Finding quality affordable stock images that are actually beautiful for your website or blog might seem like a hassle. Think of the hours you spend sifting through thousands of photos at an online mega stock image site, or even spending countless hours trying to get the perfect shot for just one page on your website. It doesn’t have to be that way!

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Going the legal route, by securing royalty-free images, is a great use of your marketing and production dollars and time, especially when they are affordable. Think stock photos are stuffy? Especially when visions of corporate-types in business suits carrying briefcases come to mind? Think again! The royalty free stock photo sites of today are much different, offering anything from bright, beautiful imagery and photos with a vintage feel to illustration vectors and overlays

Our Favorite Affordable Stock Images Websites

Adobe Stock
While Adobe Stock isn’t the cheapest option, it’s certainly my top winner for ease of use and quality of photos. Who wouldn’t want to get their royalty-free stock images from the company that brought you products like Illustrator and Photoshop?

The most affordable way to utilize Adobe Stock is through their monthly plans. Currently, you will receive your first month free, and 10 images a month at $29/month thereafter if you commit to an annual plan.

dreamstime
dreamstime may be a mega royalty free images site, but finding affordable stock images here is fairly easy to use, especially since the pricing is significantly lower than some of the other larger sites.

The stock image service offers a monthly membership model, as well as a yearly membership based on the number of image downloads you want to have access to each month. Pricing starts at $25/month.

 

They key to using stock images is to find ones that match the look and feel of your website.

PhotoSpin
PhotoSpin is another one of those royalty-free images sites that have absolutely beautiful images for a very reasonable price.

While they do offer subscriptions, the subscription-based model is truthfully only a fabulous deal if you download hundreds of stock images per year since it starts at $49/month. If you download only a few images per month, they do have an option to pay as you go for your royalty-free images for a price of around $2 each.

Shutterstock
Although I would classify Shutterstock as one of those sites that has a gazillion images and is a HUGE player in the royalty-free, stock image space. They really do have almost anything you are looking for.

Shutterstock offers subscription-based memberships that provide so many images per month or year, as well as pay-as-you-go pricing. If you choose an annual plan, 10 images per month will set you back $29/month, which is definitely the most cost effective way to find affordable stock images utilizing their platform. With the pay-as-you-go pricing, plan to spend roughly $10-15 per image, depending on the number of credits you purchase at a time.

Big Stock by Shutterstock
Big Stock, a company owned by Shutterstock certainly earns a mention here. While you likely don’t need 10 images a day, this stock image service can still be super affordable for the little guy! Credits are the way to go here. Currently, you can purchase credits, to be used within a year for approximately $2-$3/image. That’s a deal!

 

Wherever you get your images, just make sure you are legally allowed to use the images as royalty free images. Remember, you must own or have permission to the right of use and to overlay any text prior to posting on your website or blog.

What’s your favorite royalty free stock images source?

Tiffany