Inliner.ai vs. Pexels

The Fresh Alternative to Free Stock Photos

Free stock photos are great – until everyone's using the same ones. Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay and other free image sites have opened up a world of visuals at no cost, but they come with a catch: lack of uniqueness. Inliner.ai offers a compelling alternative for those seeking fresh, never-before-seen images while still keeping costs low. It's like having an infinite library that generates new photos on demand, ensuring your visuals don't blend in with the rest.

How Inliner Works

Generate and serve unique, on-brand images from any URL—no downloading or cropping required.

Unlike traditional stock photo sites where you search, download, and upload images, Inliner works through simple, descriptive URLs. Just describe what you want in the URL, and the image is generated, cached, and delivered via CDN instantly.

Key benefits of this URL-based approach:

• Instant CDN delivery – Images load fast from our global network
• Free caching – Once generated, images are cached and served for free
• Works everywhere – Use directly in <img> tags, CSS backgrounds, or any web context
• Streamlined workflow – No need to download, store, or upload files for basic usage

Tweak any image with words, not Photoshop

Need to make changes? Simply append plain-language edits to your URL. No complex editing software required.

You can chain multiple edits and iterate quickly without starting from scratch. This makes A/B testing visuals as simple as changing a URL parameter.

The Problem with "Free and Popular" Stock Images

Overused imagery

When thousands of people pull from the same pool of free photos, you start to recognize the same pictures everywhere. (How many times have you seen that one "desk flat-lay with coffee cup and notebook" photo?) As one article pointed out, a lot of free stock sites "essentially offer the same pictures", leading to a homogenized look across the web. If you choose a popular Pexels image for your website, there's a good chance it's on dozens of other sites too. For a brand trying to stand out, this is not ideal.

These generic stock images are copied and pasted all over the web.

Limited scope for specific needs

Free sites rely on photographer contributions. While their libraries are large, they might not cover every niche or creative concept. If you need an image highly tailored to your content (say, an oddly specific scenario or an illustration that matches a metaphor in your blog post), you might not find it for free. Creators often hit a wall where they either compromise with a tangentially related photo or have to pay for a premium image elsewhere.

Inconsistent style and branding

Pexels and others aggregate images from thousands of photographers. That means the look and feel of images can vary widely. If you use multiple images from these sources, they might not feel cohesive (different color tones, composition styles, etc.). Achieving a consistent brand aesthetic using random free stock is challenging – you basically get what you get.

How Inliner.ai Provides Freshness and Flexibility

AI-generated = One of a kind

When you generate an image with Inliner.ai, the chances of anyone else having that exact image are virtually zero. You're not pulling from a pre-made set; you're creating from scratch (with the help of AI). This is the ultimate answer to overused stock photos. For example, instead of downloading the same free city skyline photo everyone uses, you could generate "a city skyline at dawn with your brand colors in the sky." The result will be unique to you. As Zapier's guide to free images emphasized, the best sites are those that offer unique images so your content can stand out – Inliner takes that to the next level by giving you an endless supply of unique images.

No cost barriers for base usage

Inliner.ai offers a free tier and affordable plans, making it accessible even to those who typically stick to free stock out of budget necessity. The aim is to be a free (or very low-cost) alternative to free stock sites – that sounds paradoxical, but it means we want even cash-strapped creators to use Inliner without worry. If you can afford an internet connection, you can start creating on Inliner. And because once an image is generated and cached it's free to use indefinitely, the economics can be similar to using a free stock photo (you're not paying per download or per image license).

Faster workflow for specific images

Think about the time spent searching on Pexels/Unsplash. Sometimes you find the perfect image quickly; other times you scroll for an hour and still feel unsatisfied. With Inliner, you spend that time creating. Instead of hoping someone out there uploaded the shot you need, you describe it and let the AI produce it.

Prefer a visual UI? Jump into AI Studio to generate and refine dozens of variations, then export the winning URL for use anywhere.

For instance, if you need an image of "a happy customer using [your product] in an office setting," you won't find that on Pexels. You'd have to find something kind of relevant and maybe edit it or just settle. With Inliner, you can attempt to generate exactly that scenario. Even if the first try isn't perfect, you can refine the prompt. You're essentially doing a quick iteration loop with AI rather than a scavenger hunt on free sites.

Brand consistency and customization

With AI generation, you can enforce consistency in a way that's impossible with random stock contributors. You can specify styles – e.g., "in flat illustration style" or "with a purple color scheme" – across all your images.

Need your logo, product screenshot or mascot inside the shot? Upload a reference once and reuse it in any URL. This brings-your-own-assets feature means you can create branded content that's impossible to find in any stock library.

Let's say you run a blog and want each post's header image to have a similar vibe (same palette or a recurring character/mascot). Using Pexels/Pixabay, you'd have to dig to maybe find images that kind of match, but they'll never be truly uniform. With Inliner, you can literally generate images in a series:

• Post 1: "a robot reading a book, flat illustration, pastel purple theme"
• Post 2: "a robot typing on a laptop, flat illustration, pastel purple theme"
• And so on...

Your blog now has a coherent visual theme, all without hiring an illustrator, and certainly nothing you could get from a generic free stock library.

No legal ambiguities

Free sites like Pexels and Unsplash have pretty generous licenses (usually you can use the images freely, even commercially, without attribution). However, occasionally there are edge cases – e.g., identifiable people or trademarks in photos might still carry some risk, or a photographer might request credit as a courtesy.

With AI-generated images, you sidestep most of that. Generated assets are royalty-free for commercial use, giving you peace of mind for business applications. You're not using a photo of a real person (unless you explicitly generate one that resembles a real person, which we'd caution against for other reasons), and the image is your creation. Of course, one should still use common sense and avoid generating trademarked content or explicit celebrity likeness as that enters another legal area – but for general use cases, you have a lot of freedom.

Feature Comparison: Inliner.ai vs. Pexels

Using Inliner.ai Alongside or Instead of Free Stock Sites

It doesn't have to be a total switch – you can augment your current workflow:

Mix and match

Maybe continue using free stock for simpler, non-critical images (like a generic background or texture), and use Inliner for the key visuals that need to be unique or thematic. There's no rule saying you must choose one or the other. If you find a great free photo that does the job, by all means use it! But when you can't find what you want, that's when Inliner is the perfect backup plan (or main plan).

Mix and match between stock photos and AI-generated images to create the perfect visual story for your brand

Contribute your generated images?

Interestingly, one could even generate images and, if you're willing, share them on free sites under an open license. This way you contribute back to the community. (Though if it's a really on-brand image, you might want to keep it exclusive to you – that's the whole point! 😄)

Learning curve

Using Pexels is straightforward – type a keyword, download image. Using Inliner requires formulating a prompt. This is a new skill, but a fun and rewarding one. We provide prompt examples and templates to help new users get the hang of it. Once you get used to "writing what you envision," it can be faster than manual search. It's a bit like the difference between ordering off the rack versus tailoring your own suit – a little more effort, but a perfect fit.

Just like this rabbit, you'll quickly get the hang of creating images with Inliner