I’ve been using and writing about Envato for over five years, including its pricing, licensing terms, free trial, best discounts, and every change it has undergone. I believe this puts me in a great spot to also write about the best Envato alternatives.
While Envato fits great into many of my projects, it’s not always the right tool or source. For instance, there’s no 8K footage (pick Artlist or Motion Array instead), the legal indemnity is low (pick Adobe Stock), and it doesn’t have as comprehensive an AI suite as Freepik.
If any of these is a dealbreaker for you, here’s my list of the best Envato alternatives.
The best Envato alternatives at a glance
| Why it’s better | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|
| Artlist | 8K and RAW/LOG footage, 50+ video editing plugins, highly curated | From $9.99/month + 2 months free with annual plans |
| Motion Array | 8K footage, 50+ video editing plugins | From $15.99/month + 2 months free with annual plans |
| Adobe Stock | Native integration with all Adobe software | From $29.99/month + 30-day free trial |
| Vecteezy | Very cheap photos, vectors, and illustrations | Free plain available; from $9/month + 30-day free trial |
| Freepik | More AI tools and more connected AI tools | Free plain available; from $9/month |
The best Envato alternative for 8K footage
Artlist
Artlist pros:
- 8K and RAW/LOG footage
- Clearlist resolves copyright claims automatically
- 50+ professional plugins included with Max
Artlist cons:
- Annual commitment required
- Smaller library than Envato
Artlist began as a music platform and evolved into a platform that even video creators can use. Instead of Envato’s everything-for-everyone approach, Artlist curates 180,000 videos from cinematographers using Red cameras and Arri Alexas. You get fewer options, but each clip meets professional standards without the usual searching through amateur footage.
When you download 8K footage from most platforms, you’re looking at $100+ monthly subscriptions, but Artlist includes 8K starting at $31.99 per month, and for less than $20, you can add RAW/LOG footage to push color grading further than standard compressed files allow.
When you upload a video to YouTube using Artlist’s music, the Clearlist feature handles any copyright claims automatically. You don’t have to deal with platform support for hours over licensing disputes—Clearlist resolves it for you within an hour.
Beyond the footage library, the Max plan includes 50+ video editing plugins for Premiere Pro, After Effects, and DaVinci Resolve. These are professional color grading tools and effects that would normally cost hundreds separately.
Like Envato, Artlist also offers image, video, and audio gen included in its everything plan. But during my testing, I didn’t like the results as much—images had quite a lot of errors, and videos had weird matrices, while the voice synthesis was great.
Artlist pricing: Plans start at $9.99/month for music only. The Footage & Templates plan costs $31.99/month for 8K videos. The Max plan at $39.99/month includes everything plus plugins and AI tools. Photutorial readers get 2 extra months with their subscription.
Read more: Envato vs. Artlist
The best Envato alternative for cheap 8K footage
Motion Array
Motion Array pros:
- Video footage up to 5K+ resolution
- Higher daily download limit (150 vs typical 50)
- Video editing plugins and Adobe integrations included
Motion Array cons:
- Small total library (2+ million vs Envato’s 20+ million)
- Higher monthly cost than Envato
Motion Array focuses on high-quality video content that meets professional standards. The platform offers footage up to 8K resolution, which lets you crop and pan without loss of quality in 4K projects. For video editors who need sharp footage but don’t want to pay premium rates at specialized sites, Motion Array fills the gap between Envato’s broader approach and costly stock video services.
The platform comes with Adobe extensions that bring Motion Array directly into After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop. This saves time during video projects because you download assets without leaving your editing software. The Everything plan also includes 50+ video plugins for effects, color grading, and green screen removal across major editing programs.
Motion Array sets its daily download limit at 150 files, triple what many competitors allow. This matters when you need multiple clips, templates, and audio files for a single project. You can download what you need in one session rather than spreading work across several days.
Envato costs less at $16.50 monthly (billed annually) compared to Motion Array’s $24.99 monthly (billed annually) for the Everything plan. But Motion Array’s video-focused library, plugins, and higher download limits make the extra cost worth it for serious video producers. The specialized video tools save time that offsets the price difference for professionals working on multiple projects.
Motion Array pricing: $15.99/month for the Video Templates plan (billed annually) or $24.99/month for the Everything plan (billed annually). Both plans include 2 extra months free with an annual subscription.
Read more: Envato vs. Motion Array
The best Envato alternative for Adobe integration
Adobe Stock ($29.99/month)
Adobe Stock pros:
- Native integration with Creative Cloud apps
- Preview watermarked content before buying
- Royalty-free license with $10,000 indemnity
Adobe Stock cons:
- Limited downloads per month instead of unlimited
- Poor customer support
Adobe Stock connects directly with Creative Cloud apps, unlike Envato, which works through plugins. This integration puts Adobe Stock’s library inside Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. You browse, test, and license assets without switching between programs. Import watermarked assets into your project, and when you’re ready, purchase only the ones you need for the final version.
With 390 million assets, Adobe Stock’s library dwarfs Envato’s 20 million files. Both sites offer photos, videos, templates, fonts, and 3D models, but Adobe Stock provides more options in each category. Adobe also includes a surprising bonus: 1 million free assets with the same $10,000 legal protection as paid files. Envato offers no free assets and limited indemnity equal to six months of subscription fees.
The biggest difference is in the pricing structure. Adobe Stock charges $29.99 monthly for 10 images or $49.99 for 25 images, while Envato gives unlimited downloads for $16.50 per month. Adobe Stock forces you to choose downloads carefully, but lets you roll over unused downloads for up to a year. For designers who spend most of their day in Adobe apps, the time saved with direct integration often outweighs the download limits.
Adobe Stock pricing: Plans range from $29.99/month for 10 images to $249.99/month for 750 assets. A 30-day free trial includes 10 standard images or 1 HD video.
Read more: Envato vs. Adobe Stock
The best cheap Envato alternative
Vecteezy
Vecteezy pros:
- Very affordable at $9/month
- 50+ million files available
- Free image editor included
Vecteezy cons:
- Half the library is AI-generated content
- No AI tools or integrations
- Limited to photos and vectors only
Envato’s $16.50 monthly subscription covers everything from music to 3D models, but when you’re designing social media graphics or building websites on a tight budget, you probably don’t need all those extras. Vecteezy focuses on photos and vectors for $9 per month, cutting your annual costs from $198 to just $108.
That $90 difference buys you coffee for months, but it comes with trade-offs. About half of Vecteezy’s 50+ million files are AI-generated, which works fine for web backgrounds or social posts but might not fit clients who specifically want human photography. You also lose Envato’s music library, sound effects, and video templates that make it useful for multimedia projects.
Vecteezy includes monthly bundles of fonts, presets, and templates that normally cost $39 each, plus a basic image editor with background removal tools. What you won’t find are the AI generators for creating custom images or music, or the plugins that let you browse libraries directly inside Photoshop and Premiere Pro.
For freelancers handling mostly web design, social media content, or print projects, Vecteezy delivers the essentials without breaking the budget. But if you’re editing videos, creating podcasts, or clients expect premium content variety, Envato’s higher price gets you tools and assets that make projects easier.
Vecteezy pricing: Pro plan costs $9/month annually or $14 month-to-month. Free plan available with 10 daily downloads and attribution requirements.
Read more: The best cheap stock photo sites
The best Envato alternative for AI tools
Freepik
Freepik pros:
- Multiple AI models for different tasks
- Credit-based system gives you control
- 92 million image library
- AI video and voice generators
Freepik cons:
- More expensive than Envato
- Library dominated by AI content
- Limited video and music selection
Envato’s AI tools work fine for quick mockups or social media graphics, but when you’re creating a product campaign that needs photorealistic images or trying to generate text-heavy graphics for marketing materials, you’ll hit their limitations fast. Freepik has rebuilt itself around AI, offering multiple models and detailed controls that actually compete with standalone AI platforms.
When you need a corporate headshot, you can choose Ideogram for clean text integration or Flux 1.1 for photorealism, then apply custom styles and lighting effects rather than hoping Envato’s single model gets it right. Freepik also handles AI video creation with models like Runway Gen 3 and Google Veo 2, plus voice generation in dozens of languages—tools that Envato simply doesn’t offer yet.
The credit system costs more but eliminates guesswork. Freepik’s Premium plan runs $20 monthly with 18,000 credits vs Envato’s $16.50 for unlimited but basic AI generation. You can see exactly what each generation costs and choose higher-quality models when projects demand them, rather than being stuck with whatever Envato’s simplified tools produce.
You’re trading Envato’s everything-included approach for AI specialization. Envato gives you music, video templates, and 3D models alongside basic AI tools, while Freepik’s 92 million files focus heavily on AI-generated images with limited audio and video variety. For visual content creators who need AI tools that match dedicated platforms, Freepik’s focused approach delivers better results than Envato’s broader but shallower offering.
Freepik pricing: Premium plan costs $20/month annually with 18,000 AI credits. Premium+ costs $39/month with 45,000 credits. Essential plan at $9/month includes 7,000 credits.
What’s the best free Envato alternative?
Envato used to offer a 7-day free trial of their plan for Individuals. But because it got heavily abused, Envato decided to scrap it in March 2023. With the trial gone, there’s still one way to get Envato for free: their free files program. While generous, I don’t like it as much. Every month, Envato picks 12 files you can download and use once for a personal project. No client work, no indemnity, and no control over which files you can download—it’s not enough for serious design work.
Another option is to use free trials and free collections of paid stock media sites. Adobe Stock has a 30-day free trial and a free collection with 1 million royalty-free files. Other solid free trials include iStock (30 days), 123RF (7 days), and Depositphotos (7 days).
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This article was originally published in August 2023. The most recent update was in June 2025.
