10 best stock photo agencies to buy images

10 April 2010 by StockPhotoExpert

The following list of stock photo agencies includes microstock sites, with prices starting at 1$ per image and even less if you purchase a subscription plan (starting at approximately 14 cents per image). On the biggest sites (at the top of the list) you will often see many of the same images since photographers and illustrators often submit their work to multiple sites. To be able to download images, you will need to first purchase “download credits” or choose a subscription plan. Usually the more credits you buy or the bigger subscription plan you get, the cheaper each image will cost.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency. More tnan 10 million royalty-free images are available for download (both commercial and editorial). More than 100,000 new high quality photos and illustrations are added to the collection every week! This agency is the best choice if you or your company needs to buy a large volume of images on a regular basis. You can choose a 25-A-Day Subscription for the greatest savings (get 25 downloads every day – that’s 750 each month) or select an On Demand Subscription for the greatest flexibility (use downloads whenever you need them for up to a year).

iStockPhoto

Highly recommended! iStockPhoto offers a huge image collection and boasts the largest number of exclusive photos and Vector illustrations that you will not find anywhere else. You can also buy footage and audio files. You can buy a credit package, a Subscription plan or create a Corporate Account for your company to save on purchases.

BigStockPhoto

Big collection of royalty-free images with prices starting at $1. Both commercial and editorial stock is available. The more download credits you buy, the cheaper each image will cost.

Dreamstime

Dreamstime is one of the leading microstock photo agencies, offering Subscription downloads for as low as $0.22 per image if you buy a 12-month Subscription package. With a Credit package, you can download individual images starting from $0.83. Dreamstime’s extensive collection includes commercial and editorial photos and is growing rapidly.

Fotolia

Fotolia offers a huge fast growing collection of royalty-free images, including photographs and Vector illustrations. You can buy download credits or a Subscription plan. If you want to sell and buy images at the same time, it is very easy to exchange your earnings into download credits.

123rf

123rf online collection contains millions of royalty-free photos and Vector illustrations and is growing every day. Both Credit packages and Subscriptions are offered. Prices are very competitive and customer loyalty is rewarded - you can accumulate RF Points that you get with every purchase and redeem them for a variety of gadgets like iPods and Digital Cameras. Also features a collection of free images.

FeaturePics

FeaturePics sells Royalty Free Image Licenses and Rights Managed Image Licenses for the price assigned by photographers. Many images cost just $1. You don’t need to buy credit packages to start downloading, so you can buy just one image and pay with credit card. After you have selected an image, you will click on “Download Image”, and be taken to your Wishbox, where you will be given the option to either continue to browse and select more images to purchase, or proceed with payment and downloading.