Placeholder Profile Pictures for Mockups: 8 Free Sources

Amit Yadav — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 10:34:14 +0000

The quickest free placeholder profile pictures are Pravatar (one URL, no key) and Random User Generator (a fake user record with a photo). If you need faces that fit a market, such as users in Brazil, Japan or Nigeria, or a stable face per user id in seed data, use a library you install instead of a hotlinked service.

This guide covers photo placeholders: realistic faces for user lists, comment threads, team pages, chat screens and demo data. If you want illustrated or generated avatars (initials, geometric shapes, cartoon faces), our avatar generator libraries page compares those side by side.

Quick answer

Pravatar is the fastest: https://i.pravatar.cc/150?u=user-42 gives the same photo for the same id.
Random User Generator gives a full fake person (name, email, address, photo) with gender and nationality filters.
Personified is an npm package of AI portraits with personas (country, region, age band, mood), for demos that must fit a market.
Untitled UI avatars is the pick for Figma: real photos, free commercial use, no credit.
Check the license chain before you ship: several popular sources cannot show where their faces came from, and some well-known ones are gone.

The 8 sources at a glance

Checked on 27 October 2026. "Stable per user" means the same input always returns the same face, which keeps screenshots and tests steady.

Source	Faces	How you get them	Filters	Stable per user	License
Pravatar	Real photos	URL	None	Yes, `?u=`	Says CC0
Random User Generator	Real photos	JSON API	Gender, nationality	Yes, `seed`	Photos credited to old UI Faces set
Personified	AI portraits	npm, CDN URL	Country, region, age band, gender, skin tone, mood	Yes, `pick()`	MIT code, own free image license
Untitled UI avatars	Real photos	Zip, Figma	None	No	Free commercial, no credit
UI Faces	AI avatars	Download, Figma plugin	Category only	No	Free per image, check terms
xsgames Random Users	Photos	URL	Gender	No	Not stated
Generated Photos	AI faces	Web, paid API	Age, gender, ethnicity	No	Free tier is non-commercial with credit
Unsplash	Real photos	Search, API	Search terms	No	Unsplash License

The sources, one by one

1. Pravatar

License: CC0 (as stated). Open Pravatar

Pravatar is one URL and nothing else: no key, no sign-up. https://i.pravatar.cc/300 returns a random face at 300px (up to 1000). Add ?img=12 for a fixed photo, or ?u= with any string for a stable face per user:

<img src="https://i.pravatar.cc/96?u=ana@example.com" alt="" width="48" height="48">

The pool is small (the page does not state a count, and repeats show up fast in a long list) and you cannot filter by gender, age or region. The site labels itself CC0 but has no terms page and no stated rate limits, so treat it as a prototype tool. More detail on our Pravatar page.

Use if: you need a face in a mockup in the next 30 seconds.

2. Random User Generator

License: See notes. Open randomuser.me · Docs

Random User Generator returns whole fake people: name, email, phone, address, login and a photo in three sizes. That makes it the best fit when your mock needs real-looking records, not only faces.

const res = await fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/?results=20&gender=female&nat=fr&seed=demo');
const { results } = await res.json();
results[0].picture.large; // portrait URL

nat takes country codes (21 in the current version), gender filters, and seed with page gives the same set every time. You can ask for up to 5,000 results per call.

The limits: the last changelog entry is from 2022, rate limits are not documented, and the photo pool is small. The license chain is weak: the site says its photos were hand-picked from the "authorized section" of UI Faces and links to an archived FAQ from 2016. Fine for a prototype, risky for anything you ship or sell.

Use if: you need full fake user records for a demo, a table or a load test.

3. Personified

License: MIT code, free image license. Browse Personified faces · GitHub

Personified is made by the All SVG Icons team, so read this entry with that in mind.

It is an npm package of 300+ AI portrait photos of fictional people. Each face has a persona: name, country, region, age band, gender, skin tone and mood. That solves a problem the other sources ignore: a demo for a product in Brazil or Nigeria should show people who could be its users.

import { find, pick, file } from 'personified';

find({ country: 'Brazil' });              // all matching faces
find({ region: 'Europe', band: '60+' });  // older users in Europe
const face = pick(user.id);               // same face per user, every time
file(face.id, 256);                       // image path inside the package

The images ship inside the package as WebP at 128, 256 and 512px, so tests and screenshots do not depend on a third-party server. Hotlinking also works: https://assets.allsvgicons.com/avatars/256/0001.webp. IDs never change.

Code is MIT. The images are free for personal and commercial use with no credit needed, under our own license. Two rules: you cannot resell them as a face library, and you cannot present these people as real (fake reviews, fake staff pages).

The set is smaller than the big photo sites, and not every country has many faces yet.

Use if: your demo or seed data must fit a market, or you need stable faces in tests without a network call.

4. Untitled UI avatars

License: Free commercial, no credit. Open Untitled UI avatars

A curated set of real photos from Unsplash and Pexels, cropped and graded to look consistent, as a zip (JPG, PNG, WebP) and a Figma library. Free for commercial work with no attribution. The one rule: you cannot use them to build another UI kit.

There is no API and no per-user seed, so this is a design tool, not a data tool.

Use if: you work in Figma and want consistent, polished faces in your frames.

5. UI Faces

License: Check per image. Open UI Faces

UI Faces was the original "avatars for designers" site, and it is not what it used to be. Today it sells a set of AI-made avatars (human, abstract, cartoon and alien), free per image or a few dollars for the full pack, with Figma and Adobe Express plugins. There is no API and no filters beyond the category.

If an older tutorial tells you to call the UI Faces API, that API is gone.

Use if: you want a ready-made set inside Figma and do not need code access.

6. xsgames Random Users

License: Not stated. Open xsgames

A simple URL like Pravatar: https://xsgames.co/randomusers/avatar.php?g=female returns a random face, g=pixel returns pixel art. It is fast and free.

The page shows no license, no photo source and no way to get the same face twice. That is fine for a sketch you throw away, and not fine for anything public.

Use if: you need a random face for a quick sketch and nothing else.

7. Generated Photos

License: Free: non-commercial, credit required. Open Generated Photos

A large library of AI faces with the best filters here: age, gender, ethnicity, emotion and more. The catch is the license. Free use is personal and non-commercial only, with a visible credit link. Commercial use needs a paid plan, and the API starts at $250 a month and does not let you cache or store the files.

Use if: you have budget and need very specific faces at scale.

8. Unsplash

License: Unsplash License. Search portraits

Unsplash has thousands of real portraits, free for commercial use with no attribution required. You cannot sell the photos unchanged or use them to build a competing image service.

These are real people. The license page does not mention model releases, so be careful with any use that suggests the person endorses your product or is your user.

Use if: you need a hero or marketing photo, not a user list placeholder.

Gone or changed since older guides

Many "placeholder avatar" lists still link to these. Checked on 27 October 2026:

Service	Status
This Person Does Not Exist (thispersondoesnotexist.com)	Domain for sale. A different site with a similar name exists, but its free downloads are watermarked and for personal use only.
UI Faces API	Gone. The site now sells avatar packs.
UserStock	Site did not load on two tries.
Lorem Faces	Domain does not resolve.

This is the main reason to prefer a package you install, or images you host, over a hotlinked URL in anything that lives longer than a prototype. A dead image host turns every avatar in your demo into a broken image icon.

Where the faces come from

Before a placeholder face ends up in a public demo, a store screenshot or a sales deck, check three things:

Real person or AI? Real photos come from people who may not have agreed to be "User 42" in your product. AI faces avoid that, but most licenses (ours included) forbid presenting them as real people.
Can the source show its rights? Untitled UI and Unsplash publish clear terms. Random User Generator points to a 2016 archive. xsgames states nothing.
Commercial use allowed? Generated Photos' free tier is not. Pravatar says CC0 but has no terms page behind it.

Rule of thumb: Prototype in Figma: anything works. Demo, seed data or screenshots that leave your team: use a source with written commercial terms and no credit requirement, and host or install the images yourself.

Keep the same face per user

Random faces on every reload break visual tests and confuse anyone reviewing a demo. Three sources give you a stable face for the same input:

// Pravatar: hash of any string
`https://i.pravatar.cc/96?u=${encodeURIComponent(user.email)}`

// Random User Generator: same seed, same people
fetch('https://randomuser.me/api/?results=50&seed=storybook')

// Personified: same key, same face, no network call
import { pick, file } from 'personified';
const avatar = file(pick(user.id).id, 128);

For illustrated avatars, DiceBear and Boring Avatars do the same with a seed. You can try them in the avatar builder.

Which one to pick

You need	Use
A face in a mockup right now	Pravatar
Fake user records with photos	Random User Generator
Faces that fit a country or age group	Personified
Polished faces inside Figma	Untitled UI avatars
Specific AI faces at scale, with budget	Generated Photos
A marketing or hero photo	Unsplash
Illustrated avatars, initials or shapes	Avatar generator libraries

FAQ

Where can I get free placeholder profile pictures?

Pravatar and Random User Generator give free photos by URL or API with no sign-up. Untitled UI has a free set for Figma, and Personified is a free npm package of AI portraits with personas.

Can I use placeholder avatars in a commercial product?

It depends on the source. Untitled UI, Unsplash and Personified allow commercial use with no credit. Generated Photos' free tier does not. Random User Generator and xsgames do not publish clear terms, so avoid them in anything you ship.

How do I get the same random avatar for the same user?

Pass a stable value. Pravatar uses ?u= with any string, Random User Generator uses seed, and Personified uses pick(userId). The same input always returns the same face.

Is This Person Does Not Exist still working?

The original domain, thispersondoesnotexist.com, was for sale when we checked on 27 October 2026. A similarly named site exists, but its free images are watermarked and for personal use only.

Are AI-generated faces safe to use in demos?

They avoid using a real person's face without consent, which is their main advantage. Check the license: most forbid presenting the faces as real people, for example in fake reviews or fake team pages.

Can I filter placeholder photos by country or age?

Random User Generator filters by nationality and gender. Generated Photos filters by age, gender and ethnicity on paid plans. Personified filters by country, region, age band, gender, skin tone and mood for free.

Originally published on All SVG Icons.

DEV Community: Amit Yadav