---
title: Pexels
description: "Pexels is a royalty-free photo library. You must provide your own Pexels **API Key**. **Pro.** This bank is locked on the Free plan (Pro badge on Source). Source badge: **Photos**. **Gutenberg:** yes. Enable it as a search tab on **Magic…"
url: "https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/docs/pexels/"
updated: "2026-08-16"
category: Image Databases
---

# Pexels

Pexels is a royalty-free photo library. You must provide your own Pexels **API Key**.

**Pro.** This bank is locked on the Free plan (Pro badge on Source).

Source badge: **Photos**.

**Gutenberg:** yes. Enable it as a search tab on **Magic Post Thumbnail → Gutenberg Block**. API keys and filters stay on Source.

## Open the bank in Source

In version 7, banks are configured from **Magic Post Thumbnail → Source**. Click the bank in the left column (or tick it to add it to the chain), then click **Configure**. The **Banks Settings** panel opens on the right. Save when you are done.

The left column is the **Automatic generation chain** used by the editor button, bulk generation, cron and imports. Drag to set priority: the first bank is tried first. Unchecked banks sit below the chain.

![Pexels bank settings](https://magic-post-thumbnail.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/panel-pexels.png)

## Get an API key

1. Register at [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/join-consumer/).
2. Create an API application at [Pexels API](https://www.pexels.com/api/new/).
3. Paste the API key into the Source panel, click **API testing**, then Save.

## Options

- **API Key** — required.
- **Choose the language** — default English (`en-US`). Also Czech, Danish, German, Spanish, Catalan, French, Indonesian, Italian, Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Finnish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Chinese (Taiwan).
- **Orientation** — All, Landscape, Portrait, Square.
- **Resolution** — minimum photo size: Small (4MP), Medium (12MP), Large (24MP). Small is usually enough. Higher minimums reduce the number of matches.