7 Best Low-Cost Subscriptions for Stock Photos and Videos

Visual content is essential for businesses of all sizes. Whether you're crafting social media campaigns, designing marketing materials, or building a website that converts, high-quality photos and videos can make the difference between content that captivates and content that gets scrolled past. The challenge? Professional-grade visual assets can be expensive.

While free stock photo sites exist, they often come with significant limitations: restricted usage rights, limited selection, and questionable licensing that could leave your business vulnerable. But thankfully, a new trend has emerged over the past few years: low-cost subscription services that offer unlimited downloads, professional-quality content, and enhanced legal protections at a price any business or entrepreneur can afford.

For indie hackers, solopreneurs, content creators, and marketers operating on tight budgets, these subscription services represent a game-changing opportunity to access millions of professional assets without breaking the bank. Here are the seven best low-cost options that deliver exceptional value.

Best Low-Cost Subscriptions for Stock Photos and Videos

1. Vecteezy

Vecteezy stands out by offering a deal that's hard to beat. With over 60 million creative assets in their library, they provide access to a massive collection of photos, videos, vectors, and graphics that rival much more expensive competitors.

What makes Vecteezy particularly appealing is the unlimited access through a Pro subscription. Some of the photos, videos, and graphics on the site are available for free, which provides a great way to try it without commitment. But a Pro subscription provides unlimited downloads of all resources for a low monthly or yearly fee. The combination of unlimited downloads, a huge collection of resources, and a low price makes Vecteezy an excellent choice.

The platform's search functionality is another strength. When you search, Vecteezy offers several filters you can use to narrow the search and quickly find what you’re looking for. The specific filters vary depending on the content type (i.e., the filters for photos are different from the filters for videos or vectors).

Vecteezy Details:

• Price: Starting at $9/month
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads of all content types
• Asset Types: Photos, videos, vectors, graphics, icons, templates, bundles
• Library Size: 60+ million assets
• License: Standard commercial license

2. Shutterstock Unlimited

Shutterstock has been the gold standard in stock photography for a long time, but their new unlimited subscription plan (launched in 2025) makes them a more suitable option for indie hackers and teams with limited budgets. This service represents a significant shift for Shutterstock, which previously focused on per-image pricing and subscription plans with limited downloads.

The strength of Shutterstock lies in its massive, established library. However, it’s important to note that the Unlimited subscription does not include access to all of Shutterstock’s resources. Shutterstock contributors can opt in or out of the Unlimited offering, so some of the resources are not accessible on this plan.

Despite the fact that not all of Shutterstock’s resources are included in the Unlimited plan, it still offers an excellent value with access to millions of high-quality photos and videos. If you’ve avoided Shutterstock in the past because of price, the new Unlimited subscription may be worth a look.

Shutterstock Unlimited Details:

• Price: Starting at $19/month
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads of resources included in the plan
• Asset Types: Photos, videos, music, vectors, editorial content
• License: Standard commercial license

3. Envato Elements

Envato Elements positions itself as the creative professional's toolkit, offering far more than just stock photos and videos. Beyond traditional stock content, Envato Elements provides templates for presentations, websites, social media posts, and more. This makes it especially valuable for entrepreneurs and small business owners who wear many hats and need to create professional-looking materials across multiple platforms.

The inclusion of fonts, graphics, and audio tracks means you can often complete entire projects using assets from a single subscription.
In 2024, Shutterstock acquired Envato, which may have contributed to the development of Shutterstock’s Unlimited subscription.

Envato Elements Details:

• Price: Starting at $16.50/month
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads of all content types
• Asset Types: Photos, videos, graphics, templates, fonts, audio, and more
• Library Size: 22+ million assets
• License: Single-use commercial license (you can use resources more than once, but you have to create a new license for each use)

4. 123RF Plus

123RF Plus offers unlimited downloads of stock photos, videos, vectors, audio files, and fonts. The Plus plan was introduced a few years ago, and while they still offer download credits for those who don’t want or need a subscription, the Plus plan is prioritized.

If you’re interested in AI-generated images, 123RF Plus now also includes unlimited credits for AI image creation. You’ll enter a text prompt, and you can also provide reference images if you prefer.

Overall, 123RF Plus provides a good mix of quality, selection, and value.

123RF Plus Details:

• Price: Starting at $16.40/month
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads of all content types
• Asset Types: Photos, videos, vectors, audio files, fonts
• Library Size: 230+ million assets
• License: Standard commercial license

5. Motion Array

Motion Array specializes in video content and motion graphics, making it an excellent choice for video content creators.

What sets Motion Array apart is its focus on modern, professional video content that looks like it was custom created. The platform includes After Effects templates, Premiere Pro templates, and motion graphics that can help even novice editors create professional-looking videos.

For businesses investing heavily in video marketing, whether for social media, websites, or advertising, Motion Array provides exceptional value. They’ve also added photos, graphics, sound effects, and music, but the selection in these categories isn’t as strong as what you’ll find on other platforms.

Motion Array Details:

• Price: Starting at $24.99/month
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads of all content types (a separate video-only plan is available)
• Asset Types: Video footage, After Effects templates, Premiere Pro templates, motion graphics, music, sound effects, graphics, photos
• License: Standard commercial license

6. Storyblocks

Storyblocks is similar to Motion Array in some ways. Video footage is the strength, but Storyblocks also offers other resources like After Effects templates, Premiere Pro templates, music, sound effects, photos, and vectors.

The platform's video library includes content that works well for business presentations, marketing materials, and social media. Their audio library is also solid, providing royalty-free music and sound effects that can enhance video projects. However, the selection of photos and vectors is currently rather limited.

Storyblocks Details:

• Price: Starting at $30/month (a lower-priced plan offers 5 monthly downloads)
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads
• Asset Types: Videos, photos, audio, templates
• Library Size: 4+ million assets
• License: Individual commercial license

7. Yay Images

Yay Images isn’t as well known as some of the stock photo leaders like Shutterstock, but it offers a decent collection of resources at an affordable price. The library’s strength lies in stock photos, but they also offer a smaller collection of videos and vector graphics. A Yay Images subscription also provides credits for 20 AI-generated images per day.

Possibly the most noteworthy detail is that a Yay Images subscription comes with an extended license. That means you can use the images and resources in products that you sell, like templates or print-on-demand products.

Yay Images Details:

• Price: Starting at $8.25/month
• Downloads: Unlimited downloads of all content types
• Asset Types: Photos, vectors, videos
• Library Size: 30+ million assets
• License: Extended commercial license

Final Thoughts

Having access to high-quality creative assets like photos and videos can help your content and marketing materials to look professional. While the cost of these resources can add up, the unlimited download subscriptions covered here allow you to get access to lots of resources even on a limited budget.