--- title: iStock Reviews meta\_title: 'iStock Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 117 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how iStock works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 3.5 review\_count: 117 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-09' parent\_category: name: Stock Media url: https://www.g2.com/categories/stock-media --- ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Shutterstock](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Shutterstock") Shutterstock 4.4/5(656) ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/reviews) [ ![Storyblocks](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Storyblocks") Storyblocks 4.6/5(429) ](https://www.g2.com/products/storyblocks/reviews) [ ![Adobe Stock](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Adobe Stock") Adobe Stock 4.3/5(194) ](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-adobe-stock/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/competitors/alternatives) # iStock Reviews & Product Details Claimed ###### Profile Status This profile is currently managed by iStock but has limited features. Are you part of the iStock team? [Upgrade your plan](https://sell.g2.com) to enhance your branding and engage with visitors to your profile! Founded in 2000, iStock created the crowd-sourced stock industry and became the original source for user-generated stock photos, vectors and illustrations, and video clips. For more than 15 years, we've given our artists a platform to make money with their passions by licensing their stock content to businesses and individuals around the world for use in a wide variety of projects. Today we remain an industry leader and key destination for creative business professionals who want to make a big impact without breaking the bank. We believe that imagery has the power to move the world. We also believe that our customers deserve the very best stock content - that's why we're proud to offer millions of bold, unique stock images you can only get from us. iStock is part of the Getty Images family of companies. * * * Seller [Getty Images](https://www.g2.com/sellers/getty-images-d633a9b3-4f86-4f1d-8b52-2988afad1bb7) Discussions [iStock Community](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/discuss) Languages Supported Czech, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Overview by Anne Flanagan (Head of Communications, Getty Images) Show More ## Typical Contract Price Pricing provided by BetterCloud and others. $$k - $$k Per Year [Log in to unlock pricing](/auth/linkedin?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.g2.com%2Fproducts%2Fgetty-images-istock%2Freviews%3Fexpanded%3Distock-review-11773856) ## User Insights Average based on 117 real user reviews. Perceived Cost $$$$$ Typical contract price $0k - $0k [Sign in to view](/login) Per Year [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Brenda M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Brenda M.") BM Brenda M. ESL teacher Primary/Secondary Education Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/19/2025 "Horrible refund policy" 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? There are some nice photos in a lot of different categories. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? If you forget to cancel yoursubscription, like I did, forget a refund. It is also overpriced at $70 monthly. I only signed up to see what was available and intended to cancel. I only used a few photos. Not worth the charge. Beware and make sure to cancel in advance if you don't intend to keep using it. Their customer support is not helpful if you want a refund. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? I needed photos for my newsletter. I found a few, but decided not to keep using it because of the cost. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Andrew B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Andrew B.") AB Andrew B. Sr Web Designer Design Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/30/2024 "Shiesty customer service for generic images - UPDATE" 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? As far as generic stock photo sites go, this one fits the bill. For stock photos with character though, there are other options. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? Customer service is a joke. Tried the one month trial and went to cancel the auto renewal and thought I had done it. I was charged anyways and when I talked with customer support to cancel and get a refund (I hadn't used it since the beginning of my free trial) and they refused to give me a refund. They were quick to cancel my subscription for me though and offered many times. Very disappointed that they refuse to work with me on refunding a subscription I thought I had cancelled but don't care if I'm actually using the service or not. UPDATE I was charged AGAIN for another month. After chatting last month with customer service and telling them that I am turning off auto-renewal and will not be using them again, I get charged a second time. This time they tell me that auto-renewal only includes the annual subscription, so while I thought I was cancelling monthly payments, they would've continued to take money from me for the rest of the year (under my subscription payments, the last invoice I paid said the service expires after a year and included no footnote about it charging every month until then). And all I wanted was a free trial. BEWARE of the fine print with this company. They still refused to issue a refund, so now I've paid two months and haven't used their service a single time. They are scam artists. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? They really didn't solve any problems. Which is why I didn't want to renew the free trial. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 5/28/2024 Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Danielle H.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Danielle H.") DH Danielle H. Sr. Design Manager Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 8/29/2024 "I turned off autorenew on my account but they renewed it anyways then gaslighted me." 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? The images are great. The service not so much. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? Customer service is terrible. They refuse to do anything, and while I was typing out my complaints in the chat window, they had the audacity to ask for me to submit my complaint in writing! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? Providing content for my company's collateral. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Reut S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Reut S.") RS Reut S. Board Member Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/28/2024 "Great images but otherwise terrible!" 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? Great images and I did appreciate using them several years ago (but no longer). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? I used iStock in the past and it used to be a legitimate service. No longer, and I wish I checked the reviews before I tried them again. They will take your money and give you a terrible scam-like feeling toped by terrible customer service. If you are reading this, look for more reviews online...they have 1 star in most places and my experience echos many of the scam-like experiences others describe. I feel bad for the artists represented by them. Not that they care about their reviews obviously, but I will never use this service again and if I was smart like you (checking reviews BEFORE I signed up) I would have stayed clear of istock this time around! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? They have high quality images Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic ![John D.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "John D.") JD John D. Founder & Executive Producer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/9/2024 "No refund policy" 0.5/5 What do you like best about iStock? I like their selcection of conent for videos and images. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? I do not like their customer service and no refund policy and them not making it clearer that the bundel I bought which said I get 10 downloads, only applies to image downloads. After paying the $40 and figuring this out after, they will not do anything to rectify it or refund. I did not use the product or download anything. It fells like I was tricked into paying for a service I did not want. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? I wanted to make a video for marketing, but did not complete that project because of IStocks shady plan packaging. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![June P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "June P.") JP June P. Content Strategy & Communications Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 3/14/2024 "Service Is a Deal-Breaker" 0.5/5 What do you like best about iStock? Photo quality and variety are useful. When you are an active user, the interface is easy enough to use if you're familiar with these types of sites. The Customer Support is lacking but present. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? They are not transparent and proactive about providing positive customer experiences by providing alerts about free trials and associated fees. You have to read all the fine print and they do not partner with you the way Shutterstock does, for example, to ensure you have a positive experience. They do not warn you when your trial is ending, they require a $70 fee to cancel your account. When I accept this fee to cancel, they didn't follow through and charged me again the following month. I got the run around and they tried to charge me another $70 to cancel and remove my credit card information. They even tried to say I used my account since the "cancellation" though apparently they did NOT cancel my subscription and I sent screenshots to show my account had no activity since before the alleged cancellation. If you want to cancel, be sure to confirm payment, that your information was removed, and that your account is closed. You have to go above and beyond to ensure they do what they say, but they don't help you in the same way. They "can't" help with cancellations on the phone, but email chains are largely scripted and are not helpful. You also can't remove any information like billing info or cancel on the website yourself. They do not partner with their customers and are focused only on getting their money. I wll not recommend this site to anyone. Every step was frustrating and full of friction. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? For presentations to clients and for internal purposes, they provided decent supply of stock imagery. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Verified User in Libraries](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Libraries") UL Verified User in Libraries Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/13/2024 "Crooked & shady" 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? I do not like anything about iStock at all. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? Pricing and subscription details are ambiguous. The website said $70 per year but it turns out that is a per-month charge. Customer service is bottom-of--the-barrel poor, and unwilling to compromise on anything. If you cancel they will charge a $70, non-refundable "administrative fee." The images are not unique - the same or very similar images can be found through free services. My business now pays for and Adobe Stock subscription that is fantastic and 1/2 the price. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? It is not helping me solve any problems, it has only caused problems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic CF Craig F. Marketing and Public Relations Manager Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 9/5/2023 "Great source of photos, graphics, clipart" 4.5/5 What do you like best about iStock? The search feature is excellent. I have an idea of what to search on and the system offers suggestions to help narrow down the results. Then when I find a photo I like, there are multiple options for that same style or photo session. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? I wish the price was a little bit lower. I don't need the monthly subscription. I currently have about 100 photos that I haven't downloaded yet and don't want to waste the photos I haven't downloaded yet by canceling it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? I manage the social media accounts, presentations, advertisements and other graphic elements. I prefer photos over clipart so it's great to have a source like this. My work has gotten much more professional looking since I created an account. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Charlie L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Charlie L.") CL Charlie L. Account Executive, Strategic Enterprise Accounts Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/29/2023 "THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM" 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? Neat photos that will lead you to a scam. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? This company will scam you into buying a $700 yearly membership without your consent and no ability to cancel. I reached out to them letting them know I have no use for this and didn't even use it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? None. Their customer service is extremely unhelpful and they will scam you into purchasing a $700 dollar membership even if you do not need it without an ability to cancel it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Dilan W.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dilan W.") DW Dilan W. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/12/2023 "Horrible service" 0/5 What do you like best about iStock? Service and support override anything remotely positive about iStock Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about iStock? Downloaded 1 image during free 7 day subscription, which lapsed by 1 day - they charged my $93. When contacted to explain that I was not ready to use service and it was a genuine lapse in my 7 day free period and also I only downloaded ONE image - refused refund. Abosolutely zero customer service and empathy! Wont be using again. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you? Lack of customer service Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ## Questions about iStock? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about iStock ](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/discussions/new) GU Guest User • Last activity over 3 years ago What is the best software for inventory management? 0 Upvotes 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-best-software-for-inventory-management) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/discuss) ##### Pricing Pricing details for this product isn’t currently available. Visit the vendor’s website to learn more. [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/pricing) iStock Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_ba56ce472347e3963f642f5f59eb9ffb/adobe-adobe-stock.png "Product Avatar Image") Adobe Stock 4.3/5(194) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/adobe-adobe-stock-vs-getty-images-istock) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_139bc4775df6bcab8e4e832615a44233/shutterstock-shutterstock.jpeg "Product Avatar Image") Shutterstock 4.4/5(656) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/shutterstock-shutterstock-vs-getty-images-istock) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_7a5d08ba2a8be0d0a074f2cbd51f549d/magnific.png "Product Avatar Image") Magnific 4.7/5(176) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/magnific-vs-getty-images-istock) ##### ##### iStock Features Pricing Free Footage Pay Per Image Subscription Media 4K High Definition [ View More Features ](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/features) ##### Categories on G2 [Stock Photos](https://www.g2.com/categories/stock-photos)[Stock Footage](https://www.g2.com/categories/stock-footage)[Stock Music](https://www.g2.com/categories/stock-music) ##### Explore More [What's the best PIM tool for service industry](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-s-the-best-pim-tool-for-service-industry)[Top-rated HR app for employee management](https://www.g2.com/discussions/top-rated-hr-app-for-employee-management)[Which file recovery tool works best for recovering corrupted Word and Excel documents after a crash where the autosave did not capture the latest version?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-file-recovery-tool-works-best-for-recovering-corrupted-word-and-excel-documents-after-a-crash-where-the-autosave-did-not-capture-the-latest-version) [Top-rated absence scheduling platforms for shift-based workforces](https://www.g2.com/discussions/top-rated-absence-scheduling-platforms-for-shift-based-workforces)[What's the most scalable batch management platform for a growing cosmetics brand with multiple warehouses?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-s-the-most-scalable-batch-management-platform-for-a-growing-cosmetics-brand-with-multiple-warehouses)[Pros and Cons Details](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)