Stock Libraries ft Images, Videos and More From 123RF to Vecteezy

The world of design is large. Whether is it in advertising, marketing, website development, social media, TV shows, media news and more. Central to design are stocks, often royalty-free with restricted rights usage. So, choosing suitable stocks is a challenge. Yet, to choose stocks, you must first choose the stock library to use.

Hence, we will discuss some of the top stock libraries, from 123RF to Vecteezy. How much stocks do these stock libraries have? Additionally, what else do they offer that makes them a top stock library to use? As well, what type of rights do they provide along by purchasing their stocks? We shall present all of these and more in this article!

The world wide web is huge, and yet you had stumbled on my site looking for something. I hope you find it as we had taken huge efforts to create them. Best of all, its FREE! Hence, some of our content may include affiliate links (i.e. whenever you click on the links and purchase, I earn a small commission at no extra costs to you!). No worries! Some of these links may look like phishing, but I assure you they are not! Lastly, the affiliation does not affect my reviews towards them. Enjoy!

1. 123RF
2. Alamy
3. Creative Market
4. Depositphotos
5. Dreamstime
6. Envato Elements
7. Getty Images
8. Pond5
9. Shutterstock
10. YayImages
11. Vecteezy

1. 123RF

Year Founded: 2005

Country: Singapore

No. of Users: 12M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 174M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: Yes
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free & Rights-Managed
• Mobile App Version: Yes

Buy Factor

1. Built-In (Free) Quick Edit Tools – Similar to Vecteezy, 123RF offers simple, but very useful edit tools in their platform. Use Auto Enhance for a quick touch up, or the often-needed background removal for brochure works. Also, add filters and effects all without leaving this platform!
2. Flexible Plans – 123RF offers 2 fixed plans with on-demand credit purchase possible. Their plans ensure users get the stocks at the usage license they need while striking a balance between value and download limits. That is, pay for only what you use!
3. Powerful Search Engine – With 123RF, you can search freely and get predictive, geo-relevant results. Alternatively, use the advanced filters or even search using images to find similar ones! Efficient you say?

Pricing

• Subscription: fr SG$ 0.53/Image (or SG$ 33.17/mo)
• Purchase Credits: Yes

2. Alamy

Year Founded: 1999

Country: UK

No. of Users: Est. 50M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 270M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: No
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free & Rights-Managed
• Mobile App Version: No

Buy Factor

1. 360-Degree Images – A unique offering by Alamy that many large stock libraries including Vecteezy do not have. Take note these are not videos. Having a 360-degree view does offers something of a new viewing experience and provides a more ‘complete’ understanding of what is in the picture. So, go try!
2. Live News Feed – Another unique feature here. Alamy’s powerful search can provide results of editorial images from global news sites not more than 48 hours old. These ‘news’ ready images can be what you need for your own news channels. This means no further need to search and find suitable images elsewhere. Very time-saving indeed!
3. Image Pack Available – Save up to 30%! Have a certain article in your website you need to cover with 5 images, buy an image pack instead. There are 10- and 25- download packs in other usages too! So, note this and don’t forget to take advantage of it when using Alamy!

Pricing

• Subscription: No, Per Downloads or Pack Purchase Only, fr US$ 19.99/image
• Purchase Credits: No

3. Creative Market

Year Founded: 2012

Country: USA

No. of Users: Est. 1M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 3.5M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: No
• Music Library: No
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free + Rights-Managed
• Mobile App Version: No

Buy Factor

1. Huge Choices of Graphic – Creative Market operates like a marketplace for digital design products rather than the traditional stock library like Getty Images or Vecteezy. It has lots of graphics for all sorts of uses that might include icons (for websites), 3D models (for animations), and patterns (for collateral background). Above all, they are all made by peers and very professional looking! Their library will only continue to grow and possibly at an exponential rate! A really useful site for those whose works constantly seeks all kinds of design possibilities!
2. Other Templates Too! – Creative Market also have templates for social media posts, presentations, emails and websites etc. Go explore! Especially if you are a freelancer needing to hands-on in social media or making collaterals, you will like Creative Market for their offerings at an extremely low price!
3. Pricing by Per Image – As low as US$ 2 per image! Grab only what you need! But what if you need to buy more? Don’t worry! You can purchase credits in bulk which comes with bonus credits the more you buy. Ensures very efficient spending!

Pricing

• Subscription: Varies by Images fr US$ 2 Each Onwards
• Purchase Credits: Yes

4. Depositphotos

Year Founded: 2009

Country: Ukraine

No. of Users: 25M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 217M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: Yes
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: Yes
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free & Rights-Managed
• Mobile App Version: Yes

Buy Factor

1. Subscription to Videos, & Music Separate – This feature keeps costs low, making Depositphotos viable for businesses of any levels. Anytime you need, take up a subscription separately.
2. Ready-Made Design Templates – Unlike Vecteezy and most others, Depositphotos offers several ready-made templates. That said, the templates can range from social media posts, flyers, logos, business cards to even ebook! Oh, there are also Zoom backgrounds too! Time to spice up your video conferencing!
3. Live Chat – Depositphotos’ customer support stands ready to assist you in any way they can. The live chat will be exceptionally useful in times of need, when there are disputes and even billing.

Pricing

• Subscription: fr US$ 0.22/Image (or US$ 24.92/mo)
• Purchase Credits: Yes

5. Dreamstime

Year Founded: 2000

Country: USA

No. of Users: 38M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 172M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: Yes
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: Yes
• Usage Rights: Rights-Managed & Sell the Rights
• Mobile App Version: Yes

Buy Factor

1. Dedicated Subscription Plans – Dreamstime ensures you cost-efficiency with their dedicated plans. If you only need subscription for images, you can. If you only need videos, you can too! There is even a packaged ‘All-in-One’ subscription if you need! Any odd-extra, buy credits to download.
2. Dedicated Mobile Apps & WordPress Plugin – Not all stock libraries have both a mobile app and WordPress version. Sure, Depositphotos and Vecteezy have their own apps for android and iOS users. But a WordPress plugin? Nah! Exceptionally useful for websites especially news and blogs that requires lots of images and hosted on WordPress. Moreover, mobile apps support work on-the-go, saving you time for home commitments instead. By the way, Dreamstime have separate apps for users and contributors. So, rejoice! You can sell on-the-go!
3. Logo Buyout & Trademark – Dreamstime boast the only agency to allow trademarking any brought logos on their channel. With their exclusive image rights license, SR-EL, users can be guaranteed that their logo will forever stay theirs. Moreover, Dreamstime guarantees that such images purchased under SR-EL will not be available in their website within 72 hours. Hence, for those starting a company, and in need of a brand logo, keep Dreamstime in your book!

Pricing

• Subscription: fr SG$ 0.29/image (or SG$ 32/mo)
• Purchase Credits: Yes

6. Envato Elements

Year Founded: 2006

Country: Australia

No. of Users: 30M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 56M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: Yes, Limited & Changes Monthly
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors, & 3D Models
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: Yes
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free Single Restricted Use Only
• Mobile App Version: No

Buy Factor

1. Lots of Other Templates Too! – Fonts, websites, emails, and all sorts of design templates! Useful for the designers and design agencies!
2. Unlimited Downloads! – Again, this feature is totally incomparable with other stock libraries. In fact, like Creative Market, Envato Elements functions more like an online marketplace than a stock library. Just 1 subscription and you get unlimited access to any stocks and templates. Hence, the question is ‘do you need so many?’. If your answer is a big fat ‘YES’, you must check out Envato Elements. Definitely not your Vecteezy alternative!
3. Full Access to Envato Tuts+ – Envato’s very own library of tutorials and courses in creative skills. With a single subscription, you gain full access to this library of over 30 thousand video courses and written tutorials. Very ideal for the beginners, although experts can surely continually develop themselves too! Enables you to learn as you go!

Pricing

• Subscription: fr US$ 16.50/mo
• Purchase Credits: No
• Specials: 30% Off for Students

 

7. Getty Images

Year Founded: 1995

Country: UK

No. of Users: Est. 200M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 200M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, But No Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: No
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free & Rights-Managed
• Mobile App Version: Yes

Buy Factor

1. Media Manager Tool – This tool from Getty Images helps users to easily access and share their media assets. With Media Manager, users get a powerful content search API that makes finding desired assets easy. Users also get to easily share files via links to external parties or embed these files on their websites. Moreover, Media Manager automatically record statistics of these files and evaluates them via certain factors to determine an asset score. If you are a Designer that doubles as a Marketing Manager, or Webmaster for your organisation, this tool would add serious value to your work! Try it and you will know!
2. Various Plugins & Extensions Available – We mentioned before how certain stock libraries like the established Alamy or even Vecteezy may not have either an app or WordPress version. But right here, Getty Images have them both, and more! So, what’s that? Plugins for Adobe Creative Cloud, Craft Stock, and even an extension for the Chrome browser. Oh, also an integration with Dropbox too! Nonetheless, useful only if you are using it. Still, who haven’t tried Dropbox before for cloud storage?
3. Non-Subscription Based – Ideal for those in branding or PR rather than design who would need rights to that exclusive few images or videos every now and then. If you notice, prices are pretty high in Getty Images. Well, that’s because of exclusivity, releases and indemnification as described Here.

Pricing

• Subscription: No, Per Downloads or Pack Purchase Only, fr US$ 185/image
• Purchase Credits: No

8. Pond5

Year Founded: 2006

Country: USA

No. of Users: Est. 30M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 50M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors, & 3D Models
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: Yes
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free, Sell the Rights, & Custom
• Mobile App Version: No

Buy Factor

1. Dedicated App Add-Ons – Are you using Adobe Premiere Pro, or Final Cut Pro X? If yes, Pond5 is your perfect choice! Pond5 comes with its dedicated app for these 2 graphic editor software. So, use the respective apps to search for stocks directly, purchase, then import them in for editing. Convenient and seamless!
2. AI-Powered Visual Search – A powerful feature worthy of any Vecteezy alternative. Pond5’s visual search basically allows searching their libraries using images or videos to find similar ones. All you need is upload your media, or take from your mobile phone camera. Use it to check if your graphics are unique or used by anyone publicly that might infringe on copyright.
3. Best Price Guarantee – Found an identical stock from elsewhere with a cheaper price than the one in Pond5? Contact Pond5’s support team to get a price matching. Thus, in Pond5, you are guaranteed the best price!

Pricing

• Subscription: fr US$ 199/mo
• Purchase Credits: Yes

9. Shutterstock

Year Founded: 2003

Country: USA

No. of Users: Est. 200M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 420M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors, & 3D Models
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: Yes
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free, Rights-Managed & Custom
• Mobile App Version: Yes

Buy Factor

1. Comprehensive Extensions & Plugins – Built-in editor, mobile apps, WordPress plugins, and extensions for Final Cut Pro, Chrome, Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch, Google Slides, and Microsoft PowerPoint. With these, Shutterstock is firmly leading in the stock library industry.
2. Social Media & Other Print Templates – Not just images, videos and music, but this incomparable stock library has other templates too! Useful for the Social Media Manager, and Markers!
3. 3D Models Available – Subscription to Shutterstock doesn’t give you downloads to 3D models. But they have it, via their TurboSquid and PixelSquid brands. If you need it, you know you are buying from a top quality brand by a leading company!

Pricing

• Subscription: fr US$ 29/mo
• Purchase Credits: No

10. Vecteezy

Year Founded: 2008

Country: USA

No. of Users: Est. 5M+

Essentials

• Full Library: Est. 12M+
• Free Stocks: Yes
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: No
• Usage Rights: Attributable & Commercial Rights
• Mobile App Version: Yes

Buy Factor

1. In-Built Editor – A neat feature for any modern stock libraries. Users can download a stock they want, then make quick edits before publishing on their channels. All these for free!
2. Full Commercial Rights – With a subscription, users can full commercial rights to the stocks for unlimited copies on any print, merchandise, digital and production use. This again, is only provided with a paid subscription. Sure, you can use Vecteezy’s millions of free stocks, but all are attributable. So, take note.
3. Unlimited Downloads! – One subscription to any downloads? No limits? And at US$ 7.20 a month! A real steal for the designers and digital agencies out there. So, top designers! Grab Vecteezy now!

Pricing

• Subscription: fr US$ 7.20/mo
• Purchase Credits: Yes

11. YayImages

Year Founded: 2008

Country: Norway

No. of Users: Est. 2M+

Essentials

• Full Library: 12.7M+ Stocks
• Free Stocks: No
• Image Library: Yes, with Vectors
• Video Library: Yes
• Music Library: No
• Usage Rights: Royalty-Free & Rights-Managed
• Mobile App Version: No

Buy Factor

1. Unused Downloads Rollover – With YayImages, you get great return on value! That is, any unused downloads you may have will be rolled over to the next month. So, no worries. Use as you would! As long as you keep your subscription, you will just accumulate until you are ready to use for your next project!
2. Subscription to Images & Videos Separate – Again, keep costs low and efficient for the customers. Although YayImages do offer unlimited download plans too. Hence, like Vecteezy and Envato Elements, you can get unlimited downloads with 1 subscription!
3. WordPress Plugin – Sweet for the WordPress sites that allows you to search and use images from YayImages directly.

Pricing

• Subscription: fr US$ 8/mo
• Purchase Credits: No

Final Comments

Choosing a stock library is a long-term commitment. Don’t think its easy! Its not so hard either when you got heart! So, start off with what you need. Is it images, vectors, videos or music? What other features especially as highlighted in our buy factor would add extra value to your purchase? What kind of subscription would fit your usage needs? Time to think! Then, click your shortlisted choices and visit their website. We hope this article goes a long way for your design needs!

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