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We love images as much as you do and understand that finding the right image repository isn't easy, so we took on the daunting but rewarding task of finding and listing the best stock photo sites from a long list.
No more guesswork, no tedious research, when you need to buy ready-made and high definition images, trust the experts and find royalty-free images at the best price for your needs!
This list will be very useful if you need some of the best images to use for marketing purposes and creative projects!
A gallery site for everyone
These 5 stock sites are located at the top of the market, and they are what we call microstock resellers, selling royalty-free stock images at very affordable prices. Royalty-free licensing is by far the most convenient way to use them for commercial and creative work, and these companies offer a wide range of offers to meet the needs of photo buyers, whether for commercial projects, editorial work, image art, personal experimentation, or other areas.
1. Shutterstock - a large number of image libraries
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Shutterstock is one of the best stock photo sites out there and has been around longer than most. As a microstock agency, they are responsible for introducing an innovative gallery subscription model (which has now expanded to the entire market) and are known for having the largest gallery on the web -- over 190 million files and counting. Many sites claim to offer Shutterstock coupon codes and discounts, but they prefer to be offered by themselves, rather than searching for untrusted sites, and you can check out the coupons currently available here.
Annual Membership Program
Great value for money, save up to 40%
Early cancellation fees may apply
- 750 pictures/month $199/month
- 350 pictures/month $169/month
- 50 pictures/month $99/month
- 10 pictures/month $29/month
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Prepaid Package
On-demand map pickup
Available for download for one year
- 25 pictures $229
- 5 pictures for $49
- 2 pictures for $29
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2. Depositphotos - rich images and subscription plans
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Depositphotos is a well-established stock photo site that has been operating for many years and focuses on selling a wide variety of royalty-free images. The site hosts over 80 million images, and you can get them through image packages or monthly subscriptions, which include all budget-type options.
Subscribe
Any size photo & vector image
Up to your monthly limit
- 75 pictures $69
- 150 images for $99
- 750 images for $199
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Flexible Plans
$29/month
Convenient and affordable
- Download 30 high-resolution photos per month
- Additional pictures for $1 each
- Unused downloads transferred to next month
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On Demand
Photos & vector images of any size
Within one year
- 10 pictures for $49
- 25 pictures for $99
- 100 pictures for $299
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3. Adobe Stock - the best friend of graphic designers
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Adobe Stock is a photo service owned by the software design giant Adobe, built on Fotolia (a famous photo agency acquired by Adobe).
This gallery site is fully integrated into the Creative Cloud platform, allowing you to access over 80 million images directly within the application, simplifying the design process and saving time and effort. It's ideal for designers using Adobe Cloud applications, and in addition, it can run independently of Adobe services, with all photos available for commercial and non-commercial use.
10 standard materials per month
$29.99/month
- First month free
- Can be cancelled at any time within the first month
- Annual package with monthly payment
- Material outside the package: $2.99/ea
- Carryover of up to 120 materials at renewal
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40 standard materials per month
$79.99/month
- First month free
- Can be cancelled at any time within the first month
- Annual package with monthly payment
- Material outside the package: $1.99/ea
- Carryover of up to 480 materials at renewal
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350 standard materials per month
$169.99/month
- Annual package with monthly payment
- Material outside the package: $0.99/ea
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750 standard materials per month
$199.99/month
- Annual package with monthly payment
- Material outside the package: $0.99/ea
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- Adobe software list
4. Stock Photo Secrets - brokerage of affordable resellers
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Stock Photo Secrets is a stock company dedicated to small and medium-sized businesses. This store was developed by a team of stock website experts and offers over 5 million royalty-free images under flexible plans and packages. For us, this is one of the best stock photo sites.
On-demand use
Download anytime, never expire
- 5 pictures for $39
- 10 pictures for $55
- 25 pictures $149
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99Club
$99/year
- 200 downloads per year
- No monthly limit
- Material outside the package: $0.99 per sheet
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Photo Subscription
$389/year
- 50 downloads per month
- Carryover of unused downloads
- Save $271 over monthly plan
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Photo Subscription
$999/year
- 500 downloads per month
- Carryover of unused downloads
- Save $261 over monthly plan
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5. iStock - the first microstock agency
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iStock (formerly known as iStockphoto) is an online stock company that uses micropayments under a royalty-free license and was the first microstock reseller -- the operating model used by most stock sites today.
The company, which has 18 years of experience in the industry and is owned by the renowned stock company Getty Images, sells on-demand packages (the higher the quantity, the lower the price per unit) and subscriptions, and is known for its highly extensive photo library -- hundreds of millions of photos hosted in two main warehouses.
On-demand use
On-demand access to any file
Rich options
- 1 picture $12
- 3 pictures $33
- 6 pictures for $60
- 12 pictures $115
- 18 pictures $170
- ...
- 300 pictures $2400
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Photo Subscription
10 images per month
Carryover of unused downloads
- Access all images
- 1 year $70/month
- 1 month $99/month
- Basic pictures only
- 1 year $29/month
- 1 month $40/month
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Photo Subscription
25 images per month
Carryover of unused downloads
- Access all images
- 1 year $120/month
- 1 month $149/month
- Basic pictures only
- 1 year $49/month
- 1 month $65/month
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Photo Subscription
50 images per month
Carryover of unused downloads
- Access all images
- 1 year $199/month
- 1 month $229/month
- Basic pictures only
- 1 year $90/month
- 1 month $99/month
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Photo Subscription
750 images per month
Carryover of unused downloads
- Access all images
- 1 year $333/month
- 1 month $399/month
- Basic pictures only
- 1 year $166/month
- 1 month $199/month
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The best advanced gallery website
These are the best in the stock industry, and most agencies (including the 5 listed above) sell high-resolution images, but premium stock sites can offer higher-end photography, i.e. the best image material, with little to no extras. Keep in mind that some of these are using copyright management (rather than royalty-free) licenses.
Some key features exist for the following services: images with high value or portraying special locations taken by professional photographers, if you like them, please check carefully.
6. Photocase - a unique advanced gallery
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Photocase is a photo agency based in Berlin, a company that has been distinguishing itself with its ultra-popular style for many years. With extremely strict vetting standards, they make their collection pocket-sized and high-quality, so if you want unique image material, then it's easy to find the best match here!
Direct Purchase
Suitable for single or occasional image needs
- S, page size
- $14/5 pictures, 0.8 megapixels, 72 DPI
- M, print size
- $28/10 images, 4 megapixels, 300 DPI
- L, full size
- $42/15 images, highest resolution, 300 DPI
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Credit Bundle
Suitable for large or frequent image requirements
- 25 pictures for $55
- 50 pictures for $100
- 100 pictures $190
- 250 images for $450
- 500 pictures $830
- 1000 pictures $1520
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7. Getty Images - the most reputable agency
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Getty Images is one of the world's most prestigious stock companies, having started their image agency business before the age of the Internet and quickly adapting to online platforms, they are known for their vastly diverse catalog of first-class photography for commercial use, millions of exclusive images from around the globe, and a vast array of editable content.
On this site, you can purchase photos under a rights management license, which is a more traditional licensing model that can be customized to your specific needs, which may include other proprietary uses of the photo. However, the price of this license is higher than royalty-free.
Large-scale pictures
4K and HD movies
- 1 item $499/item
- 5 items $450/item
- 10 items $425/item
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Medium-sized pictures
SD Movie
- 1 item $375/item
- 5 items $325/item
- 10 items $300/item
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Small pictures
Low resolution film
- 1 item $175/item
- 5 items $160/item
- 10 items $150/item
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The best unlimited download gallery
Some buyers need a lot of photos, so we're going to introduce 3 rather special gallery sites, all of which offer unlimited download packages in order to allow you to maximize your budget and access all your favorite images.
8. Storyblocks - the best unlimited download media library
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Storyblocks is an online media library platform specializing in unlimited download plans, originally entering the market under the Videoblocks brand, offering royalty-free videos and affordable fixed subscription packages, later expanding to include images and audio files, and thus changing its name to what we now know as Storyblocks. there are corresponding repositories and plans for each media type. If you want the best unlimited media library, then this is one of the best choices.
Infinite Video
Includes all video content
No download restrictions
- $16.58/month
- HD material
- 4K picture
- After Effects Templates
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Infinite Audio
Includes all audio content
No download restrictions
- $12.42/month
- Music
- Sound effects
- Circulation
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Unlimited access
All video/audio/image content
No download restrictions
- $29.08/month
- HD footage, 4K footage, After Effects templates
- Music, sound effects, loops
- Photos, vectors, illustrations
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9. StockUnlimited - the pioneer of unlimited download mode
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StockUnlimited is a stock photo site with unlimited download capability and was the first company to adopt the unlimited download model and is still in use today. Initially offering only a handful of illustrations and vector images, it now has over 1 million visuals in a variety of media types, including images, audio, font files and more.
Subscription Content
No download restrictions
- $19/month
- Unlimited Downloads
- 1 million advanced media
- Includes images, audio, fonts, templates
- 7-day money back guarantee
- $79/year
- Unlimited Downloads
- 1 million advanced media
- Includes images, audio, fonts, templates
- 7-day money back guarantee
- One Click Download Collection
- $169/3 years
- Unlimited Downloads
- 1 million advanced media
- Includes images, audio, fonts, templates
- 7-day money back guarantee
- One Click Download Collection
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Download Package
On-demand use
- $9
- Download 10 materials
- 1 million advanced media
- Includes images, audio, fonts, templates
- 1 year validity
- $25
- Download 30 materials
- 1 million advanced media
- Includes images, audio, fonts, templates
- 1 year validity
- $50
- Download 100 materials
- 1 million advanced media
- Includes images, audio, fonts, templates
- 1 year validity
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10. Envato Elements - a small selection of collections
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Envato Elements is a relatively new service from media library platform Envato, with several specific marketplaces dedicated to certain media types (images, videos, vector graphics, audio, etc.). Essentially, Elements is a curated collection of curated files from all markets - over 1 million in total - that you can access via subscription.
$16.5/month
Millions of materials, unlimited downloads
- Photo Gallery
- Graphics and presentation templates
- WordPress Themes and Plugins
- Design materials, fonts, 3D and add-ons
- Video Templates and Video Warehouse
- Music tracks and sound effects
- Tuts+ courses and e-books
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The best free image gallery
Free galleries have been attracting people to the web since the inception of Stock Xchng. We all love free stuff, but when it comes to galleries, things get a little risky: you'll find that free galleries aren't always what they seem, they can hide great dangers and can easily get you into legal trouble. Why? There are 2 main reasons.
- Flawed licenses: Most free libraries use a form of Creative Commons license (primarily Creative Commons Zero, CC0), and while this license type allows for legal use in commercial projects, you can be implicated if the original image infringes.
- There is no rigorous censorship: these sites are usually run at low cost, they crowdsource images, and they don't have enough resources to review the content submitted. This way, anyone can upload anything, even photos that don't belong to them (or don't meet the legal requirements).
For these reasons, we do not usually recommend free stock photo sites; professional microstock resellers can ensure that everything is foolproof and not so expensive. However, since we know the appeal of free galleries, we conducted a lot of research in order to find the best option.
11. Pixabay
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Pixabay is a large German-based free image website originally created by Hans Braxmeier and Simon Steinberger (both with a background in computer technology) to provide images that can be downloaded and used for free, all from user crowdsourcing. To date, the platform has over 1.4 million files.
The images are subject to a Creative Commons license and are free to use in personal and commercial projects. Considering that these photos are still protected by privacy and property rights, they have a dedicated staff (photographers and image editors) that review submissions that are not only of high quality but legal - a big plus that few other free photo sites can achieve.
12. Unsplash
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Unsplash connects customers with freelance designers, web developers, and small studios. What started out as a humble Tumblr blog offering custom photos for free has since grown into one of the most popular free galleries for multinational brands like Apple, hosting 500,000 free photos from various contributors and integrated into a variety of other platforms and products.
The photos are very high quality, modern, realistic, with a strong youthful feel, and all are free to download and use. unsplash uses a custom (essentially CC0) license, but removes the right to edit the photos, which helps avoid unsuspecting people using their images to create competing services.
13. Pexels
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Pexels is a free photo website based in Germany, created by twin brothers Bruno Joseph and Ingo Joseph (both with a background in computer and software technology), with the aim of providing more authentic and modern free photos.
All images are subject to the CC0 license and may be used in commercial projects without attribution. Of course, you know that CC0 means risk, but this is still a serious and respectable site.
14. Life of Pix
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Created by Canadian digital agency LEEROY, Life of Pix offers a wide range of high-quality free images with a strong artistic feel and has hundreds of thousands of materials donated by photographers, all available for free download.
Life of Pix is a member of Adobe Stock, so the gallery and the results contain images owned by the latter, but one must pay to use them. In addition, all the rest of the images are free.
15. gratisography
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Marketing itself in an ephemeral and unconventional way, Gratisography was founded by Ryan McGuire, owner of Bells Design and graphic and web designer. The goal of this website is to provide unique, more intimate and engaging images, with approximately hundreds of them, all personally signed by Ryan and of high quality.
The images are free to download and use, the licenses are custom but almost identical to CC0 with some similar (but not quite) royalty-free restrictions such as sensitive and defamatory use restrictions. It is worth noting that the site makes it clear that its images may be subject to privacy and property rights, and that although they can be used commercially, they recommend due diligence before using them in commercial projects, which means you need to check the legal status of their images.