# iStock Reviews **Vendor:** Getty Images **Category:** [Stock Photos Websites](https://www.g2.com/categories/stock-photos) **Average Rating:** 3.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 116 ## About iStock Founded in 2000, iStock created the crowd-sourced stock industry and became the original source for user-generated stock photos, vectors and illustrations, and video clips. For more than 15 years, we've given our artists a platform to make money with their passions by licensing their stock content to businesses and individuals around the world for use in a wide variety of projects. Today we remain an industry leader and key destination for creative business professionals who want to make a big impact without breaking the bank. We believe that imagery has the power to move the world. We also believe that our customers deserve the very best stock content - that's why we're proud to offer millions of bold, unique stock images you can only get from us. iStock is part of the Getty Images family of companies. ## iStock Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users praise the **vast library of high-quality stock images** from iStock, ensuring they find suitable content for various needs. (4 reviews) - Users value the **exceptional quality** of iStock's images, consistently finding reliable options for diverse projects. (3 reviews) - Users value iStock for its **exceptional content quality** , providing a reliable source for diverse and high-quality stock images. (2 reviews) - Users value iStock for its **vast library of high-quality images** and reliable service across various industries. (2 reviews) - Users appreciate the **much higher quality images and videos** provided by iStock, enhancing their creative projects. (1 reviews) - Collection Quality (1 reviews) - Content Abundance (1 reviews) - Ease of Finding (1 reviews) - Ease of Use (1 reviews) - Easy Download (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the cost of iStock to be **overpriced and often regrettable** compared to other stock options available. (5 reviews) - Users highlight the **high costs** of iStock, feeling it's not worth the price for the quality provided. (5 reviews) - Users express frustration with iStock’s **poor customer support** , especially regarding refunds and subscription issues. (5 reviews) - Users warn about **payment issues** with iStock, highlighting difficulties in subscription cancellation and unfair refund policies. (4 reviews) - Users highlight **pricing issues** with iStock, finding the costs competitive yet often higher than expected and unmanageable. (3 reviews) - Users express frustration over **high subscription costs** and poor refund policies leading to unexpected charges. (3 reviews) - Users express frustration with **account setup issues** , including difficult subscriptions, charging practices, and language changes. (2 reviews) - Financial Constraints (2 reviews) - Limited Resources (2 reviews) - Not Free (2 reviews) ## iStock Reviews ### 1. High-Quality Images That Match My Search Terms Every Time **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Matthew W. | Sales Administration Support, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 05, 2026 **What do you like best about iStock?** The pictures are very good. The images I look for when creating trade marketing materials or designing brochures, flyers, and website graphics are usually higher quality and fit my search terms better than what I find on other free websites. It’s also easy to sign in and track my searches, so I can quickly find images I viewed previously. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Honestly, I don’t love that I have to pay for it. It’s a bit of a hassle having to pay just to download a stack of 10 images, although I understand that the photographers and image creators need to be compensated too. That said, it isn’t overly expensive, but it’s still something I have to consider. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use this to find the right, high-quality pictures and graphics for trade marketing materials. It saves me a lot of time because I don’t have to search all over the internet for license-free material that actually matches the look I’m going for. I also don’t always want to use AI-generated images; real images have a different quality to them. ### 2. Reliable, High-Quality Stock Library with Unique Content **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Vikas V. | Software Consultant, Computer & Network Security, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 17, 2026 **What do you like best about iStock?** iStock has been around for as long as I can remember, and I’ve consistently found them reliable. They offer a vast library of stock images across many industries, and it’s rare that I can’t find something that fits a specific use case. While the pricing is generally on the higher side, the quality and the exclusive stock content they offer feel unmatched. One feature I also appreciate, even though it isn’t perfect, is the ability to search for images using an existing image, similar to Google Image Search. It’s not flawless, but it does work and can be really helpful. iStock also provides sample images with a watermark, which helps me test how an image will look in a particular context before committing. This is especially handy because an image can look like a masterpiece on its own, but once you place it into a design or layout, it might not look as good as you expected. Overall, iStock has helped me avoid the more expensive route of hiring a photographer or an artist by making it possible to purchase images for a relatively small fee. **What do you dislike about iStock?** While it was a pioneer at one point, there are now so many stock websites that offer a similar service. Although the pricing is competitive, I still find it slightly on the higher side. I remember when purchases were only possible through credits, and those credits had to be bought in multiples—there was no way to get a single image for a fixed payment. The new pay-as-you-go model is great. That said, even though the pay-as-you-go model has been relaxed, it could still be better. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** The vast library of images covers most industries and is ideal for teams that can’t afford expensive artists or photographers, all for a very small fee. Without iStock, the budgets of many marketing teams would have ballooned, since they still need quality images for their campaigns and websites. ### 3. Misleading Subscription Terms and a $100 Cancellation Fee **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 13, 2026 **What do you like best about iStock?** Generally much higher quality images and videos **What do you dislike about iStock?** In general there was nothing I disliked but recently I purchased a subscription for a single consulting project which I believed to be monthly, but turned out to be annual and billed monthly. I had been laid off and this project required me to download a handful of videos for ads. When I saw I was being charged, I reached out and was told in spite of my hardship they would be charging me an additional $100 for cancellation. Very poor customer service. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** In general it solves the need for finding images and videos for ads. ### 4. Diverse Content and Intuitive Features Enhance Creativity **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Julieta S. | Marketing Manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 06, 2026 **What do you like best about iStock?** I really appreciate the wide variety of content available on iStock. I find the color filters particularly useful as they help me filter and show the specific color mood and palette that I need, which is great for video and social media content creation. The initial setup was very easy for me; I just logged in, chose a plan, and started downloading stock content without any hassle. **What do you dislike about iStock?** I think iStock could improve by offering more video footage. I'd like a bigger variety of vertical format video content. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use iStock for stock images and video, helping with specific color moods and palettes in content creation. ### 5. A Reliable Stock Website with Room to Grow **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Madalyn K. | Graphic Designer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 09, 2025 **What do you like best about iStock?** As a graphic designer, I have used many stock photos websites, and iStock is consistently one of my go-to resources. One of the things I like best is how much time it saves me. Compared to free stock options, the variety and quality here are miles ahead. Typically I can find images quickly without having to sift through pages of irrelevant generic images. The image quality is consistently high as well. I also appreciate that they offer vector files, and video content–both of which I use often for my projects. Lastly, the filter options are amazing! I love that I can filter by age, ethnicity, number of people, and color toning. These are all extremely useful for me when trying to find very specific images. **What do you dislike about iStock?** While there is a lot I like about iStock, there is also room for improvement. It can sometimes be difficult to find imagery that reflects a broad range of ethnicities and cultural diversity, especially when you're searching for more candid or natural-looking photos. Another drawback is the cost. While the quality is there, the pricing is a little steep. It would be great to see more flexible subscription options. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a designer, I often need high-quality, relevant imagery on tight deadlines. Free stocks sites can be limited in variety, overused, and time consuming to sift through. This means I am wasting time hunting for photos, risking using generic or overused content, and sometimes compromising on the look or message of my design. iStock solves this issue by offering a massive library of professionally, high-quality images, vectors, and videos. This allows me to spend less time searching for quality images and more time designing. ### 6. istock review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2026 **What do you like best about iStock?** Variety of images to choose from High quality images **What do you dislike about iStock?** We need to pay inorder to download images in highh quality **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** We can use istock images for websites or screen designs, which otherwise we need to have created b ourselves. ### 7. Literal scam company playing pricing tactics! **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Qasim Z. | Product Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 11, 2025 **What do you like best about iStock?** Nothing at all, the visual i found were not that great. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Most probably you have come here after getting scammed, but if not, please save yourself for these scammers. They are a big scam, they will lure you in with a free trial, they will write misleading information about how they are going to charge you. Once your free trial ends, you will be obligated to pay them $70 each month for a period of one year. There is no way to cancel the account and there is no way to remove my card information. Even if you cancel during trial, you will be charged an ADMINISTRATIVE FEE. This is 2025 and they are playing cheap tactics to charge you. I had to block and order a replacement of my card because of other reviews that says they were charged even after cancellation because they don't clearly mention if the subscription will cancel right away or after a period of 12 months. So in my opinion, if you want to save your hard earned money, block your card. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** They are providing stock images but there are far much better images now. ### 8. Disappointed with iStock’s Refund Policy and Customer Support **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sheida M. | Incubator ‘25, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 01, 2025 **What do you like best about iStock?** Their images are good but really their bad policies overwrites their experience. **What do you dislike about iStock?** I recently had a frustrating experience with iStock’s subscription and refund process. After my free trial ended, I was automatically charged for a paid subscription, which I canceled immediately upon noticing the charge. I hadn’t downloaded any content during the paid period, and according to their policy, that should make me eligible for a refund. However, because I had downloaded a single image during the free trial to test the service, they refused to issue a refund—keeping nearly $100 for a service I never used. I even offered to pay for the one image I downloaded, but they were unwilling to make any exceptions. This policy feels unfair and seems more focused on trapping customers with technicalities rather than offering a customer-friendly experience. I expected more flexibility and understanding from a company of this size. If you’re considering trying iStock, be very cautious with their free trial and automatic renewals—it’s easy to get charged for something you didn’t intend to keep, with little chance of a refund. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Finding photos for my website ### 9. Worst purchase you can make **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ayla B. | Marketer / social media manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 20, 2025 **What do you like best about iStock?** Theres nothing to like about it. I'm glad my subscription finally ends in a month. **What do you dislike about iStock?** The stock photos and videos are not good. The search words don't match the content. The material is okay at best. Nothing is aestatically pleasing. The site keeps changing into a different language. I have to log in 1000 times before it works and its also very expensive and you can't unsubcribe before the first year. Absolutely aweful! Do not purchase, you will regret it. Have used pexels more while paying 100 a month for my subcripition on istock. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Finding content. But it's not doing the job. ### 10. Horrible refund policy **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brenda M. | ESL teacher, Primary/Secondary Education, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 19, 2025 **What do you like best about iStock?** There are some nice photos in a lot of different categories. **What do you dislike about iStock?** If you forget to cancel yoursubscription, like I did, forget a refund. It is also overpriced at $70 monthly. I only signed up to see what was available and intended to cancel. I only used a few photos. Not worth the charge. Beware and make sure to cancel in advance if you don't intend to keep using it. Their customer support is not helpful if you want a refund. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I needed photos for my newsletter. I found a few, but decided not to keep using it because of the cost. ### 11. Shiesty customer service for generic images - UPDATE **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew B. | Sr Web Designer, Design, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2024 **What do you like best about iStock?** As far as generic stock photo sites go, this one fits the bill. For stock photos with character though, there are other options. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Customer service is a joke. Tried the one month trial and went to cancel the auto renewal and thought I had done it. I was charged anyways and when I talked with customer support to cancel and get a refund (I hadn't used it since the beginning of my free trial) and they refused to give me a refund. They were quick to cancel my subscription for me though and offered many times. Very disappointed that they refuse to work with me on refunding a subscription I thought I had cancelled but don't care if I'm actually using the service or not. UPDATE I was charged AGAIN for another month. After chatting last month with customer service and telling them that I am turning off auto-renewal and will not be using them again, I get charged a second time. This time they tell me that auto-renewal only includes the annual subscription, so while I thought I was cancelling monthly payments, they would've continued to take money from me for the rest of the year (under my subscription payments, the last invoice I paid said the service expires after a year and included no footnote about it charging every month until then). And all I wanted was a free trial. BEWARE of the fine print with this company. They still refused to issue a refund, so now I've paid two months and haven't used their service a single time. They are scam artists. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** They really didn't solve any problems. Which is why I didn't want to renew the free trial. ### 12. I turned off autorenew on my account but they renewed it anyways then gaslighted me. **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Danielle H. | Sr. Design Manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 29, 2024 **What do you like best about iStock?** The images are great. The service not so much. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Customer service is terrible. They refuse to do anything, and while I was typing out my complaints in the chat window, they had the audacity to ask for me to submit my complaint in writing! **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Providing content for my company's collateral. ### 13. Great images but otherwise terrible! **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Reut S. | Board Member, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 28, 2024 **What do you like best about iStock?** Great images and I did appreciate using them several years ago (but no longer). **What do you dislike about iStock?** I used iStock in the past and it used to be a legitimate service. No longer, and I wish I checked the reviews before I tried them again. They will take your money and give you a terrible scam-like feeling toped by terrible customer service. If you are reading this, look for more reviews online...they have 1 star in most places and my experience echos many of the scam-like experiences others describe. I feel bad for the artists represented by them. Not that they care about their reviews obviously, but I will never use this service again and if I was smart like you (checking reviews BEFORE I signed up) I would have stayed clear of istock this time around! **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** They have high quality images ### 14. No refund policy **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John D. | Founder & Executive Producer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 09, 2024 **What do you like best about iStock?** I like their selcection of conent for videos and images. **What do you dislike about iStock?** I do not like their customer service and no refund policy and them not making it clearer that the bundel I bought which said I get 10 downloads, only applies to image downloads. After paying the $40 and figuring this out after, they will not do anything to rectify it or refund. I did not use the product or download anything. It fells like I was tricked into paying for a service I did not want. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I wanted to make a video for marketing, but did not complete that project because of IStocks shady plan packaging. ### 15. Service Is a Deal-Breaker **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** June P. | Content Strategy & Communications, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 14, 2024 **What do you like best about iStock?** Photo quality and variety are useful. When you are an active user, the interface is easy enough to use if you're familiar with these types of sites. The Customer Support is lacking but present. **What do you dislike about iStock?** They are not transparent and proactive about providing positive customer experiences by providing alerts about free trials and associated fees. You have to read all the fine print and they do not partner with you the way Shutterstock does, for example, to ensure you have a positive experience. They do not warn you when your trial is ending, they require a $70 fee to cancel your account. When I accept this fee to cancel, they didn't follow through and charged me again the following month. I got the run around and they tried to charge me another $70 to cancel and remove my credit card information. They even tried to say I used my account since the "cancellation" though apparently they did NOT cancel my subscription and I sent screenshots to show my account had no activity since before the alleged cancellation. If you want to cancel, be sure to confirm payment, that your information was removed, and that your account is closed. You have to go above and beyond to ensure they do what they say, but they don't help you in the same way. They "can't" help with cancellations on the phone, but email chains are largely scripted and are not helpful. You also can't remove any information like billing info or cancel on the website yourself. They do not partner with their customers and are focused only on getting their money. I wll not recommend this site to anyone. Every step was frustrating and full of friction. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** For presentations to clients and for internal purposes, they provided decent supply of stock imagery. ### 16. Crooked & shady **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Libraries | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 13, 2024 **What do you like best about iStock?** I do not like anything about iStock at all. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Pricing and subscription details are ambiguous. The website said $70 per year but it turns out that is a per-month charge. Customer service is bottom-of--the-barrel poor, and unwilling to compromise on anything. If you cancel they will charge a $70, non-refundable "administrative fee." The images are not unique - the same or very similar images can be found through free services. My business now pays for and Adobe Stock subscription that is fantastic and 1/2 the price. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is not helping me solve any problems, it has only caused problems. ### 17. Great source of photos, graphics, clipart **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Craig F. | Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 05, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** The search feature is excellent. I have an idea of what to search on and the system offers suggestions to help narrow down the results. Then when I find a photo I like, there are multiple options for that same style or photo session. **What do you dislike about iStock?** I wish the price was a little bit lower. I don't need the monthly subscription. I currently have about 100 photos that I haven't downloaded yet and don't want to waste the photos I haven't downloaded yet by canceling it. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I manage the social media accounts, presentations, advertisements and other graphic elements. I prefer photos over clipart so it's great to have a source like this. My work has gotten much more professional looking since I created an account. ### 18. THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Charlie L. | Account Executive, Strategic Enterprise Accounts, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 29, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Neat photos that will lead you to a scam. **What do you dislike about iStock?** This company will scam you into buying a $700 yearly membership without your consent and no ability to cancel. I reached out to them letting them know I have no use for this and didn't even use it. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** None. Their customer service is extremely unhelpful and they will scam you into purchasing a $700 dollar membership even if you do not need it without an ability to cancel it. ### 19. Horrible service **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dilan W. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 12, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Service and support override anything remotely positive about iStock **What do you dislike about iStock?** Downloaded 1 image during free 7 day subscription, which lapsed by 1 day - they charged my $93. When contacted to explain that I was not ready to use service and it was a genuine lapse in my 7 day free period and also I only downloaded ONE image - refused refund. Abosolutely zero customer service and empathy! Wont be using again. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Lack of customer service ### 20. Inflexible customer service **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nadia B. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 31, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Ok selection of images, I was able to find what I needed about 70% of time. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Inflexible customer service and a company that makes money from forgetting the free trial expiry. I have been doing research among the services to bring forward to my company and of course cancelling slipped my mind. There is no reminder (of course, why would they). When I reached out to the customer service explaining myself, they declined a refund request. I expect more flexibility from a business. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I build a lot of decks ### 21. Unfair practices hidden in small print and not properly disclosed **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rasim H. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 20, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Ease of use and ability to move between plans **What do you dislike about iStock?** Not honestly describing the whole cost and rude and terrible custome support **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** They ended communication wihout taking care to explain change ### 22. Its a good website for a designer such as me it helped me a lot. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Saransh D. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 26, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** the photo and video collection is good but mostly i liked the vectors and the illustrations because I'm a designer, the site UI is pretty appealing to most people and its easy to use. **What do you dislike about iStock?** just that i got only 10 free images for free. unlike istock other websites offer unlimited free downloads categorized by paid images and free images because sometimes the low resolution or the free ones are just fine. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** i am a graphic and UI/UX designer so it helped me to create all sorts of templates, whether website designing or poster designing. as for solving my problems Istock has a verity of images and vectors for my use ### 23. Features and functions **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ayush K. | Quality Controller, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 30, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Free HD wallpaper or high quality photo available for any use **What do you dislike about iStock?** difficult to find your requirement photograph **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** To get the stock photo or image free ### 24. Very affordable stock content resource **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Anum R. | Customer Desk, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 28, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Has a huge library with quality content in multiple formats (pics & videos both) available at very affordable prices **What do you dislike about iStock?** Some asset licensing, especially for production work, is a bit complicated. If you have to include multiple stock videos, it is cheaper to get video done by yourself instead of relying on stock **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** For a design agency, iStock provides great packages for content, both photos & footage, to help with your design pitches. With a simple & great search function you can get quality images for very affordable prices ### 25. Image Quality **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ritik S. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 19, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Quality is best the clarity of the Picture is the next level of revolution. The image resolution is detailed that enhances the picture to be more beautiful. **What do you dislike about iStock?** I am using Istock from years and it's an amazing journey I have no single point that I can say that I didn't like Istock. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** The Istock Provide Pictures that are required with more specific content the clarity of the picture defines the topic and content with very ease ### 26. Full good stock as I stock. It just amazing. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ayush S. | Wedding, Event, Travel Photographer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 25, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Great photos without fear of license at an affordable price and various other things like video and illustrator work with full stock whatever you need as a designer. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Nothing compares to others but please always concentrate on websites sometimes glitches happened. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Requirements of stock images for reference of the photo shoot and stock footage for design. Video shots help in learning and music stock get away from the stress of music for videos. ### 27. Excellent **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Animation | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 20, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** It was Wonderful and Amazing.It was a way to increase our Pocket Money or a Deposit Cash like that.We Can Trust them.The Stock Market was an awesome.I learned more From it. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Firstly I lose Some Money in it.Because of my Careless Mind.Then I Re Deposited my money again and again.But Its too Loss.But I'm not Done with the lose.I re deposited it again.Then I find the way of Success. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I think it was a good help for me and my colleagues to get free mind.They have lots of Problems solved by iStock.That was a great and good for their help and Potential. ### 28. Graphic designer for 4 years **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Graphic Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 20, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Lots of options, high quality assets to used in various creatives **What do you dislike about iStock?** The pricing structure and the limited number of available assets per month.. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Not having to plan photoshoots for everyday usage like social media posts and banner ### 29. There's no an 'unsubscribe' option on the website **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sandra S. | Online English and German Teacher, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 22, 2023 **What do you like best about iStock?** Good-quality stock pictures and a wide variety. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Not user-friendly, no unsubscribe button and no customer service. Also, they don't answer promptly and the product is too expensive. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** It has a nice variety of pictures. ### 30. High quality and reliable stock images **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 15, 2022 **What do you like best about iStock?** iStock has extremely high quality stock images, a wide variety of niche images useful for businesses, and an easy-to-access user interface that makes the experience positive for users. **What do you dislike about iStock?** iStock can tend to be a bit expensive so it might cost a decent amount of money to purchase a variety of images. You have to be very precise about the photos you're purchasing, and make informed decisions before buying one. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm building a new website and need lots of new images to show the elements of each page. I need the images to be diverse, modern, and effective at telling a narrative. iStock helps me with that. ### 31. Great selection of quality stock imagery **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Laura G. | Bussiness Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 28, 2022 **What do you like best about iStock?** I like the boards collections, the large amount of quality stock imagery and the credit pricing options -which allow you to buy even 1 image. I like that there is stock videos available for website use **What do you dislike about iStock?** sometimes the pricing for some images are more expensive because they are part of the signatures collections. There are no free images. Can't download a single music item without a premium subscription. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** If you looking for quality and unique imagery and videos then iStock has a large selection. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** It helps me find quality imagery for use on my clients websites, branding materials and I can share the boards with my clients to make their selections. ### 32. Need non-generic stock images - This is the website to go. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Abhinav D. | Creative strategy manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 28, 2022 **What do you like best about iStock?** It is not different from its competitors. But, the pricing, the quality and the way they have segmented their images is brilliant. You will find images for almost everything on the platform. The search engine within the website works very well and you do not need to waste time in finding the perfect image. **What do you dislike about iStock?** The fact that the platform doesn't have a lot of graphics. There are graphics, but not a lot of them as compared to the competitors. This hinders my process sometimes and I have to resort to Shutterstock and other platforms. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** Go for the service, it is better, if not similar to Shutterstock and the images are fresh, not overused. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Images! All sorts of images! You can get almost anything here. The biggest benefit is that they also have images from different ethnicities, as compared to the competitors who focus mainly on a certain colour of images. ### 33. iStock; Quality images and videos. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rohith D. | Junior Graphic Designer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 30, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** 1. Istock dashboard is excellent and well organized. 2. Istock search filter is accurate and displays good results. We can even refine images with this option. 3. IStock has a wide variety of images with them. 4. IStock has excellent videos, photos, illustrations. 5. IStock is useful for people who can pay for the images. **What do you dislike about iStock?** 1. Pay per image in iStock is very expensive. 2. Monthy Subscription is also quite expensive compared to Pexels, which are giving images for free. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** iStock has quality images, but the pricing is expensive. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** 1. iStock is a lifesaver for many people who do not find proper images because iStock has all the pictures. 2. We can use iStock videos to create content for our social media pages. 3. Often, we won't get the images we want, but in iStock, we can find them in 4K definition images. 4. We can edit the videos in iStock the way we want, which is excellent. 5. The board's tool in iStock, allows saving images and video clips. ### 34. You can find tons of stock media here **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tashan B. | Video Editor, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** There are many stock images, video, sounds and other media to choose from at iStock. They have an always increasing supply of stock media. There are several subscription plans we can choose from on top of the pay-per-item type of deal. They often have promotions for new users or for certain types of media. The image quality is mostly professional and they offer various resolutions to download. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Though there is often a large quantity of stock media for every general topic, I think there isn't enough artistic or unique items that stand out from the rest. Most of the stock images and video I've used are generic and seem too lifeless to use in more significant posts and content we published. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** iStock gives us a way to acquire images, video and music without having to produce them on our own. We are taken through simple purchase and downloading instructions. Everyone on my team can use iStock without any problems. They have a support team that can help us satisfactorily when technical issues do occur. Our published content looks much better and gets better interactions and responses when we use iStock media compared to not using it. ### 35. Their subscription is a scam, meant to trick you into paying more for images than they're worth **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Patrick S. | Digital Marketer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 27, 2022 **What do you like best about iStock?** The images are fine,but you can find good ones elsewhere aren't sold with deceptive strategies. **What do you dislike about iStock?** iStock is a scam. After your subscription ends you will lose any unused downloads but they will still charge you for each one. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Nothing. I'm done with them. I wouldn't invite anyone to use them. ### 36. A good subscription for a reasonable price **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** David B. | Director of Production, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 09, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** I like the variety of assets they provide, you can find video, imagery, illustrations and vectors to create your own graphics. We have a subscription and we typically pay it off for the year with one client project. **What do you dislike about iStock?** The quality may not always be quite as high as some of the other sites featuring stock but you can usually find some assets that will work well for your project. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** We were looking for help finding video and photo assets to incorporate into some of our projects and we were running out of the sites we usually used. We found assets that worked perfectly and kept the client happy. ### 37. A great resources for photos, videos **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Financial Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 02, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** I like being able to search for stock imagery and videos to use for my design projects. I like being able to choose between horizontal and vertical layout, as well as the new search features that include number of people, age, and ethnicity. **What do you dislike about iStock?** The search functionality is limiting. It can be hard to find good results for more abstract ideas and sometimes the results that come up don't seem to match the search terms at all. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is allowing us to create designs with royalty free stock images. By downloading new images each time, we keep our designs fresh and up-to-date. It helps us to create quality artwork. ### 38. Getty Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Angela Mariea O. | Freelance Graphic Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 12, 2020 **What do you like best about iStock?** What I like best it's easy to find and a wide range of selections to choose from. **What do you dislike about iStock?** What I like the least is a variety of old style pic and brands. I have 105 year old grandmother and trying to find pic that depict her ethnicity of Black, African and Indian , I had to search a little harder. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Problems I'm solving with Getty Images is having a one stop shop at my fingertips for Zoom, Google Docs, WhatsApp and Messenger meetings. I've realized the images are sharp, royalty free and pairs well with technical devices for seminars, presentations and speaking engagements. ### 39. Large variety of images overall but is it best suited for B2C not B2B **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Gregg D. | Marketing, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 17, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** There is a large variety of images and some exclusive images. There is a number of filters available to help you zero in on the image you want. They also have popular categories and image sets bookmarked on the homepage. You can also search the full library without signing up for a subscription. Most of the images in the essential collection will fit the need, or you can step up to the signature plan. **What do you dislike about iStock?** The depth of images is lacking. You can find an image similiar to what you are looking for, but seeing similiar images grouped together is a hit and miss. Which brings us to the search feature. It's not bad, but it pulls in random images that have no corrolation to the search terms. Like an image of a wheelbarrow with pots when you search for a sprinkler. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** Start with the Credit packs and see if it meets you needs. Yes they are expensive, but it's better than being stuck with an annual subscription you cannot cancel. We jumped straight to the subscritpion (attempting to save money) just to find out it doesn't meet our needs and we cannot cancel. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are using iStock for stock images in our Business to Business advertising. The images have been great for our various marketing campaigns and sales initatives. ### 40. Solid option for marketing **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 20, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** iStock is extremely easy to use, and I like being able to pop in and find a photo for a marketing need that we don't already have an in-house photo for. I also like the feature that suggests photos that are similar to the one you're looking at. **What do you dislike about iStock?** It's limited as far as being able to organize and save folders of photos for future use or see what photos you've recently viewed. It's kind of like starting from scratch every time, which you may not want. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our organization uses a mixture of in-house photography and stock photography, and iStock helps us weekly, maybe daily, to meet the need for marketing images. It's especially helpful with advertising where we need full permission to use photos of people or even sensitive or vague topics where we need more abstract images. ### 41. Pictures Galore **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Automotive | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 11, 2021 **What do you like best about iStock?** You can find almost any type of picture using this photo gallery database. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Some folks may think that there are too many photo options, so it is all how you look at it. I like to have choices, but some may be overwhelmed with the number of pictures to look at. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are solving marketing problems by finding the best photo on iStock to portray our message. Benefits are plain and simple - we do pay for a quality image to complete our marketing projects. ### 42. A Very interactive Application with millions of Art collection **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Chethan S. | Senior IT Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 12, 2022 **What do you like best about iStock?** Though it has millions of photos and videos, it always excites me with a Quality collection of Photos **What do you dislike about iStock?** Sorting of the art works based on their category. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** vast collection of Photos and Clips helps me design presentations and videos without worrying about the copyright ### 43. Good Selection, but always looking for the upsell **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 09, 2022 **What do you like best about iStock?** I love how many of the shots don't look "Stocky". **What do you dislike about iStock?** How sometimes, you'll find the perfect image, and then you can use it because it's only available at a more expensive subscription. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Supplementing any photos, we don't have ads with images we find on iStock. ### 44. Great image bank for professional looking images **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Graphic Design | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 18, 2020 **What do you like best about iStock?** Firstly, full disclosure - I am using Getty because my client, a tech startup, has a subscription for it. That being said, the sheer variety of image offerings is great, and the photos are high quality photos. It's not hard to find photos which convey the right feel for the designs I do for my client. I do also download vectors from getty as well, and the offerings there are also pretty robust and many work well for my designs. **What do you dislike about iStock?** If my client did not have a subscription for getty, I would probably not be using it because, as a freelancer, it is too pricey for me. istockphoto works better for my budget, and has many similar photos. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** As one-off images can be pretty pricey, consider looking into the subscription model with Getty. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am able to always find what I need. Benefit is obviously the subscription based model which makes it easy for me to get approval for image purchase from the client. ### 45. Practically the gold standard for concept creative **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nurí P. | Senior UX, Graphic, & Production Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 11, 2020 **What do you like best about iStock?** Having access to over 30,000+ updates a quarter to an already massive library is so helpful when you have the Premium Access plan. Tack on the Easy Access comping feature and I can easily say that Getty is my go-to resource. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Being one of the best resources around means it’s not cheap, but it’s incredibly useful and excellent quality. I wish music were included in Premium Access. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** If your business needs stock imagery or video, and can afford the price, get both the Premium Access and Easy Access package. Keep in mind that this is enterprise level pricing. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy Access comping and the ability to use my credits for both video and images (instead of separate credits for different media) takes a lot of guesswork out of the decision making process. ### 46. Among the highest quality images I've seen in the stock photo market **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rodney K. | Lead Designer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 25, 2019 **What do you like best about iStock?** I would say that the quality of the photos are the best. They also seem to have photographers with the most access to exclusive events such as awards ceremonies or other private events. Searching for images through Getty Images is as simple as typing a few keywords and browsing through a results lists. There is extensive information about each photo, which is good for context and editorial purposes. We can download photos with a short sign up process. The quality of photos, in terms of resolution, are as high as it gets for typical media needs. **What do you dislike about iStock?** The prices are among the highest I've seen for standard stock image websites. Also, the ways we can use the photos are limited to certain uses. We can't modify all of the images or use them however we like. I think those are basically the only thing that stands out that can be conceived as negative about Getty Images. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** If the relatively high cost of licensing images isn't that big of an issue, Getty Images can be one of the best sources for professional images. There are also some lower-priced stock photo sources you might want to check out that also have high quality photos. Just search Google for stock photos and you should find a bunch. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Getty Images gives us a quick and reliable way to acquire access to high quality photos that we can use in our business media, social media and a number of other visual content. Though the pricing can be expensive for some images, I think the cost often beats the cost of us going to the locations where some photos are taken and then being able to take professional quality photos with high end cameras and equipment. ### 47. Easy Search Tools and Usage **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kelsey M. | Video Editor, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 29, 2020 **What do you like best about iStock?** Getty is fantastic for still image and footage searching. You can download comps easily from the search page without clicking on the media. Quality of media is fantastic. They give you options for quality as well! **What do you dislike about iStock?** Getty is my go-to source for images/footage. As of now there isn't anything I dislike! **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Getty for branded content and commercial use as well as internal rip videos. They are fantastic to work with and make my batch searches easy with their easy-access tool. ### 48. Satisfactory stock photos **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Media Production | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 11, 2020 **What do you like best about iStock?** Their association with Getty is a plus. They have a better selection of options than other non-Getty stock image sites that I've used. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Thinkstock is still more limited than Getty itself. Sometimes I'll be able to search on Getty (which has better search capabilities) and then find the same image on this site, but often what I'm looking for just isn't available here. Also the overall quality of images (photo quality and composition, graphic design for vectors, etc.) just isn't as good as what I might find on Getty. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use stock images for graphic design for clients. Overall I'm able to find a satisfactory solution through Thinkstock, though I may have to make compromises. ### 49. Getty Images Review **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ahad B. | Medical Safety Evaluation Intern, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 15, 2020 **What do you like best about iStock?** The breadth of photos that are available on the Getty Images site and the ability to share those images to friends on various social media platforms. **What do you dislike about iStock?** Hard to sort photos and find the ones in categories that are relevant to me. Feels like there's a lack of customization to the user experience. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** Being able to share powerful photos to complement messages on social media platforms. Sometimes visualizing a message is a powerful behavior change strategy. ### 50. Beautiful Photographs at Very Good Prices **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Donna N. | Public Relations Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 18, 2019 **What do you like best about iStock?** iStock provides high quality photographs at very good prices. You can download a single image for as little as $12 - compare that to most stock photo sites that charge around $50. Or you can subscribe and lower the price even more. On top of that, they have a huge selection of photos, videos, and vectors. **What do you dislike about iStock?** There's nothing to dislike really, unless you count having so many images to choose from that it takes a while to go through them and narrow down your choice. But that's hardly a negative. **Recommendations to others considering iStock:** If you need high quality photographs at a good price, you'll love iStock. **What problems is iStock solving and how is that benefiting you?** I know I will find exactly the right images at iStock. Regardless of what I'm creating - websites or email blasts or anything else - the photos I get here greatly improve the look of my work. ## iStock Discussions - [What is the best software for inventory management?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-best-software-for-inventory-management) - 1 comment - [View iStock pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/getty-images-istock/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-13+12%3A47%3A44+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=175bf200-8ce6-452b-866b-d7847e761d11&secure%5Btoken%5D=33d9dc83ab0e57500a58896425d8b30443ec09ef4f36d6abc7e8e754408c45f8&format=llm_user) ## iStock Features **Pricing** - Free Footage - Pay Per Image - Subscription **Media** - Sounds Effects - Genre Tagging **Media** - 360/VR - Animation - 4K High Definition **Pricing** - Royalty Free - Pay Per Track - Subscription **Agentic AI - Stock Footage** - Cross-system Integration **Agentic AI - Stock Music** - Cross-system Integration ## Top iStock Alternatives - [Shutterstock](https://www.g2.com/products/shutterstock-shutterstock/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (643 reviews) - [Storyblocks](https://www.g2.com/products/storyblocks/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (418 reviews) - [Adobe Stock](https://www.g2.com/products/adobe-adobe-stock/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (189 reviews)