What is Shutterstock used for?

Shutterstock is a marketplace for licensed stock photos, video and music, with an AI image generator for creating custom visuals. It is a good fit for sourcing images for websites and ads, and finding video footage for projects.

How much does Shutterstock cost?

Shutterstock is a paid product with no free plan.

Is Shutterstock open source?

No. Shutterstock is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Photos & Images category, open-source options include Immich, PhotoPrism and Ente.

What are some alternatives to Shutterstock?

Shutterstock competes with 500px, Adobe Firefly and Canva.

Shutterstock: features, pricing and alternatives

About Shutterstock

Shutterstock is a commercial online marketplace where creators license stock photos, video footage and music to designers, marketers, publishers and other buyers. Customers search the catalog and pay to license assets for use in websites, advertising, presentations and video projects.

Alongside the library of existing media, the service offers an AI image generator that produces new images from text prompts, as an alternative to browsing stock. It is a hosted commercial service rather than software that can be self-hosted.

Key features

Stock photo library
Stock video footage
Licensed music tracks
AI image generator
Search across multiple media types

Good fit for

→Sourcing images for websites and ads
→Finding video footage for projects

Tags: stock-photos; stock-video; stock-music; marketplace; ai-image-generator; image-licensing

Shutterstock: questions and answers

What is Shutterstock used for?: Shutterstock is a marketplace for licensed stock photos, video and music, with an AI image generator for creating custom visuals. It is a good fit for sourcing images for websites and ads, and finding video footage for projects.
How much does Shutterstock cost?: Shutterstock is a paid product with no free plan.
Is Shutterstock open source?: No. Shutterstock is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Photos & Images category, open-source options include Immich, PhotoPrism and Ente.
What are some alternatives to Shutterstock?: Shutterstock competes with 500px, Adobe Firefly and Canva.