Not so long ago, society frowned on tattoos. Today, we accept and welcome them as part of our culture. We use unique tattoo designs to tell stories, memorialize events, and turn our bodies into living works of art.

Over the years, the internet has unleashed a torrent of creativity and tattoo designs. Many are even available for free if you know where to look for tattoo ideas.

Here are the best tattoo sites for free tattoo designs. You can also look into tattoo designers and tattoo photos on these amazing websites.

1. Tattoo.com

Tattoo.com photo search

Since 1998, Tattoo.com has been one of the web's most popular tattoo sites. The website runs regular tattoo-related news articles and interviews, artist spotlights, and a section for user-submitted tattoo photos.

Creating an account allows you access to the site's community features where you can save your favorite tattoo designs, leave reviews, and upload your own tattoo photos. Its regularly updated YouTube channel features interviews with musicians and other notable tattoo aficionados about their ink.

2. Tattooton

Tattooton

This blog highlights some of the best tattoo designs and tattoo templates. Themes like heart, elephant, or mandala tattoos abound, and every post also provides a bit of background to the tattoo type. The best-of lists highlight some of the most intricate and outstanding tattoos by year.

You can filter the tattoo designs by male, female, amazing, and unique tattoos. The site is only updated sporadically, but is still an excellent resource, especially if you’re interested in designing your own tattoo.

3. Instagram

Instagram tattoo design hashtag search

The past few years have seen Instagram evolve from a photo sharing site to one of the most significant visual media platforms. The photo-sharing social network has since become one of the best places to discover new tattoo designers and their shops.

Both established and up-and-coming artists post photos of their tattoo designs here. Users also regularly post tattoo photos and tag their favorite artists after going under the needle.

If you love a particular tattoo photo but are afraid it might be deleted, you can download the photo from the Instagram post and save it to your phone.

Download: Instagram for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

4. Tattoodo

Tattoodo tattoo designs

Tattoodo is a social network designed exclusively for tattoo lovers. Co-founded by Ami James of Miami Ink fame, Tattoodo is one of the most visited tattoo sites in the world.

The site, along with accompanying mobile apps, boasts an impressive 30 million users. Having found international acclaim through his TV work, James set out to develop the complete tattoo website where users can upload and browse tattoo photos, find and follow artists, view tattoo-related videos, and read interviews and guides.

Tattoodo is also a booking platform for reputable tattoo studios around the world. Studios are listed by location, and consultations can be booked directly through the website or mobile app. This feature also makes it easier to find safe and well-respected studios for your next inking session away from home.

Download: Tattoodo for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

5. Custom Tattoo Design

Custom Tattoo Design tattoo design service

For many people, tattoos are personal works of body art, so an off-the-shelf approach doesn't work for everyone. If you want to design your own tattoo, but aren't an artist yourself, then Custom Tattoo Design (CTD) may be what you need. Because here, you can hire a tattoo designer to design a tattoo for you.

Starting with a brief description of your design, the team provides an estimate of the cost. After agreeing on the estimate, you go on to select an artist to work on your tattoo design.

CTD goes out of its way to make sure you are happy with the end result. Before you receive the final design, the artist sends you a rough sketch to approve.

If you aren't satisfied with your tattoo design, CTD will give you a full refund of your deposit. The final design comes with a certificate of authenticity, releasing the copyright from the artist, so you can get your custom tattoo inked.

6. Tattoo Ideas

Tattoo Ideas tattoo designs

Tattoo Ideas doesn't feature interviews with tattooed celebrities. It doesn't produce videos and hasn't got affiliations with big-name artists. Instead, it keeps things simple and focuses on the tattoos themselves.

The site is a gallery of user-submitted tattoo designs, body ink pics, and some of the best tattoo ideas. You can either browse the full gallery of tattoo photos, or filter by section.

The sections are reasonably specific too; there are areas for the sleeve, shoulder, geometric, and even funny tattoos. Like many inking sites, it also offers a bit of guidance on what to consider when designing your own tattoo.

7. /r/tattoos

tattoo subreddit

Reddit is one of the most visited websites in the world, with over 234 million monthly active users. Use these tips and tricks to search for Reddit posts that interest you. To jump straight into the active tattooing community, visit /r/tattoos.

This Subreddit is strictly moderated to ensure high-quality tattoo photos and posts. Users can post their tattoos, so long as they credit the artist and studio. If you're an artist hoping to showcase your work, you can become verified with the moderators.

You may want to discuss all things tattoo instead, in which case you'd find yourself at home on /r/tattoo. Likewise, if you're interested in tattoo drawing ideas and the best tattoo designs, then you may also want to check out /r/TattooDesigns.

Download: Reddit for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

8. Vecteezy

Vecteezy tattoo designs

Although tattoo photos are easy to come across, high-quality digital designs are more elusive. However, vector graphics website, Vecteezy, has an extensive collection of free and premium templates that makes it a great source for free tattoo designs.

You can search the site for anything that piques your interest. The word 'tattoo' returns over two thousand results. You can, of course, filter this down to find what you're looking for.

You can also filter the tattoo images by license type. Standard licenses are submitted by the community and are free to use. You can also purchase premium images by using credits or download them for free as part of a recurring Vecteezy subscription.

9. Inkbox

inkbox site

You've probably heard horror stories where a tattoo design went wrong and became someone's deep regret. You can be put off by this fear of getting it wrong because tattoos are permanent.

Inkbox provides an alternative with its temporary tattoos. Traditional temporary tattoos are stickers that often fade immediately or refuse to apply to your skin correctly.

Inkbox temporary tattoos cause the ink to enter the epidermis, but not as deep as regular tattoos. As the skin regenerates, the Inkbox tattoo will fade. With an estimated lifetime of between 8 and 18 days, it's the perfect workaround for anyone nervous of the long-term commitment of a tattoo.

If you have some photo editing skills, you can also consider a similar alternative for temporary tattoos: adding a tattoo on yourself in Photoshop!

10. INKHUNTER

INKHUNTER tattoo designs

If you're looking for a quick way to test tattoo designs without having to ink them onto your body (temporarily or permanently), then consider giving INKHUNTER a try. Using the company's Android and iOS smartphone apps, you can generate tattoo ideas and visualize them on your body using augmented reality (AR).

Check out our brief walkthrough of the INKHUNTER app. The app allows you to select free tattoo designs from the built-in gallery, or you can upload your own. You can then place it digitally on your skin and view it from multiple angles to get a sense of how it'll look inked. Not happy with the design? Just tweak it in the app and take another go.

Download: INKHUNTER for Android | iOS (Free)

Are You Ready for Your New Tattoo?

Tattoos are rapidly becoming a widely accepted part of our mainstream culture. From celebrities and musicians to your co-workers, people are expressing themselves through their ink. Of course, as tattoos are a permanent addition to your body, it's essential to take time to settle on your favorite tattoo design.

Tattoos aren’t the only way to express your love for art and creativity. There are many more apps and sites to look for inspiration from the artwork of others and showcase your own work.