Stock Photography 101: A Look at the Best Sites for High-Res Images
Stock photography is a great way to enhance the visual appeal of your website, blog, or marketing materials without having to spend a lot of time and money on professional photography. There are many stock photography sites available, each with its own unique features and benefits.
#1. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the most popular and widely-used stock photography sites. It offers a vast collection of high-quality images, videos, and music tracks that are suitable for a wide range of uses. Shutterstock’s library contains over 200 million images and videos, making it one of the largest in the industry.
It offers a variety of licensing options, including single image, subscription, and on-demand plans to suit different needs. Shutterstock also offers a free mobile app that allows you to search, download, and manage images on the go.
#2. iStock
iStock is another popular stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality images, videos, and music tracks. It offers both royalty-free and rights-managed licensing options, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs. iStock also offers a variety of pricing options, including credit packs, subscriptions, and custom pricing for large-volume buyers. Additionally, iStock has a strong emphasis on community, which means that the site features a curated collection of images from a community of photographers.
#3. Getty Images
Getty Images is a well-known stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality images, videos, and music tracks. It is known for its extensive collection of creative and editorial images, which are suitable for a wide range of uses. Getty Images offers a variety of licensing options, including rights-managed and royalty-free, to suit different needs. It also offers a flexible pricing model, which allows you to pay for images on a per-use basis.
#4. Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is a stock photography site that is integrated with the Adobe Creative Cloud, which makes it easy to search, purchase and license images directly within Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and other Adobe apps. It offers a wide range of high-quality images, vectors, illustrations, and video content, suitable for a wide range of projects.
Adobe Stock also offers a variety of licensing options, including single image and monthly plans. One of the main advantages of Adobe stock is its seamless integration with the Adobe creative tools, which allows users to access and license the assets directly within the creative software, as well as the ability to synch their lightbox, assets, and metadata across devices.
#5. Dreamstime
Dreamstime is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality images, vectors, and video content. It has a collection of over 200 million images, with a strong emphasis on community-generated content. Dreamstime offers both royalty-free and rights-managed licensing options, as well as flexible pricing plans, which include credit packs, subscriptions, and custom pricing for large-volume buyers. Additionally, Dreamstime offers a referral program that rewards photographers and customers for bringing in new contributors and customers.
#6. Alamy
Alamy is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality images, vectors, and video content. It has a collection of over 200 million images, with a strong emphasis on editorial content. Alamy offers both rights-managed and royalty-free licensing options, as well as flexible pricing plans, which include credit packs, subscriptions, and custom pricing for large-volume buyers. Additionally, Alamy offers a referral program that rewards photographers and customers for bringing in new contributors and customers.
#7. Unsplash
Unsplash is a popular stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. The site has a strong community-driven approach and it offers a collection of user-generated content.
#8. Pexels
Pexels is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#9. Depositphotos
Depositphotos is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality images, vectors, and video content. It has a collection of over 200 million images, with a strong emphasis on creative content. Depositphotos offers both royalty-free and rights-managed licensing options, as well as flexible pricing plans.
#10. Bigstock
Bigstock is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality images, vectors, and video content. It has a collection of over 60 million images and offers both credit packs and subscription-based pricing options.
#11. StockSnap
StockSnap is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#12. Death to the Stock Photo
Death to the Stock Photo is a stock photography site that offers a unique collection of high-quality images that are free to use for personal and commercial projects. It sends out a monthly email with new images to its subscribers.
#13. Gratisography
Gratisography is a stock photography site that offers a unique collection of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#14. PikWizard
PikWizard is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#15. StockUp
StockUp is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#16. Burst by Shopify
Burst by Shopify is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It is specifically designed to help entrepreneurs, small businesses and e-commerce websites to find the perfect image to enhance their brand and products.
#17. Picjumbo
Picjumbo is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#18. Freepik
Freepik is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality vectors, illustrations, and PSD files that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#19. Picography
Picography is a stock photography site that offers a unique collection of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It is focused on providing beautiful, natural, and authentic images.
#20. ISO Republic
ISO Republic is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#22. Nappy
Nappy is a stock photography site that offers a unique collection of high-quality, royalty-free images that feature people of color. It aims to provide a diverse range of images that can be used for personal or commercial use.
#24. Pxhere
Pxhere is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#25. FreeImages
FreeImages is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It has a curated collection of user-generated content that is searchable by keywords.
#26. Skitterphoto
Skitterphoto is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It is focused on providing beautiful, natural, and authentic images.
#27. NegativeSpace
NegativeSpace is a stock photography site that offers a wide range of high-quality, royalty-free images that can be used for personal or commercial use. It is focused on providing a curated collection of beautiful, high-resolution images that can be used for a variety of projects.
NegativeSpace has a user-friendly interface, which makes it easy to search and download images based on keywords and categories. It also offers a weekly free photo pack that can be downloaded by subscribers.
In conclusion, stock photography sites are a great resource for finding high-quality images that can be used to enhance the visual appeal of your website, blog, or marketing materials. Each of these sites has its own unique features and benefits, and it’s important to consider your specific needs when choosing a stock photography site. Whether you are looking for a single image, subscription, or custom pricing, you are sure to find a site that is right for you.
