The Adobe Stock free trial program has been around for a long time, and it hasn’t changed much since I first used years ago. Unless you have previous experience with platforms like Adobe Stock, it’s the best way to start.
This stock photo and video trial is an Adobe Stock’s promotional offer that lets you get the first month of the 10 and 25 Assets annual subscriptions free. This saves you $30 or $50, respectively. During this time, you can download 10 or 25 images, templates, and audio files or up to 3 videos (even 4K).
While the free trial requires you to enter payment information, you don’t get charged until the trial ends. If you cancel before that, you can keep all the files and you won’t pay anything.
Choose your trial: 10 assets trial | 25 assets trial
Being integrated into Adobe’s Creative Cloud, you can get an Adobe Stock trial along with any other Creative Cloud free trial you choose and use both simultaneously for free.
Table of contents:
- How to get an Adobe Stock free trial
- How to cancel Adobe Stock free trial
- How to get Adobe Stock images for free
- The best alternatives to the Adobe Stock free trial
How to get an Adobe Stock free trial
Getting Adobe Stock for free is as simple as starting a free trial, which should take you no longer than 2 minutes. Here’s how how to start your own Adobe Stock free trial.
- Visit the stock.adobe.com/plans.
- Flip the switch above the plans to Annual commitment.
- Pick the 10 or 25 Assets plan.
- Enter your billing information.
- Enjoy up to 30 days of Adobe Stock for free.
If you need more guidance on how to get a free trial of Adobe Stock, I wrote a more detailed guide below.
1. Visit the Adobe Stock pricing page
First of all, head to the Adobe Stock website via your web browser on your preferred device. You’ll be taken to their stock.adobe.com/plans, giving you the option to sign up for any of the four subscription tiers. You can also go straight to the pages for 10- or 25-Asset trials and skip Step 2.
2. Choose between two entry subscription plans
The Adobe Stock free trial is available with two plans: the 10 and 25 Assets subscriptions. You need to choose Annual commitment in the box above the plans since the trials are not available with month-to-month plans. Click the blue Start free trial button.
3. Sign up and enter your billing information
To get started with Adobe Stock, you first need to create an Adobe account (it’s free). You can use an email address, or you can sign up with your Google, Facebook, Apple, or Microsoft account.
If you already have an Adobe account, click Log in to continue to payment.
You can pay using most credit and debit cards as well as PayPal. But because you chose a free trial, you won’t get charged until the trial ends, no matter the payment method.
4. Download photos and videos
With your plan active, you can now download up to 25 standard assets and up to 3 HD and 4K video clips. Everything you download during the free trial will come with identical Adobe Stock’s licensing terms as if you paid for the plan.
How to cancel Adobe Stock free trial
To avoid paying for a subscription, you need to cancel the trial before it ends. Canceling the trial is the same as canceling an Adobe Stock subscription.
- Sign in to your Adobe account.
- Go to Plan information and click Manage plan.
- Under Plan & payment, click Cancel plan.
- Select the reason for the cancellation, and click Continue.
- You will receive an email confirming your cancellation.
So what happens after you cancel? Your trial will remain active until the end of the 30-day period, after which you’ll lose access to unused downloads. But everything you downloaded during the trial is your to keep.
If you don’t cancel in time, you will be charged a monthly subscription price for the plan you chose. After that, you can ask for a refund, but Adobe will charge you a cancelation fee.
How to get Adobe Stock images for free
If you don’t feel like giving your payment information in exchange for free stuff, Adobe Stock also has a collection of 1 million royalty-free images, videos, templates, and 3D models.
This collection is even better than Unsplash because you get Adobe Stock’s royalty-free license with each asset, which includes $10,000 legal protection, while Unsplash’s license does not (unless you pay).
Here’s how to get Adobe Stock for free:
- Go to stock.adobe.com/free.
- Enter a keyword or search phrase in the input field.
- Use filters on the left to narrow down your search.
- Click a thumbnail of an asset you like and press License for Free.
- Create a free Adobe account (you don’t have to enter payment information).
The best alternatives to the Adobe Stock free trial
I made it my mission a few years back to test and document all the best stock photo and video free trials. Some trials have been removed while new ones popped up. Here’s the current overview of all the best alternatives to the Adobe Stock free trial.
| Free trial | You get | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Stock | 25 photos or 3 videos | 30 days |
| iStock | 10 photos | 30 days |
| Depositphotos | 10 photos | 7 days |
| Shutterstock | 3 photos | Free forever |
| Envato Elements | 12 files per month | Free forever |
| 123RF | Unlimited downloads | 7 days |
| Artlist | Unlimited downloads | 2 months |
| Motion Array | Unlimited downloads | 2 months |
Related reading:
- Adobe Stock discounts
- Adobe Stock pricing, explained
- Shutterstock vs. Adobe Stock
- How to get Adobe Creative Cloud free trial
- Adobe Stock license, explained
This article was originally published in May 2021. The most recent update was in June 2025.
