Adobe Stock Review (2024): Worth it or Not?

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Summary

Websitestock.adobe.com
Photos206 million
Videos25 million
Audio71,524
Templates85,022
Price$19.99/month
LicensingRoyalty-free
Free TrialYes (10 free images)
AlternativesShutterstock & iStock
Adobe Stock logo

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Learn More

In this review, I’ll test Adobe Stock by looking at stock media quality, pricing, and website features.

Adobe Stock is a creative marketplace that offers anything from photos and videos to plugins. It’s also fully integrated into the Creative Cloud platform. Want to know more? let’s dive in.

Get a 30 Day Free Trial on images. Find the perfect high-resolution, royalty-free, stock image to enhance your next project. 🙌

What is Adobe Stock?

Adobe Stock is a stock photo website that started in 2015 when they purchased Fotolia. You can explore and choose from high-resolution assets to use in your creative projects, including:

  • Photos
  • Footage
  • Vectors
  • Illustrations
  • Music

Who is Adobe Stock for?

Anyone working on a project that wants to make an impact with high-quality assets can use Adobe Stock. Whether you’re a filmmaker, photographer, designer, or content creator.

Also, Adobe Stock offers 1+ million free images that you can download. These images are licensed under a standard license.

How Does it Work?

Search features
Adobe Stock Review – Search Features

Using Adobe Stock is super easy! Here are 6 simple steps to find, purchase, and download assets.

  1. Click on the button at the top to visit the homepage
  2. Type into the search bar or select a category.
  3. Browse the search results and find something you like
  4. Buy a subscription or credit pack.
  5. Download the file.
  6. Drop it into your project and you’re done!

Also, if you’re already using Adobe Creative Cloud, you can edit and preview watermarked assets inside apps like Photoshop. However, you don’t need to be a Creative Cloud member to use Adobe Stock as it’s a separate service.

Adobe Stock Features

Adobe Stock collections
Adobe Stock Review – Collections

Firstly, Adobe Stock has over 300 million stock assets, including photos, footage, illustrations and music. People love Adobe Stock for its variety, allowing them to find good content even on unusual or special topics.

Secondly, once you pay for the license, you can use the creative asset on a royalty-free basis permanently. This will help you avoid copyright issues. 👍

Lastly, the most important feature that gives them an edge over their competitors is the integration with other Creative Cloud apps. Every asset you download is stored in your account, even fonts and audio files.

Free Trial

Adobe Stock now offers a 30-day free trial. The free trial allows you to download up to 10 standard assets during that month. Pretty sweet huh?

How Much Does Adobe Stock Cost?

Adobe Stock pricing
Adobe Stock Review – Pricing

Adobe Stock keeps pricing nice and simple. It offers either credit packs or subscriptions so that you can choose one that fits your usage. In addition, it also offers individual pricing for freelancers or team pricing for businesses.

Subscriptions

If you need media on a regular basis, a monthly or annual subscription may be best for you. An annual subscription will provide bigger savings per image compared to a monthly subscription.

Number of standard creative assetsIndividual
(Monthly)
Individual
(Annually)
Teams
(Annually)
3 per month£17.99/month
10 per month£19.99/month£19.99/month
40 per month£59.99/month£47.99/month£47.99/month
350 per month£119.99/month£65.99/month
750 per month£149.99/month£119.99/month£119.99/month

If haven’t used all of your assets within the month you can roll them over into the next month.

Also, once you cancel your subscription, you don’t lose the license rights for the media that you have already downloaded.

Credit Packs

If you only want a few assets per month or access premium content like videos then an on-demand credit pack may be the best option for you.

Number of creditsIndividualTeams
5 credits£29.95£29.95
16 credits£79.99 (save £16)£79.99 (save £16)
40 credits£180.00 (save £60)£180.00 (save £60)
80 credits£330.00 (save £149)£330.00 (save £149)
150 credits£600.00 (save £299)£600.00 (save £299)
500 creditsNot offered£2,000.00 (save £995)

Each different type of asset costs a different number of credits. For example:

MediaCredits
Standard images, templates, and music tracks1
Videos (HD, 4K)8-20
Premium images (photos, vectors, illustrations)12-50
Premium templates (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign)2-4
Premium 3D (Models, Lights, Materials)2-10

Basically, if you purchase a larger number of credits, you benefit from bigger savings as the price per credit drops.

Licensing

Adobe Stock provides permanent royalty-free licenses on all of its media. This means that you pay for the asset once rather than paying a royalty for each usage. The usage terms depend on the type of license:

UseStandardEnhancedExtended
Unlimited web views
Email marketing, advertising, social media, broadcasts
Modify the asset
Transfer the license
Reproduction500kUnlimitedUnlimited

Adobe Stock Review: Worth it or Not?

In short, Yes! In my opinion, Adobe Stock provides access to millions of high-resolution and high-quality creative assets for a reasonable price. It is essentially a one-stop shop for all kinds of creative assets that can help make your project stand out.

Also, the credit packs and subscriptions are reasonably priced and provide royalty-free licenses that you keep permanently even if you stop using Adobe Stock. There are even free assets that you can download.

Picture of Marcus VanWormer
Marcus VanWormer
Marcus is a freelance director, cinematographer, and video editor based in Brooklyn, New York. He has an A.S. in Digital Audio and Video Production with over 20 years experience working in commercials and live events. He's worked with some big companies like ABC, CBS, Jeep, Harley Davidson, and Levi's.
Table of Contents

🔎 Alternatives

Still not sure? Here are some others to try:

4 out of 5

Envato Elements is a stock media platform with one simple license all under one roof.

4.5 out of 5

Artgrid is a new stock footage site that offers cinematic-quality clips for a monthly subscription.

4.5 out of 5

Motion Array is an all-in-one video asset platform for content creators with unlimited downloads.

4 out of 5

Shutterstock is one of the most popular stock photo and video websites out there.

4 out of 5

Pond5 is one of the largest stock marketplaces, offering stunning footage from professional artists worldwide.

4 out of 5

Adobe Stock is a creative marketplace that offers anything from photos and videos to plugins.

4 out of 5

iStock is a popular stock media site with one of the largest collections of high-quality videos, and music.