Envato was acquired by Shutterstock and underwent a visual rebrand in 2024. While these are some pretty big changes, the core of what Envato Elements is hasn’t changed at all.
Shutterstock vs. Envato Elements at a glance
Shutterstock has a much larger collection of royalty-free assets, while Envato Elements has a broader selection of assets you can get, such as templates and fonts. Envato Elements is less expensive than Shutterstock because you can download everything with an unlimited subscription.
- Pick Shutterstock if: you’re not limited by budget and can comfortably spend $29 or more per month and you need a strong royalty-free license. Get 15% off with ‘PHOTUTORIAL15’ »
- Pick Envato Elements if you need a large volume of downloads and can’t afford to spend more than $16.50/month. Get 57% off »
| Shutterstock | Envato Elements | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | from $29 per month for 10 downloads | $16.50 per month for unlimited downloads |
| 503 million images, 40 million videos, 43,400 music files | Agency review post not found images, Agency review post not found videos, Agency review post not found music files, Agency review post not found SFX, Agency review post not found templates, Agency review post not found fonts | |
| Payment model | Subscriptions (5 to 750 downloads), on-demand | Unlimited subscription |
| License type | Royalty-free, rights-managed | Royalty-free |
| Indemnification | $10,000/$250,000 | Up to $234 |
| Free trial | 3 images per month | 12 files per month |
| Coupons | Coupons Free trial | Annual discount (57%) |
Envato Elements is much cheaper than Shutterstock
Envato Elements has a single subscription that you can purchase on an annual basis ($16.50 per month) or a monthly basis ($39 per month). There’s also a student discount of 30% off both options and a 70% discount off the first month of a monthly plan.
Shutterstock, on the other hand, has different subscriptions for different media. Image subscriptions come with 10 to 750 monthly downloads and cost $29.99 to $249.99 per month. Video subscriptions come in sizes of 5, 10, to 25 videos for $79 to $669 per month. Audio subscription is unlimited and ranges from $42 to $69 per month.
Unlike Envato Elements, Shutterstock also offers on-demand plans. However, purchasing media this way is much more expensive than subscriptions. You pay from $9 per image, $50 per video, $5 per SFX and $50 per music file.
Shutterstock also had editorial and newsworthy content, similar to what Getty Images offers. Images cost $199 or $99 when bought in bulk, and videos $134.
Shutterstock has more high-quality content, but Envato has media types Shutterstock doesn’t
The number of media files correlates with the variety you are given. Another factor in variety is curation standards and technical quality. Shutterstock and Envato Elements are comparable in quality, but Shutterstock’s collection is much larger and offers much more variety.
Shutterstock has a much larger collection of images (503 million vs. Agency review post not found) and videos (40 million vs. Agency review post not found) than Envato Elements. Envato Elements has more music, SFX, and templates, but also has media Shutterstock doesn’t, such as themes, add-ons, 3D, various templates, and fonts.
In terms of resolution, Shutterstock and Envato Elements are neck and neck. Both offer up to 4K resolution video and full frame images, which are typically around 20MP.
If you need RAW/LOG footage, however, you will have to turn to Artlist or ProVideoFactory.
Licensing
While Shutterstock and Envato Elements offer royalty-free licenses for their content, their licensing policies differ significantly. Shutterstock offers four royalty-free licenses: Standard, Enhanced, Premiere, and Editorial. These licenses offer varying usage rights and legal coverage, with the Standard license offering up to $10,000 in legal coverage.
Envato Elements, on the other hand, has only one license option. While this simplifies the licensing process, it also means that users have less flexibility in terms of how they can use the assets they purchase. Most notably, the Envato license does not allow users to use assets for merchandise. Additionally, the legal coverage provided by the Envato license is significantly less than what is offered by the Standard license from Shutterstock, with only slightly above $200 in coverage.
Verdict: Envato’s license is much easier to understand but also more limiting and provides a smaller indemnity.
The verdict
If neither Shutterstock nor Envato Elements convinced you, you can read our picks for the best Shutterstock alternatives and Envato Elements alternatives. You can also look broader and browse the best stock photo or video sites.
