Best Shutterstock Alternatives: Our TOP 5 Alternatives

Well-written text becomes captivating content the moment you combine it with the right image. The same goes when illustrating otherwise dry numbers, data, and facts. Those who don't have a portfolio of visual material can utilize stock photo archives. Shutterstock is probably the most famous, however, that doesn't mean that it's the only or best service out there.

Below, we'll let you know what alternatives there are to Shutterstock and what sort of compromises you'll have to make.

Shutterstock does many things right, and the stock photo service earned a "very good" score in our review. All the same, we have a few critiques, such as:

If not Shutterstock, then what? You can find all of the best alternatives in our comparison of 13 leading stock photo platforms. Below, we'll introduce you to our Top 5:

Depositphotos claimed the top spot in our comparison. The stock photo database was founded in 2009 by Dmitry Sergeev in Kyiv. These days, it calls New York home, offering users access to more than 250 million files.

Our winner impressed us with its easy-to-use interface, comprehensive media catalog, straightforward licensing, friendly support, and fair pricing. Its 70,000 free photos, vector graphics, editorial files, and video clips are the cherry on top.

Depositphotos has a better price-performance ratio and purchased photo credits don't lapse after a certain period of time. Even if you're looking for free stock photos or clips, you'll have 70,000 media files to choose from on Depositphotos.

We deducted some points since it isn't possible to differentiate between media types when performing a search. Depositphotos displays all of its free media when searching, and you can only filter results according to camera angle, direction, and the number of people in the photo. If you're trying to find the right free video clip, patience is a must.

Adobe Stock, previously known as Fotolia, was bought by the graphic design powerhouse in 2015 and is now one of the leading photo agencies on the planet. In our comparison of stock photo services, Adobe Stock didn't make it onto the winner's podium, however, it's second on this list. Why? Because it offers a huge selection of free stock photos and clips.

Adobe Stock's free media archive is first-class: You'll find seemingly endless numbers of photos, illustrations, and videos, sorted by category. Its multiple filters, which make searching through the free archive even easier, are another big advantage.

Adobe doesn't just offer more free stock photos and clips, but also a wider range of subject matter and thematic areas that are often difficult to find visual material for.

If you're looking for premium media, once again, you'll need to have quite a budget to get it on Adobe Stock. Still, it will be professional material and easy to find thanks to the service's good filter options. This sort of content is intended for agencies and larger businesses.

One area where Adobe Stock could definitely improve is its customer service: Getting in touch is made more complicated than necessary and the hours of operation are somewhat limited.

iStock is another heavyweight in the world of stock photos. Even though you might think that it belongs to Apple owing to its name, it's actually part of Getty Images, one of the largest photo agencies on the planet. This also helps explain its highly exclusive content, which propelled iStock to second place in our review series.

iStock impressed us with its powerful filter options and good customer service. Its licensing conditions are clear and straightforward. Should you be looking for high-quality media and ready to pay for it, you'll be well-served by iStock.

There are only two types of licenses, the conditions for which are transparent and easy to understand. This is convenient from a legal perspective: You're protected for up to $10,000 (standard license) or $250,000 (advanced license). In other words, if someone files a copyright suit against you for an image you licensed from Shutterstock, you can look forward to either $10,000 or $250,000 of your legal fees being paid by the service.

Those looking for free media won't be particularly pleased with iStock: Three photos per week, and three videos and graphics per month are all that's offered.

They refer to this as the "monthly dose of inspiration", however, it seems more like a few crumbs tossed out so that the provider can claim that they offer free media. In case you want to use this content, make sure to download it quickly, since it's only available for a limited time.

Rolex, Lamborghini, Getty: The branch's golden oldie is still the largest photo agency in the world. It doesn't only supply multinational corporations with exclusive visual material, but also newspapers, and print media. Of course, Getty Images knows its value and charges accordingly.

Getty Images offers truly exclusive content that is high-quality and anything but run-of-the-mill. As our little intro suggests, it's the luxury option in the world of stock photo services and the go-to platform for pros, large companies, and agencies.

The platform doesn't just excel in terms of quality, but also quantity. You can even contract Getty photographers who will produce unique content for your project, of course, for a princely sum.

If you're looking for free photos, you're going to be disappointed. Plenty of images and illustrations can be used for free, however, only for editorial purposes. Legally speaking, this is openly formulated to Getty's advantage, and as a result, we advise against using its content in this way.

On top of that: Should Getty Images delete a photo from its catalog that you're using on your own, non-commercial website, it will disappear. Making matters worse, when linking photos from Getty Images, the source code they include gives the service access to your website. For example, if you're tracking visits to your site, Getty Images will also receive this data.

The US company started out as a platform where video producers could market licenses for their clips. It didn't take long for a lucrative business to grow, with Pond5 expanding its repertoire to include photos, music, 3D models, and effects.

Pond5 delivers high-quality film material, music, and After Effects templates at affordable prices. In addition, you'll find a nice selection of 3D models, photos, and illustrations.

To see how much and with which license each media file can be used, click on it, followed by the small question mark off to the right. Although conditions can vary, you'll always have to include the name of the author/creator. To avoid misunderstandings, Pond5 offers examples of how to do this.

Owing to its focus on moving images (videos), Pond5 covers an important niche. In addition, its selection of other media, including photos, is good and growing. All of this is underlined by the platform's good price-performance ratio.

If Pond5 developed a uniform pricing structure, the platform would likely score higher in our overall ranking. We also deducted points for its lack of search filters, which makes finding the right file more complicated than it needs to be. And although free photos are nowhere to be found, there are free video clips.

Should you be searching for photo and video content for your blog, website, or marketing materials, there are a number of good alternatives to Shutterstock.

Services like Depositphotos, Adobe Stock, iStock, Getty Images, or Pond5 offer a nice selection of stock media, and you might be able to use it for free. To be on the safe legal side, make sure that you carefully read each platform's licensing conditions.