All three libraries are free for commercial use, and all three still have limits that catch people out. Here is what each licence permits, in the terms that matter to a social or brand team. Always read the licence linked from the image itself, because the wording changes.
What all three allow
- Free use in commercial work, including paid social and client campaigns.
- Modification, cropping and colour work.
- Use without attribution. Credit is appreciated, never mandatory.
- Use on websites, in print, in video and in apps.
What all three forbid
- Selling an unmodified copy of the photo, or a print of it, as your own product.
- Redistributing the image as a stock photo, wallpaper pack or template that competes with the library.
- Implying that the photographer, the people in the photo or the library endorses your product.
- Using images of identifiable people for sensitive subjects such as health claims, political endorsements or adult content without a release. Libraries do not provide model releases for every photo, so check when it matters.
Where they differ
Unsplash asks that you do not compile photos from the service to build a competing or similar service, and it treats its API use under separate API terms. Pixabay's content licence draws a sharper line around identifiable people and trademarks, and it requires you to check the individual upload for restrictions. Pexels sets out similar limits and adds explicit restrictions around implying endorsement and redistributed on other stock platforms.
The practical consequence for a brand team is the same across all three: publish the photo as part of your work, do not republish it as a photo product, and check for people and brands in the frame before you make a claim.
The AI problem
All three libraries now accept AI-generated uploads alongside photographs, and their licences cover synthetic material on the same terms as photographic work. “Licensed” therefore does not mean “human”. If the reason you are in a library is that you want a real photograph, the licence is not the filter, the source is. That is the gap Photothentic exists to close: searches run only against photographic work, and the provenance of each image is kept with it.
Keeping proof
Libraries withdraw images, and a page that proved your licence last year can be gone when a client asks. Keep the credit string, the licence name and a copy of the licence text with the file. Photothentic's licence log stores the source, licence, photographer, usage type and download time for exactly that reason.