The best photo stocks. The best photo stocks: an overview of free and paid

You will learn how to make money on photo stocks for a novice photographer, which sites are best for selling photos and how much money such earnings can bring.

15.03.2018 Lyubov Chushenko

Today you will learn how to make money on unique photographs, what skills and abilities are needed for this, and on what resources it is most profitable to post your photographs for maximum benefit.

Amateur and professional photographs are actively used on the Internet. Photography is not only a hobby and a way to capture the passing moment, but also a way to earn extra money.

What are photo stocks

Photostock is an intermediary site between the seller of photos and their buyer. A photographer who has taken an interesting unique shot sells it by putting it on public display. If the buyer likes the work, he buys it.

The advantage of such a service for novice photographers is that there is no assessment of the quality of photographs. The site is not suitable for those who spend several hours creating a unique shot: it is a pity to give your creation for 20 cents.

For those people who take pictures not only for profit, but also for pleasure, photo stocks are a good way to earn extra money on a hobby.

Is it really possible to make money on them?

Some photo stocks do not limit the number of possible purchases of the same image. Therefore, from one picture you can get 100 times more than 20 cents if it attracts the attention of several hundred people.

Not only people who have a professional camera can make money on photo stocks. If you are creative, good at drawing or good at using graphic resources, the result is worth more than a picture taken with a camera.

How to make money - step by step guide

In any activity, the main thing is the order of actions, and this concerns methods of making a profit in the first place.


We bring to your attention step by step instructions for newbies.

Step 1. Choose a site and register

Decide on a topic that is closest to you. Based on your skills, decide whether you will take pictures yourself or sell painted pictures. Pay attention to the choice of photostock Special attention, it should suit you in terms of price category and conditions.

It is necessary to register on the selected stocks and read the agreement and rules for publishing photos.

Step 2. Pass the exam

Some photo stocks have a verification procedure. Usually it is enough to provide a scan of the passport. Administrators of some resources conduct surveys to identify your level of professionalism. This is necessary to confirm that you have the necessary skills.

Not all photobases have a serious selection of sellers, most do not require passing tests and exams. Aystok accepts authors who have successfully passed theoretical testing and sent 3 photos of a certain subject. In Shutterstock, to successfully pass the exam, you need to submit 10 high-quality photographs for verification.

Step 3. Fill out the tax form Form W-8BEN

If you want to receive income from foreign sites, as a citizen of Russia, you must complete the tax documentation on Form W-8BEN. In particular, this applies to American sites. This is done to receive benefits. In other words, you do not have to pay tax deductions to the budget of another country.

Step 4. Upload photos and wait for sales

Profit will be maximum if you upload a large number of works. High demand for photos is observed only in the first six months. Therefore, do not put off adding new photographs to the back burner. Spend the waiting time for profit wisely and profitably.

Collaborate with several photobanks at the same time. Your earnings depend on the number of images published on the Internet.

TOP 5 best photo stocks for making money

Russian-language photo stocks are the most popular in Runet. But there are many accessible and convenient foreign resources that our photographers actively use.

It is more expedient for beginners to promote photos on the simplest services with a minimum cost of images.

Lori

Ideal for novice users. This is one of the very first paid photo stocks designed to make money on the Internet. An agency agreement is concluded with the authors, according to which the owner of the material receives up to 50% of the profit from each sale.

Main topics in Lori Bank:

  • people of different sex, age and profession;
  • landscapes (water, rural, city, mountain);
  • objects (still lifes, toys, dishes, vintage and antiquity);
  • cities and countries.

The site also sells photos and videos on topics such as sports, religion, plants, beauty and health, transport, architecture, etc. The service allows users to purchase one new image for free every day.

iStock

A large database of photos, pictures, video and audio materials. The site is convenient to subscribe based on the available budget.

The service has more than 20 categories of photos, it is equipped with convenient navigation. When posting photos in Aystok, copyrighted works are subject to strict requirements - publication will be refused if there is already something similar on the site. The main advantage of the service is the high cost of downloading. Owners are not distributed by sales levels, everyone has equal conditions.

Stock income from the sale of one unique image reaches $40. Deductions to the exclusive author are 40%, non-exclusive - 20%.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock generates more sales than other microstocks. Every week the database of the Shutterstock service is replenished with a million new illustrations. Photographic materials are allowed to be posted after successfully passing the exam.

The Bank accepts video clips, vector images and professional photographs for publication. Content quality must be consistent high level sites. The author's commission from the sale is $28 per download.

Depositphotos

DepositPhotos is a young bank, one of the leaders in sales. Registration on the site is free, but you need to attach a scan of your passport. The examination for authors is formal and consists in sending 5 papers. For sale, the service accepts videos, photos and graphics.

Deductions for newcomers are equal to 44% from the sale. The DepositPhotos program provides a temporary subscription for bloggers and site owners.

Fotolia

A popular microstock with a database of 10 million images. Suitable for beginners. After registration, you need to pass an exam. Content requirements are low. According to reviews, most photographers started selling their work from this resource.

You will learn about the requirements and features of popular stocks from the video:

How much can you earn on photo stocks

People who decide to take up photography for the sake of money are interested in the question: how much money can you get from one resource?

On one high-quality photo, they earn about 50 cents a month. By posting 200 unique and attractive images in a month, you will receive an average earnings of $100, which is very tempting. Using simple mathematical calculations, it is easy to calculate the possible profit from 5 such photobases.

Constantly replenish photobanks with pictures, and you will receive a worthy cash reward.

Travelers and artists who post their edited professional content on various sources receive up to $3,000 monthly. So hobbies and hobbies turn into a profitable business.

Be sure, it’s real to make money on stocks, the main thing is not to leave the business you started halfway, constantly develop and improve.

To succeed in creativity, constantly learn and develop.

There are many ways to improve the quality of work.

Sign up for training courses, watch online webinars, read certain literature. Practice more often, photograph what seems unusual, special to you. From the 50 pictures taken, choose a couple of the most successful ones and place them in a photo bank.

Do not stop at one resource, connect several of them, so you will increase your profit by 4-5 times. Russian programs are available to absolutely everyone.

If you know foreign languages(or know how to use translators), nothing prevents you from offering the fruits of your creativity for sale on foreign sites. The pay for 1 job is much higher there, services always require exclusive content.

Finish what you started. By giving up on the idea of ​​developing a photo business, you will deprive yourself of the chances of success. Don't stop even if things don't work out. Take into account the mistakes made and again offer the public your vision of beauty.

Don't expect instant results. Experience will come with time, the main thing is to approach the matter responsibly.

To gain experience and build a professional portfolio, post images regularly. Identify the most bought shots and analyze why they are bought. Try to create similar ones.

Find zest in your creativity. Images should not be copies of existing ones. Take the most popular stock photos as a basis and show them to the public from the other side.

Banks of photographs are overflowing with images of nature, portraits of people. Create your own theme, unlike others.

An interesting undertaking is the transfer of movements to photographic paper. Show the beauty of dance moves, the grace of dancers and skaters. Successfully caught moments will make you the best in your niche.

Hello! What are photo stocks for making money on the Internet? Surely many of you have already heard about them. Such services can also be called photobanks or microstocks. But after digging around on the net, I realized that this is not quite the same thing. Although they all perform the same functions.

Photobank is a place where photos are stored various types, such as those taken with software or a digital camera. To place a photo in a photo bank, it must meet certain characteristics. All photographs are subject to face control. Some photobanks require you to pass an exam. For beginners, it is better to register in the Fotolia project, here the requirements are more loyal.

Ftostock are smaller services than photobanks. They provide an opportunity to purchase high-quality photographs that are not freely available. Photo stocks operate all over the world and have a huge staff of photographers.

Microstocks are sites similar to photo banks and photo stocks. Their main task is to help the photographer sell their photos. They try to advertise their service and find buyers for photographers.

Overview of photostocks and photobanks

Below are popular photobanks and not so popular ones.

Shutterstock is a photo exchange created for people of creative professions, it allows you to make content licensed. In addition to photos, here you can legitimize your videos or music.

The project allows you to sell your photos an infinite number of times. The download price starts from $0.25. AT personal account service, you can see where your photo was purchased from.

In order for this photo exchange to become your place of work, you must pass an exam. To do this, take 10 photos without any glare and normal quality. If you're taking pictures of people, you'll need a model's signature. A site like this is a great way to make extra money online!

Fotoliathis photo the exchange, for quite some time now, has been creating competition for everyone else. The main requirements of the exchange are as follows: only you must have the rights to the photo, you must be over 18 years old. If the photographs contain someone else's property or a person will be captured there, a special release must be attached.

For each sale of a photo, you will earn 33%. The minimum withdrawal amount is $50. Money is withdrawn to PayPal or Skrill. To start earning you do not need to take an exam!

Depositphotos- this service requires you to pass a simple exam consisting of 5 papers. Photo downloads pay $0.30. The minimum withdrawal amount is 50 bucks.

Lori- this is a unique place that contains more than 21,000,000 images! This stock image is Russian. Before starting work, you must conclude an agreement where you must assure the administration that the published photos are really yours. Photos must not be overexposed. When you zoom in to 100%, there shouldn't be any noise or extraneous elements on it.

Istockphoto– this bank of stock images is the oldest one. Before publishing a photo, you will have to pass an exam consisting of 3 photo works.

This stock photo site is a good place to post pictures. Thanks to this service, you can create galleries from your pictures

Dreamtime- an excellent photo bank that will allow you to easily register. In this bank, you do not need to take an exam, and the author's commission here is 60% of the sale! The site allows you to accept editorial shots that don't require people's permission. Payment for the purchase of images under a standard license goes from $ 0.30-10.

123 rf- this photo bank is a good service for beginners. Quality requirements are not very strict. Works are loaded in a simplified mode. When registering, as in all similar services, a passport is required. There is an exam - 10 papers.

canstock photo is a stock photo site, with not strict requirements for placement. There is an exam to pass 3 photos. The cost is 2-5 dollars.

Crestock– this site is a Norwegian photo bank. He is very picky about photography. When registering, you do not need to provide documents, and you do not need to pass an exam. At the end of registration, you can add your pictures. Fill in the registration data in Latin.

IStockphoto. com is a site where photos are bought and sold. The project is very ancient, founded in 2000! It already has 160,000 authors worldwide.

Below you will be presented with a whole bunch of sites for selling photos.

List of photo banks and photo stocks

If you don’t know where to sell photos on the Internet, then pay attention to these photo stocks for making money:

  1. Photogenica.ru
  2. Bigstockphoto.com
  3. cutcaster.com
  4. Canstock
  5. FeaturePics
  6. ImageVortex
  7. MostPhotos
  8. PantherMedia
  9. Photaki
  10. pixmac
  11. stock fresh
  12. YayMicro
  13. Zoonar
  14. Area Image
  15. Graphic
  16. Leftovers
  17. PhotoStock Plus
  18. FotoMind
  19. Veer
  20. Stockphotomedia
  21. scoopt
  22. ScanStockPhoto
  23. POND5
  24. PressFoto
  25. FotoMedia
  26. Rosphoto
  27. PhotoXpress
  28. Interpress
  29. Geophoto
  30. Rusclipart
  31. FindFoto

Now you know which sites you can sell photos on!

Best selling photos on photo stocks

It is advisable to upload photos to photo stocks that are in great demand and are well bought. But it is not so easy to determine what is in trend today! Focus on the season if it is New Year, then sell pictures of the New Year theme Use the best photo banks listed in the article above.

Business topics and family are also of great relevance.

Here is a short list of current niches:

  • Business
  • A family
  • Computers and Peripherals
  • Architecture
  • Nature

>>>The video will help you understand what is in good demand<<<

How much can you earn from photo stocks?

For many, making money on photo stocks seems to be a very difficult and difficult task. But if you are a stubborn, persistent person, then you will succeed. As a rule, money is received for the reusable sale of one image, or for downloading.

A novice amateur photographer can hardly earn a lot of money. Good income comes with time. In order for sales to go constantly, it is necessary to upload several hundred pieces of new photos every day.

Popular photographers earn from stocks from 10,000 - 40,000 dollars. The figures are impressive and only say that these people had to work hard to reach such an income. As a result, a photo bank of photos can also feed you with a semi-passive income. The main thing is not to give up and move forward!

>>> Must watch!!! It is interesting!!!<<<

This article has come to an end! Selling photos on photo stocks is a great way to build passive or semi!

When you need photos or illustrations, but making your own is time-consuming and expensive, photo stocks come to the rescue. Learn about the principles of the sites, the possibilities of managing media content and, of course, about the best free photo stocks and paid image banks.

What is photostock

Photo stock is a place where graphic content is stored and/or sold. Photos, illustrations, videos and other materials are posted by the authors for the purpose of sale or are provided for free use. In fact, microstocks and photobanks are intermediaries between the content creator and the user.

There are hundreds of thousands of works by amateurs and professionals on these sites. Each visitor who needs images for commercial or personal use will be able to find what they need in 10-15 minutes. On paid resources, the price of media content varies from a few cents to tens of dollars, depending on the level of the photographer or illustrator.

Stock photo and video materials are chosen more often than self-creation of images or hiring photographers. And there are three reasons for that:

  • it's faster: no need to search for locations, conduct castings, select equipment, spend time filming and processing or explaining tasks to other specialists;
  • it is cheaper: there is no need to invest in equipment, pay a salary to an employee in the state or a freelancer;
  • this is more convenient: all works are usually divided into categories, many resources have filters for various parameters for quick search, and you can download an image in 1-2 clicks.

However, when searching for and applying images, many do not think about checking licenses for use. And in vain!

Why is it important to check licenses?

All media content is protected by copyright, which begins when the work is created and ends only 50 to 70 years after the death of the author. If you intentionally or unknowingly use a photo or illustration illegally, you can become several thousand poorer: the author will sue and, most likely, win, and you will have to pay a round sum.

The court granted the petition of 5 bloggers for compensation when considering a dispute with a publishing house. So "Arguments and Facts" paid 2 million rubles for the use of photographs without permission and without attribution.

Photographer Alexander Andrienko sued a glossy magazine for 50 thousand rubles for unauthorized placement of his photographs without prior approval.

And Evgenia Gapchinskaya won the copyright infringement lawsuit. Compensation for the illegal use of images amounted to 40 thousand hryvnia.

And the American Tabatha Bandesen received compensation of 700 thousand dollars: she won a lawsuit against the Grenade company, which used photographs of her star cat outside the contract.

Therefore, always pay attention to which license is assigned to the image.

Image license types

It is important to know not so much about licenses as about the opportunities they give and the obligations that arise:

When to use free photos and when is it better to buy images?

Free website images are your option when:

  • image quality doesn't matter;
  • limited or no budget;
  • Are you looking for content on a common topic?
  • enough time to search: finding a suitable free photo can be difficult, sometimes you have to look through hundreds or even thousands of pictures before you download the right one;
  • "modest" use of media content is planned: in the blog, on the website, for presentations and personal viewing;
  • no need to do a grandiose advertising campaign using photos;
  • images of people, trademarks, logos are not needed.

It is better to buy images if:

  • special requirements for image quality: as a rule, images for sale have a resolution of 3000 pixels or more;
  • important is the ability to use a photo or picture at your discretion (editing, cropping, the basis for other compositions); content, most often, has a Royalty-Free license;
  • You need an exclusive and original image.

The best free photo stocks

The selection of 15 free photobases for searching for images of any subject, size and resolution for commercial use.

*The information is current as of September 2018.

pixabay

The top photo stocks are opened by a large platform of photos and videos that users can freely dispose of.

The search is carried out by word, phrase or manually by headings. Registered users rate images, comment, add to favorites, download in different sizes. You can choose favorites and subscribe to them to keep track of new works. There is an opportunity to support the author: to pay him any amount for a photo - this is optional.


This is how he greets visitors to Pixabay

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Number of works: over 1.5 million photos, illustrations, vectors and video content.

Language: Russian and +25 languages.

Burst

The resource offers bright, high-quality images without copyright for commercial use: website, blog, printed matter, souvenirs, and so on.

High and low resolutions available. The first is chosen for print publications, the second is better for web graphics.

You don't need to register to use the photo stock. Simple interface, easy navigation and download in a couple of clicks make Burst one of the most popular sites.


Burst Home Page

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Language: English.

Pexels

The database allows you to take photos for the site from more than 150 collections, images are added to them every day. There is a search by words, headings, photographers.


On the main page of Pexels posted photos from different categories

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Headings: animals, sports, space, cafes, design, water, creativity, from above, dancing, portraits, sweets, agriculture, architecture, children, city life and much more.

Number of works: 150+ thousand.

Language: English and German.

Dreamtime

A database of stock photos, video and audio content from various fields, made by amateurs and professionals. The site has a free section, and prices for paid content start at $0.20 per image.


Dreamstime has plenty to choose from

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), Royalty Free.

Number of works: 85+ million

Language: English.

Unsplash

The resource has collected photos that you will not find on other stocks. Sorting is possible by collections, tags or author. Updates are released every 10 days.

All images are free, but you can thank the author with the nth amount.


Everyone will pick the best Unsplash image for any project

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Number of works: 550+ thousand.

Language: English.

free images

Repository of images from all over the world: amateur photos and professional works of photographers, illustrators. If you wish, you can add content to your favorites, just rate it or subscribe to the authors and issue a newsletter.


Free Images from the first page claims to have quality images

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), attribution optional.

Headings: You will find works on topics such as sports, celebrities, military, cars and motorcycles, signs and symbols, health, medicine, religion, food, architecture, fashion, beauty, games and more.

Number of works: 380+ thousand free photos.

Language: Russian and +15 more languages.

stock vault

The site differs in that it publishes graphic content by photographers and designers, which is used most often for personal and non-commercial purposes. Free images for the site are divided by topic.

You do not need to register to view and download images, you will need to log in if you want to comment on the photo.


This is what Stockvault looks like

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), CC Attribution No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND), CC Attribution Non-Commercial (CC-BY-NC).

Language: English.

Light Painters Loft

Free photo bank to search for images for blog, apps and websites. In order not to miss anything, subscribe to the newsletter: letters come once a month.

The service also has premium packages: all free + additional packs.


Light Painters Loft sorts images by style and color

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0), Royalty-Free, attribution optional but encouraged.

Number of works: 1+ thousand, here the emphasis is on quality, not quantity.

Language: English.

Gratisography

The service offers free images for commercial use. The interface is intuitive, you can upload a photo in 1 click. The site has the usual division into categories, search by word is available.

If there aren't enough images, Gratisography suggests moving to and continuing your search there. At the same time, you are given a 20% discount using the promo code GRATIS.


The small number of images on Gratisography makes up for in quality

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Number of works: about 1 thousand, updates daily.

Language: English.

public domain pictures

Photostock collected the work of amateur photographers. All content is provided for personal use and placement for commercial purposes.


Public Domain Pictures - a godsend for those who need images

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Number of works: 10+ thousand.

Language: English.

superfamous

A small but bewitching selection of photographs of nature and urban landscapes. This site was created by a Dutch designer and he shares personal photos. There is no breakdown by category, there is no search either: just scroll through the feed.


Superfamous is not like other photo stocks

License: CC Attribution No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND).

Language: English.

Foodies Feed

If you need photos of food and drinks - you are here. A small collection of delicious images will help design a blog, website, posts for social networks.

In order not to miss updates, subscribe to the newsletter. If you do not want to receive photos in parts, purchase an archive with all materials.


Foodies Feed is all about food, drinks and beautifully presented dishes.

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Number of works: 1+ thousand, updates once a month.

Language: English.

Travel Coffee Book

Free photo stock for travelers: anyone can upload or download themed photos. A feature of the site is the absence of a catalog, all images are located in the feed, you just need to scroll down. An archive is available (since April 2014) and a random photo display function.


Travel Coffee Book transfers to different countries

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Language: English.

Life of Pix

On the site, the administration manually selects high-resolution photos. There is an image gallery, a section with information about photographers, and a section with free video content.

All materials are available for personal inspiration and commercial use.


Life of Pix is ​​designed to inspire

License: Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Number of works: 2+ thousand, updates weekly.

Language: English.

Everystock photo

This is not a photo stock as such, it is a search engine for free stock images. To find and take pictures for the site, enter a keyword in the search bar. The results will provide a detailed description and indication of the type of license for a particular content, available sizes and resolutions.


Millions of images in one place from Everystockphoto Aggregates

License: everything is indicated next to each image.

Number of works: 29+ million

Language: English.

The best paid photobanks

A selection of 15 services will help everyone find great pictures, pictures and illustrations for any purpose.

*Prices and information on the number of works on the site are current as of September 2018.
**All images are subject to a Royalty-Free license.

Gettyimages

The resource contains stock free images, paid photo, audio and video materials.

A feature of the site is the availability of up-to-date photographs from sports and social life from around the world, allowing you to select the best images for news web resources, print and multimedia media.


You can immediately select a category or collection

Cost: from $150 for 1 download when uploading 10 images. A single download will cost from $175.

Headings: collections include photos of celebrities, famous politicians, athletes, musicians and actors, collections of photos of animals, nature, events and events, news and much more.

Language: English.

depositphotos

The number of images on this photo stock is constantly growing. The low price of content and the variety of themes and styles attract users. Photos, illustrations, vectors and videos are posted here.


On DepositPhotos everyone will find a suitable image

Price: There are 3 tariff plans to choose from. Flexible costs $29 for 30 shots per month. If you have not fully used the subscription, the number of remaining images is carried over to the next month.

Number of works: 80+ million

Language: supports Russian.

Photocase

Inspiring photographs of any topic and style will help design a website, magazines, printed materials and make them even brighter and more attractive. This is a website where photos are not like ordinary photos. Every picture here is a work of art. No wonder the resource is referred to as the best photobanks.


This is how Photocase looks like

Price: from $10 for a small size photo. There are credit packages: from $49 for 4 standard size photos.

Language: English.

The resource provides stock images, video, audio, sound effects, special effects. The search is carried out by word or through the catalog of collections.


Bright from the first page

Price: for each job.

Number of works: 11+ million images, 12+ million videos, 500+ thousand audios.

Language: The photo stock is available in 7 languages, including Russian.

Istockphoto

Photos, vector illustrations, audio and video recordings are available in 20 categories. Register, choose a tariff and use the selection of visual content at your discretion.


Each category is a small universe

Price: from $8 per download. There are monthly and annual subscriptions - from $166.

Language: English.

Photostock collected pictures, illustrations, video content, vector pictures. Bright photos that convey interesting moments will complement your project and attract attention. Here you can buy photos for a landing page, books or magazines, advertising campaigns or for posting on a blog.

Search and filters will help you find the content you need. In addition, there is a "Visual Search" function: upload an image, the resource will automatically select similar materials.


Quality materials for your project from Stock.adobe

Price: from $30 for a pack of 10 materials. There is a free trial period.

Number of works: 1+ million

Language: English.

Free digital photos

The site has collected a large amount of graphic content for any commercial, personal, educational or charitable purposes. A variety of themes allows you to buy pictures for websites, print publications, books, social networks, TV shows, films, work and school projects.


Complete the project and grab attention with media content from Freedigitalphotos

Price: there is a free license for small size images, but you need to provide a link to the final product using the downloaded content. The price of paid material starts at $10, the extended license costs $75.

Language: English.

bigstockphoto

A lot of content for every taste and for any purpose is on one site. You can use navigation by tags, headings, editorial filters in the form of a selection of popular categories and keywords.


Bigstockphoto collected the best photos and pictures

Price: from $0.33 per image, there are 3 different pricing plans. The price depends on the number of downloaded images.

Number of works: 69+ million

Language: there is a version in Russian.

Shutterstock

How to find a picture in good quality? Just go to Shutterstock. This photo bank is a great solution for those who regularly buy a lot of images. The resource is hardly suitable for buying 1 photo. The content is always relevant, of high quality, constantly updated.


"Great Stories Start Here"

Price: from $29 for a two-image prepaid pack or annual subscriptions from $29 for 10 images per month.

Number of works: 227+ million images, video and audio, updated daily.

Language: Russian.

Photos

This is a "branch" of Gettyimages. Photostock is considered one of the most popular photo archives, offering exclusive shots and images. Here you will find collections of graphic content on various topics with several cropping options.

Feature of the site - the images are sent in printed form on special paper or canvas with an aluminum frame.


Photos main page with offers

Price: listed next to each job.

Number of works: 250+ thousand unique images.

Language: English.

123rf

Photostock offers images for websites, as well as video and audio content. There are 3 ways to search for the desired graphic content: by keywords, in categories, by your existing photos (visual search).

The main feature of the stock is the ability to edit images before downloading (apply filters, add text).


There are four million images on 123rf

Price: from $0.98 per credit. For regular users, it is more profitable to subscribe: 1 image costs from $0.53.

Number of works: 4+ million

Language: There is a Russian version of the site.

canstock photo

Stock photography is one of the oldest stock image resources. Here you will find only professional photos that can be purchased with a weekly, monthly or annual subscription or up to 25 downloads per day.


Welcome to Canstock

Price: individual downloads - from $2.5, 12 credits - from $9. A subscription is available, the price of which varies depending on the number of images (the more downloads, the cheaper).

Number of works: 11+ million

Language: English.

Fotosearch

A collection of royalty-free photos, maps, videos, audio on CD/DVD for private and commercial use.

Convenient search by keywords and popular user requests simplifies work and saves time.


A variety of images to solve any resource design needs

Price: from $3 for a low resolution image.

Number of works: 45+ million

Language: English.

Lori

Photobank brings together professionals and amateurs. Managers help with the search: if you did not find the image you need, contact technical support or order a picture from the photographer directly. Purchased graphic content will be sent by email, post or courier.


Millions of images available in a couple of clicks

Price: from $3 per image.

Number of works: 22+ million images.

Language: Russian.

Phototimes

On the stock pages you will find royalty-free images: photos, illustrations, vectors, cliparts from collections that differ in themes.

Phototimes.ru is the official partner of the Dreamstime photo bank in Russia.


The content purchased here can be used in periodicals, advertising campaigns, interior design, books, and so on.

Price: from $3 per image. Depends on image size, popularity and age.

Number of works: 55+ million images.

Language: Russian.

Bonus

Save the table with the basic data on photo stocks presented in the article.

Information on free photo stocks:

Website Number of images Language A photo Illustrations Vector Video Audio textures and
wallpaper
Dreamtime > 85 million English + + - + + +
pixabay > 1.5 million Russian + + + + - -
Unsplash > 550 thousand English + - - - - +
free images > 380 thousand Russian + + - - - +
Pexels > 150 thousand English + - - + - +
public domain pictures > 10 thousand English + + - - - -
Life of Pix > 2 thousand English + - - + - -
Foodies Feed ≥ 1 thousand English + - - - - -
Light Painters Loft > 1 thousand English + - - - - -
Gratisography ≥ 1 thousand English + + - - - -
Burst - English + + - - - +
Travel Coffee Book - English + - - - - -
stock vault - English + + - - - +
superfamous - English + - - - - -

Information on paid photo stocks:

Website Price per image Number of images Language A photo Illustrations Vector Video Audio textures and
wallpaper
bigstockphoto from $0.33 > 69 million Russian + + + + - +
depositphotos from $0.96 > 80 million Russian + + + + - +
123rf from $0.98 > 4 million Russian + + + + + +
canstock photo from 2.5 $ > 11 million English + + - - - -
Fotosearch from 3 $ > 45 million English + + + + + +
Lori from 3 $ > 22 million Russian + + + + - +
Phototimes from 3 $ > 55 million Russian + + + + - +
Stock.adobe from 3 $ > 1 million English + + + + - +
Istockphoto from 8 $ - English + + + + + +
Photocase from 10 $ - English + - - - - -
Free digital photos from $10, there is a free section - English + + - - - +
Shutterstock from $14.5 > 227 million Russian + + + + + +
Gettyimages from 150 $ - English + - - + + -
Photos > 250 thousand English + + + + + +
Pond5 individual. for each material

> 11 million images

Russian + + + + + +

Millions of images, hundreds of themes, dozens of styles and color solutions: using the rating of photo stocks in our selection, you will definitely find high-quality thematic pictures for website design, articles in a blog or magazine, advertising.

Photobanks and photostocks, they are also microstocks - these are sites for selling and buying images. Photos are accepted on any subject.

For a photographer, photobanks are a great opportunity to earn money by selling the same photo image dozens and hundreds of times. Your photo will be used for publications and advertising around the world.

depositphotos

Depositphotos is an international photo bank that brings together authors and buyers of high-quality stock photos, graphics, vectors and videos.

Good site to sell your photos. The Depositphotos website is available for viewing in 14 languages, including Russian.

Getty Images

The Getty Images Photo Bank is one of the largest image banks in the world.

Company founder Mark Getty, founded in 1993.

The company does not have clear requirements for photographs, one thing is known - these works must be really cool, not stereotyped.

There are photos that are preferred. One of these genres is the so-called travel photos - images. different countries or attractions.

In addition, exclusive photos may be needed on the topic of politics, sports, culture, art, national traditions, and customs.

Dreamtime

Dreamstime Photobank is a site with a collection of stock photos and images (digital and filmed), videos.

The main advantages of a photostock are stability, relatively high income and a user-friendly interface. And, perhaps, this is the only photo bank that accepts raw, unprocessed files directly from the camera in jpg and raw formats.

Dreamstime is a good stock photo bank that can be recommended to a beginner.

Fotolia

Fotolia is one of the world's leading stock images.

Photobank specializes in the sale of images and video materials. The library contains 119 million images, vectors, illustrations and video clips.

Stock Fotolia is part of the highly respected Adobe company.

On the site you will find all the necessary information: advice, recommendations and legal aspects for authors.

Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is a special stock photography service. It has over 90 million high-quality photos, drawings, videos, templates, 3D content.

The Adobe Stock database is synchronized with the Fotolia photobank.

It differs from other photo stocks in its convenient connection with Adobe products and convenient system uploading and publishing photos.

iStock

iStock (our Istock) is a pioneer in the microstock business, one of the leading online stock trading libraries with millions of carefully curated images.

Founded in 2000, iStock spawned an entire stock image industry and became the go-to source for creator-generated stock photos, vectors, illustrations, and video clips.

For over 15 years, iStock has been giving photographers the opportunity to monetize their passion by issuing licenses for use around the world.

iStock is part of the Getty Images group of companies.

123RF

Photobank 123RF is a database of stock images, vector illustrations, videos, audio clips.

Photostock 123RF is not a leader in the microstock market, but it sells consistently and at standard prices. Therefore, photographers who work with several photobanks are recommended to use it as well.

Microstock will please beginners with low requirements and a high percentage of acceptance of photographs. Regular sales start after uploading a decent portfolio.

Lori

Photobank "Lori" unites professional photographers and photography enthusiasts.

Every day the database of the photobank increases by thousands of photos of different genres and themes.

The main difference between the photo bank and similar services is that the Lori photo bank offers the possibility of multifaceted licensing. The price of the image depends on the purpose of use and circulation.

bigstock

Bigstock photobank is a fast and convenient platform for storing high-quality stock images.

Bigstock offers over 65 million photos and illustrations by talented photographers and artists from all over the world.

In 2009, BigStockPhoto was acquired by Shutterstock, the world's largest image library. In 2010, the BigStockPhoto resource acquired a new, more recent appearance and shortened its name to Bigstock.

photogenics

Photogenica is a microstock photo bank offering ready-to-use photos, vectors, video and audio under a Royalty Free license.

This is the largest Russian stock photo stock, in the database of which there are 80 million images of both Russian and foreign photographers.

Since Photogenica is a Russian project and the sales market is Runet, therefore, the sales volume may be less than that of photo stocks that are sold all over the world.

Marketplace 500px

500px is not a stock photo in the usual sense. In fact, this is a photo hosting and social network for photographers with the possibility of earning.

The site is interesting in that it immediately sets a fairly high frame for the quality of photographs.

CanStockPhoto

CanStockPhoto is one of the largest microstock photography agencies founded in 2004 with the aim of offering professional yet affordable photographic images.

Every day more than 21,000 top quality works from the best photographers and artists in the world are added to the site.

Uploading your work is very simple - uploading is possible through a special interface on the site or via FTP. There are no restrictions, so you can upload any number of photos.

Reviews are exceptionally fast - your photographs can be approved for sale on the same day they are submitted!

Alamy

Alamy photo bank is a full-fledged photo bank, i.e. Deductions in it are arranged as in large photobanks. They pay photographers a higher percentage of sales than most competitors.

Every day more than 100,000 new images are added to the resource, received from photographers and photo agencies from 173 countries.

There are practically no restrictions on the subject of photo works, you can upload photos of your home plants or culinary delights as much as you like, the main thing is high quality works.

Interface in English.

PressFoto

Photobank PressFoto is a Russian online platform offering customers digital photos, vectors and videos directly from the authors, focused on the Russian-speaking segment of the market.

Photobank is part of the PressFoto group of companies of the same name, which since 2005 has been creating and processing digital content, distributing it and protecting the rights of authors.

Photobank was founded in 2009. Since 2015, he has been a member of CEPIC (Association of European Stock Agencies) and DMLA (Digital Media Licensing Association).

The collection has over 10,000,000 constantly updated images.

Photos are sold under regular and extended licenses. The latter makes it possible to use purchases in outdoor advertising layouts, packaging design, and more.

Pixta

Pixta Photo Bank is Japan's leading website for selling photos, vector illustrations and video footage.

Today, the library has over 32,000,000 images from over 255,000 contributors.

Pixta images are used for a variety of professional projects such as advertising, web design, publications and television programs.

Both professional and amateur photographs are welcome, but at the same time adhere to the quality level of the images.

It has versions in six languages, including English, but no Russian.

Pond5

Photobank Pond5 is one of the giants of the stock content market, today Pond5 is a huge platform for selling videos, music, photos, 3d models.

Illustrations, photographs, 3d are less in demand on the site, however, sales of such works are also not uncommon.

Colourbox

The Colourbox photo bank (ours is Kolobok) comes from Denmark and has been operating on the microstock market since 2003.

Registration on the photo stock and further work is quite simple and will not cause difficulties for those who already have experience with photo banks.

Photos can be uploaded both via FTP and via a browser.

Interface in English, Danish and German.

Mostphotos

The Swedish photobank Mostphotos is a worldwide image marketplace accepting photos, illustrations, vectors for upload.

The convenient service is equally well suited for amateur and professional photographers, and customers have the opportunity to purchase photos from all over the world.

The photo bank is a good platform for communication and exchange of experience. Works are actively discussed here, marks and reviews are put. In order to be noticed, you need to be active. Profiles of the most active participants are published on the main page.

Envato

Envato is an Australian network of stock outlets selling all kinds of art that can be done using a computer.

Envato is a one-stop search engine for destinations, and to more accurately identify each of them, Envato has eight separate sites for each topic.

For example, photos, logos, fonts, web design templates, scripts, videos, audio, 3D models, etc.

Yay

Photobank Yay is a Norwegian microstock that has been operating since January 2008 and sells photographs, raster and vector illustrations.

Pays in euros, no documents required.

Recommended for those who massively upload works to other photo stocks. Low requirements allow even beginners to enter the microstock market, at least - gain experience, at best - also earn on Yay.

The site is in English, there is no Russian language, but due to a simple and intuitive interface, you can easily get used to it.

CreStock

Photobank Crestock (Krestok) is a visual content provider offering high-quality photographs and vector images.

This is a small European, rather young photo bank, it was founded in 2005, its homeland is Norway.

With a fast and reliable image upload system, Crestock provides an excellent platform for photographers to sell their creative work.

Crestock is picky about the technical quality of photos and subject matter. The site is convenient, but without a Russian interface, there is no exam, documents for registration are not needed.

Do not expect from photo stocks to earn large fees, treat this activity as an accompanying one. There are several legal ways to earn more with a minimum of costs:

  1. Use the same content in different ways. For example, icons drawn by you can be sold individually and in sets, which already increases sales due to the number of materials uploaded to the stock. In this case, for some works it will be enough to change the color or font to get a new file.
  2. In the process of work, the designer or illustrator has a lot of draft options that can be quickly finalized and put on stock. Over time, seemingly unnecessary pictures will begin to bring a steady income.
  3. When you're done designing your site, look at the drafts and think about what you can easily improve and put on the stock.
  4. Always carry a camera with you and take pictures whenever possible. Do not spend too many resources on creating pictures, otherwise it will not pay off.
  5. The main secret of success is to create high-quality and in-demand content. Analyze the accounts of successful authors and see what they have in common. On what topics they post images, what are the names of the files and what keys do they use.

    By the way, keywords is a great way to get your image higher in search results. Spend a couple of minutes more and check with the WordStat service what people are searching for and how they formulate the search phrase. This will help you choose a more popular name for the picture.
  6. Sometimes it’s worth going against logic and betting not on popular topics, but on the most unique ones. Apples, cucumbers, textures and trees are littered with all photo banks, without exception, but try to find a high-quality and suitable photo of a chopper in terms of angle.
  7. Don't be afraid to experiment. If most of the images on the chosen topic are of the same style, sometimes it is better to do something completely different. In this case, your picture will surely find a buyer who will need this particular light, angle or style.
  8. Some photobanks offer more profitable terms if your work will be presented only on their resource. This point can be discussed with the administration and agree on more high percentage from sale. If you get a refusal, just place the work on all photobanks: the rules do not prohibit this.

It is impossible to publish other people's works and pornographic materials - an obvious point, but we cannot but remind you of this. Some photobanks may ask permission from the model (Model Release) if the photo is of a person. The same goes for real estate photos: sometimes you need to provide Property Release.

Shutterstock