Unsplash Source replacement: images by keyword from a URL

source.unsplash.com let you put a keyword in an image URL, such as source.unsplash.com/800x600/?coffee, and get a matching photo. Unsplash deprecated it in 2021 and switched it off in 2024. Those URLs now answer with an error (503) instead of an image.

placeholdr.dev works the same way: put what you want to see in the URL, and you get a matching image. The difference is that it's generated by AI rather than taken from a photo library.

Steaming cup of coffee on a wooden table by a window — `placeholdr.dev/800x600/coffee`

Striped kitten sitting on a stone path — `placeholdr.dev/600x400/kitten`

Golden retriever sitting on grass in the sun — `placeholdr.dev/320x240/dog`

Old URLs and their replacements

Old URL	placeholdr.dev URL
`source.unsplash.com/800x600/?coffee`	`placeholdr.dev/800x600/coffee`
`source.unsplash.com/1600x900/?nature,water`	`placeholdr.dev/1600x900/nature,water`
`source.unsplash.com/featured/?city`	`placeholdr.dev/1200x800/city`: choose a size, up to 2048 px per side
`source.unsplash.com/random/400x400`	`placeholdr.dev/400x400/abstract%20background`: describe what you want
`source.unsplash.com/user/…` or `/collection/…`	No equivalent. These returned one photographer's or one collection's photos; use the Unsplash API.
`placekitten.com/600/400`	`placeholdr.dev/600x400/kitten`
`loremflickr.com/320/240/dog`	`placeholdr.dev/320x240/dog`

placekitten.com has been down since 2024, and LoremFlickr stopped returning images on October 21, 2026, after Flickr blocked it.

Find and replace

Most editors can rewrite the common /WIDTHxHEIGHT/?keywords form in one pass. In VS Code, turn on regular expressions in Find and Replace:

Find:    https?://source\.unsplash\.com/(\d+)x(\d+)/\?([^"'\s)]+)
Replace: https://placeholdr.dev/$1x$2/$3

Comma-separated keywords work as they are. Longer descriptions give better images: coffee%20cup%20on%20a%20wooden%20table rather than coffee.

What's different

Generated, not photographed. Each image comes from a FLUX model. If you need real photos, use the Unsplash API, which needs an access key and attribution, or Lorem Picsum for random photos.
One image per URL. Unsplash Source could return a different photo each time. placeholdr.dev returns the same image every time. For a variation, add ?seed=2 or ?seed=3, or change the description.
The first load generates the image. A new URL returns a temporary SVG for 5 to 30 seconds while the image is made. Reload to see it. After that it loads from Cloudflare's CDN.
Limits. Free use allows 30 new images a day per IP address and per live domain. Saved images load without limit.

Other options

Lorem Picsum: random Unsplash photos, without keywords.
via.placeholder.com: real CC0 photos by subject from a fixed library, at /photo/{subject}/{size}. It came back online in October 2026.
The Unsplash API: real Unsplash photos by search, with an access key and attribution rules.

More comparisons

Try placeholdr.dev in the demo, or read the full API reference. Spotted something out of date? Write to hello@placeholdr.dev.