6 best alternatives to Bigstock

Bigstock alternatives: Let’s face it, we all love a good deal. And here in particular, we love a good deal on cheap stock photos.

Images that represent exactly what you are looking for, and at the best possible price. That is the ideal offer for any buyer, what everyone is looking for and hopes to find. But a truly cheap stock photo is one that gives you the highest possible quality, at the lowest possible price.

And that is exactly what you are going to find here! We have listed the Top 6 Cheapest Image Banks on the market, plus interesting extra offers, where you will get cheap and high quality stock images.

Our list includes well-established and reputable companies such as StockPhotoSecrets store with their excellent offer 99club cheap stock photos ,  Shutterstock, iStock, Adobe Stock , Dreamstime, and Bigstock alternatives

Our analysis determined that at these vendors you will find the cheapest stock photos on the market, in the sense that they offer the best value for money and the lowest individual prices.

Most of the image buyers I know are constantly comparing prices between different image banks. But with so many companies on the market, and each one offering so many different pricing schemes and purchase options, it becomes very difficult to discern which image bank is the best for you.

At Bancosdeimagenes.com we have decided to take matters into our own hands. Using unit price as a parameter, our researchers completed a price comparison across all image banks offering cheap stock photography, to identify the lowest prices. Thus, we have made this list with the best 6 image banks to buy cheap photos.

And we’ve taken care of all your imaging needs!

• Are you looking to buy many images at the best price? We have the best image banks to buy cheap royalty-free photo subscriptions.
• Do you just need a few photos? We give you the best agencies where you can buy images by spontaneous demand.
• Do you want to buy exclusive images that are not being used by thousands of other people? We have what you are looking for.
• Do you want photos for your website? For marketing or advertising? We help you find images for web pages .
• What you need are stock photos for commercial use? Here you will find them with an Extended License.
• Looking for editorial photos? Find them here.
• Do you want to use the photos on social networks? These are your providers for it.
• Do you want to find the best cheap subscription plan? Discover the cheapest stock photos by subscription.
• If what you need is unlimited stock photos , discover 4 offers.

If you are a regular buyer of stock images or photos, our listing can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in cheap stock photos, July 2021!

Image unit price: the best way to find the 6 cheapest image banks

Our research and comparative analysis of the cheapest image banks is based mainly on the value of the unit price of an image in each of them. This means that in the 6 listed image banks you will find the lowest unit prices for images.

We believe that this number (the unit price) allows us to see clearly and simply where the best offer is for each buyer. Looking at the lowest unit price available is a good resource for deciding which offer works best for you.

That said, you should also know that all these image banks have different purchase options, to cover all the needs of their clients. And the convenience or not of these options will also depend on how much they adjust to your requirements (and your budget!).

For example, if you only need a few images for a one-time project, purchasing a subscription of 750 photos per month will not be the best option. Of course, this plan has one of the cheapest unit prices for images on the market, but if you don’t use the hundreds of images you will receive per month, you will actually be losing money.

Comparing purchase models and unit prices can be a very difficult task, especially with so many image banks available, each with more than one purchase option. Any buyer can be overwhelmed by this prospect. But not anymore. Here we have divided our list based on purchase options, making it quicker and easier for you to find the company that offers the best product for your needs.

Royalty-free: the cheapest image license

Our report is based on image banks that sell royalty-free photos, and all prices in this list correspond to this type of license. Unless otherwise stated, all the values ​​you will see here correspond to the standard royalty-free license.

Among all the cheap stock photos, the royalty-free ones offer the lowest possible prices. This is a very flexible license, commonly granting you a wide range of use rights for the image, with no time limit, for a one-time fee: you pay for the license once, and you can use the image forever. Thanks to these benefits and their low cost, royalty-free images are the most accessible you’ll find.

The 6 cheapest image banks broken down

Now that everything is clear, it’s time to dive into the list of the 6 Best Cheap Image Banks and the best deals on cheap stock photos for every buyer.

The first breakdown of the list divides agencies into two different buying models: stock photo subscriptions, and spontaneous demand buying.

The convenience of one system over the other depends mainly on your needs and your budget. If you are looking for help deciding which of these models suits you best, check our comparative analysis of Credits and Subscriptions, which will surely help you.

Lower prices on stock photo subscriptions

If you run the type of business that requires a lot of new and current images constantly – for marketing or advertising, for blogs or publications, for graphic designs, etc. – a subscription to stock photos is almost certainly the best option for you. you.

Why? These recurring plans give you a large number of monthly stock image downloads – and you can find daily and weekly download limits as well – for a fixed monthly figure that significantly reduces the unit price of each image, costing just a few pennies on the dollar. each.

Of course, acquiring one of these plans means making a long-term payment commitment with the image bank in question, and while you can always cancel your subscription, they can also charge you cancellation fees. That is why it is important that you are sure before subscribing. Here you can learn more about Subscriptions to find out more.

These are the best cheap image banks that offer subscriptions:

Low download subscriptions

As we already said, subscriptions are primarily geared toward people who need hundreds, if not thousands, of photos per year. However, there are many buyers who, while constantly needing a ton of images, may not need the large amounts of downloads that come with high-volume subscriptions.

Previously, these types of buyers found two purchase options, equally unsatisfactory: either they bought a high-volume subscription and paid for photos that they would never use, or they stuck to buying on spontaneous demand by paying higher sums.

If you were one of them, we have good news! Many image banks noticed the need for small buyers, and launched subscriptions with fewer downloads that give you super cheap photos, as much as the larger plans.

Here are the best deals on low download volume subscriptions:

Vecteezy

Vecteezy is a relative newcomer to the stock photo industry. The site launched in 2007, but served as a marketplace of only vector illustrations for more than a decade. Stock photos and stock videos were added to the site in 2020, allowing Vecteezy to become a legit alternative to Bigstock and other industry leaders.

The selection of photos at Vecteezy is not quite as large as what you’ll find at sites like Shutterstock and iStock, but it’s growing quickly.

Vecteezy Pro subscription with unlimited downloads  $14 per month if billed monthly $9 per month if billed yearly (one charge of $108)

With unlimited downloads of high-resolution stock photos, 4K stock videos, and vectors, a Vecteezy Pro subscription offers incredible value. The plan is much cheaper than most competitors and doesn’t place a cap on the number of files you can download. It’s an outstanding resource for designers, marketers, and bloggers who frequently need images or videos.

Vecteezy also offers several helpful options for filtering the search results so you can find what you’re looking for quickly.

99club

Our 99club plan is one of the best offers you will find. Direct from the Stockphotosecrets store – part of Stock Photo Press – this subscription was designed by me, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that work on tight budgets and need great, high-quality images. And it is the best alternative to the popular and now discontinued Dollar Photo Club .

99club gives you 200 XXL images – which you can choose from our 4 Million photo bank – for one year, for only $ 99 (USD). That’s it: only $ 0.49 (USD) per photo!

When you sign up for our 99club subscription, you receive 200 downloads for XXL images valid for one year. All of our images are royalty-free, so once downloaded they are yours forever. And even better: there is no download limit! You can download as many photos as you like – up to your cap of 200 – whenever you want, within the year of validity of the plan.

And all for $ 99 (USD), with no hidden fees. This plan is annual, and you can cancel it whenever you want. But if you’re satisfied – and we know you will be – you can automatically renew it for another year (always $ 99) when your first period expires.

There is more? Well yes, there is! Being a member of 99club you also have access to discounts on extra downloads. If you use all of your 200 downloads and still need more photos, you can buy them individually, at the promotional price of $ 0.99 (USD) per image!

Offers like this don’t last forever, so if you want to get high-quality photos for less than 50 cents each, buy our 99club subscription right now!

Get your 99club plan:

• Sign up for the Stockphotosecrets store.
• Buy our 99club subscription .
• Learn more about this offer in our 99club review.

Low Volume

At Stockphotosecrets Store we think of all our customers. And our Limited Time Low Volume offer is proof of that! You just found out that our 99club plan gives you 200 images for $ 99 (USD). But for all of you who need more photos, but can’t afford hundreds of dollars a month, we have Low Volume: 3 times more downloads than 99club, for only $ 199 (USD)!

Yes, you read that right. Our Low Volume offer gives you 600 XXL images for one year, for just $ 199 (USD). That works out to $ 0.33 (USD) per photo! You get access to 4 Million files to choose from, and all the images you download are yours to use forever, in multiple projects.

Again this is an annual plan, and we charge $ 199 (USD), with no extra costs. You can cancel your subscription if you wish, and you can also renew it. And remember that you don’t have to worry about download limits: within the year of your membership, you can download your 600 images at your own pace, whenever you want.

This is a limited-time offer that you don’t want to miss out on. Buy our Low Volume offer right now!

Get our special Low Volume offer:

• Sign up for the Stockphotosecrets store
• Get our Low Volume subscription
• Learn more about this limited offer in our Low Volume review

Shutterstock

One of the world’s leading online image banks, Shutterstock is the pioneer of subscriptions: they introduced this concept more than a decade ago, and they’ve been shining in the market ever since. Today, their bank of more than 100 million images and their high-tech service make them very popular with buyers, and high-volume subscription remains their star offering:

Shutterstock Subscription: 750 images per month.

• Monthly: $ 249 per month – only $ 0.33 per photo.
• For 3 months: $ 229 per month – only $ 0.30 per photo.
• For 6 months: $ 224 – only $ 0.29 per photo.
• Annually: $ 199 per month – only $ 0.26 per photo.

The Shutterstock subscription is one of the best accessible stock photo deals out there, and its value is even increased by the breadth and variety of its catalog, and its great add-on tools based on the best technology for the user. All of this adds up to making Shutterstock the cheapest image bank on the market for high-volume subscriptions. 

Did you think that was it? Of course not! We also have our exclusive Shutterstock discount coupon that gives you 15% Off on your purchase!

Get your Shutterstock Subscription:

• Sign up for free at Shutterstock.
• Take advantage of the savings with our special Shutterstock discount coupon.
• Test the service for free with Shutterstock’s free trial.
• Learn more about this company in our full Shutterstock review.

iStock

iStock is a pioneering image bank on the web, with 18 years of experience and backed by the prestigious international photography agency Getty Images.

This company is known for its high level of photo curation, and its huge catalog divided into two main collections: Essentials (inexpensive high-resolution photos) and Signature (premium quality photos and exclusive from iStock).

Also, their prices are based on these collections. Regarding subscriptions, they all have a monthly limit and can be contracted per month or per year. The most accessible option offers downloads only of Essentials, while the most complete gives access to the entire catalog including photos of Signature, at a slightly higher price. In both cases they have plans for a small number of downloads:

10 images per month Essentials

• $ 40 monthly – only $ 4 per image 
• $ 29 per month annually – only $ 2.90 per image

10 images per month Signature – Essentials 

• $ 100 monthly – only $ 10 per image
• $ 70 per month annually – only $ 7 per image

These plans are great solutions if you need a small number of photos every month, as they allow you to save up to 60% on the unit price of images. Plus, iStock plans let you roll over unused downloads from one month to the next, so you’ll never lose images you’ve already paid for.

If you are looking for cheap photos and / or exclusive and premium quality photos, iStock is definitely for you.

And it gets better! For a limited time, we are offering you an iStock promo code with up to 20% Off on your purchase! For a limited time you can buy subscriptions and credit packages with this great discount! Seize it!

Exclusive offer: 15% OFF on iStock credits and subscriptions!

Get a 15% discount on credits and subscriptions.

• Sign up for free at iStock.
• Use our exclusive iStock discount code for a limited time.
• Learn more about the company in our iStock review.

Adobe Stock

Launched just over a year ago, Adobe Stock is already a very popular stock photo service. Backed by design software giant Adobe, this service is very reliable despite its relatively short existence.

Mainly comprised of content from the Fotolia image bank (now owned by Adobe), Adobe Stock offers more than 60 million photos and graphics.

The strength of this service, which makes it all the more valuable, is that it is fully integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud applications (Adobe’s cloud design software service).

You can find, test and buy high-quality stock images, directly from your Creative Cloud apps, saving you a lot of time and effort in creating your designs. Coming from a strongly technology-oriented company, the service is very easy to use and has great functionality.

Adobe Stock hasn’t forgotten about small to medium budget buyers, and they have included great and very cheap options for them:

10 standard images per month

• $ 49.99 (USD) with the monthly plan – $ 4.99 (USD) per image.
• $ 29.99 (USD) per month, with the annual plan – $ 2.99 (USD) per image.

This is a great plan for buyers needing only a few images per month, as it saves 50% and 70% over the regular unit price of photos. As a bonus, the system lets you transfer up to 120 unused downloads from one month to the next, as long as your subscription is still active.

If you want to get cheap stock photos that you can easily include in your designs in Photoshop CC or Illustrator CC, Adobe Stock is your best option!

And things get better! You can also get 10 free Adobe Stock images with the free trial of Adobe Stock for one month!

Get your small Adobe Stock plan:

• Sign up for free at Adobe Stock.
• Take advantage of the free trial of Adobe Stock.
• Learn all about the service in our full Adobe Stock review.

Bigstock

Bigstock (formerly known as Bigstockphoto), is a subsidiary company of Shutterstock (one of the most popular image banks on the market), which operates as an independent stock photo agency, with its own online catalog with more than 41 million images, and a very wide range of subscriptions that ensures you find a plan that meets your needs. When it comes to small budgets, they certainly have a variety of proposals:

Plan with daily download limit – 5 images per day

• Per month (150 images) at $ 79 – only $ 0.53 per image.
• For 3 months (450 images) at $ 199 – only $ 0.44 per image.
• Per year (1825 images) at $ 639 – only $ 0.35 per image.

If you can work with daily download limits, this little plan is very convenient. You can hire it from a month and up to a year, and get very low prices for your images. Of course, you will have only 5 new downloads available per day. If this is too restrictive for you, Bigstock alternatives has yet another solution:

Plans with monthly download limit

• 25 photos per month for $ 69 – at the rate of $ 2.76 per photo.
• 50 photos per month for $ 79 – at the rate of $ 1.58 per photo.
• 100 photos per month for $ 99 – at the rate of $ 0.99 per photo.

The monthly download limits are much more flexible – allowing you to download up to the maximum of your monthly quota whenever you want – and their prices are still a great deal on cheap stock images. The value in Bigstock’s complex pricing structure is that there are options for every buyer’s need. 

And as you may have guessed, we have a bonus: You can get up to 35 free Bigstock alternatives photos plus 15% Off on your purchase with our special offer for Bigstock Free Trial and Discount Coupon!

Get your plan with a daily or monthly limit from Bigstock:

• Sign up for free at Bigstock.
• Use our Bigstock Free Trial and Discount Coupon.
• Learn more about this image bank in our full Bigstock review.

Dreamstime

A well-established and long-standing stock photo agency, Dreamstime is also in the top 10 of online image banks. They offer millions of high-quality images, and multiple options to buy them. And they are another provider that has not forgotten about their low budget customers in their subscriptions:

Special weekly subscription offer. 

• 5 images, for a week, at $ 25 (Only $ 5 each) – Now you can get this offer for only $ 0.05 for a limited time. Yes, it is practically free! 

This weekly plan is perfect for those looking for just a handful of images, and expecting better prices than the spontaneous demand. And for a limited time, you can get it for next to nothing! However, there is also another option that is longer-term and also very accessible:

Minimum monthly subscription

• 10 images per month at $ 39 – Only $ 3.99 each – Get it now with a special 10% discount, and pay only $ 35.75!

Dreamstime monthly subscriptions are self-renewing every month, and unused downloads are carried over from one month to the next. So the minimum plan gives you a very good price, and in a very flexible format!

Get your Dreamstime Weekly or Monthly Subscription:

• Sign up for free at Dreamstime
• Find out more about the company in our Dreamstime review

High volume subscriptions

There are buyers who require hundreds of new photos every month, sometimes even every day. Buyers who want lots of stock photos to choose from and download, to use for business, blogging, creative work, and more.

Subscription to stock photos was originally intended for these types of buyers, and that is why high volume download plans are still the most strongly promoted product in most image banks that offer subscriptions.

These plans have the lowest prices per unit (per image) that exist, and are undoubtedly some of the best offers on the market, for anyone who has use for such a number of images.

Here are the image banks with the best deals on high-volume subscriptions:

iStock

As the first online stock photo agency, iStock is as popular as it is renowned thanks to its long history of good customer service and its kinship with the world-renowned Getty Images.

Beyond that, iStock is known for having one of the largest collections of exclusive images on the market. And they have several subscription options so you can purchase these unique photos at the lowest price:

IStock High Volume Subscription: 750 Images Per Month, Annual Plan

• Only Essentials (low-budget, non-exclusive images): $ 159 per month – $ 0.21 per photo.
• Signature (exclusive and higher value images) + Essentials: $ 319 per month – $ 0.42 per photo.

IStock’s great subscriptions give you the best value for your investment while giving you access to all the images you may need.

Their Essential image offering is one of the cheapest in the space, and their Signature + Essentials plan is also a great deal when you consider that it includes access to millions of exclusive images.

Ready for the plus? Here it is: Our exclusive iStock discount code will save you up to 15% on iStock images! For a limited time, you can buy subscriptions and credit packages with this great discount! Take advantage of it, it will only be available for a short time.
Get your iStock High Volume Subscription:

• Sign up for free at iStock .
• Take our exclusive iStock discount code to get up to 15% Off on your purchase.
• Read all about this company in our dedicated iStock review.

Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is a relatively young, but very popular stock photo service, accompanied by Adobe’s seal of trust.

It offers a large bank of more than 60 million photos and high resolution graphics, but its strong point is that it is fully integrated in Creative Cloud, letting you browse the collection of images, choose, test, buy and apply the one you want in your designs without leaving your favorite application.

• Images per unit on Adobe Stock are $ 9.99 each, in all available sizes and resolutions. 

For a high resolution image, and with the added functionality in Creative Cloud, this price is a very good deal for any designer using this cloud design application service. And do not forget that this system has no minimum purchase, you can buy as many images as you want. Adobe Stock is a good choice.

And yes, there is more good news: you can try Adobe Stock free for a month, and get up to 10 free images, with the free trial of Adobe Stock!

Buy single images from Adobe Stock:

• Sign up for free at Adobe Stock.
• Take advantage of the free trial of Adobe Stock .
• Read more about this offer in our Adobe Stock review.

Bigstock

Bigstock is an established image bank with many years in business. Subsidiaries of Shutterstock, which adds credibility and reliability to their status.

They have a nice collection of over 41 million photos with various resolution options available for each format. Bigstock photos are good, cheap visuals to use in your projects. They sell unit images through credit packages:

Images per unit at Bigstock (by size)

• Small: 1 credit – between $ 3.50 and $ 0.99. 
• Medium: 2 credits – between $ 7 and $ 1.98.
• Large: 4 credits – between $ 14 and $ 3.96.
• Extra Large: 6 credits – between $ 21 and $ 5.94.

What each image will cost you will depend on the credit package you purchase. The minimum purchase is 10 credits for $ 35, which makes each credit cost you $ 3.50, and they have larger packages available, of up to 500 credits for $ 495 – bringing the price per credit to $ 0.99 each.

If your budget allows you to invest some money, and especially if you think you will need more photos in the future, buying a large credit package makes sense since in the long term you will save more.

With the largest package of 500 credits, a small image for your social networks will cost you only $ 0.99, a high resolution photo for your website will be only $ 3.96… and all without having to commit to periodic payments with the company. Definitely a very good deal on cheap photos. 

If that sounded good to you, you are going to love this: you can save up to 15% on your images with our exclusive Bigstock Discount Coupon! And there’s more: you can also get up to 35 free photos with Bigstock’s Free Trial, and see how their images perform on your work, for free!

Buy single images at Bigstock:

• Sign up for free at Bigstock.
• Save with our Discount Coupon and get your free photos with the Bigstock Free Trial.
• Learn all about them in our full Bigstock review.

Image Packages

Some image banks offer another good alternative to buying cheap photos spontaneously: image packs. Instead of pricing their photos individually and then requiring a minimum purchase, they offer you bundles of a certain number of downloads that you can buy in advance, and use them whenever you want to download photos.

Although initially this may seem similar to a subscription, in reality it is not: the image packages are bought and paid only once, they are not constant and therefore do not imply assuming long payment responsibilities with any company.

Here are the stock photo agencies offering cheap image packages:

Shutterstock

Shutterstock image packs for any image size and including vectors

• 5 downloads for $ 49 – or $ 9.80 per image
• 25 downloads for $ 229 – or $ 9.16 per image

Shutterstock Image Packages for Small to Medium Images in JPEG Format Only

• 12 downloads for $ 49 – or $ 4.09 per image
• 60 downloads for $ 229 – or $ 3.81 per image

Shutterstock Image Packs are valid for one year from the time of purchase, so you can purchase and download your images whenever you want within that limit.

This highlights the clear benefits of the system: if you want to spend as little as possible, you can purchase a handful of images for less than $ 50. But if you can stretch a little, spending $ 229 gets you 5 times more images! Your level of spending will also depend on what image resolution you require.

If you prefer to have flexibility in resolutions and formats, these prices give you between 5 and 25 photos or vectors. But if you can get by with small and medium photos, you can get more bang for your buck as you get up to 35 more images, for the same money. In short, Shutterstock it has a super low price available to you. 

And here’s the good thing: You can spend even less if you use our Shutterstock discount coupon, which gives you up to 15% Off on your purchase!

Buy Shutterstock Image Packs:

• Sign up for free at Shutterstock.
• Use our special discount coupon.
• Read more about the company in our Shutterstock review.

Buy cheap images for every need

We list the 6 cheapest image banks on the market, divided by type of purchase. But you may be wondering, how to know which is the best option for me? Which of these banks has exactly the type of photos I am looking for?

We will not leave these questions unanswered. Here we give you a guide to cheap image banks according to the type of images you want, and how you want to use them:

Exclusive images: fewer copies in use + higher value

Exclusive stock photos have many points in their favor: although you cannot guarantee that someone will not buy the same image, the fact that they are only available in a single image bank does guarantee that the photos will be used much less frequently by others.

In addition, most agencies tend to choose content for their exclusive collections based on the highest standards in technical aspects and production value, making exclusive images much more valuable and visually appealing than others.

If you think that what is mentioned here could add value to your designs, then the exclusive images are for you. And where to find them?

• iStock – The number 1 image bank for exclusive photos. Its Signature collection houses millions of photos that are only available on iStock, and that you can buy with credits or with subscription. IStock exclusive photos cost from $ 33 to as little as $ 0.42 each, depending on which purchasing system you use. And remember that you can get up to 15% Off with our iStock discount code.
• Dreamstime – This company adds value to its catalog of more than 50 million images with a small selection of exclusive content, which you can access using the “Exclusive” filter in its search engine.

Photos for websites, marketing, advertising, and more

Commercial use is the most common scenario for those who buy professional photos. It includes the most varied uses, from your company’s monthly circular to the design of your website, through printed and digital advertisements, brochures, flyers, and any other marketing or advertising material.

Promoting your business and keeping your visuals fresh and engaging requires having plenty of high-quality photos available.

And where to buy images for commercial use? The simplest answer would be: in all image banks. After all, commercial use is the strong point of your business, and most of these banks are made up almost exclusively of images that allow such use.

You can use the photos of these companies in any of the examples mentioned, and in many others related to the marketing and promotion of a product, service, or company. Click here for more information.

Anyway, here is a list of the best places to buy photos for commercial use, where you will find cheap photos to use on your website and your marketing campaigns:

• Shutterstock – The leading provider of stock photos on the web for a reason: this bank really covers all your image needs. Shutterstock focuses especially on photos for commercial use, and its selection process reviews both the technical aspect and the commercial value of each image. With more than 100 million files available, this is the agency where you will find the most complete and varied collection of photos, vectors and illustrations for your website, your marketing plan, and any other commercial project you have in mind. Photos cost between $ 9.80 and up to a minimum of $ 0.26 each depending on whether you buy per unit or with a subscription. And don’t forget that you can get them with 15% Off with our exclusive Shutterstock discount coupon.
• iStock – Also a leading company in the market, and well recognized. With the addition of its collection of exclusive images, iStock offers a great service in commercial stock photos, and on their site you will find what you need, from photos with basic concepts in high resolution, to elaborate productions of higher value. Prices vary between $ 33 and $ 0.26 depending on the purchase model you use. And you can get them with up to 15% discount with our discount code iStock.
• Adobe Stock – Increasingly popular with graphic designers, Adobe Stock is a great service for commercial use photos. It has more than 60 million images, and it works fully integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud applications. In this way you can create advertisements, flyers, posters, etc., for your business, in much less time and with much less effort. Adobe Stock commercial use photos cost $ 9.99 each if you buy them individually, but you can get them as cheap as $ 0.48 per unit if you buy a subscription. Of course, you can also get up to 10 free photos for a month with the free trial of Adobe Stock .

Photos for commercial use on t-shirts, mugs, posters, templates, etc.

You may think that using photos in your website design and promotional content is good, but what you are really looking for are photos that you can add to products that you will then sell or redistribute to your own customers to earn money.

Looking for a photo to use in the design of a shirt? Do you want an image for the cover of your eBook or printed book? Thinking of using stock illustrations, vectors, or icons in your template design to sell repeatedly?

Well, in this case it is very (very!) Important that you know that the Standard Royalty Free license does not cover practically any of these uses,  in almost none of the image banks that exist. This means that even if you pay for the use of the photo, you will not be able to use it for the aforementioned purposes.

And why is very simple: the Standard license does not allow the resale or redistribution of images, and often places a limit on the number of digital copies or reproductions you can distribute. It is equally relevant to note that in almost all stock photo agencies, the Standard license is the one selected by default, and the prices correspond to this option.

But don’t worry, in stock photography there is always a way to meet your professional imaging needs. All 6 image banks on our list include the Extended license option .

The Extended license costs a little higher than the Standard prices, but gives you additional usage rights. In particular, add the right to use images in products for resale or redistribution. Do you want to know how much an Extended license costs? Here we go:

iStock

iStock offers Extended licenses on an individual basis, per image. Like its individual purchase system, the value of these licenses is expressed in credits, and you need to have a credit package to be able to acquire one.

However iStock does something different: they charge each additional fee as a separate Extended license. All licenses have the same value, but this is added to the price of the Standard license. 

IStock Extended License: 18 credits each

• Multiple seats (unlimited number of users in the same account)
• Unlimited copies / reproductions.
• Products for resale.
• Extended legal warranty.

Depending on the credit package you use, each Extended license will cost you between $ 144 and $ 170, added to the initial price of the Standard license (between $ 8 and $ 33). 

While this model allows you to pay only for the rights you want, the downside is that you only get a specific extra right, rather than a range of them. However, iStock’s images are of superior quality, their Signature collection has truly outstanding content and great value.

Although somewhat pricey compared to other offerings, their photos are certainly worth their price in quality and versatility. And you can always pay less with our exclusive iStock discount code for up to 15% Off on your purchase! It expires soon, so hurry up and use it today!

Shutterstock

Similar to its on-demand image offering, Shutterstock offers Extended licenses in the form of download packages that you must pay for in advance and can be used whenever you want for a year. Your Extended licenses include unlimited copies and reproductions and use in products for resale, among other additional rights.

Shutterstock Extended license packages

• 2 images for $ 199 – $ 99.50 each.
• 5 images for $ 449 – $ 89.80 each.
• 25 images for $ 1699 – $ 67.96 each.

It is clear that these prices are well above those of the Standard license, but if you think that this gives you the possibility to make as many copies of the image as you want, and to use it in products that you can later resell (that is, make money ), it is not difficult to see how affordable the cost is compared to the profit. Also, don’t forget that you can save money with our Shutterstock discount coupon with 15% Off.

Adobe Stock

The stock photo service built into Creative Cloud, Adobe Stock , offers Extended licenses for all your files, following an individual selling model per image.

We should note here that they also offer a kind of intermediate license they call “Enhanced”, which includes the Standard rights and only adds unlimited copies.

This license comes by default with the images from the Premium collection and the clips from your stock video collection, both of which are priced much higher than that of regular photos. The Extended license itself, however, gives you unlimited copies and use in products for resale.

Adobe Stock Extended License: $ 79.99 per image

Adobe Stock sets a very affordable price for its Extended license, and this fee covers two of the most sought-after rights of use by customers.

If you add to this its functionality with Creative Cloud and its applications, you are facing a very good deal in images that you can use in products to market. And remember that you can test the service and the quality of the images with 10 free photos, with your free trial of Adobe Stock .

 Bigstock

Bigstock includes the Extended license in its offer, already known for its great variety in prices and purchase options. Your extended rights agreement includes use on resale products, unlimited copies, and more, but is restricted to one use per license.

This means that if you want to use the same image on a greeting card to send to your customers and on a coffee mug that will be available for sale, you will need two separate Extended licenses, even though the image is the same.

Bigstock Extended License

• 50 credits per image – between $ 49.50 and $ 84.50, depending on the credit pack you use.

Although using the same photo for two or more projects requires paying for two or more licenses, Bigstock’s Extended license is very reasonable in value, and covers most of the extended uses you might want. You can also get them at a lower price with our Bigstock Discount Coupon for 15% Off.

Dreamstime

Also among those that offer an Extended license is Dreamstime . But instead of individual image or download packages, they offer them under a monthly subscription model. Furthermore, they also put each extended right as a separate license:

• Unlimited seats (multiple user access to the same account)
• Increased maximum copy limit (unlimited copies)
• Web use (products for resale or redistribution in digital format, such as web templates, electronic cards, etc.)
• Printed Use (products for resale or redistribution in physical format, such as t-shirts, product packaging, etc.)
• Sale of rights – this is a very rare license on the market, which offers you the possibility to buy full ownership of an image, rather than the right to use it
• Limited exclusivity – this license, while common in the world of traditional stock photography, is quite rare in online image banks. It allows you to pay to be the only person using a certain image for a limited period of time.

Each necessary right for the use you have in mind will require you to acquire it as an individual license, but since Dreamstime sells them under subscription, each Extended license counts as a download of the Extended License plan.

Dreamstime Extended License Subscription 

• 2 downloads for $ 59 – $ 29.50 each.
• 5 downloads for $ 137 – $ 27.40 each.
• 25 downloads for $ 659 – $ 26.36 each.
• 100 downloads for $ 2500 – $ 25 each.
• 500 downloads for $ 11,500 – $ 23 each.

As you can see, Dreamstime Extended licenses are very cheap: they have a much lower cost per image than their competitors. To obtain these extended rights you must commit to a subscription, but these are billed monthly, and you can simply cancel it if you are not going to use it for more than a month.

However, you have to remember that each extra right is a separate license, so if you want to use the image in several different modes, you must use more than one download from your plan, to make sure you have all the rights that cover your use.

Either way, Dreamstime prices are on sale with 10% off, so today is the right time to buy your images and save money.

Editorial Stock Photos: Celebrities, Sports, Events, and More

Commercial use is arguably the most popular for professional stock photos, but it’s not the only one. Many buyers need photos to illustrate news articles, or to add visual content to various digital or print publications.

Generally, these buyers are looking for images of public interest: news coverage, entertainment events, celebrities from different fields, sporting events and famous athletes, etc. These types of images are available in the stock photo market as images for Editorial Use Only, and are sold under an Editorial license.

The terms of the Editorial license vary from one provider to another, but in general it allows the use of images only for editorial purposes: to accompany or illustrate texts in editorial format – newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. – but it should be noted that this is the only allowed use: you can never use photos with Editorial license for commercial projects.

This constitutes a violation of the terms of use of the license, and can bring you many legal problems, since the images of Editorial Use commonly lack the legal permission on the part of the people and private properties that appear included in the image.

If you are on the hunt for images of public interest to use in your publication, there are several online image banks where you can find them. These are the cheapest:

• Shutterstock: They include a wide selection of material for Editorial Use in their gigantic collection of photos, which you can buy at a standard price (from $ 0.26 and up to $ 9.80 per photo). For exclusive, high-profile content, check out Rex Features, an image bank exclusively dedicated to photos of celebrities and current events, owned by Shutterstock. In addition, the company has agreements to distribute very exclusive editorial photos with several specialized photo agencies, and you can access these collections through the Shutterstock Premium membership service, at an additional cost.
• iStock: They have a great selection of editorial content in their two collections, and their prices are standard in each case: $ 0.21 to $ 11 per photo in Essentials, and $ 0.42 to $ 33 in Signature.
• Adobe Stock: Until very recently this service did not have Editorial photos, but they recently announced their partnership with the renowned Reuters news agency to create a large collection of Editorial Use photos on Adobe Stock. If you want editorial photos that you can easily use with Creative Cloud applications, follow Adobe Stock closely, as the launch is near.
• Getty Images: This is the company that has owned iStock for several years. But even more importantly, it is one of the most recognized traditional stock photography companies in the world, famous for the variety and quality of its immense gallery of images. Although their price range is at a much higher level than the rest of the image banks listed here, they are the r eyes of editorial photos: if you are looking for editorial, you must go to Getty Images. They have hundreds of specialized collections for every possible topic, topic or event of relevance, from historical archives to current entertainment, sports and news events, including the most recognized and exclusive. The photos in Getty Images are not really cheap, but now you have the possibility of acquiring them at a very affordable price with their Ultrapacks , prepaid download packages for royalty-free images, which give you up to 30% discount on the regular price of the photos or you can take a look at the Getty images promo coupon.

Stock photos for blogs and publications

Bloggers and publishers are always on the lookout for great, cheap photos. The vast majority of them are aware that using attractive images in their posts is key to the success of their publications.

However, for beginners or those who maintain a modest, low-budget blog, it can be very difficult to find good photos that are within the price range they can afford. In addition, the system to find, buy and add photos to blog posts is an added difficulty.

Of course, you can use good quality and cheap stock photos that you acquire from any of the 6 cheap image banks that we list for you. But the process of browsing the image bank, selecting one you like, downloading it, importing it into WordPress (the most popular platform for digital publishing) and finally inserting it into your article can be time consuming.

In addition, blogs and digital publications involve particular needs for the use of images. For example, you probably need to be able to use the same image of your article in all kinds of support and promotional material, such as email updates, circulars for readers, social media posts, and so on.

Although very broad in their coverage, the licenses in the image banks are not specifically designed for this use.

If you are WordPress users for your publication, without a doubt you will have felt identified in what we have just described. And you will be happy to know that we have the perfect solution to acquire cheap high-quality images for your blog or digital publication in a quickly accessible way, with a service created especially for this purpose:

Stock photos for your social networks

Social networks have become an essential component in our lives, and even more so in business. Any business or project that wants to achieve success must have a presence on social networks, since these platforms definitely help to attract attention to your business, your publication, your project or yourself. And how could it be otherwise, social networks are highly visual, and attractive images are what differentiates a great post from a mediocre one.

For this reason, more and more buyers are looking for stock photos that they can use on their social media profiles. However, not all image banks cover this need. Some restrict the use of their images on these channels.

Others allow it, but to a limited extent. You should always make sure to read the license agreement for the photos carefully, to make sure they allow use on social networks, and always contact the company if you are not sure about it.

What providers let you use photos on social networks?

• Shutterstock: Your Standard license includes use on social media profiles.
• iStock: Allow the use of images on social networks, according to their license agreement.
• Adobe Stock: They allow the use of their photos on social networks, but it is mandatory that you credit both the author of the same and Adobe Stock. Additionally, they require you to review the channel’s terms of use before posting, to make sure they don’t stipulate taking ownership of the published media content.

The cheapest Image Bank

After browsing through so many different options, you may still be wondering, which is the cheapest image bank of all? Which one of them gives you the best cost / benefit ratio, and the lowest prices, for every possible need?

Our conclusion is: Low Volume Plan, in Store Stockphotosecrets

Why? We believe that this offer is superior to the others in several respects:

• It is specially designed for small and medium budgets
• Offers a large number of images at a very low cost
• There are no daily or monthly limits on downloads
• There are no additional costs
• Images are royalty free and suitable for commercial use
• You have 4 million high-resolution images to choose from, with a variety of themes, concepts and styles

If you haven’t tried this offer yet, hurry up! It is available for a limited time. Don’t miss out, get your Low Volume plan today!

And share your experience, we would love to know how it works for you.

Cheap Stock Photos: enhance your visuals at a very low cost

So there you have it. No matter what your particular image needs are, stock photos are always a great way to add high-quality images to your business or project at no cost.

There is a stock photo service for each particular requirement, and in this guide we did our best to provide you with the best and cheapest option in each case.

We hope it is valuable to you, and that it helps you choose which image bank to use when buying photos online.