Shutterstock
Stock footage software
Stock music software
Stock photos websites
Stock media software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$7 per month
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
Small
Medium
Large
- Media and communications
- Professional services (engineering, legal, consulting, etc.)
- Banking and insurance
What is Shutterstock
Shutterstock is a stock media marketplace that licenses photos, vectors/illustrations, footage, music, and sound effects for commercial and editorial use. It primarily serves marketers, designers, video editors, publishers, and businesses that need rights-managed content for campaigns and creative production. The platform combines a large contributor marketplace with subscription and on-demand licensing options, plus tools for searching, filtering, and managing downloads across media types.
Broad multi-format media library
Shutterstock offers a single catalog spanning stock photos, vectors/illustrations, video footage, music tracks, and sound effects. This reduces the need to source assets from separate specialty libraries for different media types. It supports common creative workflows where a project requires both visuals and audio under consistent licensing terms.
Flexible licensing and purchasing
The service supports subscriptions and on-demand credit-style purchases, which can fit both recurring and occasional usage patterns. Teams can standardize procurement by using one vendor for multiple asset types. License documentation and download history help users track what was acquired for a given project.
Strong search and filtering
Shutterstock provides keyword search with extensive filters to narrow results by media type and common attributes (for example, orientation, duration, and other content properties). This is useful when users need to find usable assets quickly from a large catalog. Saved collections and similar-asset discovery features support iterative creative selection.
Costs can scale quickly
Per-asset pricing and subscription tiers can become expensive for high-volume teams or organizations with many stakeholders downloading content. Some users may need higher plans to access the mix of formats or usage rights they require. Budget predictability can be challenging when usage fluctuates across departments.
License terms require diligence
As with most stock marketplaces, permitted uses depend on the specific license type and any content-specific restrictions. Users must confirm whether an asset is cleared for their intended use case (for example, advertising, broadcast, or sensitive topics). This can add review steps for legal/compliance teams, especially at enterprise scale.
Quality varies by contributor
Because the catalog includes content from many contributors, results can vary in style, production quality, and uniqueness. Teams may spend time filtering out near-duplicates or assets that do not meet brand standards. Consistency can be harder to maintain compared with more tightly curated libraries.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Images — "Subscribe & Save" (subscription) | $29 / month (annual) | Listed on Shutterstock pricing page as an annual subscription tier (example: 10 downloads/month). Annual and month-to-month billing options shown; cancellation fee may apply. |
| Images — Packs (a la carte) | Example listing: $49 (one-time) | One-time download packs available (downloads valid within one year). Pricing page shows a $49 pack price but the search snippet does not unambiguously map each pack-size to a price — see notes. |
| Video — Subscription | $99 / month (annual) | Video subscription tier shown (downloads per month options such as 5/10/20). Annual billing options and savings for upfront payment noted. |
| Video — Packs (a la carte) | Example listing: $359 (one-time) | One-time video packs available (downloads valid within one year). Pricing page shows a $359 pack price; resolution and license choices apply. |
| Music — Unlimited subscription | $49 / month (annual) | Unlimited music subscription covering standard tracks and SFX. Annual and monthly billing options shown; cancellation fee may apply. |
| AI Image Generator — Generative AI Plus | $7 / month | 100 generations per month (each generation creates 4 images). Described as "no commitment." |
| Editorial — Single download (editorial) | $199 per image | Editorial single-download price listed for news/sports/entertainment/archival images (editorial use only). |
| Shutterstock Select (premium video) | $399 per clip | Select premium clips sold a-la-carte at $399 each; packs cannot be used to buy Select content. |
| API — Free Test Account / Unlimited (developer) | Free (test account); Unlimited: contact sales | Developer/API pricing page lists a Free Test Account (access to 3M+ royalty-free images for testing). An Unlimited API plan is available via Contact Sales for enterprise use. |
Notes: Prices shown are those visible on Shutterstock's official pricing pages and snippets. Some pack-to-price mappings (e.g., which pack size corresponds to the $49 or $359 listing) were not fully clear from the publicly available snippets; where mapping was ambiguous I flagged as "Example listing" and added a note.
Seller details
Shutterstock, Inc.
New York, NY, USA
2003
Public
https://www.shutterstock.com/
https://x.com/shutterstock
https://www.linkedin.com/company/shutterstock/
