Where to Purchase Stock Photos
In this review, I’d like to tell you where to purchase high-quality stock images, photos, videos, and illustrations. I’ve prepared the up-to-date stock photo subscription comparison to define the best place to buy photos, pictures, images, and videos. You will see which microstock agencies sell images and under what conditions, which photo stock agencies are the cheapest for buyers in 2024.
Below, I have compared the best price offers from the most popular stock photo agencies with the largest collections of images for sale.
| Name | USD | USD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
(vector) | (raster) | |||
Depositphotos | max $5.80 | Minimum prepaid download package: 5 images for only $29. Stock site |
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Dreamstime (DT) | Minimum prepaid download package: 3 credits for $14.99. Stock site |
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Bigstockphoto (Bigstock) | max $18 | Minimum prepaid download package: 10 for $35. Stock site |
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Shutterstock (SS) | max $14.50 | Smallest prepaid download package: 2 images for $29. Stock site |
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Vector-Images | Only vector illustrations in the database. Stock site |
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123RF | Smallest credit package: 30 for $24. Stock site |
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Where to Purchase Images Online?
If you are engaged in various design areas like interior design, web design, or print design, or if you are an ordinary author who needs a unique high-quality photo or image for illustrations in a new text, then you probably wonder where to download inexpensive stock photos or even buy photos and vector illustrations cheaper without leaving your computer.
Of course, you could draw an illustration yourself or take a photo of the desired object, but this will require professional skills and a lot of time. As we all know, time is money, and sometimes it’s quite a lot of money.
Of course, you can dig up old pirated CDs with free stock images and photos downloaded from top microstock sites. But, we live in modern times, so why risk copyright infringement issues that could result in financial losses and loss of trust from your customers and clients?
It should also be noted that countless other people have often used pirated material on these CDs, so this is not an option for us.
I want to offer you an easier and 100% legal way to get exactly the high-quality photo or picture you need, with minimal investment of time and money – microstock photography sites. Such photo stock sites provide the option to buy photos and stock images under a royalty-free license, and as you might have guessed, it is quite affordable and cheap.
Purchasing stock photos and illustrations through such online banks, or, in other words, microstock photo agencies, is now cheaper than searching for the desired image on the Internet or even sifting through offline stock databases.
By the way, stock image databases holding hundreds of millions of well-organized, high-quality illustrations and photos across various themes are available for quick online purchase.
Stock inspectors strictly regulate the quality of stock photos and illustrations available for purchase, so only high-quality images that designers demand are sold under an extended license or other royalty-free licenses.
If you’re not satisfied with the quality of a purchased stock photo or illustration, the photo bank site will readily refund your money.
To find stock photos, videos, or images for purchase in microstock’s database, you can search by keywords, categories, image authors, resolution, or other parameters (for example, if the image includes an area for adding text).
By purchasing a stock photo or illustration from an image bank, you’re also buying the right to use it according to the license you choose.
If you need to use the purchased stock images under conditions not covered by a standard Royalty-free (RF) license (for example, in very high quantities), you can easily buy stock images under an extended (Extended RF) or other license offered by the microstock photography sites.
In 2024, some stock photo banks even offer exclusive rights to use microstock photos. In such case, the stock image you bought will immediately be removed from the microstock agency’s sales and be yours exclusively.
Besides high-quality photos and images (both raster and vector), many top photo stock agencies also offer the option to buy stock video clips, audio clips, and flash animations.
Below, I posted the review with the terms of purchasing vector images and stock photos on the popular photo stock agencies on the Internet. You’ll find information on the prices of stock photos in this overview. Of course, you may purchase stock illustrations and photos by simply clicking on the banner of the selected stock imagery website.
Purchase Vectors and Photos on Shutterstock
Shutterstock (USA) is one of the best places to buy stock images on a subscription basis with a large database of over 1 billion images.
The Shutterstock subscription model is as follows: you pay $249 per month and can download 25 photos or vector images per day under the standard Royalty-free license, totaling 750 stock images per month.
With this Shutterstock subscription plan, the final price for one stock photo or image will be around $0.33.
If you choose a longer SS subscription plan, the monthly fee will be even lower. This will allow you to buy cheap stock photos.
Registration on Shutterstock is free and does not require purchasing a subscription to the photo bank. After registering on the site, you can search and select stock images from the database for future purchases, as well as download weekly photos and vector illustrations from the free collection.
Types of Shutterstock Subscriptions and their Cost:
1 month (30 days) – from $49.00 to $249.00
12 months (365 days) – from $348.00 to $2388.00
Recommendations for Shutterstock buyers:
- Do not download stock photos marked with the word approx. This word indicates an interpolated size of the image.
- You can purchase stock video clips up to one minute long on Shutterstock individually.
- The price of stock video ranges from $10 to $50 (price depends on file format and size).
- Shutterstock is one of the few cheapest stock photo sites with a Russian-language interface.
To pay for a Shutterstock subscription plan, you can use:
Purchase Depositphotos Subscription
The Depositphotos microstock agency is relatively new but rapidly growing, offering cheap stock images from a database of over 100 million images categorized by popularity.
The unique aspect of this paid stock image website is that they managed to grow their database from scratch to 1 million images within just three months.
Currently, the microstock Depositphotos is actively encouraging its buyers.
Depositphotos offers various options for purchasing stock images: subscriptions, credit purchases, SMS purchases, bonus images, and package deals.
1 credit on this microstock site is equivalent to $1. If you want to buy images on Depositphotos with credits at a low price, take advantage of their promotion: “For each image purchased with credits, you get a second one for free.”
By the way, you can download bonus images from the stock site whenever you wish.
If you want to buy stock images individually using credits, here are the prices based on size:
XS – 0.5 credits
S – 1 credit
M – 2 credits
L – 3 credits
XL – 4 credits
XXL – 6 credits
XXXL – 9 credits
Vector – 9 credits
There are various Depositphotos subscription plans, ranging from a monthly subscription to download 10 images for $9.99, to an annual plan for $1600.
There’s also a very inexpensive monthly subscription plan for $69, allowing you to download 75 images per month.
For small download volumes, this Depositphotos plan is the most optimal and inexpensive.
In addition to the above options for purchasing cheap images on Depositphotos, you can buy stock photos and illustrations using SMS.
Simply send an SMS with a specific code, and a certain number of stock images will be credited to your account, which you can download anytime.
SMS options and photo prices on Depositphotos:
message $1 – 1 image
message $3 – 4 images
message $5 – 7 images
message $10 – 15 images
To pay for stock images on Depositphotos, you can use the following payment options:
How to Buy Images on Dreamstime?
Dreamstime is another European paid microstock photography site offering affordable options for purchasing cheap stock photos and illustrations, both individually and through subscription plans.
Prices for individual purchases of stock images on Dreamstime are based on the author’s rating and the popularity of the image (number of sales).
Like other top photo stock agencies, Dreamstime offers clients free image downloads in the “free images section” after registration.
Dreamstime image sizes and prices (for base level level 1):
Extra Small size (480 pixels) – from 1 credit
Small (800×600 pixels) – from 3 credits
Medium (3MP – 5MP) – from 4 credits
Large (5MP – 8MP) – from 5 credits
Extra Large size (8MP – 12MP) – from 6 credits
Highest (over 8MP) – from 7 credits
Dreamstime credit package prices:
8 Credits – $9.99
13 Credits – $14.99
25 Credits – $24.99
52 Credits – $49.99 (bonus 4%)
108 Credits – $99.99 (bonus 8%)
Dreamstime subscription plans’ prices (with a daily download limit of 10 images):
1 month – $128.99
3 months – $369.99
6 months – $679.99
1 year – $1299.99
To pay for credits and Dreamstime subscriptions, you can use these payment methods:
Buy Stock Images on BigStockPhoto
BigStockPhoto is not as large as the previous stock photo banks, yet it’s still among the cheapest stock image sites.
However, it is worth mentioning that this photobank has now been acquired by the owners of Shutterstock, and it is logical to assume that its operational model differs from that of the subsidiary project.
As I mentioned earlier, Shutterstock only offers stock photos and illustrations through a subscription plan, while BigStockPhoto operates differently, selling images from its 50 million collection exclusively on an individual basis.
Plus, unlike other cheap stock photo sites, BigStock allows you to buy stock images cheaply and at a low price, not only under RF and ERF licenses but also under ten specially designed licensing options tailored to different use cases.
Image sizes and prices on BigStockPhoto:
0.5 MP – 1 credit
2 MP – 2 credits
5 MP – 4 credits
16 MP – 6 credits
Vector – 6 credits
BigStockPhoto credit package prices:
5 credits – $15 (1 credit = $3.00)
12 credits – $29 (1 credit = $2.42)
25 credits – $49 (1 credit = $1.96)
60 credits – $99 (1 credit = $1.65)
140 credits – $189 (1 credit = $1.35)
350 credits – $350 (1 credit = $1.00)
700 credits – $630 (1 credit = $0.90)
To pay for a package when purchasing photos and illustrations on BigStock, you can use:
!!! The Bigstock offers the option to purchase images by subscription plan.
Purchase images on iStock (Getty Images)
The iStock microstock photography site(Canada) is one of the market’s veterans, currently a division of Getty Images.
iStockphoto was the first stock to sell stock images under a Royalty-Free license.
Today, the iStock photo site has some of the strictest quality requirements for photos and illustrations uploaded to its database.
At the time of writing, Getty Images’ database had nearly 200 million high-quality stock images (photos, raster and vector illustrations, flash, and video clips) available for purchase at premium prices.
Photos and images on iStock can be bought individually, ranging from 1 to 15 credits, depending on the size and type of the selected file.
As you may have noticed, almost all stock photo agencies sell images on a per-credit basis. Why?
In my opinion, it’s quite simple: photo banks can more easily manage their pricing policy by using relative units of value, such as credits.
Additionally, registered users of Getty Images are offered free weekly downloads of stock photos and illustrations.
iStock photos prices:
XSmall (400x300px) – 1 credit
Small (800x600px) – 3 credits
Medium (1600x1200px) – 6 credits
Large (2560x1920px) – 10 credits
XLarge (4200x2800px) – 15 credits
XXLarge (4900x3300px) – 20 credits
XXXLarge (5600x3700px) – 25 credits
Illustration prices on iStockphoto are relatively expensive:
Basic – 1 credit
Moderate – 5 credits
Detailed – 10 credits
Complex – 15 credits
Elaborate – 25 credits
iStock video clip sizes and prices:
Small – 15 credits
Medium – 25 credits
NTSC/PAL – 40 credits
HD 720 – 75 credits
HD 1080 – 90 credits
At iStock microstock, you will need to buy credits in packages. iStock credit package prices:
12 credits (1 credit=$1.52)- $18.25
26 credits (1 credit=$1.50) – $39.00
50 credits (1 credit=$1.46) – $73.00
120 credits (1 credit=$1.42) – $170.00
300 credits (1 credit=$1.30) – $390.00
600 credits (1 credit=$1.15) – $690.00
1000 credits (1 credit=$1.07) – $1075.00
1500 credits (1 credit=$1.03) – $1550.00
2000 credits (1 credit=$0.95) – $1900.00
Note that the more iStockphoto credits you purchase, the lower the image cost per credit becomes.
In general, this is the same policy as other microstock photography sites. Don’t forget about it.
For purchases on iStockphoto, you can use the following payment options:
Buying illustrations and photos on Adobe Stock
Adobe Photo Stock Agency is the youngest European stock, but it has already firmly established itself among the leading microstock agencies in the online image sales market.
Adobe’s database (formerly Fotolia) now contains over 100 million images, and you can buy stock photos and images on Adobe (Fotolia) either individually or via subscription.
Additionally, after registering on Adobe photo stock, buyers gain access to a large number of free stock image downloads.
Recently, this photo stock website introduced a local language interface for users, making it much easier for non-English speakers to purchase stock photos and illustrations on Adobe.
Image sizes and pricing on Adobe stock:
XS Standard (0.15 MP) – from 1 credit
S Standard (0.5 MP) – from 3 credits
M Standard (2 MP) – from 5 credits
L Standard (4 MP) – from 7 credits
XL Standard (8 MP) – from 8 credits
XXL Standard (16 MP) – from 10 credits
vector images – from 4 credits
The average cost of credit on Adobe.com:
1 credit = $1
You can buy from 10 to 3,200 credits at a time on Adobe.com. Depending on the size of the microstock credit package, the unit price of one credit also changes.
It’s more economical to buy larger credit packages. For example, if you purchase a 3,200 Adobe credit package, the unit cost of one microstock credit will be $0.75/credit.
If you buy the minimum 10 Adobe credit package, the unit cost of one credit will be $1.20/credit.
The minimum monthly Adobe subscription costs $249. For this price, you can download 25 stock photos and illustrations per day from Adobe.com.
To pay for Adobe subscriptions or credits, you can use the following payment options:
Purchase Stock Vectors and Photos on 123RF
The 123RF photo stock, or 123 Royalty Free, is a microstock agency with a collection of nearly 100 million images. It’s following in the footsteps of Shutterstock by emphasizing a subscription model, but 123RF also offers single-stock image purchases.
Unlike Shutterstock, 123RF offers subscription plans at lower prices, along with a significantly increased daily download limit.
Thanks to this policy, the cost per stock image on the 123RF subscription plan can be as low as $0.21. It is a very low price for stock images for those looking to buy cheap photos and illustrations online.
However, single-image purchases on 123RF are also quite appealing.
Image sizes and pricing on 123RF:
S – 1 credit
M – 2 credits
L – 3 credits
XL – 4 credits
XXL – 5 credits
XXL TIFF – 10 credits
Credit package prices:
15 credits – $15
32 credits – $30
56 credits – $50
115 credits – $100
350 credits – $300
1200 credits – $1000
3300 credits – $2500
7400 credits – $5000
Subscription Plans on 123RF and their prices (daily download limit: 5 / 26 images):
30 days – $89 / $230
90 days – $199 / $590
365 days – $749 / $1960
To purchase stock photos, images, videos on 123RF, you can use such payment options:
The old Russian photobank Fotogenica (photogenica).
Main advantages – large selection, convenient payment methods, and accounting documents for legal entities.
* Image collection – over 11 million
* Types of content available – photos, graphics, vector illustrations, videos
* Payment options – bank transfer, WebMoney, YooMoney, payment terminals, SMS, and many more.
Happy shopping on Photobanks!
Thank you for the selection and the necessary material!