Home » Buyers Guide » Understanding Shutterstock’s Pricing: Choosing Your Ideal Plan in 2025

Buyers Guide

By Amos Struck

Amos Struck Industry Expert and Founder

Amos Struck, a renowned expert with over two decades in the stock photography industry, is known for his profound expertise in both stock imagery and artificial intelligence (AI). He is the founder of StockPhotoSecrets.com and a driving force behind the innovative AI-driven platform, Stockphotos.com. His pioneering work in visual AI is marked by co-founding Ximilar AI. Amos also established the Microstock Expo Conference, a key event in the stock photography sector. As a regular speaker at major industry conferences like DMLA and a prominent member of CEPIC, he consistently contributes to the industry's growth and evolution through a blend of technological innovation and market insight.

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Edited by Amos Struck

Amos Struck Industry Expert and Founder

Amos Struck, a renowned expert with over two decades in the stock photography industry, is known for his profound expertise in both stock imagery and artificial intelligence (AI). He is the founder of StockPhotoSecrets.com and a driving force behind the innovative AI-driven platform, Stockphotos.com. His pioneering work in visual AI is marked by co-founding Ximilar AI. Amos also established the Microstock Expo Conference, a key event in the stock photography sector. As a regular speaker at major industry conferences like DMLA and a prominent member of CEPIC, he consistently contributes to the industry's growth and evolution through a blend of technological innovation and market insight.

Learn more

Reviewed by Amos Struck

Amos Struck Industry Expert and Founder

Amos Struck, a renowned expert with over two decades in the stock photography industry, is known for his profound expertise in both stock imagery and artificial intelligence (AI). He is the founder of StockPhotoSecrets.com and a driving force behind the innovative AI-driven platform, Stockphotos.com. His pioneering work in visual AI is marked by co-founding Ximilar AI. Amos also established the Microstock Expo Conference, a key event in the stock photography sector. As a regular speaker at major industry conferences like DMLA and a prominent member of CEPIC, he consistently contributes to the industry's growth and evolution through a blend of technological innovation and market insight.

Learn more

Shutterstock stands out as a leading stock imagery provider with its vast library of hundreds of millions of assets.

This service offers various pricing plans for individuals and businesses, allowing access to high-quality images, videos, and music. Prices vary based on media type, buying method, and usage rights. 

This guide helps you navigate Shutterstock pricing plans and costs for images and subscriptions to select an offer that best meets your creative needs. 

See Shutterstock's plans and prices right here!

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For over two decades, this agency has led the way in royalty-free image subscriptions (learn about it in our Shutterstock Review!)Their flagship plans offer a set number of photos and illustrations each month, charging a flat fee, all under a Standard license.

Here is a comparison of Shutterstock subscription options and their value:

Annual subscriptions provide unbeatable rates, matching long-term users. Prefer flexibility? A month-to-month option gives you freedom without breaking the bank.

A couple of highlights on these plans: 

Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing cycle (monthly or annual) unless you disable this feature.

Each image costs the same, regardless of its size or resolution. Whether low or high resolution, all pictures are priced equally.

At the end of the month, all unused downloads are forfeited.

Images downloaded but unused are licensed for 6 months after subscription. Those already used by the expiration date are yours to keep forever.

Stock photo subscriptions are perfect for creatives or businesses needing a steady stream of fresh images. Analyze your usage to choose the right plan, ensuring you maximize downloads without running out or wasting any.

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This company's stock footage subscriptions are increasingly popular as they offer some of the best price points in high-resolution, professional video clips: 

Again, yearly memberships have the best possible rates. If you're willing to commit for twelve months, you could download HD and 4K stock footage with a Standard royalty-free license at only $9.95 apiece, or even just $8.32 each if you pay the full year in advance. 

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This platform's round service includes stock music and sound effects. With a standard royalty-free license, you can buy them individually at $5 per SFX file and $49 per music track. 

However, there is a much better offer: the unlimited music plan that lets you download as many files as you wish from a collection of 34K+ audio assets: 

Creative teams or colleagues needing shared access must opt for a Business plan. This offers team member access, admin controls, and tailored download volumes. To get started, submit a quote request on Shutterstock's website with your company details, and they'll provide pricing options.

This firm also offers bespoke packages to big companies and brands. To get a customized plan, contact a Shutterstock representative directly. Simply use the “Enterprise” tab on the agency's homepage and fill in the form. 

This platform features a section of editorial content licensed solely for illustrative use. This includes newsworthy stories and striking celebrity portraits.

Each image is available on demand for $199. Now, Shutterstock offers editorial subscriptions as well. These plans' prices aren’t public; you must register with your publication details and wait for access.

This site doesn't sell regular stock photos by unit. Instead, they offer on-demand prepaid image packs, where you acquire a set number of downloads upfront and use them as needed. Choose from various pack sizes—the larger the pack, the lower the cost per image.  

Some considerations about packs: 

Your downloads expire one year after purchase. 

You can have image packs and subscriptions running at the same time.

Image packs are a lifesaver for trying out services without a subscription. They also come to the rescue when you exhaust your plan's downloads and need extra photos before renewal.Get a stunning 25% off the largest image pack with our exclusive on-demand coupon!

Stock footage is also available on demand, and here, you can buy just one clip at a time or prepay for several with a video pack. Unlike video subscriptions, on-demand footage prices are resolution-based:

All mentioned prices cover Standard licensed assets, allowing unlimited commercial use in marketing and advertising across various mediums forever without extra costs. However, this license limits printed units to 500,000 and video budgets to $10,000 while banning asset use in commercial products.

Enhanced licenses remove these restrictions. They offer unlimited copies and allow resale product usage but are available only through prepaid packs on demand:

For top-tier imagery, explore Offset by Shutterstock. This exclusive collection features stunning, handpicked photos from acclaimed artists. Each premium asset is available for $249 or $349 on demand.

If you want full access to this firm's advanced, generative AI tools, including an AI image generator and multiple AI image editing features, you need a Generative AI Plus plan. It is $7 per month and comes with 100 generations (each generation creates four picture variations, so it is actually up to 400 AI images for seven dollars). 

This Shutterstock price guide simplifies finding the best buying option for your needs.

Don't forget to redeem our coupon codes and save even more!

Amos Struck

Amos Struck, a renowned expert with over two decades in the stock photography industry, is known for his profound expertise in both stock imagery and artificial intelligence (AI). He is the founder of StockPhotoSecrets.com and a driving force behind the innovative AI-driven platform, Stockphotos.com. His pioneering work in visual AI is marked by co-founding Ximilar AI. Amos also established the Microstock Expo Conference, a key event in the stock photography sector. As a regular speaker at major industry conferences like DMLA and a prominent member of CEPIC, he consistently contributes to the industry's growth and evolution through a blend of technological innovation and market insight.

20 Comments

Bjarni Hafsteinsson

Hi there, i have some questions since i am mostly intrested in your videoclip section. Your info is very clear regarding images/stillphotos. So i was wondering what diffrent subscriptions offer you might have/,regarding price per month/ and amount of clips i could download per month (in the 1080 quality at least). And do you offer some sort of “free days trial”?. Best regards,
from Stockholm.

anna

So im interested in creating a class and using the stock photos for my manual that comes with the class but the class is purchased, would that be ok?

amyn

hi,
first of all good information Amos, thank you.

my question is what do you think of coming up with ones own stock footage website in this time, is it worth putting an effort? If so, can you guide if i can find some useful information on how to do this? Cheers.

Janet Osborne

If an image has a standard license, can you use the image to paint from. I’m an artist and just want images that I can paint.

Ivanna Attié

Hi Janet, it is my understanding that using a stock image to create a painting would be considered a copy of the image and thus, not allowed by any license as it would infringe the image author’s copyright.
However, we are not Shutterstock representatives, so I advise you to contact Shutterstock directly to verify whether you can or cannot use their photos this way.

Michelle

hi, I am looking to buy a stock image of a photo frame mock up just to portray my photographs, would the standard license be ok?

Vivian Rhodes

I plan to re-issue a book a wrote a while back. The rights reverted to me, but the art work didn’t. What is my best option for getting a Shutterbox image for my book, which will be print on demand, and what would the cost be?

James

Hi. I have used Shutterstock for some years now usually buying a pack of 350 or 750 images buying with an expiry of a month on an individual licence although my account is under my company name (my company is just me and my partner). Shutterstock have been in touch saying I may have an inadequate licence and that it should be a corporate licence. Although I have a company, it is just me that downloads and uses the images (occasionally I send the images to a freelancer) for books that are published under my company name. Can Shutterstock force me into a more expensive corporate licence when effectively I am using the images run the same way a freelance does? Thanks

May

Can i print a photo from shutterstock on one single product like wood and sell it ?

Emőke

“The license for images that were not used in a project within 6 months after the end of the subscription expires. This means the buyer can no longer use them in any way. ”
Is this true? I read on their pages, that licenses are perpetual. Here: So what is the truth? Where can I read that I can’t use my downloads?