As a web developer and consultant, I often have to source for good Royalty-Free stock content. Cost is always a concern, that’s why I turn to Microstock sites like 123RF, Dreamstime, Fotolia, iStockPhoto and ShutterStock. Which one is the best and gives you the best value for money however? So here’s my review on all the major players when it comes to Royalty-Free content.
Statistics & Summary
| 123RF.com | Dreamstime.com | Fotolia.com | iStockPhoto.com | Shutterstock.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content Count: | 16 million | 14.5 million | 19.1 million | Doesn’t say… | 20 million |
| Photos & Illustrations: | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video footage: | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio Clips & Music: | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Credits Model: | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pseudo |
| Subscription Model: | Yes | Pseudo | Yes | Pseudo | Yes |
What is the Credits Model?
- Credits are like tokens that you exchange for each download.
- Usually, the amount of Credits you will need to download any image corresponds with the size you’re downloading.
- Larger image = larger amount of credits.
When do you need Credits? How do I know if Credits are suitable for me? You need credits if:
- You have a special licensing need, or want to incorporate the image into a product that you’re going to make money from. Most stock sites offer extended or enhanced licenses. For a basic license, usually a site charges a small number of credits, but if you’re using the image as a part of a product that is to be sold, like on prints or an App, you need to get the extended license which will cost more credits or;
- When you are primarily downloading smaller file sizes probably for blogs and web or;
- When you don’t need to download images every day, and you’re using it for small projects (like me).
What is the Subscription Model?
- Like a magazine, you subscribe to it and use it as much as you like until the subscription period comes to an end.
- The sites usually have a daily subscription quota/limit, you can’t download more than this limit.
- You can’t get special license terms (like extended or enhanced) with subscriptions, usually.
- This limit will reset every day.
- Subscription buyers usually must have a daily appetite for images. Some sites like Shutterstock.com do not allow you to ‘stockpile’ images. You need to use them before a certain time limit, or the license will expire.
What does Pseudo mean?
- When a site tries to implement a credit model when it is predominantly subscription based, I term it as pseudo.
- They assign you a bunch of credits that expire daily. OR
- They give you a download subscription quota, and the quota that you need to download a certain image varies with the size you require.
Search Results – Comparison
I did some searches on the five sites and I got a panel of my friends to comment on the search results.
| 123RF.com | Dreamstime.com | Fotolia.com | iStockPhoto.com | Shutterstock.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 123RF.com Search Results for keyword Business |
 Dreamstime.com Search Results for keyword Business |
 Fotolia.com Search Results for keyword Business |
 iStockPhoto.com Search Results for keyword Business |
 Shutterstock.com Search Results for keyword Business |
| Default Filter: Relevancy |
Default Filter: Relevancy |
Default Filter: Relevancy |
Default Filter: Relevancy |
Default Filter: Popular |
Why is the default filter important?
- Relevancy usually shows the results of what the system thinks are best images for you. It often doesn’t take into account other factors.
- Popularity however is a whole different ball game, it takes into account what people have actually downloaded, and usually people only download good stuff! It is no wonder why Shutterstock.com comes out tops in the search results test.
Price vs. Quality (Credits)
Everyone should be concerned about prices. Nobody likes to pay more when they can pay less! We now look at how much an image would cost at each of the sites above as well as their entry points.
| 123RF.com | Dreamstime.com | Fotolia.com | iStockPhoto.com | Shutterstock.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum spend: | $12.50 | $10 | $13.00 | $19.99 | $49 |
| Minimum credits: | 10 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 downloads (Small & Medium) 5 downloads (large JPG & EPS) |
| Price Per Credit: | $1.25 | $1.25 | $1.30 | $1.67 | $4.08 – S & M / $9.80 – L & EPS |
| XS size | N/A | 3 ~ 11 | 1 ~ 3 | 2 | N/A |
| S size | 1 | 5 ~ 13 | 3 ~ 9 | 5 | $4.08 |
| M size | 2 | 7 ~ 16 | 6 ~ 18 | 10 | $4.08 |
| L size | 3 | 8 ~ 17 | 8 ~24 | 12 | $9.80 |
| XL size | 4 | 9 ~ 18 | 10 ~ 30 | 15 | N/A |
| XXL size | 5 | 10 ~ 19 | 12 ~ 36 | 20 | N/A |
| XXXL size | N/A | N/A | N/A | 34 | N/A |
| TIFF | 10 | 15 ~ 29 | 12 ~36 | N/A | N/A |
| EPS | 10 | 20 ~ 38 | 4 ~ 8 | 5 ~ 15 | $9.80 |
| Pricing Strategy | Static pricing | Image popularity | Seller’s level | Static | Static |
Price vs. Quality (In US Dollars per image)
Now how does that look in terms of absolute prices?
| 123RF.com | Dreamstime.com | Fotolia.com | iStockPhoto.com | Shutterstock.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum spend: | $12.50 | $10 | $13.00 | $19.99 | $49 |
| Minimum credits: | 10 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 downloads (Small & Medium) 5 downloads (large JPG & EPS) |
| Price Per Credit: | $1.25 | $1.25 | $1.30 | $1.67 | $4.08 – S & M / $9.80 – L & EPS |
| XS size | N/A | $3.75 ~ $13.75 | $1.30 ~ $3.90 | $3.34 | N/A |
| S size | $1.25 | $6.25 ~ $16.25 | $3.90 ~ $11.70 | $8.35 | $4.08 |
| M size | $2.50 | $8.75 ~ $20.00 | $7.80 ~ $23.40 | $16.70 | $4.08 |
| L size | $3.75 | $10.00 ~ $21.25 | $10.40 ~ $31.20 | $20.00 | $9.80 |
| XL size | $5.00 | $11.25 ~ $22.50 | $13.00 ~ $39.00 | $25.05 | N/A |
| XXL size | $6.25 | $12.50 ~ $23.75 | $15.60 ~ $46.80 | $33.40 | N/A |
| XXXL size | N/A | N/A | N/A | $56.78 | N/A |
| RAW TIFF | $12.50 | $18.75 ~ $36.25 | $15.60 ~ $46.80 | N/A | N/A |
| Illustration EPS | $12.50 | $25.00 ~ $47.50 | $5.20 ~ $10.40 | $8.35 ~ $25.05 | $9.80 |
| Pricing Strategy | Static pricing | Image popularity | Seller’s Rank | Static pricing | Static pricing |
Notes on Pricing Strategies:
- Fotolia.com determines an image price based upon the Seller’s ranking. A Seller’s Rank is dependent on the amount of downloads they have had on their entire portfolio. This means 2 things:
- The more mature a seller is, you will need more credits to license one of their images. Mature contributors have been on Fotolia.com for a long time and hence have built up a good number of downloads.
- The better a seller’s portfolio is, you need more credits to license one of their images. Sellers with good portfolios can rack up a good amount of downloads in a short time.
- Dreamstime.com determines the price of an image based on the amount of downloads it has had in the past (image popularity).
- You will pay more for a popular image. Here’s how they determine the level of an image:
- Level 0 : Older than 2 years with 0 downloads
- Level 1 : Newer than 2 years with 0 downloads
- Level 2 : 1-4 downloads
- Level 3 : 5 – 9 downloads
- Level 4 : 10 – 24 downloads
- Level 5 : more than 25 downloads
- The strategy is to encourage more use on less popular images. (But! Why would anyone want to license a bad image anyway?!)
- The level climb is pretty easy, I’m hard pressed to find a Level 0 image with a popular keyword match.
- You will pay more for a popular image. Here’s how they determine the level of an image:
How about bulk buyers?
Now what if you had a large budget and wish to really maximize the bang for your buck? I went and see what’s the lowest each site is willing to go without having to resort to calling their sales reps to haggle or negotiate!
| 123RF.com | Dreamstime.com | Fotolia.com | iStockPhoto.com | Shutterstock.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum spend | $8000.40 | $41,000 | $6,500 | $4,000 | $229 |
| Credits Obtained | 11,800 | 50,001 | 8,750 | 3000 | 60 downloads (Small & Medium) 25 downloads (large JPG & EPS) |
| Price Per Credit | $0.68 | $0.82 | $0.74 | $1.33 | $3.82 – S & M / $9.16 – L & EPS |
| XS size | N/A | $2.46 ~ $9.02 | $0.74 ~ $2.22 | $2.66 | N/A |
| S size | $0.68 | $4.10 ~ $10.66 | $2.22 ~ $6.66 | $6.65 | $3.82 |
| M size | $1.36 | $5.74 ~ $13.12 | $4.44 ~ $13.32 | $13.30 | $3.82 |
| L size | $2.04 | $6.56 ~ $13.94 | $5.92 ~ $17.76 | $15.96 | $9.16 |
| XL size | $2.72 | $7.38 ~ $14.76 | $7.40 ~ $22.20 | $19.95 | N/A |
| XXL size | $3.40 | $8.20 ~ $15.58 | $8.88 ~ $26.64 | $26.60 | N/A |
| XXXL size | N/A | N/A | N/A | $45.22 | N/A |
| RAW TIFF | $6.80 | $18.75 ~ $36.25 | $8.88 ~ $26.64 | N/A | N/A |
| Illustration EPS | $6.80 | $12.30 ~ $47.50 | $2.94 ~ $5.92 | $6.65 ~ $19.95 | $9.16 |
| Discount Structure | Smoothed | Smoothed | Stepped | Packaged | Packaged |
| Loyalty Programs | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Notes on Bulk Buying Discount Structures
- Custom Credits Calculator
- I really had a fun time plugging in values into 123RF.com, Dreamstime.com and Fotolia.com‘s custom credits calculator. What I found was:
- 123RF.com and Dreamstime.com‘s custom credit calculator seemed fair – The more credits you buy, the more discount you’ll get. The discount structure is smoothed.
- Fotolia‘s custom credit calculator is a bit wonky. If you added just 1 credit more, you’ll get a big bunch of free credits and a huge jump in the price per credit calculation. So if you decide to buy from Fotolia, make sure you play around with +10 or -10 on the custom credits calculator to get the best bang for your buck.
- I really had a fun time plugging in values into 123RF.com, Dreamstime.com and Fotolia.com‘s custom credits calculator. What I found was:
- Packaged Deals
- iStockPhoto.com and Shutterstock.com are on a Packaged deal. Meaning they do not have any custom credits etc. Just select a package and you’re good to go. I just looked at the default credits available. I do believe that if your budget is higher you might qualify for a big bulk discount. So if your budget is above the minimum spend amounts you see here, I recommend that you call them up and haggle a bit. You might get a very good deal!
- Loyalty Program
- I noticed that only 123RF.com has a loyalty program for its customers. Other sites do not. When you buy any package from 123RF.com, you get 123RF Rewards Points. You accumulate these rewards points and you can exchange them for even more download credits, gifts or shopping vouchers. The shopping vouchers depend on each country I guess, I deduced this because the vouchers I can get here are tied down to the local departmental stores.
Conclusion
These are my own conclusions and I based them on the research I’ve done of the various sites.
Here’s a table of the sites and what I like / don’t like about them.
| Site & Rank | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
123RF |
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Dreamstime |
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Fotolia |
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Shutterstock |
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I hope that it becomes clear that if you’re looking for a good deal – 123RF.com would be your best bet as they seem to have everything in one place, good prices, decent collection of content, good availability of support and a great rewards program.
NOT Warm Reviews 