It’s both time-consuming and uneconomical to produce high-quality photos for your brand. When you don’t have the resources to produce your images, stock photos are one of the best ways to elevate your brand presence.
In this post, we’ll review some of the top stock photo websites available in the market. We hope you get a ton of value from it and let’s dive straight in!
Stock photo website acts as a platform to connect both photographers and customers. The stock photographers, also known as contributors, supply stock images to the stock banks or agencies on a revenue-sharing model.
When a customer makes a purchase, they will obtain the licensing rights to use the images. The images are ready to be used on websites, social media, email marketing, product packaging, letterhead, and more.
Shutterstock is considered by many artists and companies to be one of the best stock photo websites in the market. How does this well-known stock agency back up this claim? Stats and figures tell the story: 1 billion images downloaded, 1 million contributors, and customers in over 150 countries.
For businesses on the fence, Shutterstock offers a free trial that allows you to download up to 10 images for free. The downloaded images will have their watermarks removed, and you are free to use them for any of your projects or visual collaterals.
Stock Image Plan and Pricing:
Known for its incredible collection of stock images and affordable pricing, iStock Photo is a global player in the stock media industry. As an industry leader, they aim to provide a key destination for professionals to source professional and inexpensive stock images without breaking the bank.
With their extensive collection of templates, users can create a standout image or video that connects with the audience. For Dropbox users, you can link your Dropbox account to iStock to access, share and collaborate your content across all your devices.
Here are some of the key features you can expect with iStock Photo:
Affordable Plans from iStock:
Founded and headquartered in the USA, Depositphotos is a commercial platform that brings together authors of high-quality licensed stock photos, graphics, vectors, and videos with appreciative buyers. As one of the fastest-growing microstock agencies in the world, they are trusted by some of the leading companies, including Tripadvisor, Forbes, Bosch, Subaru, BBDO, and Tescoma.
You can quickly search for your images using the innovative search functionalities, where you can apply search filters such as orientation, camera angle, renders, number of people, and more. For those looking to access Depositphotos, the Depositphotos app can be downloaded for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
Some of Depositphotos’ main features are:
Plans and Pricing:
Founded in 2005, 123RF is a bootstrapped company and one of the fastest-growing digital stock agencies. 123RF is a stock photo website that has helped a wide range of clientele, including individuals and businesses, to create creative images, sounds, and motion graphics.
123RF also allows you to:
Cheap and Transparent Subscription Plans:
Adobe Stock is a royalty-free stock asset website that helps you gain access to a diverse collection of professional and exclusive stock images. With Adobe Stock, you can access millions of stock photos, illustrations, and videos from the search engine results page. This allows you to quickly find the perfect stock asset for your next creative project.
Here are some more key features of Adobe Stock:
Cheap and Transparent Subscription Plans:
Dreamstime is one of the world’s largest communities for royalty-free photos and is affordable for anyone from large corporations to various magazines and blogs. Some of their key customers include HP, Walmart, and Autodesk.
Dreamstime also includes:
Prices and Download Plans:
Bigstock is a fast and easy-to-use marketplace for quality and authentic stock images. Additionally, you can access over 50 million royalty-free photographs and illustrations to enhance your brand presence.
With Bigstock, you can also:
Prices and Download Plans:
Freepik is an all-in-one stock photo platform and also runs many of the popular websites like Flaticon, Slidesgo and Wepik. Their goal is to offer the best high-quality content at affordable rates. Since Freepik offers tons of free vectors and stock photos, you can try them out before committing to a paid subscription.
With Freepik, you can also:
Freepik’s Pricing:
With Getty Images, you can find the perfect royalty-free image from the world’s best photo library of creative stock photos, vector art illustrations, and stock photography. Getty Images also owns both iStock and Unsplash, and with the three combined, they are home to the largest and most unparalleled catalog in the world.
Here are some more features that come along with Gettyimages:
Gettyimages’ Flexible Pricing:
Brought to you by Envato Pty Ltd, Envato Elements is home to over 60 million assets and provides a lifetime commercial license. With their unlimited downloads feature, you can have the freedom to play, experiment, and create. As a certified B Corp, Envato Elements is committed to putting the community first and acting with a positive purpose.
Other notable features of Envato Elements are:
Envato Elements’ Flexible Pricing:
Storyblocks is the world’s first stock media subscription service that offers video, audio, and images. With Storyblocks, you have access to over a million royalty-free footage, templates, music, and photo assets. In addition, you gain access to unlimited downloads with a single monthly subscription plan of $50.
Here are some more advantages of using Storyblocks:
Stockblock’s Pricing Plans:
Founded in 2004, Can Stock Photo is one of the world’s largest and oldest microstock photography agencies. In its 18 years of history, it has attracted over 100,000 contributors and 1 million members from around the world. Can Stock Photo offers some of the most affordable images and clips available, with no contracts and no minimum orders.
Check out the additional features of Can Stock Photo:
Can Stock Photo’ Flexible Pricing:
EyeEm is an award-winning global photography community and marketplace. Whether you’re a website owner or a graphic designer on your creative team, EyeEm can help you find premium and royalty-free stock images all in one place.
Other professional features you can find with EyeEm:
EyeEm’s Pricing Plans:
Using the right custom stock photos can keep your leads engaged on your website. Higher engagement leads to longer dwell time and will have direct impact to your website search engine ranking.
If you want to learn more how the right stock images can improve your website design, contact us online today.
We look forward to hearing from you!