A
Shutterstock vs Unsplash
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
S
Choose Shutterstock if…
- you're in its core audience: marketers, graphic designers
U
Choose Unsplash if…
- you want a free plan to start with
- you need an API to build on
- you work on iOS
- you're in its core audience: designers, marketers
Side by side
Feature Shutterstock Unsplash
Pricing modelPaidFreemium
Starting price$25/mo—
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, API
CompanyShutterstock · United States · since 2003Unsplash
Full feature lists
S Shutterstock
- Royalty-free stock photos, vectors and illustrations
- Stock video clips
- Royalty-free music licensing
- AI image generator with monthly credits
- Unlimited download subscriptions
- No-commitment image packs
- Standard license for creative and digital use
U Unsplash
- Free high-resolution stock photos
- Member-only Unsplash+ images added monthly
- Unlimited royalty-free downloads
- Cropping, resizing and background removal
- Model- and property-released images
- Bulk download from bookmarks or collections
- Premium illustrations
- Developer API and plugins
What you'd pay
The cheapest plan that fits, per month, billed yearly where the plan offers it.
Shutterstock
Image downloads subscription$25/mo ($300 billed yearly)
Unlimited Images$29/mo billed yearly ($348)
Unlimited Plus$69/mo billed yearly ($828)
Image packsFrom $29
Unsplash
FreeFree
Unsplash+ Monthly£6/mo
Unsplash+ Yearly£72/yr (~£6/mo)
Strengths and limitations
Shutterstock
- Image packs available with no commitment
- Unlimited plans cover a library of 100+ million assets
- Annual billing lowers the monthly price
- Covers images, video, music and AI generation
- Unlimited Images plan applies only to a qualifying part of the library
- Base subscription is limited to one seat
- Lowest unlimited prices require annual billing
Unsplash
- Free library of high-resolution photos
- Unsplash+ images are model- and property-released
- Unlimited downloads with Unsplash+
- Developer API available
- Unsplash+ license is single-user and accounts can't be shared
- Content can't be stored in a shared DAM
- Promotional renewal prices aren't guaranteed
More comparisons
Other options to consider
A
From $29.99/mo
A
Licensed stock photos, videos and audio with AI image editing tools
Stock photos, icons & fonts
G
G
Paid
G
Licensed stock photos, editorial images and video for commercial and media use
Stock photos, icons & fonts
E
EE
From $16.50/mo
E
Unlimited stock assets and AI generation for creators under one subscription
Stock photos, icons & fonts
F
F
From $14.50/mo
F
AI image, video and audio generation plus 250M+ stock assets for creatives
AI image & video generationAPI
P
P
From $10/mo
P
Royalty-free stock video, music, sound effects and images for creators
Stock photos, icons & fonts
A
AA
From $9.99/mo
A
Royalty-free music, sound effects, stock footage and AI generation for creators
Royalty-free music & sound effects
Facts from each vendor's public pages, prices checked Nov 13, 2026. Editorial policy