Top 5 Image Placeholder Services for Web Developers
You’re building a prototype, your design system needs mock images, and you reach for that placeholder URL you’ve used for years—only to find it’s dead, slow, or serving HTTP in 2025. This happens more often than it should.
Many popular placeholder services from the early 2010s have become unreliable or stopped working entirely. If you’re looking for modern, CDN-backed placeholder images that actually work in modern frontend workflows, here are five services worth knowing.
Key Takeaways
- Prioritize placeholder services with HTTPS support, CDN delivery, and active maintenance to avoid broken images and security warnings.
- Use seeded URLs (like Lorem Picsum’s seed parameter) for consistent mock images across page loads during development.
- Replace all placeholder images with real or self-hosted assets before deploying to production.
- Update your Content-Security-Policy headers when using external placeholder services.
What Makes a Placeholder Service Production-Ready
Before diving into specific services, here’s what to evaluate when choosing an image placeholder API for web apps:
- HTTPS-only: Mixed content warnings will break your site
- CDN/edge delivery: Fast response times globally
- Active maintenance: Check for recent commits or updates
- Clear documentation: URL patterns should be predictable
- Modern format support: WebP, AVIF, or SVG options
Avoid services that haven’t been updated in years or lack HTTPS support. The frontend image mock data you use during development shouldn’t become a liability.
Five Reliable Placeholder Services for 2025
1. Placehold.co
Placehold.co generates simple colored boxes with optional text—the classic placeholder style, done right.
<img src="https://placehold.co/600x400" alt="Placeholder">
<img src="https://placehold.co/600x400/EEE/31343C?text=Hero+Image" alt="Hero">
<img src="https://placehold.co/600x400.webp" alt="WebP format">Key features include WebP support, custom fonts, hex colors in URLs, and border options. It’s fast and actively maintained—a solid replacement for the now-unreliable via.placeholder.com.
2. Lorem Picsum
Lorem Picsum serves real photographs from Unsplash, making it ideal for realistic mockups.
<img src="https://picsum.photos/800/600" alt="Random photo">
<img src="https://picsum.photos/seed/product/400/300" alt="Consistent image">
<img src="https://picsum.photos/800/600?grayscale&blur=2" alt="Filtered">The seed parameter ensures you get the same image across page loads—useful when you need consistent frontend image mock data during development. No attribution is required.
3. DummyImage
DummyImage offers extensive customization for text-based placeholders, including preset sizes for common ad dimensions and screen ratios.
<img src="https://dummyimage.com/728x90/000/fff" alt="Leaderboard ad">
<img src="https://dummyimage.com/16:9x1080" alt="HD ratio">This service is particularly useful when you need specific aspect ratios or industry-standard dimensions.
Discover how at OpenReplay.com.
4. placeholders.dev
placeholders.dev runs on Cloudflare Workers, delivering SVG placeholders from the edge with minimal latency.
<img src="https://images.placeholders.dev/?width=400&height=300&bgColor=%23f0f0f0&textColor=%23333" alt="SVG placeholder">The SVG-only approach means crisp rendering at any size, though you’ll need raster formats elsewhere if that’s a requirement.
5. DiceBear (for Avatars)
DiceBear generates deterministic avatar placeholders—the same seed always produces the same avatar.
<img src="https://api.dicebear.com/7.x/avataaars/svg?seed=user@example.com" alt="User avatar">Over twenty styles are available. This service is perfect for user profile systems where you need consistent placeholder avatars.
Practical Considerations
Performance: Don’t hammer third-party APIs from production. Use placeholders during development, then replace them with real images or self-hosted assets before deployment.
CSP headers: External placeholder services require updating your Content-Security-Policy:
Content-Security-Policy: img-src 'self' https://placehold.co https://picsum.photos;Licensing: Photo-based services like Lorem Picsum use Unsplash images (free, with no attribution required in most cases). Always verify terms for commercial projects.
Local alternatives: For offline development or privacy-sensitive projects, consider generating placeholders client-side with Canvas or SVG, or running a simple local service.
Choosing the Right Service
| Need | Best Choice |
|---|---|
| Simple colored boxes | Placehold.co |
| Realistic photos | Lorem Picsum |
| Specific dimensions/ratios | DummyImage |
| Edge performance, SVG | placeholders.dev |
| User avatars | DiceBear |
The top image placeholder services share common traits: active maintenance, HTTPS, CDN delivery, and clear documentation. When evaluating any service, check its GitHub activity and test response times from your target regions.
Conclusion
Pick the simplest option that meets your needs. Replace placeholders before production. And bookmark alternatives—even reliable services occasionally go down. By choosing actively maintained services with proper HTTPS support and CDN delivery, you’ll avoid the frustration of broken images disrupting your development workflow.
FAQs
No, placeholder services are designed for development and prototyping only. They may have rate limits, occasional downtime, or performance issues under heavy load. Always replace placeholders with real images or self-hosted assets before deploying to production.
Many placeholder services from the early 2010s were side projects that lost maintenance over time. Domains expire, servers go offline, or services drop HTTPS support. This is why choosing actively maintained services with recent GitHub activity is important.
Use services that support seed parameters. Lorem Picsum lets you add a seed value to the URL path, and DiceBear uses seed query parameters. The same seed will always return the identical image, ensuring consistency across page loads during development.
Yes, if your site uses Content-Security-Policy headers, you must add placeholder service domains to your img-src directive. Otherwise, browsers will block the external images. Remember to remove these entries when you replace placeholders with production assets.
Truly understand users experience
See every user interaction, feel every frustration and track all hesitations with OpenReplay — the open-source digital experience platform. It can be self-hosted in minutes, giving you complete control over your customer data. . Check our GitHub repo and join the thousands of developers in our community..
