Stock Media Software Comparison (2026)
Rather than a curated top five, this page lays out all 23 stock media tools in one table so you can scan the whole market at a glance.
The table separates a permanent free plan from a time-limited trial, pins down the entry price, and names who each tool fits, so you can rule options in or out fast before reading any single review.
How we compare: prices and free-plan status are read from each vendor's public plans; “free plan” means a tier you can keep using at $0, distinct from a trial. “Best for” and the standout come from each tool's own positioning and our enriched notes. We list every tool in the niche, including ones we wouldn't recommend, and flag any that are discontinued. How we evaluate →
All 23 stock media tools compared
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan? | Best for | Standout | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 123RF review · pricing | See pricing | No | budget-buyers and bulk-credits | Affordable royalty-free assets paired with an in-house AI and Pixlr editing ecosystem. | Visit → |
| Adobe Stock review · pricing | from $29.99/mo | No | creative-cloud-users and designers | Unmatched native integration with Creative Cloud, letting users license assets without leaving their Adobe app. | Visit → |
| Alamy review · pricing | See pricing | Free plan | editorial-imagery and contributors | A huge independent, editorial-leaning library that pays contributors an unusually high royalty share. | Visit → |
| Artgrid review · pricing | See pricing | No | cinematic-footage and filmmakers | Cinematic, story-driven footage shot in up to 8K by curated filmmakers, with lifetime usage rights. | Visit → |
| Artlist review · pricing | See pricing | No | youtube-music and lifetime-license | A simple universal license granting lifetime rights to every track downloaded during the subscription. | Visit → |
| Depositphotos review · pricing | See pricing | No | budget-buyers and deal-hunters | Budget-friendly royalty-free library with recurring lifetime and bundle deals for occasional buyers. | Visit → |
| Dreamstime review · pricing | See pricing | No | microstock-budget and long-tail-referrals | Affordable microstock whose royalty-free license uniquely allows unlimited printed copies. | Visit → |
| Envato Elements review · pricing | from $16.5/mo | No | all-in-one-library and video-editors | The widest single-subscription creative bundle, spanning video, audio, graphics and templates in one library. | Visit → |
| Epidemic Sound review · pricing | See pricing | No | creator-music and copyright-safe | A creator-built music and SFX catalog with built-in protection from YouTube/social copyright claims. | Visit → |
| Freepik review · pricing | See pricing | Free plan | vectors-graphics and free-tier-users | A massive vector and graphics library fused with a full AI generation suite under one subscription. | Visit → |
| Getty Images review · pricing | See pricing | No | editorial-news and premium-imagery | The premium archive for editorial, news and exclusive imagery trusted by publishers and brands. | Visit → |
| iStock review · pricing | from $12/mo | No | value-stock-photos and credit-buyers | Getty-quality exclusive Signature content at credit prices a fraction of Getty's enterprise rates. | Visit → |
| Motion Array review · pricing | See pricing | No | template-bundles and premiere-after-effects | An all-in-one unlimited bundle of templates, footage, music and plugins plus a built-in video editor. | Visit → |
| Musicbed review · pricing | See pricing | No | cinematic-music and wedding-filmmakers | Curated, cinematic, artist-driven music favored for high-end brand and wedding film work. | Visit → |
| Pexels review · pricing | See pricing | Free plan | free-photos-video and quick-visuals | Canva-owned, curated free photos and video under a permissive no-attribution license. | — |
| Pixabay review · pricing | See pricing | Free plan | free-no-attribution and hobbyists | A fully free, no-attribution library spanning photos, video, music and 3D under one permissive license. | — |
| Pond5 review · pricing | See pricing | No | stock-footage and per-clip-buyers | A video-first marketplace with one of the largest royalty-free footage libraries, priced per clip or by subscription. | Visit → |
| Shutterstock review · pricing | from $29/mo | No | large-catalog and agencies | The world's largest royalty-free marketplace, with 860M+ assets across every media type. | Visit → |
| Soundstripe review · pricing | See pricing | No | high-affiliate-payout and podcasters | Unlimited royalty-free music and SFX with one of the highest creator affiliate payouts in the niche. | Visit → |
| Storyblocks review · pricing | See pricing | No | unlimited-subscription and high-volume-video | Subscription-only unlimited downloads with no per-clip fees, built for high-volume video creators. | — |
| Unsplash+ review · pricing | See pricing | Free plan | high-quality-photos and free-plus-premium | Adds exclusive, model-released, indemnified images on top of Unsplash's famous free library. | — |
| Uppbeat review · pricing | Free plan available | Free plan | youtubers and free-tier-music | A freemium music platform with a genuinely usable free tier and YouTube copyright safelisting. | Visit → |
| Vecteezy review · pricing | See pricing | Free plan | vectors-svg and designers | Editable SVG/EPS vectors with a large free catalog and an affordable unlimited Pro plan. | Visit → |
Prices verified 2026-06-28 from public vendor pricing. Plans and prices change — always confirm on the vendor's own site. No price here is guaranteed.
Key takeaways
- 7 of 23 offer a real free plan — Alamy, Freepik, Pexels, Pixabay and 3 more let you start at $0, while 0 more offer a trial only.
- Entry prices span $12–$29.99/mo — from iStock at the low end to Adobe Stock at the top of the entry tiers.
- Cheapest paid entry: iStock from $12/mo (no standing free plan).
- Most documented feature set: Adobe Stock — it lists the most features and integrations in our notes, which usually also means the steepest learning curve.
FAQ
How many stock media tools does this comparison cover?
All 23 stock media tools we track in the Stock Media category are in the table above, compared on the same four points: entry price, free plan, best-for and standout. It's a full reference chart, not a curated shortlist.
Which stock media tool is the cheapest?
By verified entry price, iStock is the cheapest paid option at $12/mo. Several tools above offer a free plan if $0 matters more than features.
Which of these stock media tools have a free plan?
Alamy, Freepik, Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash+, Uppbeat and Vecteezy offer a genuine free plan you can keep using at $0. The free-plan column above marks each one, and separates them from tools that only run a trial.
How is this different from your best-of guides?
This page lists every tool in the niche side by side so you can scan the whole market. Our best-of guides instead pick the five to eight stock media tools we'd actually recommend for a specific job, with a full write-up on each.
Sources
The standout lines, audiences and free-plan facts in the table above are drawn from these vendor pages and independent reviews:
- 123rf.com
- stockphotosecrets.com
- photutorial.com
- stock.adobe.com
- helpx.adobe.com
- photutorial.com
- alamy.com
- alamy.com
- stockphotosecrets.com
- artgrid.io
- footagesecrets.com
- artgrid.zendesk.com
- artlist.io
- artlist.io
- cchound.com
- depositphotos.com
- stockphotosecrets.com
- findstack.com
- dreamstime.com
- dreamstime.com
- photutorial.com
- elements.envato.com
- elements.envato.com
- photutorial.com
- epidemicsound.com
- photutorial.com
- wyzowl.com
- photutorial.com
- flowith.io
- checkthat.ai
- gettyimages.com
- gettyimages.com
- photutorial.com
- istockphoto.com
- photutorial.com
- stockphotosecrets.com
- motionarray.com
- photutorial.com
- wyzowl.com
- musicbed.com
- red11media.com
- musicdistribute.com
- pexels.com
- help.pexels.com
- checkthat.ai
- pixabay.com
- pixabay.com
- pixabay.com
- pond5.com
- en.wikipedia.org
- photutorial.com
- shutterstock.com
- shutterstock.com
- photutorial.com
- soundstripe.com
- soundstripe.com
- thetechreviewer.com
- storyblocks.com
- checkthat.ai
- storyblocks.com
- unsplash.com
- unsplash.com
- newsroom.gettyimages.com
- uppbeat.io
- uppbeat.io
- uppbeat.io
- vecteezy.com
- capterra.com
- g2.com