Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Stock
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Stock consists of curated asset collections that allow users to explore diverse collections of high-resolution, royalty-free, stock assets for use in digital projects.
$29
per month
Pexels
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Pexels, headquartered in Berlin, offers stock photos and video under the Creative Commons Zero license, from a global network of creators.N/A
Pixabay
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Pixabay headquartered in Germany offers a digital content platform, which they present as a community for sharing copyright-free images and videos. All contents are released under Creative Commons.N/A
Pricing
Adobe StockPexelsPixabay
Editions & Modules
Individuals
Starting at $29
per month
Teams
Starting at $29.99
per month
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe StockPexelsPixabay
Free Trial
NoNoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe StockPexelsPixabay
Considered Multiple Products
Adobe Stock
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock integrates far more easily into design software (e.g. Adobe XD or illustrator) than products like Pexels and Shutterstock. Adobe Stock generally has one price for full access, whereas Shutterstock offers different pricing tiers for different types of images which …
Chose Adobe Stock
Pexels offers a free alternative to Adobe Stock, albeit their selection is quite limited and doesn't include vectors. iStock and Shutterstock on the other hand have comparable prices to Adobe Stock, but their selection is far superior. The quality of the vectors, the variety of …
Chose Adobe Stock
When comparing Adobe Stock to Pexels, it is like comparing two slightly similar things but both are on two totally different playing fields. The quality and quantity Adobe Stock offers surpass Pexels immensely. Overall, the only reason I ever choose Pexels over Adobe Stock is …
Chose Adobe Stock
IStock doesn’t have the breadth of assets that Adobe has, and doesn’t have an accessible price point for individuals to pay a monthly subscription rate for its photo and other assets.Unsplash and Pexels have decent options for stock photography and texture backgrounds, but can …
Chose Adobe Stock
I think across the board, Adobe Stock is in line with all of these. It does seem to have better (and more) options than tools like Pixabay, but there are instances where we find something niche and specific on Pixabay that we did not find on Adobe Stock. I think Getty and Canva
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock has a better selection than most. It also has a free trial to help you decide if the price is worth it. The other companies are free but you may not find the right image or it will take longer to find a unique picture for your needs. Adobe Stock adds new photos …
Chose Adobe Stock
In my opinion, Adobe Stock is better value for money than the Shutterstock plan, and the free assets available on Adobe Stock are of higher quality than what can be found on Pexles or Unsplash.
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock's collection of images and videos is way wider and better than any other image stock. Sometimes the images may not be aspiring or creative, but as you have way more options, it's easier to find what you are looking for. Plus we, being a creative department, use all …
Chose Adobe Stock
Generally, Adobe Stock is cheaper than its big competitors but still has many of the same or similar images, though not quite the breadth of photography/illustrations either. However, it has significantly more options than its cheaper (or free) alternatives as well. The …
Chose Adobe Stock
In comparison to other options, Adobe Stock is far more user-friendly. Adobe Stock has helped me find quality photos. One-stop licensing's convenience and variety were important. Instead of buying photos per image, we usually find something similar at Adobe and license it under …
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock was selected by our organisation because it's integrated with Creative Cloud. Adobe Stock offers a more flexible on-demand option and a much longer free trial than other products. Adobe Stock is a good alternative as the subscription has a wide range of photos to …
Chose Adobe Stock
As I already mentioned Adobe Stock is the perfect place to search for great stock photos. The following is stacked up against them. More than 100 million images Straightforward Regular updates accessible directly within the Creative Cloud platform smart search.
Chose Adobe Stock
I think the Adobe brand brings a lot of clout with their design services and bundled options. Unmatched against the other services mentioned. Whether it be the name or the logo, Adobe stands for higher quality, longevity in the industry, and products that you know are just …
I think one of the main advantages of Adobe Stock over the other programs is that Adobe has a much larger and better quality catalog that adapts in a better way to the needs of my projects, considerably improving the quality and the experience they provide to the user. In …
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is very unique and versatile compared to other vendors that we have evaluated because it provides access to the largest library of high-resolution, royalty-free stock assets. The premium stock images, video footage, templates, music, and audio files are incredible …
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock has more images available that are permissible to use. Google Images can sometimes be used, but there is always a concern about copyrights and licensing rights. Adobe Stock takes away those concerns and provides a guarantee to our company that we are using the …
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock offers a more robust set of stock images. They also have a very useful search feature to help us quickly locate the image we want to use in our content. The quality of the images also appears to be better - a larger database, and higher-quality images to pick from.
Chose Adobe Stock
The sheer choice is fantastic, and the search function is exceptional. I also like how many illustrations there are, which is an added bonus (ie icon packs). It’s just genuinely been a pleasure using the product and has made finding images so much easier and faster.
Chose Adobe Stock
Though Adobe Stock can be good for corporate work sometimes they can look very staged Americanized so do not look relatable for a european market. Adobe stock has improved over the 10 years i have used them. I personally like using them most for vector based assets and …
Chose Adobe Stock
Some of my favorite pictures that I have gotten have been kid pictures on Adobe Stock compared to other sites. The photographers that sell their photos pick the most photogenic kids. Often times I can find ones that look like they were taken right in our office. Adobe Stock is …
Pexels
Chose Pexels
I've used both Adobe Stock and Shutterstocks's services for my projects and for the most part find Pexels more useful - but this is only due to Pexels being free in most cases. However, if you're looking for more specific and larger libraries, I would still recommend the other …
Chose Pexels
I know Pixabay and Unsplash and both are similar to Pexels. All of them have similar features in regards to searching, filtering, or collections. But if I am not wrong, only Pexels has the option to download an image in a customised size.
Chose Pexels
I would put Pexels library up against Unsplash. iStock and Shutterstock are both SUPER pricey, and I haven't used either of them in YEARS simply due to the fact that they remain to be cost-prohibitive. Pixabay is fine, but the quality seems far less curated or just like more …
Chose Pexels
They are similar tools, both owned by Canva. Pexels seems easier to use, although there is some crossover in terms of the images that show up in search results. Either are great tools to use to find quality images and video content to use in your content. I would suggest …
Chose Pexels
Pexels is more simple. The alternative options give no good search/selection experience. For example, you are limited to searching just one characteristic or the results are not always accurate. For example, your search for A and get B. Finally, I also note that the user does …
Chose Pexels
Pexels has a great search function behind it and is very compatible with the other leading brands. One of the main benefits in comparison is that it is free to use and promotes creativity with its photographers. It has fewer 'stock looking' images as opposed to Adobe or Shutters…
Chose Pexels
Pexels provides a plethora of videos to choose from and you can get the right size. The platform is free and if you use great keywords you can easily find what you are looking for. Users can also contribute to the community and it has challenges which I think are great …
Chose Pexels
Pexels have by far the biggest database for our needs, 9 out of 10 pictures we find is from Pexels.
Chose Pexels
Pexels has a few unique features that stand out, the most important being a 1-click download from the search results. No need to navigate to another page to find a "download" button. This reduces the time required to find and download an appropriate image. The search results …
Chose Pexels
Pexels is very affordable, and has a decent range of free-to-use options. Images have a wide arrange of people and places represented.
Chose Pexels
Whether paid or free stock photography, we go to where the solutions are. Pexels is on our top 5 go-to list. When we can't find what we are looking for on paid stock sites, we look at Pexels. Each platform has its pros and cons. I like that Pexels has a good lifestyle variety, …
Chose Pexels
In my opinion, they are all very similar. Sometimes when I am searching for something more specific, one or other might well be suited. But, in general, I tend to open at least 3 or 4 different image banks at the same time and use the same search terms on all of them. Since …
Chose Pexels
Pexel images are more inspiring, aspiring, creative, and artistic than the usual stock images. We work with Pexels because it is free and we really admire the fact that some photographers or creatives around the world are happy to share their work in such a kind and generous …
Chose Pexels
Pexels so far has the best user-submitted selections for free photography. They are royalty-free and include a wide variety for all business needs. From personal blogs or your own business to any company type, you can find what you need here without having to buy a stock …
Pixabay
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is way ahead of Adobe Stock, as it provides better Image & graphics quality, a very improved design tool. Pixabay provides a variety of search results when compared to Adobe Stock or other tools or software. Pixabay provides really great online support. Pixabay …
Chose Pixabay
Pexels is the closest competitor to Pixabay and I did sometimes use both. However, I found that Pixabay overall had better moderation of its content and therefore I was able to find a better range of results with higher quality than what I would typically find on Pexels. And …
Chose Pixabay
We also looked at Adobe Stock and Freepik. Adobe Stock has a better breadth of images available on their site, but they can be expensive depending on your needs. Sometimes, if Pixabay doesn't have an image that matches what I need I may use Adobe Stock or Freepik. Freepik is …
Chose Pixabay
Pexels is very high quality but has a less professional collection of images. Most of the images in Pexels feel like they would be more at home in a local coffee shop or Millennial hangout. While Pexels' image offering is stunning, the images do not fit in alongside data sets …
Chose Pixabay
Pexels is free and fully licensed for commercial use, as is Unsplash to a certain extent. I generally open all 3 to search for free stock images for budget-sensitive clients; that being said, I always find myself searching Pixabay first. They have the best user interface of …
Chose Pixabay
We selected Pixabay due to its affordability, clear licensing, and vast range of imagery that fit our needs. Unsplash and Pexels were on par for affordability and licensing, but we felt Pixabay had a broader range of content. Shutterstock and Getty were coat prohibitive for our …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is one of several sites I visit when I need content. I don't necessarily select it over others all the time - sometimes they have the image I want and sometimes I find it elsewhere - but they're always one of the ones I check with when I need media.
Chose Pixabay
In my opinion, stock photos are kind of all over the place, depending on how specific of an image you're looking for. I think Pixaby is on the higher / more positive side of the scale -- there are definitely sites that are not offering as polished of photos or the variety that …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is a very user-friendly site, and feels less 'business' orientated and approachable. The graphic designers that used it got to grips with it very quickly and found a decent range of stuff. However, there were occasions when we needed to go somewhere else to find the …
Chose Pixabay
Overall, I really like Pixabay as the quality of images has never let me down. On top of that, I really love the community/creators as they're very supportive. I would say that you will have not many problems or complaints when you use Pixabay and will definitely help in your …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is a far more legit and easy-to-use free stock photo platform than the others I have listed above. Before using it I made sure that I was abreast of certain issues within the rules and systems that need to be followed by the letter. If you do not do this you will have …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay gets around the language barrier by being available in more than 20 different languages. The website doesn't have any ads. They do have "sponsored images" from Shutterstock, but I really like that there are no other ads. When I download an image, I can choose from a …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is free, easy to use, and has images, videos, vectors, illustrations, music, and sound effects—basically everything you need to make content on a budget. Getty only licenses images and videos, so I'd have to go elsewhere to find music and sound effects (and likely pay a …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay has a few key features that stand out. The search results load fast, with an easy user interface and advanced filtering options. I often travel as I work, and at times my internet connection can be slow or unstable. Even on a slower connection, the search results are …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is adequate but needs to up its image game in order to compete with other free stock sites, which have more extensive and better quality imagery available. I personally moved from using Pixabay to other free image sites due to the quality and range of images not …
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay is my starting point for any image search as it provides cross-over/reference to other sites but isn't so overwhelming with images. I feel with the other sites I could get lost in the endless pages of stock imagery, especially when they seem so similar.
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay provides better images and a variety of search results. The filter options are really good. It's very easy to use and find what you are looking for.
Chose Pixabay
Pixabay has given me the free vectors I need for my whiteboard animation videos, which aren't available on the other sites, in addition to the video and audio clips. They've been around for a long time and have stayed consistent, valuable, and easy to use throughout the years. …
Chose Pixabay
It's definitely one of the best free options and while the image results aren't always as good as Depositphotos, that's understandable as it's free. 8 times out of 10 I'd say I find a suitable image on Pixabay.
Chose Pixabay
While Pixabay doesn’t offer the same variety that other paid stock image sites, they offer a good enough variety for my needs. And you really can’t go wrong with free. If you’re starting out in the blogging world or don’t have enough money, or simply don’t want to spend the …
Best Alternatives
Adobe StockPexelsPixabay
Small Businesses
Adobe Express
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Adobe Express
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Express
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Score 8.8 out of 10
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All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe StockPexelsPixabay
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(69 ratings)
8.0
(35 ratings)
9.0
(41 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(6 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
4.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe StockPexelsPixabay
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
If you're looking for quality professional images for sales and marketing collateral, presentations, social media pages, and graphics, it's great. If you have a very specific industry or subject, sometimes it is too cumbersome to find what you need. They need a better variety of people in their images as well.
Read full review
Pexels
1. Small businesses with small or non-existent budgets still need assets to create content 2. Individual content makers or freelancers who need stock assets 3. Corporate eLearning wants to modernize and replace all old-fashioned, outdated, brightly lit studio photos with more realistic and relevant imagery that will resonate with modern audiences and learners.
Read full review
Pixabay
This is perfect for any individual or organization that's working on a budget. You'll get stock photos that, while there's a more limited selection than the usual paid sites (Getty, iStock, etc.), are often just as high-quality. For smaller businesses and nonprofits where every dollar counts, I've found myself leaning on Pixabay quite a bit for stock images and, from time to time, will end up buying one of the linked commercial images when Pixabay doesn't have what I need. However, if you have a large budget for stock images, Pixabay will likely not be your best choice, as the paid services offer generous discounts for bulk credit purchases.
Read full review
Pros
Adobe
  • Presents a huge collection of distinctive graphics with all sorts of options to fit the user's particular need of the day.
  • Allows for easy grab-and-go, cut-and-paste of the sample proofs so that a graphic designer can work up an idea and present it to the team before purchasing it.
  • Operates a user-friendly platform so that team members who haven't used the program but is suddenly needed to jump in on a project can figure it out quickly.
Read full review
Pexels
  • High-resolution images – Pexels is full of images that are high enough in resolution to look beautiful on their own, but also high quality enough to be combined with other images without distracting pixelization
  • Stock videos – other free stock sites are often limited to just images, but Pexels has a wide range of videos available as well, which we use to plus up decks
  • Good search functions – while not as robust as some paid sites, Pexels' search functions make it pretty easy to track down what you need
  • Licensing – it's very straightforward to know what you can and can't do with a Pexels photo, which protects my company and our clients
Read full review
Pixabay
  • Separate photos, illustrations, and vectors—Many competitors have these images all lumped together with a limited ability to sort through them, while Pixabay has a robust library of all of these, making it easy to find what you're looking for.
  • Free, high-quality images and easy-to-understand licensing rules—Often a new client will have bad image usage habits, freely snagging any image off of google. Pixabay is an excellent resource to give clients a huge range of photos without the fear of getting into copyright trouble.
  • Sound effects—Free, good-quality sound effects are surprisingly difficult to find amongst competitors, but Pixabay has them in their lineup as well.
Read full review
Cons
Adobe
  • I really do wish Adobe Stock would offer editorial-based content. There are no historical photos, photos of world figures, or other event-based content. We have to go to Getty for that.
  • Their video offerings are OK, but there is room for improvement.
  • The current enter-level monthly plan does not provide for any video downloads at all.
Read full review
Pexels
  • I do think that the library should grow. For example, I was looking for an image of a living room with a fireplace and there were only a few options
  • I get tricked sometimes because I see images I want to use but they are from some other company and they are paid
  • Improve search understanding for multi-word searches
Read full review
Pixabay
  • One thing that kind of sticks out is that with so much to choose from, you can feel overwhelmed.
  • Some of the photos I sometimes can find separately by googling. In the music business, it seems like many photos rotate on the web so there isn't as much to pick from.
  • I didn't see an option for more vertical videos for use in Instagram or TikTok.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
Because it is easy to use, has a robust database of all kinds of photos, has industry photos that we serve clients in, is quick and easy to download the licensed images, easy to find similar images, cost effective, acts as a source of quality images we can use on high resolution art.
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Pexels
No answers on this topic
Pixabay
No answers on this topic
Usability
Adobe
the user interface is very basic their filter function is difficult for beginners to use although after sometime of use you wont find any problem in that, their library is good but again. they still have to work on their library volume with current quality standards. apart from interface which is a personal perspective everything is amazing in this platform.
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Pexels
Pexels is extremely easy to use. Because it integrates with Canva, it makes our workflow smoother. This also saves us a significant amount of time running our business. The interface is also clean and easy to understand and follow, leading to an increase in productivity and much greater efficiency. Overall, this saves us time and money
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Pixabay
A lot of times, it can be difficult to find things on a website. Pixabay search works extremely well. This way we don’t have to search and keep searching. The results along with the recommendations are very tailored and work well
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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
It's always available
Read full review
Pexels
No answers on this topic
Pixabay
No answers on this topic
Performance
Adobe
It loads quickly and we have not had any issues
Read full review
Pexels
No answers on this topic
Pixabay
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
Never really used it.
Read full review
Pexels
No answers on this topic
Pixabay
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Adobe
In comparison to other options, Adobe Stock is far more user-friendly. Adobe Stock has helped me find quality photos. One-stop licensing's convenience and variety were important. Instead of buying photos per image, we usually find something similar at Adobe and license it under our subscription. I prefer Adobe's curated resources over other services. Adobe Stock's filters make finding the right image easy.
Read full review
Pexels
Pexels has a few unique features that stand out, the most important being a 1-click download from the search results. No need to navigate to another page to find a "download" button. This reduces the time required to find and download an appropriate image. The search results load fast, with lazy loading, so there's no annoying pagination at the bottom. I often travel as I work, and at times my internet connection can be slow or unstable. This kind of feature may seem minor to some users, but when on a slower connection, it makes a big difference. If a search term is too broad, it can recommend related keywords to search for - this helps to find the right image faster.
Read full review
Pixabay
Pixabay has given me the free vectors I need for my whiteboard animation videos, which aren't available on the other sites, in addition to the video and audio clips. They've been around for a long time and have stayed consistent, valuable, and easy to use throughout the years. They were my first site for free downloads and remain my favorite image download site to this day.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
It's a little expensive
Read full review
Pexels
No answers on this topic
Pixabay
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Adobe
It's very easy to integrate
Read full review
Pexels
No answers on this topic
Pixabay
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • I used stock photos for my blog posting on medium and website creation. I found adobe stock a very amazing site for high-quality images.
  • It has resolved the issue where I would spend countless hours looking for a photo on Google or other stock-image websites, no other stock photos website is perfect and stunning like Adobe Stock. Overall, it's a fantastic time-saver.
  • Overall, I found images impact more than words while blog posting on medium and other social media, so I can say that Adobe Stock helps me in growing my startup…
Read full review
Pexels
  • Social media campaigns created with photos from Pexels achieves 40% higher engagement vs others.
  • Thanks to faster and easier content sourcing provided by Pexels, our campaign generation period has dropped to an average of 4 hours, instead of 2 days.
  • Their stock images adorn our offices.... and it's a much lore cheerful space for that reason. Staff are happier, and stay in the office longer.
Read full review
Pixabay
  • We don't lose any money trying to buy images
  • Our videos get more views if we put the good quality images we find in Pixaby
  • The posts we make with their images always get a professional aspect, and get more engagement from a diverse social media users.
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ScreenShots