Shutterstock Review

Intro

Shutterstock, the world's largest subscription based stock photography provider, has quickly emerged as an industry leader since its founding in 2003. With an emphasis on providing a continual supply of fresh, rich content Shutterstock has built a strong reputation amongst marketing professionals.

Positive

Shutterstock's strong reputation is well warranted. The quality of stock photography can be described as breathtaking, artistic and timely. Shutterstock's primary focus is on providing fresh, relevant content for its customers on almost a weekly basis. An effort well appreciated considering Shutterstock sells photos using a subscription based payment system. In addition, Shutterstock has an appealing interface which attempts to eliminate some of the clutter that can make searching for stock photography confusing.

Negative

Subscriptions on Shutterstock can be pricey. A one month subscription will cost $159, while a year's subscription will cost $1599. Shutterstock does invest the money back into its inventory, constantly providing you with fresh content. However, if you wish to obtain a small handful of photos you still must purchase at least one month’s subscription.

Recommendation

Shutterstock is not the largest subscription based stock photography provider by accident. The quality of imagery is excellent, their catalog is constantly updated and the website is easy to use. Purchasing a subscription provides 25 unique downloads a day and there is no time limit for use. Which means you can compile an inventory of over 9000 stock photos in a years time.