentation templates, photos, and illustrations.
Founded in 2010 by Joaquin Cuenca and Pablo and Alejandro Blanes, the original mission was to offer free graphic resources. Since Freepik’s inception, the company has created two new projects: Flaticon and Slidesgo. Financial Times hailed Freepik as one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. Freepik now has over 18 million unique monthly users, 50 million monthly views, 100 million monthly downloads, and 4.5 million graphic resources.
Here is a free sample for “people illustrations” from the platform. Downloading this requires attribution for the artist, with limited file types such as JPG, EPS, and AI.
2. Storyset
When you’re looking for stock illustrations free for download, Storyset is one of the go-to websites. The platform has hundreds of illustrated concepts users can integrate into their apps, presentations, promotional materials, landing pages, and more. Most of these free images can also be revised. For instance, you can edit the main color and choose one primary color for your project. You may also make the illustrations come to life by transforming them into animations with an online editor.
Downloading free illustrations from Storyset is also easy. First, choose the concept that suits your project and select from the four available illustration styles: Pana, Amico, Bro, or Rafiki. Then you can edit the color, layers, or background. Once you’re done, you can download the image as a PNG or SVG. But if you want to animate the illustrations, you can export the files as a GIF, MP4, or HTML.
Here is an example of an illustration from Storyset, which needs attribution.
3. All-Free-Download
If you’re looking for a user-friendly platform with a straightforward interface, All-Free-Download is your best bet. The company recently revised its interface, and the new version is easy to use. All-Free-Download has an in-house studio that creates these free graphics for personal or commercial projects. However, the only limitation is that users can’t redistribute these images.
The platform is growing daily and welcomes creatives to upload their works of art in exchange for a small amount.
Check out this example from All-Free-Download, which needs attribution under the Creative Commons license. You may also buy their design team a cup of coffee by offering a small amount for the illustrations.
4. Vecteezy
Every creative has probably come across Vecteezy when looking for beautiful illustrations for their projects. Trusted by the world’s top brands, Vecteezy understands that the path to branding greatness is never straight. It all starts with having the best accessible resources to do great work. Vecteezy’s purpose is to simplify the creative process so professionals and up-and-coming creatives worldwide will have a shot at success.
Shawn Rubel, Vecteezy’s founder and CEO, launched the company in 2007 as a creative pastime. This platform was his creative outlet while working for another company as a designer. The website grew into a full-blown resource network, and he left his job in February 2009.
Grab this free illustration from Vecteezy while giving attribution to the website.
5. Humaaans
Humaaans is one of the best websites to get stock illustrations free for download, especially when you’re looking for people-themed illustrations. Pablo Stanley is the genius behind Humaaans, and believes storytelling levels up your branding and marketing. As a comics writer, musician, illustrator, and designer, Stanley understands creativity is innate in everyone. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a little push to unlock it. And this is why the Blush tool by Humaaans was born.
Blush is a tool that can help users edit human illustrations in the most user-friendly, run, and affordable way. You can mix and match people illustrations from its design library. Users also have the option to change their tops, pants, and even hairdos!
This is an example of an illustration of people from Humaaans. The free account lets users download a small PNG file, while the medium and large files require the PRO plan.
6. Vexels
When choosing stock illustrations free for download, choose Vexels. The platform has an in-house team that provides sellers, innovating companies, and creative professionals with the best digital design experience. With Vexels, rest assured you get new styles and trends weekly and new content daily.
The design team creates more than just illustrations. These creatives offer users PSD mockups, icons, print-ready shirt designs, and more. Moreover, the marketing team does regular market research and analysis to ensure Vexels provides the most up-to-date products.
Here’s an illustration example from Vexels. Downloading free stock photos from Vexels requires attribution.
7. Shutterstock
Powering creativity for all creative professionals from all backgrounds, Shutterstock is one of the most popular free stock photography websites. The team behind Shutterstock gets energized when they build something new and amazing. And this is why Shutterstock offers some of the most incredible illustrations and graphics fit for any project. Shutterstock is composed of a team of independent thinkers who collaborate and inspire each other.
Headquartered in New York City’s Empire State Building, Shutterstock has expanded to Toronto, Dublin, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, and Sydney. With customers in more than 150 countries, it’s no surprise that Shutterstock considers inclusivity in its workforce.
Users can get stock illustrations free for download by signing up for a one-month free trial.
Wrap Up
Free stock illustrations are accessible, affordable, and diverse, making them a favorite for most creatives with a tight budget. Additionally, downloading stock photography is made more accessible now with all these online websites.
However, if you genuinely want your branding, advertising, or personal projects to make an impact, invest in custom illustrations. Penji offers any illustration created by our professional illustrators in exchange for a fixed, monthly rate. You may even try our user-friendly bespoke design platform for a month. Sign up here for a 30-day money-back guarantee or get this limited 15-percent discount now!
