--- title: Shutterstock Reviews meta\_title: 'Shutterstock Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 655 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Shutterstock works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.4 review\_count: 655 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-21' parent\_category: name: Stock Media url: https://www.g2.com/categories/stock-media --- # Shutterstock Reviews & Product Details Claimed ###### Profile Status This profile is currently managed by Shutterstock but has limited features. Are you part of the Shutterstock team? [Upgrade your plan](https://sell.g2.com) to enhance your branding and engage with visitors to your profile! Shutterstock, Inc. is a leading global creative platform for transformative brands and media companies. Directly and through its group subsidiaries, Shutterstock's comprehensive collection includes high-quality licensed photographs, vectors, illustrations, 3D models, videos and music. Working with its growing community of more than 2 million contributors, Shutterstock adds hundreds of thousands of images each week, and currently has more than 600 million images and more than 45 million video clips available. Headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock has offices around the world and customers in more than 150 countries. The Company also owns Splash News, the world’s leading entertainment news agency for newsrooms and media companies worldwide; Pond5, the world’s largest video-first content marketplace; TurboSquid, the world's largest 3D content marketplace; PicMonkey, a leading online graphic design and image editing platform; Offset, a high-end image collection; Shutterstock Studios, an end-to-end custom creative shop; PremiumBeat, a curated royalty-free music library; Shutterstock Editorial, a premier source of editorial images and videos for the world's media; and Bigstock, a value-oriented stock media offering. For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.com. * * * Seller [Shutterstock](https://www.g2.com/sellers/shutterstock) Discussions [Shutterstock Community](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/discuss) Languages Supported Czech, Danish, German, English, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Overview by Kaori Abe Show More ## Value at a Glance Averages based on real user reviews. ### Time to Implement 5 months ### Return on Investment 13 months [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Storyblocks](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Storyblocks") Storyblocks 4.6/5(428) ](https://www.g2.com/products/storyblocks/reviews) [ ![iStock](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "iStock") iStock 3.5/5(117) ](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/reviews) [ ![123RF](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "123RF") 123RF 4.4/5(22) ](https://www.g2.com/products/123rf/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 655 real user reviews. Implementation Time 5 months Perceived Cost $$$$$ Typical contract price $0k - $0k [Sign in to view](/login) Per Year [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ## Shutterstock Integrations (2) What do users say about integrations? Integration information sourced from real user reviews. ![Ashu L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ashu L.") AL Ashu L. Specialist Information Technology and Services Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 10/14/2025 "Shutterstock is great for variety of visuals/videos/audios" 5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? I use Shutterstock, and I really like the high-quality images, illustrations, and videos I can get there. The search filters and licensing options are straightforward and time-saving, which makes it easy for me to find the right visuals and manage them through the dashboard. As part of my data work, I need to create engaging, professional, easy-to-understand stories that rely on stock images, so Shutterstock has been very useful for me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? Even though Shutterstock offers high-quality content, its licensing costs are very high for frequent and large-scale use. Another thing I dislike is that for some niches - or when I’m being very specific about the visuals I need - it takes more time to narrow down and refine the search. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? Shutterstock helps me find high-quality, royalty-free visual content. As a data analyst, I often need impactful visuals to create more engaging reports and dashboards. Shutterstock has a very large library of professional images and icons, which helps me communicate the data insights I’ve drawn from my analysis in a more effective and engaging way for my audience. It also helps me save time that I would otherwise spend creating those visuals or searching across multiple sources. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 8/11/2026 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Alphonse T.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Alphonse T.") AT Alphonse T. Senior Manager, Global Communications Non-Profit Organization Management Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 4/28/2026 "Up-to-Date Asset Library for Many Topic Areas, But UX Could Be Improved" 4/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? Shutterstock provides the largest base of stock photos and videos that our organization could find for our specific topic and work areas, particularly up to date assets that we can re-use and re-share as an organization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? The price has gone up for organizational accounts. The search and UX features could be improved to be clearer, especially for older image assets and for any AI generated images that are not within the search parameters. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? This organization requires a lot of photographic content and assets for design, web publishing, and printing materials, and much of it is also internationally focused. shutterstock's library and vendor reach is beyond many other platforms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Brooke W.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Brooke W.") BW Brooke W. Founder | Creative Consultant Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/14/2026 "Rising Costs and Poor Practices Overshadow Shutterstock's Benefits" 0/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? I used to really appreciate the quality of the media on Shutterstock. It made it easy for me to sort and work with clients as we perfected their stock assets due to its really diverse portfolio of media. I utilize all of their features, and the initial setup was so easy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? The immense expense stands out and their poor business practices are quite concerning. I've been asked to upgrade my account multiple times, with significant price hikes from $1,500 to $5,000, which I find absurdly ridiculous and insanely unprofessional. They don't seem to value long-term loyal customers, and it feels like the rate hikes are to account for customers they're losing to competition. The reputation and how they manage pricing is worrying. To be transparent, they were willing to reduce the price to $2,000 per year for 250 PER YEAR. So I am no longer a customer after 5 years. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? Shutterstock made it easy to sort and work with clients, offering a diverse portfolio of media to curate stock assets. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Diego P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Diego P.") DP Diego P. CEO Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 12/5/2025 "Difficult Cancellation Process Makes Subscription Frustrating" 1.5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? The selection of stock images available here is impressive and distinct from what you typically see on other sites, which was the main reason I chose this service. With the membership, you can download 10 high-quality assets each month, which I find sufficient for the needs of a small company. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? I don't consider myself a difficult customer—quite the opposite, in fact. However, my experience with Shutterstock has been by far the worst I've had with any stock service or subscription. When I first started using Shutterstock, I noticed that it was overpriced, but that's their choice. To get a more reasonable rate, you have to commit to a yearly subscription paid monthly, which is their policy and I accepted it. The real issue arose when I tried to cancel my subscription. If you attempt to cancel before the end of the year-long commitment, you are required to pay all the remaining monthly payments upfront, and you lose access to the service for the rest of the period! There is no option to simply "Cancel Auto-renewal." If you want to continue using the credits you've paid for, you have to stay subscribed and remember to cancel exactly on the renewal date. If you miss that window, they will charge you for another full year, and if you then try to cancel, you'll have to pay for the entire next year without being able to use your credits. I contacted their support three times, and each time they apologized and told me those were the terms I had agreed to. But I never agreed to be locked into a service that's nearly impossible to cancel! Again, I don't have an issue with their pricing or subscription terms themselves, but making it so difficult to cancel auto-renewal feels abusive and unsettling. It leaves you feeling completely powerless. In the end, I managed to cancel my subscription, but only after paying the cancellation fee because I had no other choice. It's a disappointing experience. Please, don't make the same mistake I did. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? It can be difficult to find original images and illustrations, as most people tend to use the same generic images and icons. However, the selection from Shutterstock is less commonly used, which can help your work stand out if you're looking for something unique. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic MR Mukesh R. Marketing Team Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 11/26/2025 "Extensive Stock Library with Top-Quality Visuals" 4/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? Shutterstock is a website that has range of stock photos, videos, GIFs graphics, vector designs etc available for free and paid downloading. This website has almost each and every kind of relatable picture that we look for our business and use for editing purposes to promote on our social media pages. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? One and only thing that I dislike about shutterstock is that most of the premium photographs and videos in available in this platform are paid when they are in high definition and the free photos are mostly in lower quality so if you want to get access of high end content then you will have to buy it's costly premium plan Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? Creating different type of meta ads and info infographic designs for our i instagram stories is our day to day task and we generally need different type of car related posts and high definition images to create designs that can be relevant for our audiences as well as our social media pages in longrun. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![♠ Äñkµr G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "♠ Äñkµr G.") ♠G ♠ Äñkµr G. 3D modeling and texturing Artist Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/20/2026 "Massive High-Quality Library with Fast Downloads and Precise Search" 5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? Shutterstock offers a massive, high-quality library of images, videos, and graphics that saves me a lot of time during projects. The search filters are very accurate, making it easy to find exactly what I need. The platform is user-friendly, downloads are fast, and licensing is clear and straightforward. It’s reliable for both creative and commercial work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? Some premium assets can feel slightly expensive, especially for frequent downloads. Occasionally, similar-looking results appear in search, which makes browsing a bit time-consuming. A more flexible pricing structure or additional subscription options would make it even better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? Shutterstock solves the problem of sourcing high-quality, copyright-safe visual content quickly. Instead of spending hours creating assets from scratch or worrying about licensing issues, I can instantly access professional visuals for client projects. This improves my workflow speed, enhances presentation quality, and helps me deliver projects on time with confidence. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite RT Rohan T. Marketing Team Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 10/22/2025 "High-Quality Content, But Lacks Built-In Editing Tools" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? I like accessing best quality of audio and video files through shutterstock and it also provides us high definition images of different varieties in the free version. But we are not able to download any video files that's why we have subscribed its premium plan for premium contents. So, we generally use shutter stock to get the best online digital contents mainly in the form of images and use them on different type of design work and Instagram posts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? There is no proper editing tool in the shutter stock software as they have a large range of stock photos and video library on their website but whenever we want to edit some photos on shutterstock. We are not able to do it then for editing we download these photos and use a third party software to get the work done. This increases the total time consumption in creating best designs for our business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? Accessing premium digital contents is always one of our basic requirement. As we do lot of social media marketing. So, posting multiple designs frequently and get access to High Definition photos and videos is very important for us and after subscribing shutterstock all of these day to day work is being done in a short duration of time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite NM Neelesh M. Technical Team Lead Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 10/15/2025 "Great Source of High Definition Photos And Videos" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? I like shutterstock because this platform help us in accessing lots of different varieties of photos and videos which are in high definition and 4K. Also this platform provides a rage of digital contents that too free of cost and their data is also copyright free that's why I use it everyday to download some of best images that could help our designers to create beautiful designs Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? The videos that this platform provides are totally paid you cannot download a single video in the free version of this tool and one feature that shutterstock lacks is AI image generation because nowadays only getting access to stock copy right free images is not enough for developing best designs you also need some AI generated images to get the work done. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? We need to design lot of brochures and leaflets for our business and most of them are edited through canva but the high quality images and posters that we need to edit are only accessed through shutterstock so we use this software to download some of the best images that can be used on our digital posters as well as physical brochures for our business Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Aritro B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Aritro B.") AB Aritro B. Product Specialist Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 9/24/2025 "Most convenient way to get the professional content and upload our own creative content." 5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? Shutterstock has got a massive base of very high quality content. Millions of content makes it one of the best updated base out there. Additionally, the browsing and accessing these content is super easy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? The subscription plan is little bit expensive and the originality actually suffers a little bit as so many persons ae accessing this content. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? The best problem Shutterstock is solving is giving us the access to these huge millions of high quality content and that too without much hassle. Accessing and browsing these content is super easy as it also provides the option to save and bookmark the liked content. You can access the content irrespective of the platform - mobile or laptop as per our need. Also, if you are someone who is active in this domain, you can easily create your own content and upload as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Dharan P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Dharan P.") DP Dharan P. ETL Developer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 9/25/2025 "Review on Shutterstock" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Shutterstock? it has got vast collection of libraries for images for images , vectors and videos. Easy to use for basic level and good collection of tools search optins and user interface is so good. Friendly for regular searches and provides licensing which is a great option. Frequency of use is like if you are a member you need to check on the contents. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Shutterstock? Major issue found in customer service and they are not so responsive. Complicated subscription and hidden charges. The AI option is not so effective. Licensing terms is difficult to understand as more clarity is required. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Shutterstock solving and how is that benefiting you? Very helpful for me for editing like adding background images. Very helpful and in professional ways for editing or having great images which is of higher resolution and also can be used for printing as it has got good and high quality images. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Questions about Shutterstock? 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 Shutterstock ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/discussions/new) ![HafizMuhammad A.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "HafizMuhammad A.") HA HafizMuhammad Arslan • Last activity over 4 years ago Can I download the videos from Shutterstock which are greater than 3minutes 1 Upvote 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/can-i-download-the-videos-from-shutterstock-which-are-greater-than-3minutes) ![Shofin N.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Shofin N.") SN Shofin Nuray Have your photos been successfully sold via Shutterstock? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/41395-have-your-photos-been-successfully-sold-via-shutterstock) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/discuss) ## Pricing Insights Averages based on real user reviews. ### Time to Implement 5 months ### Return on Investment 13 months ### Average Discount 9% ### Perceived Cost $$$$$ [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/pricing) Shutterstock 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-shutterstock-shutterstock) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_7a5d08ba2a8be0d0a074f2cbd51f549d/magnific.png "Product Avatar Image") Magnific 4.7/5(175) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/magnific-vs-shutterstock-shutterstock) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_3a2839e73306934898d3bcccf2c3aed4/storyblocks.png "Product Avatar Image") Storyblocks 4.6/5(428) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/shutterstock-shutterstock-vs-storyblocks) ##### ##### Shutterstock Features Pricing Free Footage Pay Per Image Subscription Media Animation 4K High Definition Sounds Effects Agentic AI - Stock Footage Cross-system Integration Agentic AI - Stock Music Cross-system Integration [ View More Features ](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/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 [Best live chat software for small businesses](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-s-the-best-live-chat-software-for-small-businesses-in-2025)[Which energy management tools calculate ROI and demand response opportunities for facility budgets?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-energy-management-tools-calculate-roi-and-demand-response-opportunities-for-facility-budgets)[What are the top database monitoring solutions for compliance-heavy industries?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-top-database-monitoring-solutions-for-compliance-heavy-industries) [What business entertainment platforms are most trusted by event coordinators at mid-market companies?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-business-entertainment-platforms-are-most-trusted-by-event-coordinators-at-mid-market-companies)[What are the top machine translation software options for ecommerce companies trying to localize their product catalog and marketing content into multiple languages at scale?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-top-machine-translation-software-options-for-ecommerce-companies-trying-to-localize-their-product-catalog-and-marketing-content-into-multiple-languages-at-scale)[Pros and Cons Details](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)