Best Shutterstock Alternatives
The best Shutterstock alternatives for stock photos, video, and vectors — free, freemium, and premium libraries compared on price and licensing.
Curated by Calin RasniceruThe 8 best Shutterstock alternatives
Our top picks first, then the rest in our editorial order. Tools marked Partner pay us — either a commission when you sign up, or for the placement. It never changes the facts we report. How this works
- 1
Vecteezy
Partner60M+ free & Pro vectors, photos and stock video
Free tierFrom $9/mo (billed annually) - 2
iStock
Images, videos, and audio for every budget, from high quality sources.
No free tierFrom €29/mo (Basic, ~10 downloads/mo) - 3
Pexels
Large selection of free stock photos and videos.
Free tier - 4
Pixabay
More than a million free stock photos and videos available.
Free tier - 5
Rawpixel
Premium quality stock photos and illustrations outside the mainstream.
Free tierFrom $59.99/year (billed annually) - 6
Stocksy
Artistic and easy-to-navigate stock image collection.
No free tierFrom $35 per image (Medium, royalty-free) - 7
Pond5
Extensive collection of royalty-free stock video, music, and graphics.
No free tierFrom $10/mo (or $60/year, Music plan) - 8
Unsplash
Access over 2 million high-resolution images for free.
Free tierFrom $7/mo (billed annually)
Shutterstock alternatives compared
Entry prices as listed by each vendor; we re-check these periodically.
| Tool | Free tier | From |
|---|---|---|
| Vecteezy | Yes | $9/mo (billed annually) |
| iStock | No | €29/mo (Basic, ~10 downloads/mo) |
| Pexels | Yes | — |
| Pixabay | Yes | — |
| Rawpixel | Yes | $59.99/year (billed annually) |
| Stocksy | No | $35 per image (Medium, royalty-free) |
| Pond5 | No | $10/mo (or $60/year, Music plan) |
| Unsplash | Yes | $7/mo (billed annually) |
The best new Stock Photos & Videos tools, hand-picked
A short roundup of what we've actually tried — plus the picks that didn't make this page. Sponsored entries are always labelled. Unsubscribe in one click.
Shutterstock has one of the biggest stock libraries, but its credit packs and subscriptions push many people toward alternatives — whether for a better price, a friendlier license, or a specific look. This page rounds up the best Shutterstock alternatives, from premium libraries with commercial licensing to free and freemium sources for photos, video, and vectors.
We flag which are free, which are subscription or credit-based, and which include the media you actually need — stills, footage, or illustrations — so you can source assets without overpaying.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best free alternative to Shutterstock?
For free, commercially-usable stock, Pexels and Pixabay are the go-tos for photos and video. Vecteezy adds a huge library of free and premium vectors, photos, and footage in one place.
Which Shutterstock alternative has the best license?
Free libraries like Pexels and Pixabay use permissive licenses that cover most commercial use, while Vecteezy and iStock offer clear paid commercial licensing when you need guaranteed rights.
Which alternative is closest to Shutterstock?
iStock (from Getty) is the closest premium like-for-like for scale and licensing, while Vecteezy is the most complete freemium option spanning vectors, photos, and video.
Featured Tools
Sponsored
Pryzm
Pryzm is a real-time studio for designers who need backgrounds that don't look like everyone else's. Layer procedural gradients, then stack glass, grain, light and blobs.
Hue Codex
Hue Codex is a free, no-account color workspace for designers and developers, with palette generation, WCAG contrast checks, modern CSS tools, image color extraction, local saving, and exports.
AI Boilerplate
The boilerplate built for vibe coding. Includes authentication, payments, storage, and a clean, AI-readable codebase, already wired up. Build on rails that don't break at prompt 100.
Your tool here
The tools above are our own picks until the slots sell.
Our top pick
Partner
Vecteezy
60M+ free & Pro vectors, photos and stock video
We earn a commission if you sign up. It never changes the facts we report.
Featured Tools
SponsoredPryzm
Pryzm is a real-time studio for designers who need backgrounds that don't look like everyone else's. Layer procedural gradients, then stack glass, grain, light and blobs.
Hue Codex
Hue Codex is a free, no-account color workspace for designers and developers, with palette generation, WCAG contrast checks, modern CSS tools, image color extraction, local saving, and exports.
AI Boilerplate
The boilerplate built for vibe coding. Includes authentication, payments, storage, and a clean, AI-readable codebase, already wired up. Build on rails that don't break at prompt 100.
Your tool here
The tools above are our own picks until the slots sell.