The ultimate list of stock photo websites

Last updated: 25 May 2021

So you’ve just finished some great content or blog post for your website and now you’re looking for some images to add to it. But you’re struggling to find the right images. Doing a search for stock photos could be the solution to your problem.

What are stock photos?

Let us explain first what stock photos exactly are. Most images you’ll see in magazines, on packaging, posters or websites aren’t created specifically for that product or promotion. What you’re actually seeing are so called stock photos. Stock photos are ready-to-use images which you may use by purchasing the license.

Stock photo websites is the place to find those photos and they make it easy for you to find the right photo. Once found most websites offer various ways to purchase the file. Roughly they can be separated in:

  • Pay As You Go – Pay as you go to download the files you need, when you need them. Often simply as adding the files you want to a shopping cart and pay with a credit card or PayPal account.
  • Credits – Credits are a payment method sold in preset packages. Credits let you pay once for multiple downloads up front and than download files with a click of a button. Note that most credits expire after a year.
  • Subscriptions – Subscriptions give you a set number of credits each day that you can use to download files for the duration of the subscription.

The complete list

Below we’ve listed the complete list of the best stock photo websites, what they’ve got to offer, the purchase options, the results for a search for New Zealand, Basil and Truck photos and the cost of the files.

The 960 pixels sample

Cost for the files vary strong from website to website, ranging from just a few dollars up to a few hundred dollars. But to give you an idea we’ve checked what the cost would be if we’re after a full size photo (minimal 960 pixels wide) suitable for a website based on the cheapest credit pack. As you’ll see we often have to grab a over-sized image (medium size) as  most small size photo dimensions are only around 800 pixels wide thus not suitable for our full size pick (coincidence?).

What else?

  • All prices shown are in USD (unless otherwise mentioned).

Without further ado check out the complete list.

stock photo website istock

iStockphoto a well-known name in stock photography. They've been around more than 10 years. What's on offer? Photos, vector illustrations, videos, music and sound effects and logos. Next to standard photos iStock also offers exclusive photos (or illustrations etc). Files you'll only find on iStock. Purchase options. Pay As You Go, credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 20,533 photos | Basil - 38,147 photos | Trucks - 30,547 photos What's the damage? $5.01 - 3 credits - dimension: 1700 x 1130 pixels (medium). $50.10 (iStock exclusive) - 30 credits - dimension:  1700 x 113 medium Note. Cost of a file depend on the size and what collection the photo belongs to but to give you an idea. Dimensions are approximates. The iStock exclusive can range from 12 credits up to 55 credits (medium size).

stock photo website 123rf

123RF 123RF offers more than 20 million Royalty-Free digital files ready at a click of a button. Updated with over 30,000 fresh files daily. What's on offer? Photos, vector illustrations, videos, music and sound effects and logos. Purchase options. Credits (although they call it pay-as-you-go they are credit packs) and subscriptions Some search results. New Zealand - 17,996 photos | Basil - 58,558 photos | Trucks - 33,899 photos What's the damage? $3 - 3 credits (20 credit plan) - dimension: 1680 x 1115 pixels (medium-large)

stock photo website bigstock

Bigstock Bigstock offers over 14 million photographs and illustrations. Bigstock is part of Shutterstock (another biggie on stock photography). What's on offer? Photos, vectors and illustrations. Purchase options. Credits and subscriptions. The search results. New Zealand - 12,258 photos | Basil - 44,384 photos | Trucks - 30,225 photos What's the damage? $7.00 - 2 credits (10 credit plan) - dimension: 1600 x 1060 pixels (medium) Note. Choosing a big credit plan saves you quite a few bucks. The medium size photo from above  for example in a 100 credit plan cost you $3.38. The bonus. Free 7 day trial. Download 5 images every day, from their a collection. Any image or vector. Any size. 7 free days. No obligation but (watch!) automatic renewal (unless you cancel the auto renewal).

stock photo website canstock

Can Stock Photo Can Stock has a nice simple pricing structure. No exclusive series or price variations depending on the file. They'rr adding over 10,000 images each day. What's on offer? Photos, vector illustrations and videos. Purchase options. Pay As You Go, credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 12,377 photos | Basil - 32,178 photos | Trucks - 21,364 photos What's the damage? $1.80 - 3 Credits (15 credit pack) - dimension: 1600 x 1100 pixels (medium) Note. The credit packs saves you quite a few bucks compared with pay-as-you-go. Same medium size photo cost you with instant download $3.50

stock photo website crestock

Crestock Crestock offers more than 1.7 million royalty-free creative images. What's on offer? Photos, illustrations and vector illustrations. Purchase options. Pay As You Go, credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 858 photos | Basil - 4,614 photos | Trucks - 2,725 photos What's the damage? $2 - 2 credits (10 credit pack or pay-as-you-go) - dimension: 1780 x 1180 pixels (medium) Note. Credit pack savings only kick in from the 50 credit pack.

stock photo website depositphotos

Depositphotos With more than 12,500,000 photos Depositphotos might have the one you're after. What's on offer? Photos, vector illustrations and videos (footage). Purchase options. Credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 14,460 photos | Basil - 50,253  photos | Trucks - 35,021 photos What's the damage? $4 - 4 credits (50 credit plan) - dimension: 1730 x 1155 pixels (medium) Note. Credit per photo can change depending on the photo (mostly between 3 and 6 credits for the medium size).

stock photo website dreamstime

Dreamstime Around since 2000 and over 17,500,000 photos, illustrations, cliparts and vectors Dreamstime got enough to choose from. The real bonus; they do a proper size preview/comp image. What's on offer? Photos and vector illustrations. Purchase options. Credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 19,968 photos | Basil - 41,349 photos | Trucks - 4,863 photos What's the damage? $18 - 10 credits (11 credit plan) - dimension: 2100 x 1400 pixels (medium) The bonus. A collection of around 500 free stock photos for grabs.

stock photo website gettyimages

Getty Images Getty Images is a leader in photos used for news and editorial articles. Their pricing is dependent on how you're going to use the photo. What's on offer? Photos and videos (footage). Music and sound effects (audio). Purchase options. Pay As You Go, credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 36,043 photos | Basil - 4,881 photos | Trucks - 8,829 photos | What's the damage? NZ$410 - dimension: 1183 x 888 pixels (medium)

stock photo website glstock

GL Stock Images GL (Graphic Leftovers) is claiming to have premium stock photos without the premium price. What's on offer? Photos and vector illustrations. Purchase options. Pay As You Go ( + deposit option). Some search results. New Zealand - 1,224 photos | Basil - 4,320 photos | Trucks - 3,792 photos What's the damage? $3 - dimension: 1400 x 900 pixels (medium) Note. Items in the so-called GL Collection sell for more. The bonus. A collection of around 600+ free stock photos for grabs.

stock photo website photos.com

photos.com Photos.com with over 5.5 million royalty-free stock photos and illustrations to choose from. Another division of Getty Images. What's on offer? Photos and vector illustrations. Purchase options. Credits (Image Packs) and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 10,529photos | Basil - 17,701 photos | Trucks - 13,053 photos What's the damage? $11.99 - 1 image pack - dimension: 2200 x 1400 pixels (medium)

stock photo website pond5

pond5 pond5 offers photos and vector illustrations. What's on offer? Photos and vector illustrations. Purchase options. Credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 7,579 photos | Basil - 18,193 photos | Trucks - 17,733 photos What's the damage? $3.99 - 4 credits - dimension: 1750 x 1150 pixels (large) Note. Credit packs saves you quite a few bucks. The image from above cost you $6.79 as pay-as-you-go. The Bonus. A decent amount (57,928) of free images available as well.

stock photo website shutterstock

Shutterstock Shutterstock offers over 25 million stock photos, illustrations, vectors, and videos. What's on offer? Photos, vectors and Illustrations. Purchase options. Credits (Image on demand) and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 24,654 photos | Basil - 83,156 photos | Trucks - 45,101 photos What's the damage? $4.08 (12 download pack, small/medium sizes) - dimension: 1000 x 665 pixels (medium)

stock photo website stockfresh

Stockfresh Stockfresh from the makers of the free stock photo websites; stock.xchng and stockxpert although not affiliated with the websites anymore. What's on offer? Photos and vector illustrations. Purchase options. Credits and subscriptions. Some search results. New Zealand - 5,694 photos | Basil - 33,545 photos | Trucks - 10,262 photos What's the damage? $3 - 3 credits (5 credit plan) - dimension: 1730 x 1155 pixels (medium)

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