We list the best Adobe Stock alternatives to make it simple and easy to expand your range of stock photography websites to find the perfect images and other media for your projects.
If you want to find the best alternative to Adobe Stock for digital design and content creation, you have many more options than you imagine.
While Adobe Stock is definitely a well-known player with an extensive library of royalty-free images, videos, graphics, and audio, it's not the only option. There are numerous options that meet a wide range of needs, from the best free stock photography sites to platforms that offer the best cloud storage and the best sites for storing and sharing photos.
We have diligently tested various platforms, considering factors such as user interface, experience, value for money, and size of stock media libraries. This comprehensive approach ensures that you get a clear picture of each alternative, including its highlights, highlights, key features, and how they compare to Adobe's offering.
So, with all the options available, we're here to help you find the best alternative to Adobe Stock that not only meets your resource needs but also improves your overall creative process, whatever your budget.
The best alternative to Adobe Stock in full in 2024:
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The best alternative to Adobe Stock overall
Shutterstock has long been a favorite site for stock images and videos, and its extensive library makes it one of the best alternatives to Adobe Stock.
With over 360 million images, it can be overwhelming at first. But curated collections are a useful tool for finding images related to a specific topic or event. The collections include videos on a wide range of topics, from dozens of images titled An Ode to Spring to themed collections. There are also plenty of royalty-free music options, useful when you're podcasting, for example, or creating a video project.
Beyond stock media, the platform has also added additional tools for content marketers, including a content planner and a Creative Flow graphic design tool, similar to Canva and Adobe Express. Therefore, it is quickly becoming a one-stop shop for content creators.
The stock photography Site offers several different pricing plans. Casual users can license individual photos, while regular users can opt for the all-in-one subscription; like Adobe Creative Cloud, this can be paid monthly, annually, or through the monthly contract-style annual billing plan. Elsewhere, Teams and Enterprise plans offer extensive downloads for business use.
Read our full Shutterstock Review.
The best alternative to Adobe Stock without commitment
Getty Images is a titan of the photography industry, employing some of the best photographers and videographers in the world and serving thousands of the largest media organizations on the planet. iStock is Getty's foray into the field of royalty-free stock images, and as you would expect, the service has millions of assets including photos, illustrations, and 4K videos.
Given its wealth of content, assets are categorized (topics include nature & landscapes, jobs & careers, and healthcare & medicine) and the search feature offers deep filtering options to help you find the best photo for your needs. .
The pricing structure is impressively flexible, making it one of the best Adobe Stock alternatives when it comes to payments. Users have the option of monthly or annual subscription plans, or a selection of credit packages that require no commitment.
For example, purchasing 36 credits will give the user access to download 36 images, six videos, or a combination of both. With its daily updated stock of contemporary photographs from a large number of photographers around the world, iStock is particularly useful for those who need editorial images for news and media.
Read our full istock review.
The best free alternative to Adobe Stock
Unsplash is one of the best Adobe Stock alternatives for royalty-free images for personal and commercial use.
With over two billion images downloaded since the site's launch in 2013, the popular free stock photography site allows you to browse and download any of its over two million high-resolution images, donated for free by a generous community of photographers from all over the world. And if you are a professional photographer, it is a good space to show your work.
The images can be used thanks to a license that grants commercial and non-commercial use, without the need for permissions or attributes. However, it is good practice to give the photographer credit for their work, if possible. That's arguably one of the site's biggest problems, though: Photographers and creators may not get much compensation for their uploads, although the recently launched Unsplash+ helps here, with access to exclusive assets and better protections for contributors.
While the platform's stock photography tends to lean more toward creative, spectacular shots than the practical ones that might typically be attributed to stock images, the rise of commercial contributors like Mailchimp has meant a rise in images with a flavor business.
Read our full Welcome review.
The best alternative to Adobe Stock for commercial use
All images on Pixabay are available under their own license, allowing users to download any image for free and use it in print and digital formats for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. This includes making modifications to images. However, it is prohibited to sell unaltered copies or redistribute images on other stock platforms.
There are more than two million stock images, videos and music on Pixabay. However, like Unsplash, you're more likely to like looking for creative photography rather than editorial or news-focused images.
With this in mind, users searching for a photo of politicians or sports stars, for example, may find themselves gently nudged toward iStock-sponsored photos that also appear in searches.
Read our full Pixabay review.
The best free stock photography site for web design
Anyone can upload photos to Pexels, and the site's curators will select the best shots to complete its collection of searchable public domain images. You can search for something specific or browse by topics, including hobbies, emotions, and locations.
Pexels is a particularly good choice for web or app designers, with a great set of device images that are ideal for displaying interface mockups. A couple of images approach the cheesiness of stock photography (ideas that are difficult to illustrate explained with scrabble tiles, for example), but the vast majority are creative and original.
Pexels has a category dedicated to space photography, which looks amazing, but keep in mind that some of the material is from Agency, one of the organizations whose images should only be used in specific contexts.
FAQs about the best alternatives to Adobe Stock
How to choose the best alternative to Adobe Stock
When deciding which Adobe Stock alternative is best for you, start by identifying what you like and don't like about Adobe's offering. While the platform offers an extensive media library, it's locked behind a subscription that may not fit your workflow, especially if you're not already using Adobe products like photoshop, light roomand In design.
Consider your ideal budget and payment plan. While some of the best alternatives to Adobe Stock offer similar subscription services and pay-as-you-go plans, there are many free options on the market. And in the case of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, it's a one-time payment for a lifetime license.
Calculate how many stock assets you will need on a regular basis. If you and your team are advanced users, it's best to opt for a platform with libraries comparable to Adobe Stock, especially if you need stock media that includes images, videos, graphics, and more.
How we test the best Adobe Stock alternatives
When testing the best Adobe Stock alternatives, we look at how each individual platform compares to Adobe's main asset library. So we're not just looking for a full selection of stock media, from high-quality photographs, videos, illustrations, and more. We are also evaluating how easy it is to navigate the site, find suitable media and download it.
As part of our testing, we also check usage and attribution rights. Since most Adobe Stock users create content for businesses, it is essential to be able to secure commercial and non-commercial rights.
When stock asset libraries are billed as free, we check for hidden charges or surprise subscriptions. Any upgrades and premium payments should be clearly signposted to users.
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