Shutterstock reviews

Avoid it, honestly — not worth the headaches. Used it last week for a client mock-up; looked fine at first, but the licence terms are a nightmare, ugh.

the subscription wording is sneaky. I cancelled after a month but got billed again; after a back-and-forth support sorted it, so relieved it worked out.

Saw it via a friend's post, was skeptical about the unclear payments. Tried it, told roommate. I knew I was satisfied when support cleared the cancel fee and refunded me.

I found them on a writing forum and told a buddy to try them too — my mistake. They eventually posted my piece after ages and paid next to nothing; they kept flagging stuff as "AI" even when it wasn't, which is maddening. Weirdly one tiny comment from a reader made it sorta worth it, but barely in the end.

I signed up hoping it'd be simple — it wasn't. The service works okay, features do what they promise, but cancelling turned into a headache. Can't remove card details, had to get my bank involved, and they still tried to bill me once. Not a total scam, but watch billing and be ready to fight for a refund.

I hesitated at the checkout — had that sinking feeling, told myself "just this once". Turns out it's a year-long lock-in, no heads-up. Kinda annoyed, wish I'd checked the fine print. Don't make my mistake.

I liked the site at first, but my account was suspended out of nowhere and they never said why. I sent a bunch of emails and got silence — really annoying. The marketplace itself can work, but customer support doesn't. After some rough experiences with other platforms I moved my art to Gumroad and Ko-fi and felt safer. I'm glad it turned out okay, but still annoyed.

I use it every day for quick concepts and some weekend tinkering. At first useful — simple, decent quality — but 'unlimited downloads' is misleading. Downloads get throttled or stop. Fine for drafts, not for final work. Price doesn't match the limits. I'll still use it for quick rough ideas. I do wish they'd be clearer on caps.

cancelling turned into a mess, they kept charging and I couldn't remove my credit card. Quality was okay, but the billing control is unusable, so I'm not returning.

I realized halfway through the billing cycle that I'd missed the bit about an annual commitment — thought it was a monthly trial. I started using it last month, mainly for a quick set of images, and the library actually surprised me, quite decent selection. That doesn't excuse being told no refund inside a 14‑day window though. Tried chat, got canned responses, so now I'm pausing the card. Not great overall.

I signed up because I needed stock for a last-minute client video — budget was tight and my back’s been complaining from lugging gear, so I figured an "unlimited" plan would save me time and money. Trouble is, searches keep showing thumbnails that aren’t actually included in my plan, right there at the bottom, and I end up wasting clicks. Tried to give feedback, but getting through to anyone is a joke. The ones they block are usually the decent shots, too. I’m stuck for the year, but already poking around Adobe Stock. Kinda bummed.

read the fine print and set a reminder, or just stick with month-to-month.

watch the fine print and ask support if anything looks off.

Woke up to a charge from them and honestly my first thought was not again. They keep pretending the sales team is some kind of legal unit and then call every year saying your account isn't set up — pressure tactics. Buying credits felt opaque, tiny footnotes and surprise fees popping up later. We cut them off ages ago, but somehow they rebilled an old subscription that doesn't even show on our account, and this isn't the first time. Customer service answers but mostly just repeats the script, didn't fix the charge. Delivery of promised fixes or items was slow or non-existent. Images were low quality too. Compared to other companies I've dealt with, this was way more annoying than helpful.

I was halfway through invoicing a client for a small rehab guide I made for my physiotherapy site when I noticed another charge from them on my card — and that’s where this whole thing started. I needed a couple of stock photos quickly because my back-pain article had to go live, so I bought files and thought that was it. Delivery of the downloads was instant, and that part was great, honestly. The problem came later with recurring charges I didn’t agree to. Customer service was slow and pretty unhelpful at first; I had to push and eventually involve my bank to get some clarity. I’m relieved it got sorted in the end, but I’m annoyed and cautious now — watch your statements.

Halfway through a project I realised I’d somehow signed up for an annual plan when I only wanted a single clip. At first it felt convenient — instant access to footage. Then I noticed repeated $29 charges on my credit card and that convenience turned sour. I contacted support immediately to cancel. They offered a 'pause' on the membership but said I’d still be charged for half of the remaining year; later I learned the pause was only two months. That wasn’t helpful. I tried to make the most of what I’d paid by downloading other assets, but almost everything I needed asked for an additional $79 fee, so what I paid for didn’t get me far. The platform works fine for downloading and the search is decent, but the billing terms and cancellation route are confusing and feel like they’re set up to keep you paying. I’ve had clearer policies elsewhere. It’s usable, not great — I won’t re-subscribe and I’d warn others to double-check the checkout.

I just bought a pack with 5 pics from a stock image site 'cause I needed one for a project. But guess what? I totally blanked on the other 4 pics. Only realized when I saw my account that a whole year had gone by. Bummer, right? Also, kinda annoyed 'cause they didn't shoot me any emails as a heads up about the rest of the pics I still had in my pack. Feels kinda sneaky, like they're tryna squeeze some extra cash outta forgetful folks like me.

Be careful when signing up for this service because there are hidden fees that might surprise you. I missed the end of the free trial and ended up getting charged, which was totally my fault. But when I tried to cancel, they hit me with a big cancellation fee. I reached out to customer service and at first, they didn't really help me. It wasn't until I followed up with an email that they properly addressed my problem. Not only did they refund the cancellation fee, but also the monthly charges I had already paid. It's important to watch out for sneaky fees and keep a close eye on your account to avoid any unexpected charges.

So, I recently bought some stock photos on this platform, and let me tell you, it was a total disaster. I put in my card info, got hit with a charge outta nowhere, and then ran into all sorts of problems trying to cancel my subscription. And on top of that, they slapped me with cancellation fees. Talk about feeling ripped off big time!

Eh, so I got these pictures from this place, right? It was all good until they went ahead and took money from my bank account without giving me a heads up! It turns out they were saying it was due to someone using a stolen card to buy stuff, but come on, couldn't they have given me a heads up first? Not cool, eh.