Pexels

What Pexels does

Pexels is a free, royalty-free stock photo and video platform founded in 2014, serving content creators, designers, marketers, and software developers globally. Its core product is a curated library of images and videos contributed by a global community of photographers spanning 170 countries, all searchable in 28 languages and usable commercially without attribution. The platform supplements its consumer-facing website with a programmatic Image and Video API, native iOS and Android applications, a Chrome browser extension, and a Google Slides Add-On. Its free Image and Video API, which processes over 15 billion requests per month at 99.99% uptime, is embedded inside major software platforms including Canva, Google, WordPress, WeChat, Hootsuite, Airtable, SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Sketch, and Figma.

The platform's underlying technology combines a human curation team for quality, tagging, and diversity enforcement with a search and recommendation algorithm refined by over 100 million users. This two-layer architecture underpins both the consumer discovery experience and the OEM-style API integrations that distribute Pexels content into third-party products. Community mechanics — recurring photo and video challenges with prizes, a public leaderboard, a Winners Wall, and "The Level Up" educational series — sustain the supply side of the marketplace.

Pexels operates a freemium go-to-market: all consumer content is free, attribution is appreciated but not required, and the API is free with default rate limits (higher limits available at no cost to platforms providing attribution). The company does not disclose pricing for enterprise API arrangements or any revenue figures, and there is no disclosed venture funding, parent company, or acquisition history. Pexels appears to be bootstrapped, privately held, and dependent on indirect monetization through enterprise partnerships, sponsorships, or other arrangements not visible in the provided source data.

Name

Pexels

Legal name

Pexels

Website

https://pexels.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pexels is a free stock photo and video platform founded in 2014, serving designers, content creators, and developers globally with royalty-free media contributed by photographers in 170 countries and distributed via a free Image and Video API embedded inside major SaaS platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Stock Photography and Video Platform

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Stock Media, Asset Marketplaces & Licensing Platforms (BPAMAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Content Asset Libraries & Template Marketplaces (stock, characters, themes) (EDAFAHAI), Creator Music/SFX Asset Libraries & Licensing Platforms (MPACABAM)

Keywords

• Stock photography platform
• Royalty-free images
• Stock video library
• Creative media API
• Visual content platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Fuldabrück

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Freemium Platform Access: Core platform providing free stock photos and videos to end users. Revenue is not directly generated from consumer users; the platform builds audience and engagement that supports API partnerships.
2. API Access Program: Free API access with default rate limits. Higher limits provided free of charge to platforms that provide acceptable attribution. This drives partnership integrations rather than direct revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Pexels provides a free, royalty-free stock photo and video platform through pexels.com, a public Image and Video API for developers, and mobile apps and browser extensions that surface its curated library to end users. The platform aggregates user-contributed photos and videos from creators in 170 countries, indexes them across 28 languages, and distributes them through direct-to-consumer channels and OEM integrations with major software products. All content is offered under a permissive license that requires no attribution and permits commercial use, modification, and redistribution.

Product overview

Pexels is a free stock photo and video platform offering royalty-free images and copyright-free videos shared by a global creator community. The core offering includes the main Pexels platform (https://www.pexels.com/) for discovering and downloading photos and videos, supplemented by the Pexels API for programmatic access, mobile apps for iOS and Android, a Chrome browser extension, and a Google Slides Add-On. Additional community features include photo challenges with prizes, a leaderboard for top creators, the Winners Wall showcasing outstanding submissions, and The Level Up educational photography series. The Pexels Blog provides resources, photographer interviews, and community stories. All content is free to use under a permissive license that does not require attribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pexels Stock Photo and Video Platform Free, royalty-free online library of stock photos and videos for individual creators, designers, marketers, and enterprise teams. All content is available for download and use under the Pexels License without required attribution, for commercial or personal projects.
• Pexels Image and Video API Free REST API providing programmatic access to the full Pexels photo and video library. Supports curated and trending content, image and video search, and collections across 28 languages, processing more than 15 billion requests per month at 99.99% uptime and used by developers and enterprises including Canva, Airtable, and WordPress.
• Pexels iOS and Android Mobile App Mobile applications for iOS and Android that let users search, collect, download, and upload high-quality photos and videos from their phone, mirroring the core Pexels platform experience.
• Pexels Chrome Browser Extension Chrome browser extension that displays a curated Pexels photo with each new tab and provides quick one-click access to favorite Pexels pages.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.99% API uptime
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

AI capability4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CanvacoreTechnology or IntegrationCanva embeds the Pexels video and image library directly within its design platform, allowing Canva users to access the entire Pexels collection without leaving their workflow.
• HootsuitecoreTechnology or IntegrationHootsuite integrates Pexels API for stock media access within their social media management platform.
• SurveyMonkeycoreTechnology or IntegrationSurveyMonkey uses Pexels video API to give users more ways to make their surveys beautiful and engaging.
• AirtablecoreTechnology or IntegrationAirtable uses Pexels API to make it fast and fun to find the perfect photo or video for any project within Airtable bases.
• WordPresscoreTechnology or IntegrationWordPress plugin integration allows direct access to Pexels content library from WordPress sites.
• SketchcoreTechnology or IntegrationSketch uses Pexels API to streamline image-heavy UI projects, eliminating time wasted searching for filler images.
• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle partnership for API integration, enabling Google products to access Pexels content library.
• TypeformcoreTechnology or IntegrationTypeform uses Pexels video API to give users more ways to make their surveys beautiful and engaging.
• WeChatcoreTechnology or IntegrationWeChat integration partnership enabling Pexels content access within the WeChat ecosystem.
• UnstackcoreTechnology or IntegrationUnstack partnership for API integration with Pexels content library.
• FigmacoreTechnology or IntegrationPexels plugin for Figma enables designers to access stock photos directly within their design workflow.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pixabay: Pixabay offers free stock photos, videos, audio, and other royalty-free media under a permissive license, directly competing with Pexels for free, community-contributed visual content and for SEO-driven discovery of stock imagery.
• Freepik: Freepik operates a stock media marketplace (photos, vectors, PSDs, AI images) with a freemium model overlapping with Pexels' audience of designers and content creators, while extending into vectors and generative AI tools.
• Unsplash: Unsplash is the most direct competitor to Pexels: a free, high-quality stock photo (and increasingly video) platform with a similar community-contributor model, freemium consumers, and a developer API used by product teams. Overlap with Pexels in audience, content type, and free licensing model is nearly complete.

Emerging players

• Depositphotos: Depositphotos is a subscription and on-demand stock photo and video marketplace serving SMBs and agencies, broadly comparable to Pexels' content creator and SMB customer base but operating under a paid model.
• Storyblocks: Storyblocks is a subscription-based stock media (video, audio, image) service positioning as an unlimited alternative to per-asset pricing, appealing to the same SMB and creator segment that Pexels serves with its free offering.
• Stocksy: Stocksy is a curated, artist-owned stock photo and video cooperative with a premium positioning, competing with Pexels in the high-quality, curated creative segment with a contributor-friendly royalty model.

Broad incumbents

• Adobe Stock: Adobe Stock is the stock media offering embedded within the Creative Cloud ecosystem, integrating directly into Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere — competing with Pexels for design and creative workflows with a paid, licensed model.
• Shutterstock: Shutterstock is a global, paid stock media platform (photo, video, music, 3D) with a contributor model and API offering — a broad incumbent that competes with Pexels for both content licensing and embedding in enterprise workflows.
• Getty Images: Getty Images is a premium, paid stock photo and video platform with editorial and creative content, serving enterprises with indemnification; it competes with Pexels at the high end of the same customer use cases.
• iStock: iStock (a Getty Images brand) is a paid, credit-based stock photo and video platform targeting SMBs and enterprise marketers, broadly comparable to Pexels in customer use case but operating in a paid rather than free model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pexels
• Facebookfacebook.com/pexels
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pexels
• Instagraminstagram.com/pexels

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pexels