EnvatoBest overall value
Unlimited video, photos, fonts and editing templates from $16.50 a month on annual billing, the lowest cost per download here; no indemnity on individual plans.
Stock photos, video and templates
Stock media is ready-made content, such as photos, video clips, vectors and templates, that you license instead of creating yourself. Our stock media reviews compare six services on cost per download, licence cover, video and design coverage, and what it costs to leave, using prices listed in October 2026.
StoryblocksBest for video creators
Unlimited footage up to 8K from $21 a month (annual), with video templates on the cheapest plan and up to $20,000 indemnity on its Individual licence.
ShutterstockBiggest image library
About 475 million assets and up to $250,000 indemnity, held back by a 50% early-cancellation fee, a $35 million FTC settlement and video only on its top plan.
Adobe StockBest for Creative Cloud users
Licensed from inside Photoshop, InDesign and Premiere Pro with clear licence tiers, but $3 an image, about $18 a clip, a $10,000 indemnity cap and a fee for cancelling after 14 days.
iStockBest for occasional buyers
Credits from $12 that do not expire with a yearly sign-in, a $10,000 guarantee on every file and a $250,000 upgrade.
DepositphotosCheapest no-contract unlimited images
Unlimited images for $25 a month billed monthly, but a $5,000 liability cap and video sold on a separate plan.
Compare side by side
Every score and price in one table. Select a column to sort. Prices are US list prices; hover a price for the full terms.
| Envato | 8.5 | 8.8 | 9.6 | 6.8 | 9.4 | 8.4 | $16.50/mo | – | No refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storyblocks | 8.2 | 7.8 | 9.0 | 7.6 | 9.0 | 7.9 | $21/mo | – | Refund possible |
| Shutterstock | 7.9 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 4.5 | $25/mo | – | 14 days |
| Adobe Stock | 7.8 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 8.7 | 8.1 | 5.5 | $29.99/mo | – | Cancel within 14 days without the early-termination fee |
| iStock | 7.5 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 9.0 | 6.4 | 6.0 | $29/mo | – | No refunds except where required by law |
| Depositphotos | 7.3 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 7.5 | $25/mo | – | Money-back guarantee mentioned |
What are you actually buying from a stock site?
A licence, not a file. You never own the asset, so the licence decides what you can do with it, for how long, and who pays if someone claims you had no right to use it.
Sites sell that right in three ways: subscriptions with a monthly quota, unlimited subscriptions with a fair-use cap, and credit packs for occasional buyers. Video adds one more variable. Some libraries put footage and editing templates on the cheapest plan; others hide it behind a top tier or charge a pile of credits per clip.
Which stock media site fits you?
Pick by what you download most and how much legal cover your clients expect. Volume decides the subscription; indemnity decides the licence. When you can’t decide, start on a monthly plan.
- If you need a bit of everything: Envato. Core costs $16.50 a month on annual billing for unlimited video, photos, fonts and templates, about 33 cents a download at 50 a month.
- If video is most of your work: Storyblocks, with unlimited footage up to 8K from $21 a month billed annually and up to $20,000 indemnity on its Individual licence.
- If you design inside Creative Cloud: Adobe Stock, which you search and license from inside Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Premiere Pro, from $29.99 a month for 10 credits.
- If a client or legal team needs large indemnity: Shutterstock or iStock, which offer up to $250,000 on their top licences.
- If a client bans AI imagery: Storyblocks, which accepts no AI uploads, or iStock, whose owner Getty Images has refused AI-generated contributor uploads since 2022.
- If you buy a few images a year: iStock credits, which don’t expire as long as you sign in once a year.
| Site | Entry price | Indemnity |
|---|---|---|
| Envato Core | $16.50/mo, annual | None on individual plans |
| Storyblocks | $21/mo, annual | Up to $20,000 |
| Shutterstock | $25/mo for 10 images, annual | Up to $250,000 |
| Adobe Stock | $29.99/mo for 10 credits | $10,000 cap |
| Depositphotos | $25/mo unlimited images | $5,000 cap |
Ownership is concentrated, too. Shutterstock owns Envato and Pond5, and Getty Images owns iStock; Getty called off a merger of the two on July 7, 2026, after the UK competition regulator demanded the sale of Shutterstock’s editorial business.
When should you not pay for stock media?
Skip the subscription for blog posts and social media. Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay let you use their photos commercially without credit, and Pexels and Pixabay add free video. Don’t use free stock for ads, packaging or anything with a recognisable person or product, though. There is no indemnity and no guaranteed model release, and the uploader may not own the image. When you use free stock in an ad, the risk is yours. Unsplash+ narrows that gap a little: it adds model and property releases for $4 a month billed yearly as a launch offer, against a listed $12, yet it publishes no indemnity amount.
What catches stock media buyers out?
Cancellation terms, mostly. Then expiring credits, quiet refills and narrow licences.
- Early-cancellation fees. Many annual plans are billed monthly but charge up to half the remaining year if you leave early. In May 2026 Shutterstock agreed to pay $35 million to settle FTC allegations that it didn’t clearly disclose its cancellation fee and made cancelling hard. In practice, start on a monthly plan and switch to annual once the library fits.
- Expiring credits. Shutterstock packs and Adobe Stock credit packs expire after 12 months.
- Automatic refills. Shutterstock and Depositphotos packs refill when used up unless you switch it off. Don’t trust a no-commitment label; the FTC cited Shutterstock packs that renewed without clear disclosure.
- One-project licences. Envato registers each download to a single project, so an agency reusing one photo for ten clients registers it ten times. Envato and Storyblocks Individual plans also stop you starting new projects with old downloads once you cancel.
Most people miss what video really costs. Five HD clips a month cost $3.30 each on Envato Core and $4.20 on Storyblocks Essentials. The same five cost about $18 each on Adobe Stock and $19.80 on iStock, where footage eats credits or needs the top plan. If you edit every week, pick the library by its price per clip, not by its photo count. Skip the photo giants for B-roll.
How we build our stock media reviews
Our stock media reviews are research scores. We read official price lists, licence documents, help-centre policies on claims and refunds, and regulator records. We don’t download and test assets, and we label library sizes as vendor claims.
Cost per download and licence cover each carry 25% of the score; video and design coverage carries 15%. That is why Shutterstock, with the biggest library and the highest indemnity, sits third: its 50% early-cancellation fee, the FTC settlement and video locked to its top plan pull it down. If you’ve got a legal team that requires indemnity, weigh that criterion more heavily than we do. Related categories: video editing and graphic design.
How we score stock media sites
Every product here is scored 0 to 10 on the same criteria, using published evidence. The overall score is the weighted average.
Library & contentAsset types covered (photos, vectors, illustrations, video, templates), library size as claimed by the vendor and labelled as a claim, curation tiers, how AI-generated content is labelled and whether contributors may upload it.weight20%
Cost per downloadWhat one asset really costs at 10 images a month, 50 images a month and 5 HD clips a month on the cheapest sensible plan, month-to-month versus annual prices, credit packs and whether credits expire.weight25%
Licence & legal coverStandard versus extended or enhanced licence, print-run and audience caps, merchandise and template resale, indemnification amount per asset, and whether assets stay licensed after you cancel.weight25%
Video & design coverageWhether stock video (HD, 4K, 8K), vectors, fonts and design or video templates come on the main plan or cost extra, what a clip really costs on that plan, and whether the library plugs into design and editing apps such as Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve.weight15%
Billing & cancellation termsAnnual commitments billed monthly, early-cancellation fees, refund windows, rollover of unused downloads, auto-refilling packs, free trials, and any regulator action over billing.weight15%
Questions people ask
What is the best stock media subscription for creators?
Envato, for most creators: Core costs $16.50 a month on annual billing for unlimited video, photos, fonts and templates. Each download is licensed to one project, and individual plans carry no stated indemnity. For video-first work, Storyblocks has fairer terms and up to $20,000 indemnity.
Are free stock photo sites safe to use commercially?
For blogs and social posts, usually. Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay allow commercial use without credit. The risks are real, though: no indemnity, no guaranteed model or property release, and Pixabay's licence puts the job of checking third-party rights on you. For ads, packaging or recognisable people, pay for a licensed image.
Which stock site is cheapest for video clips?
Envato, on October 2026 prices: at five HD clips a month, Core works out at $3.30 a clip on annual billing, and Storyblocks Essentials at $4.20. Shutterstock Unlimited Plus costs $13.80 a clip prepaid, Adobe Stock about $18 and iStock $19.80, because footage needs credits or a top-tier plan.
When do I need an extended stock licence?
When you print more than 500,000 copies, sell merchandise where the image is the main feature, sell templates or products that include the image, or need indemnity above $10,000. The standard licence covers websites, social media, presentations, blog posts and most ads. Don't bother upgrading for a website, but check the print-run cap on your own plan, because 500,000 copies is the usual limit, not a universal one.
Can I cancel a stock subscription early?
Often only with a fee. Shutterstock charges 50% of the remaining subscription on early cancellation of an annual plan (a third-party reading of its terms), and Adobe Stock charges up to half the remaining annual commitment after 14 days. Start on a monthly plan for a month or two, check that the library fits, and only then switch to annual billing.