How To Create A Website Like Pexels, Shutterstock, Pixabay? [Free, No Coding]

Do you want to create your own revenue-generating, photo-sharing websites like Pexels, Shutterstock, or Pixabay?

Hey! But, wait. Why will you create a stock photo website when there are already numerous branded websites?

So, listen: This 20th century is for the fast-mover not for the first mover. Example: Facebook started their journey way after Friendster, Orkut, Hi5, Classmates, Sixdegrees, etc. Still, they succeeded.

Therefore, why not create your own stock photo, video sharing website?

Then, take a deep breath and feel relaxed because I am going to make this idea real.

So, take a pen and paper to note down the points and a Cup of coffee to refresh your mind.

Let’s dive into the topic. 🤠

What Are Pexels, Pixabay, Shutterstock, Adobe?

Pexels, Pixabay, Shutterstock, Adobe, Flickr, Unsplash, and iStock, all are leading creative, stock photo markets where contributors sell their photos and earn commissions.

And customers purchase photos for free or a monthly or yearly subscription.

In easy terms, these are the Stock Photography Websites where we can get copyright-free, high-quality, royalty-free pictures like

• Photographs, graphics, background photos, illustrations, vectors, footage, motion graphics, GIFs, videos, and even music.

Normally, a branded professional stock photography website offers millions of images and videos with powerful tools and features that give advantages to every user and contributor.

What Type Of Website Are Pexels, Pixabay, Shutterstock? 

As I mentioned briefly, these websites are called Stock Images Websites where images are already captured, designed, and edited for download and use.

These websites generate a huge amount of photo libraries by their contributors. 

As usual, Contributors upload their photos on a stock photo website by making a profile and whenever their photos get downloaded or purchased they get commissions.

Read More : How To Create A Successful Video Sharing Website Like YouTube?

Also, these websites generate revenue through:

• Organic Traffic.
• Social media.
• Email marketing.
• Affiliate marketing. 

Now, let’s learn more about: Stock Photo Websites, What are the requirements to create professional Stock Images Websites?

What Is A Stock Image or Stock Photo Website? 

A Stock Image or Stock Photo site is built particularly for sharing and downloading photos, and videos. For this reason, developers provide separate features while building this type of website.

Normally, on the market there are two types of stock photos:

1. Photos that need a license to use.

2. Photos that are free to use (Royalty-Free Images).

When it comes to paying for stock photos explicitly, there are two types of sites

1. Free stock photo websites.

2. Premium stock photos websites.

Although, there are numerous branded websites like Pexels, Pixabay, Shutterstock, etc, that provide free along with paid photos side by side.

Visual Content That A Stock Image Website Offers?

Normally there are a few common items that you get on every document website whether it is small or massive.

• Images (Photographs, background images, etc).
• Vectors and Icons.
• GIFs.
• Animations.
• Video clips.
• Infographics.
• Audios for background music.

Top 35 Similar Websites Like Pexels.com And Alternatives?

Top 20 Free Stock Photo Websites:

These are the 20 best stock photo websites from where you can get any kind of photos absolutely for free within a very few seconds.

1. Pexels.
2. Pixabay.
3. Canva.
4. Picjumbo.
5. Burst by Shopify
6. Vecteezy.
7. Gratisography.
8. CreateHER Stock.
9. Morguefile.
10. Stockvault.
11. Pikwizard.
12. Stocksnap.io.
13. Life Of Pix.
14. Flickr.
15. WOCnTech.
16. Death to Stock.
17. Crello.
18. Depositphotos.
19. New Old Stock.
20. Kaboompics.

Top 15 Premium Stock Photo Websites:

These websites are paid for because they provide quality images. You can purchase photos from high to low prices as per the photo type and quality.

1. Shutterstock. 
2. Envato Elements.
3. EyeEm.
4. iStockPhoto.
5. BigStockPhoto.
6. Adobe Stock.
7. Getty Images.
8. Storyblocks.
9. 123RF.
10. Canva Pro.
11. Dreamstime.
12. Stock Unlimited.
13. StockPhotoSecrets.
14. Dreamstime.
15. Photocase.

What Are The Features Of A Stock Photo Website?

There is not a single type of website. Rather, on the Internet, you can find more than 20 types of websites such as

• eCommerce websites, personal portfolio websites, question-answer websites, one-page websites, blog websites, etc.

The key point here we want to mention is that those websites have different features for particular work.

As a stock photo website is normally used for sharing and getting photos, you need features related to this now.

Let’s have a look at the features of a Stock Photo Website.

• Site Logo and Menu Button.
• My Account on Menu.
• Title With a big search bar.
• Image category and types.
• Landscape, Mobile Size Images Layout.
• Zoom In, Zoom Out, Share, download option On Photos.
• Contributor Name, Views On Photo While Hovering.
• Single Photo Page.
• Add to cart option.
• Purchase and Rating Option.
• High to a low-quality image.
• Description about the image.
• Similar Images on the bottom.

How Difficult Is It To Build A Stock Photo Website?

When you know full-stack web development, you are called a full-stack web developer. Then, you can create any kind of website small to big.

If you don’t know any development, coding then you have to take courses, and classes on frontend and backend development in order to learn these languages:

• HTML. 
• CSS. 
• JavaScript. 
• jQuery.
• PHP.
• Bootstrap.
• Ajax.
• Website designing, etc.

But, it is optional. You can create an amazing stock photo website without writing any single code. Even without hiring any developer.

Read More : How To Create A Successful Social Networking Website Like Reddit?

But, the question is how can you create a similar stock photo website like Shutterstock, Pexels, pIxabay, and Gettyimage?

How much does it cost to Make A Stock Photo or Video Sharing Website Like Pexels?

Look, it depends on the features you want. If you want to create a similar website like pixels with multiple features and systems, it can take between $10000 to $50000.

It may take more than that. It is totally up to the features that you are offering on that particular website. 

Hey, but listen, there is an easier way to create a similar stock photo website. The best thing is that it will take around $150.  😇

• $50/year for Hosting.
• A Free CMS Platform.
• $60 for a perfect wordpress theme.
• Few Free Plugins.
• Free Page Builder Plugin, Elementor.

How To Create A Website Like Pexels, Pixabay, Shutterstock, Adobe, Flickr, Unsplash, iStock, Getty Images, Shopify Burst, Canva?

Now, we will walk you through the exact eight steps by which you will not only Create A stock photo website but also launch It online within an hour, I promise.

As usual, we are going to create another simple blueprint, with an infographic.

Following this guide, we can create any kind of stock, photo, or video website.

Don’t skip any step, because we are going to also mention building a stock photo site absolutely free. Yes.

Though, investing around $150 will place you on the fast track to the path of success.

So, we recommend do some investments.

How Can I Start A Free Image and video sharing Website Like Pexels?

1. Brand building.
2. Register Domain.
3. Choose WordPress.
4. Perfect hosting.
5. Top class wordpress stock photo theme. 
6. Pagebuilder.
7. Customization.
8. Launch your site.

1. Brand Building:

You Cannot make a website or a business successful in the 20 century without building your brand.

A brand determines why a particular company or website exists on the internet and how the customers are going to interact with your website or products.

Read More : How To Create A Successful Mini eCommerce Website Like Amazon?

Why make a brand?

Broadly speaking, people don’t buy what you sell.

They pay for what value you give to them because, as usual, humans are self-centric. They only think through their emotions.

A Brand Includes

• Brand Name: Unique, catchy name that attracts visitors’ minds.
• Brand Logo: Amazing graphical image that creates the first impression on the customers.
• Tagline: That provides clarity and promises to your audience that they are going to get value if they choose your product.
• Psychological Based Color: It separates you from the competition and makes your brand memorable.

2. Register Domain:

As we told you earlier, brands’ names place a crucial role.

That’s why you have to choose a perfect domain name for your website that will be catchy and easy to remember.

What is a domain name?

In easy language, a domain name is a human-readable web server address.

We recommend going for the Bluehost domain register company.

And, the best thing is they offer a .com domain absolutely for free if you chose premium hosting for one year. 

Read More : How To Create A Successful Online Business Website Like Flipkart?

3. Hosting:

Now, the next step is choosing a perfect web hosting company. 

What is Hosting?

Web hosting is an online service that you purchase from a hosting provider in order to upload website files like text, images, videos, graphics, etc on the internet so that any user can access our website. 

We recommend HostArmada hosting.

They are a reliable, WordPress-recommended hosting company that provides amazing features at an affordable price. 

Just go with their shared hosting plans because as a new website owner you need limited features that you will get precisely in their shared hosting plans.

Learn More: How to Build A WordPress Website on Bluehost ?

4. WordPress:

If you choose the perfect content management system, CMS platform, you will be creating an amazing website without having to worry about codes, development, and technical work.

WordPress lets you do that. There is a massive amount of developer community who helps you create websites absolutely for free.

Heads Up. Here, we are talking about WordPress.org.

Don't get confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

5. WordPress theme:

Now, the next step is choosing a multi-featured, lightweight stock photo website theme that will create a website exactly like Pixabay, Shutterstock, pixels 

What Are The Best Stock Photo Website Themes for WordPress?

Right now, we are going to discuss the 3 best stock photo website themes that will hold all those technical things, and features just like Pexels, Shutterstock, and Pixabay.

Mayosis – Digital Marketplace WordPress Theme

Mayosis is the best stock photo website theme on the internet. Just have a look at the screenshot. 

Isn’t it exactly like what you want to create?

They provide eleven pre-built demo sites that you can use as per your need. There are demo sites for stock photography sites, stock video sites, ebook selling sites, and many more.

Benefits Digital Marketplace Website Theme

• High resolution with widget ready.
• Cross compatible browsers.
• Responsive layouts.
• Lightweight theme.
• Clean Code structure.
• Ultra-fast loading.
• Live chat functionality.
• 800 + Google fonts.
• Retina Reddy 5K display.
• Responsive theme.
• Fully updated theme.
• Gutenberg optimized.
• Easy to customize with Elementor page builder.
• Harder builder.
• Well documented.
• Easy to customize website theme.
• Multi-Vendor store.

Tijarah Digital Marketplace WooCommerce Theme:

Tijarah theme is particularly best for a photo, video selling stock photo websites.

When you try to sell your images, you need a WooCommerce support WordPress theme.

Don’t worry, this theme has all those features for a stock photo website theme. 

This theme lets you create a marketplace like Amazon, Flipkart, and eBay where you can sell your stock photo, videos, and templates precisely.

Benefits of Tijarah Digital Marketplace WooCommerce Theme:

• Responsive layouts.
• WooCommerce support.
• Mobile-friendly theme.
• Dokan multi-window support.
• Elemental page builder supported.
• 5 home pages.
• No technical or putting knowledge require.
• Google font support.
• Translation ready.
• Easy to customize.
• Well documented.
• Lifetime free update.
• 24/7 customer support.
• Updated and high-resolution theme.
• Compatible with all browsers.

Pixefy Multipurpose Photography Marketplace Theme:

Pixefy is also one of the best photo-selling websites.

There are also some amazing features your visitors can find like the category of photos, add to cart option, and image preview option.

Also, there are also big search options with live chat options.

6. Page Builder:

Page builder helps you design your website exactly what you need, you can customize every single part of your website with a page builder

There are several powerful page builders on the internet, but you need to choose one which is beginner-friendly and easy to use.

We recommend Elementor page builder. It is one of the most popular tools; it has both free and paid versions.

Benefits of Elementor 

• Easy to use.
• Compatible with any wordpress theme.
• Provide updates from time to time.
• No need to write codes.
• Google font and bap support.
• 300+ templates.
• You can add custom CSS.

7. Add Customization:

Sometimes your theme doesn’t come with some features or designs that you personally want.

At that time, you need to write codes for adding those features and functionalities।

If you don’t have any coding experience, then it creates a big problem.

But, there is a solution : 

• A Child theme.

Read more about the child themes from our separate guide.

• Custom CSS plugins.

Read more about custom CSS plugins from our guide

8. Launch Your Site:

Now do proper SEO, and reach out to your targeted audience through social media. You will start getting thousands of visitors every day.

Few WordPress plugins that will help you to rank your website higher: 

• Google Analytics for analyzing the visitors.
• Jetpack for security and health.
• Sucuri for scanning malware.
• Rank math SEO for better search engine optimization.

Can We Create A Website Like Pexels On Blogger?

Yes, you can create a website like Pexels, Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Getty Image in blogger.

The reason is: Not everyone has the investment to do for WordPress hosting, theme, or page builder. Then, blogger is the best option.

What is blogger?

Blogger is a free hosting platform provided by Google where anyone can create any type of website absolutely for free.

But, one thing you should always do: don’t go with the Blogspot domain if you are seriously going to invest time because Google doesn’t give value to a free domain.

What Are The Best, Free Blogger Photography Templates, Themes?

• Lexel Blogger Template.
• Sora Moon Blogger Template.
• Phorto Blogger Template.
• Wilder Blogger Template.

These are some SEO-friendly, photo-sharing blogger templates. Here you can share and lets your visitor save those images.

Required Features From A Blogger Photography Templates and Themes:

• Mobile responsive.
• Lightweight structural code
• Built with current technologies
• Eye-catching.
• Social sharing option.
• SEO friendly.
• Provide Multiple features for a stock photo, and video-sharing website.

So What Is The Best Blogger Template to Create A Photo, Video Sharing Website Like Pexels?

The answer is Lexal. It is a very lightweight theme and also holds all those features and designs that stock photo websites need.

Most importantly, it is absolutely free.

• It has a different layout for different sizes of images.
• It scrolls smoothly.
• Provide images category.
• Photo description.
• Social share options.

How Can I Make A Stock Photo Digital Marketplace Website Like Unsplash, Getty Images, Adobe?

As I told you earlier, these websites are called stock photo websites. To create this kind of website, you need to choose a platform.

You can go with blogger, which is absolutely free, and also you are going to get unlimited free image and video sharing blogger themes and templates.

But, there is a problem: You cannot customize your website properly.

So, you need to choose a CMS platform, WordPress.

Then choose a hosting and the next important thing is a perfect SEO-friendly, stock photography marketplace theme.

We have mentioned the best three stock images sharing marketplace themes. 

How Do I Create My Own Website To Share Free Images Like Pexels, Unsplash?

Nowadays, everyone is coming up with new ideas for doing business online. Sharing photos, videos, and images on your website is also a profitable idea.

These websites can be a great platform for beginner photographers. You can contact them and let them share their photos on your website.

Or, you can personally collect or capture photos and then share them on your marketplace website.

But don’t worry about monetization. There are lots of ways to monetize a stock photo website.

• Through Organic traffic.
• Selling premium photos.

How Can I Create My Own Website To Upload Pictures To Use As Wallpapers?

If you want to create your own website where people will come and also download them as wallpapers, you need to invest in WordPress hosting and WordPress themes.

Nothing is free in this world. That’s why you have to invest a bit of expense for building your website.

But, in blogger, there are unlimited free website templates and themes for image websites. 

You can choose them without any hesitation. But we recommend purchasing a .com domain. Then start your own photo, a video-sharing website.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Last Few Words:

We have created a complete guide: on how to create a stock photo website.

I hope this guide will help you to create your own photos sharing website without writing any code. Even without investing too much.

So, when are you going to create your stock photo marketplace?