We all say that there is nothing like expressing your thoughts with the help of an image, a music file or a video footage. All the creative professionals out there, remain on a constant search of all the creative assets to make their projects/ presentations/ work impactful. It is not that there are no sites that can fulfil their needs but then these assets come very pricey. There are sites that charge in thousands for a high quality image.
However, we are bringing forward a list of best stock photo sites for all the professionals who do need to make an impression at the work but not spend much for the same
Creative Fabrica
Creative Fabrica is like a gold mine for people who make cool stuff on the internet. Whether you’re a designer, a crafter, or just someone who likes to jazz up their projects, this place has everything you need. Started not too long ago by some really smart folks, Creative Fabrica has become super popular. They have got tons of stuff to check out, like pictures, fancy letters, and all sorts of cool things to help you make awesome stuff. Let’s take a closer look at what they offer and why they’re so awesome.
Notably, Creative Fabrica has earned recognition by catering to the diverse needs of consumers.
Product Portfolio
Images
A diverse range of high-quality images is available, covering numerous themes such as [list popular categories].
Vectors
From design elements to illustrations, the vector category encompasses a broad spectrum of content.
Fonts
Creative Fabrica offers an extensive library of fonts suitable for various projects.
Crafting Resources
For crafting enthusiasts, the platform provides an array of resources such as SVG files, clipart, and digital papers, catering to different hobbies.
Subscription vs. Free Stock
- Free Stock
Creative Fabrica offers a substantial collection of royalty-free resources, including images, vectors, fonts, and crafting assets. The platform is particularly renowned for its diverse selection of free content, making it a go-to source for designers on a budget. You can check out Creative Fabrica to obtain incredible stockphotos!
- Subscription Packs
For those requiring regular access to premium content, Creative Fabrica provides subscription packs tailored to different needs. Subscribers gain access to a wealth of exclusive resources, enhancing their creative endeavors.
In conclusion, Creative Fabrica stands as a premier destination for creative professionals, offering a rich assortment of resources to fuel their projects. Whether seeking inspiration or specific assets, designers can rely on the platform to meet their diverse needs.
2. Freepik
Freepik is a heaven for all web designers and all those professionals who need good images, vectors, presentation templates for their work. It can be easily considered as one of the best stock photo sites, as it has the widest range of Free stock images collection. The graphic resource portfolio of this store is quite vast (considering the niche it is operating in). This marketplace came into being in the year 2010 and the credit for the success of this store goes to the trio who founded this marketplace; Pablo Blanes, Alejandro, and Joaquin Cuenca. The success of the site can be measured by some attributes of the site like:
- 50 million monthly views
- 100 million monthly downloads
- 18 million monthly unique users
- 4.5 million graphic resources
- Present in the list of Financial Times’ ‘1000 Europe’s fastest growing companies’
Product Portfolio
Photos: You can find a variety of good quality photos, on a variety of topics, at this store. Some of the most popular photo categories at the store are abstract, business, communication, friends, love, travel, spa, wood, etc.
Vectors: Some of the most popular categories for vectors, at this store, are animals, design elements, graphics, illustrations, logo templates, map, textures, ribbons, silhouettes, web elements, signs & symbols, calendar, etc.
PSD: Backgrounds, buttons, cards, emails, effects, illustrations, objects, print templates, text effects, textures, mockups, etc are some of the categories that you can look for in the PSD section at Freepik.
Subscription vs. Free stock
Free stock: Freepik features a great collection of royalty-free images, vectors, PSD, logos, presentation, stories, etc. Freepik is known especially for its huge collection of free vector images (in fact, the site boasts of having a collection of almost a million free vectors). However, if you need other types of graphical products and on a constant basis then I would suggest you go for the subscription packs provided by Freepik. Also for CouponzGuru users, we have aggregated working Freepik Coupons at our site, you can check them here.
Subscription:
- 1 Month- 7.99 EUR/ month
- 12 Months- 5.00 EUR/month
The subscription plan gives you access to:
- More than 2.4 million premium vectors
- More than 4 million premium stock photos
- More than 130k premium psd files
- Unlimited downloads
Why is Freepik different?
There are three reasons why Freepik is somewhat different from its competitors.
Free customizable icons: You have access to more than 2.6 million vector logos that you can access for free, at this store. You can download the pre-designed logos and customize them as per your requirements. In fact, you can download these logos in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD formats plus BASE 64 formats.
Slidesgo: This is a flagship project by Freepik where you can find a list of templates for PowerPoint presentations and Google slides. They can provide an ‘X- factor’ to your company/college presentations.
Stories: You can create your own illustrations with the help of pre-designed concepts available with Freepik. This is something you will rarely find at some other site. You can use these illustrations to create a story for you website, app and presentation. Check out an example here
3. Shutterstock
It would be safe to say that Shutter stock has been a major influencer in this niche industry and is one of the best stock photography websites in India. Shutterstock was established in the year 2003 by Jon Oringer who was a photographer and a computer programmer; initially her uploaded his own collection of 30,000 stock photos to the site and worked on a subscription model. It has been a long journey for the brand and now it stands tall with a lot of achievements in its bag; let us have a look at some of them:
- More than 1 billion downloads till date (including video clips, images and music files)
- Has partnered with more than 1 million artists from around the globe
- Features a collection of 300 million+ stock images
- 200k images added everyday
- Customers ranging in 150+ countries
- Site operates in 21 languages
Product portfolio
Images: You can find a curated collection (which can give you a hint of the current trend amongst web designers), photos, and vectors in this section, at the site. Some of the popular categories of images featured at the store are beauty/fashion, celebrities, editorial, holidays, industrial, nature, objects, religion, science, etc. Apart from that, you can also find offset images (a high-end collection captured by industry leaders)
Footage: There are millions of stock videos featured at the store which you can download in HD, 4K, and SD version. As many as 75k videos are added to the stock on a weekly basis. Enhance your presentation by including royalty-free videos on people, slow motion, technology, nature, business, animation, etc.
However, if you need to take your project to another level, then you should check out the Shutterstock Select, and Shutterstock Elements section. The videos featured in the ‘select category’ have been shot with high-tech cameras and accessories (likes of RED cameras & Zeiss Master Prime lenses).
In the ‘elements category’ you can find videos with VFX, transitions, film overlays, lens flares, etc. You can create wonders with the footage available in this section of Shutterstock.
Editorial Images: You can find editorial images on entertainment, news, royalty and sports, at this store. You can buy a single editorial image for $ 199 and 25 images pack for $99/image.
Subscription Pack for Footage
| Subscription packs | SD Clips | HD Clips | 4K Clips |
| 5 pack | $299 | $359 | $599 |
| 10 pack | $549 | $669 | $999 |
| 25 pack | $1,299 | $1,579 | $2,299 |
Subscription Pack for Stock Photos
- 10 images- $ 49/ month
- 50 images- $ 125/ month
- 350 images- $ 199/ month
- 750 images- $ 249/ month
Note: On-Demand you can buy 5 images for $ 49 and 25 images for $ 229. For yearly packages, you can check the Shutterstock website. Also, check out Shutterstock promo codes we have listed at our site
Why is Shutterstock different?
Shutterstock is different for many reasons like its online editor feature, etc. but the ‘music category’ featured at the store makes it exceptionally different. You can get handpicked royalty-free music tracks in here. You can also go for premium beats on the basis of genres, collections, and moods. These tracks are especially curated by experts and capture the latest trends of the music industry. You can buy an unlimited music plan for US$ 16.60/ month.
4. Depositphotos
Depositphotos is an aggregator site where thousands of authors, from across the globe, are able to showcase their stock of graphics, photos, vectors, and videos. Depositphotos has been able to provide technically enabled platform where customers can buy products that artists have to offer, without any glitch. The site was founded in the year 2009 by Dmitry Sergeev. A snippet of the achievements of the site includes:
- 155+ million graphics to choose from
- Clients’ presence in more than 190 countries
- Site operating in 20 languages
- 24/7 customer support
Product Portfolio
Stock Photos: Looking for a high quality stock photo for a not-so-common category? You should check out the collection of Depositphotos as it has a huge collection in varied categories possible; you will not be disappointed. Some of the top stock photo search categories are cities, fitness, nature & landscape, business & finance, architecture, jobs & career, innovation, community, house, home, interiors, around the world, etc. There are more than 112 million stock photos featured at the store.
Vectors: You can find original collection of illustrations and vectors at this online store. These vectors and illustrations are available in a very high quality (you can stretch any picture to any limit and it will not get pixelated). There are more than 35 million files available in this section.
Videos: There are more than 6.5 million videos present in the stock of Depositphotos. Right from a personally taken footage to commercially acceptable high-definition video, you can get it all at this store. Some of the themes to look for are fitness, people, wedding, fashion, lifestyle, animation, time-lapse, beauty, abstract, health, city, intro, family, aerial, etc.
Editorial Images: Editorial images are basically an array of pictorial coverage of any event happened at any corner of the world. Any news agency, journalist, website owner, blogger and editor can make use of these editorial images. Again this kind of a niche product is not readily available any place else.
Subscription vs. Free Stock
Free Stock: This is not one of those stores that boast about featuring a collection of free stock, but then you will definitely find millions of royalty-free stock options here.
Subscription Packs: The prices mentioned are for individuals and there are three plans that you can avail.
Subscription (month-on-month)
- 75 images ($69) – $0.92
- 150 images ($99) – $0.66
- 750 images ($199) – $0.27
Flexible Plan
- Monthly- $ 0.99/ image
- Yearly- $ 0.83/ image
On Demand
- 10 images- $ 49
- 25 images- $ 99
- 100 images – $299
Note: For current rates, you can check out the online website of Depositphotos. For discount coupons, you can check our latest coupons for Depositphotos
Subscription plan for videos
| Particulars | 240p | 480p | 720p | 1080p | 4K |
| 1 Vedio | $19 | $39 | $59 | $69 | $169 |
| 5 videos | $69 | $139 | $239 | $289 | $729 |
| 25 videos | $319 | $649 | $1149 | $1399 | $3499 |
Note: For company rates, you can check out the online website of Depositphotos.
Why is Depositphotos different?
Depositphotos has got a good collection of a variety of creative assets but the price point at which you are able to use an asset is quite mind-blowing. There are sites that are charging exorbitantly for their collection so you can always depend upon Depositphotos to get premium quality product without having to spend much. Also, it has got an exhaustive subscription plan, which can suit your needs perfectly.
5. iStock
iStock is a pioneer of the microstock photography company and was founded in the year 2000 by Bruce Livingstone. You have the option to choose from a million of premium images that too without burning a hole in your pocket. Artists (amateurs & pro) from different corners of the world bring their collection to iStock to be bought by creative business professionals.
Product Portfolio
Photos: You will always find fresh and inspiring photos at the store, but to find something special, check out the ‘Signature Collection’ and ‘Essential Collection’ featured at the store. The signature collection is full of good quality, authentic, and trending images. The essential collection has images that will give a good visual presentation to your thoughts (while you are making a project). Some of the popular categories to look for at the store are travel, animals, festival, business, technology, family, cricket, Independence Day, Mehendi, etc.
Illustrations: Illustrations in a way serves the purpose of better than an image; you are able to express your thoughts better with an illustration. iStock is full of hand-drawn illustrations, and flat designs which is categorised under ‘Signature Collection’ and ‘Essential Collection’. There are some exclusive illustrations featured in the signature collection that is editable. For some everyday vectors, you can check out the essential collection.
Video: A good quality video clip comes in very handy when you have to give a life to somewhat dull project. Well, at iStock you can find HD clips and 4k footage that you can use to connect with your audience at a deep and different level. There are aerial clips, cinema-graphs, coiling backgrounds, etc. royalty-free footages for you to avail.
Subscription packs vs. Free stock
Free stock: You can just sign in at iStock and check out the signature collection which gets renewed with new images, vectors and videos on a weekly basis. You can use the products available here for free.
Subscription:
Credit Packs: You can buy a credit pack where you have freedom to download an image whenever you want. You get three credit packs where 1 credit is equal to 1 image and per image cost is Rs345/-.
- 6 credits- ₹2,070/-
- 18 credits- ₹6,210/-
- 60 credits- ₹20,700/-
Month-to-month: You can pay monthly with this subscription pack and use the image download limit within that month. You can choose the number of months you want to pay for. Again, you get three options where the cost per image in first two packs is ₹170/- and ₹135/- per image in the last pack.
- 10 images/ month- ₹1700/-
- 25 images/month- ₹4350/-
- 50 images/month- ₹6750/-
Best Value (Annual plan)-You can pay outright for the whole year or you can pay in 12 installments. When you get an annual subscription you pay ₹110/- per image.
- 10 images/ month- ₹1100/-
- 25 images/ month- ₹2750/-
- 50 images/month- ₹5500/-
Note: In annual subscription your 250 downloads limit is rolled-over month-on-month basis, till you have annual subscription.
Why is iStock different?
To know why iStock is different you need to check out different collection featured at the store. There are a lot of stock images pertaining to Indian context. This is the store where you will find collection with names like ‘Mehendi’, ‘Indian Flag Stock Photo’, ‘India Festival Stock Photo’, etc; no doubts this is the site to find stock image of India.
6. Vexels
Vexels is powered by a team of dedicated designers who work diligently to bring forward some very unique content for you to use. This is the place where creative companies get their incomparable digital designs. The designers of Vexels do their research & planning to bring forward the content and build upon the feedback they receive from their customers. Companies like Xerox, Nike, eBay, Fox, Sports, Best Buy, etc. have placed their trust on Vexels. The company’s achievements include:
- 100k visitors on a weekly basis
- Presence in 200 countries
Product portfolio
You can find a lot of illustrations catering to a variety of themes like travel, business, wedding, holidays, cars, animals, cartoons & characters, nature, Christmas, celebrations & party, love, people, landscape, music, shopping, education, space, medicines & healthcare.
Editable Designs: There are more than 900 designs (greeting cards, posters, flyers, etc.) that can be customized as per your need.
Vectors: There are more than 200k vector graphics featured at the store. Right from backgrounds to icons, you can get it all at this section of the site.
PSD: There are a lot of mock-ups available for you to download. You should also check out the flyers, t-shirt illustrations, packaging mock-ups, etc. illustrations at the store.
PNG/SVG: Sometimes you just require transparent PNG/SGV or silhouettes of images; well this is the place to find just that. There is more than 15k of these illustrations.
Logos/icons: There are more than 60k logo templates; polygonal, abstract, etc. whatever you need. As far as icons are concerned, you can download thousands of options to download in PNG, SVG, PSD, JPG and AI format. You can use these for commercial purpose.
Subscription packs vs. Free stock
Free Stock: The site has a good collection of free vector images which you can get only by attributing the owner of the image.
Subscription: You can go for a monthly or a yearly pack and both have their own benefits.
Monthly and yearly pack:
| Type | Pro | Merch | Business |
| Suitable For | Small Business | Retail Stores | Large-scale Business |
| Costing per month | $9.99/ $7.50 | $29/ $22 | $89.99/ $ 68 |
| Benefits | 1 Design Request | 2 Design Request | 7 Design Request |
| Benefits | 70000 designs access | Access to all files + print ready designs | Added benefit of accessing exclusive files |
| Benefits | 200 downloads/month | 200 downloads/month | 2000 downloads/month |
Note:
- There are many more benefits of various plans which you can check out at Vexels website.
- Yearly pack is billed on yearly basis.
Why is Vexels different?
Vexels stands-out in the whole lot because of several factors. Let us look at them:
- It has a beta version of an online editor which can be used easily to design the graphics that suits your needs exactly.
- It has an in-house designer team which designs every vector featured at the store; you can be sure of the uniqueness of the vector image if you get from Vexels.
- You can design your own t-shirt with the help of Vexels t-shirt maker.
7. Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is a microstock agency which is owned by Adobe Inc. Adobe Inc. is a computer software company that has been in existence since 1982 and has been one of the most profitable companies of Silicon Valley. At Adobe Stock you can find as many as 55+ million stocks of royalty-free images, illustrations, and videos.
Product Portfolio
Photos: You can find a curated collection of hand-picked photos that can bring a life to your own project. You will find images on some uncommon themes like wanderlust, getting in shape, fall feasts, real people, fall color guide, feel the flow, etc. Apart from that, there are some popular categories like travel, sports, business, animals, etc. featured at the store.
Illustrations: There are some amazing themed illustrations featured at the store. For example, there are cartoons, paintings, watercolors, digital artwork, 3D renders, new retro, abstract & geometrics, and textures. Some of these illustrations look like paintings on a canvas and some reflect on the futuristic though process.
Vectors: You will find hand-picked vectors at this online store; there is absolutely no doubt about the quality of the vector image featured at the store. Some of the categories that would interest you are millennials, infinity & beyond, fresh graphics, etc. The kinds of vectors that you can find at this store are:
- Icons
- Characters
- Logos
- Doodles
- Infographics
- Backgrounds
Video: The kinds of videos that you can find at the store are HD clips, 4k clips, motion graphic templates and video loops. You can find usual footages on themes like everyday people, wellness, a taste of winter, aerial footage, 2020 pantone color of the year, etc. However, if you need something special then browse through the portfolio that is created by clubbing some of the footages from dynamic artists; there are groups like Rubberball (capturing life’s moments in 4k and HD clips) and ATW Media (capturing HD videos for various occasions).
Templates: You have access to templates that works on various designing platforms created by Adobe; some examples are Photoshop, Illustrator, premiere Rush, InDesign and Premier Pro. You can have access to designing templates that are available with your Creative Cloud App.
Editorial: This is a collection of images and videos that would interest all the people working with a news publishing agency. You can find an image or a video on the latest news, sports, entertainment, environmental issues, people in news, etc.
Subscription Packs (for individuals)
Credit Packs: You can get high resolution videos, images and premium content whenever you want it.
- 5 credits- ₹3,380/-
- 16 credits- ₹10,270/-
- 40 credits- ₹24,360/-
- 80 credits- ₹45,330/-
- 150 credits- ₹81,190/-
Credit Table:
| Type of product | Standard Image | Standard template & 3D | HD Videos | 4K Videos | Premium Images | Editorial |
| Credits required to buy | 1 | 1 | 8 | 20 | Starting with 12 | Starting with 12 |
Subscriptions:
| No. of Images | Month-to-Month | Annual Commitment |
| 10 images/ month | ₹3,380/- | ₹2,029/- |
| 40 images/month | ₹6,765/- | ₹5,412/- |
| 750 images/month | ₹16,910/- | ₹13,530/- |
Note: To find more details about the pricing, you can check out the Adobe Stock website. The prices are mentioned in Rupee which makes the calculation easier for professionals working on stock photos in India.
Why is Adobe Stock different?
You need to check out the whole product portfolio present at Adobe Stock to understand the different between the quality of content featured at this store and others; there is a premium feel to every bit of products featured at Adobe Stock.
But the magic does not end here because this store also has some called as 3D Assets. You will find a selection of 3D models, 3D materials and 3D lights at the store, which you can use to make inspiring scenes for your project.
8. Getty Images
Getty Images is quite a big player of this field and it provides its huge collection of more than 200 million creative assets to the media, creative professionals and corporate houses. There is no doubts on the fact that this is quite an expensive website to look for assets but then there are some creative assets which are worth the money (some assets are extremely high quality and unique).
Product Portfolio
Creative: Getty Images bears the tagline ‘Moving the World with Images’ which is quite reflective in the creative collection at the store. In other words we can also say that you can find your imagination answered in the creative section of the site. The site publishes its prices in Indian currency which is why we can say that this is the perfect site to for all the professionals working with stock photos in India.
Editorial: Editorial images are all about the current events that have taken place at some corner of the world. You will find editorial images on sports, entertainment, news, etc. at Getty Images.
Video: There are two kinds of footages available with the store; creative footage and editorial footage. These footages are available in all kinds of quality versions. There are some themes like ‘classic blue video’, ‘working from home video’, ‘Bird’s- eye view video’, etc. that would truly interest you.
Music: You can select a music file on the basis of genre (rock, electronic, pop, hip-hop, classical, quirky, etc.), theme (business, cinematic, epic, high energy, Piano, orchestral, acoustics, etc.) and editor’s pick.
Subscription vs. Free Stock
Free Stock: You can access more than 65million images from this store to design your non-commercial websites/blogs.
Subscription: There are three packs available:
Large Images 4K and HD Videos
- Single copy- ₹23,000/ download
- 5 pack (Total ₹1, 02,500) – ₹20,500/ download
- 10 pack( Total ₹1,95,000)- ₹19,500/ download
Medium Images & SD Videos
- Single copy- ₹14,000/ download
- 5 pack (Total ₹60,000) – ₹12,000/ download
- 10 pack( Total ₹1,15,000)- ₹11,500/ download
Small Images & Low resolution videos
- Single copy- ₹7,000/ download
- 5 pack (Total ₹32,000) – ₹6,400/ download
- 10 pack( Total ₹60,000)- ₹6,000/ download
Note: You can check out the site for usage rights of music and audio clips.
Why is Getty Images different?
Do you know how can you access more control over the content that you use for your projects? You can make the content exclusively available only for you, or get an image/video designed only for yourself from some of the best artists available. Well, Getty Images can make that possible for you which is why this store is very different from the ones that we have discussed till now.
Other Top and Useful Websites For Stock Photos and Vector Images
We have talked about 7 different players working this niche that has their own positive points. However, it is important to mention the names of some other websites that can be of great help to all the creative professionals out there.
Vecteezy: This site is all about free vector images and stock images. You can download millions of images without even having to give credit for the image. It is just so easy to find a vector image on the basis of themes and categories from this store. This is one of the best sites for creating low profile banners, brochures, backgrounds, etc.
Pixabay: This site has got it all; photos, illustrations, vectors, videos and music that too for free. You have access to more than 1.7 million premium quality stock images that has been gathered from artists around the world. If you need to make last minute imagery changes to your project then this site comes in very handy.
123Free Vectors: If there is one site that has created a niche for itself only in the field of vectors then that has to be 123Free Vectors. This site has got free victor images, vector graphics, vector arts, and illustrations in AI, JPG, EPS, SVG, and PDF files.
All free downloads: The name of the site itself it a giveaway; you can actually find free stock images, vectors and PSD files that can be easily downloaded. This site is more appropriate for all the professionals who do not want to spend much on the creative assets they use in their projects.
Pixeden: This site is trying to create a place for itself in this market which is why this site can be really helpful for all the professionals working on tight budget. You can join as member which will give you access to the custom designs featured at Pixeden. If you go for the premium account, you will be able to modify the already present collection at the store.
Creative Market: This site has got a collection of photos, graphics, templates, web themes, fonts, add-ons and 3D. No doubts that they are not the leader in the market but they can get a variety of your jobs done in the creative field.
Conclusion
It would be wrong to say that there is no competition amongst various online stores working in graphical assets industry. In fact, each site is picking up a niche and trying to master that particular niche. We have talked about some niches which I am sure would be extremely helpful for all the new professionals and the pros. You can pick any of the sites mentioned in the list but be on the lookout for free downloads; with a tad bit of research work, you should be able to find something worthwhile that is for free!