Shutterstock Reviews 

DO NOT USE SHUTTERSTOCK! They have fine print that does not allow you to cancel your plan without a hefty fee. I cancelled one day after subscribing acciddentally and they charged me $180 with no avenues available for refund. They are exactly the kind of vendor that gives the internet a bad name.

Watch out for Shutterstock's Auto-Renew - you'll get fck'd and they'll bill you without you knowing. Try to contact support and you'll run into dead link. Companies that do this plainly suck. Look for other options and reject companies that have deceptive practices like this.

I would have given Shutterstock a zero star had it been allowed.

Once you try their product which is suposed to be free, the shutterstock will just automatically takes your money every month t even you have not had any subscription or purchased any product from them. As Shutterstock don't send you a monthly bill (as most companies do), it's easy for them to cheat you for a while. Then it's too late to get it refunded.

Never ever try their product.

Keeps showing up when I am trying to find royalty free images

Horrible customer service. There is no customer service telephone number. I purchased 2 credits with shutterstock in 2023. I used paypal to make the payment. Recently, I received a notification from paypal stating that I was being charged an annual fee. I did not receive any notification from shutterstock regarding so called charges. I tried logging into my account, but was unable. I filed a dispute through pay pal and was denied because I apparently had autopay set up. Paypal confirmed the email and user name. I was still unable to log into my account even when trying to reset password. I never received an email to reset the password. I sent a message using the AI tool on shutterstock to request customer service. So frustrating. If a company is taking your money, there should be a way to speak to a representative. Never again!

Beware. The credit card details I provided to Shutterstock for my new subscription were used a few hours later for fraudulent purchases. Shutterstock tell me they detected something was going on but they refused to provide any further information. Now my card has been blocked (thankfully) and I shall have to wait for a new card - and all the gruesome hassle that will then entail.

They have scammed me into a plan that says it’s unlimited downloads but it’s very limited as the downloads are limited. This company needs to be sued for their elaborate marketing schemes and high prices for a service that does not meet the consumer needs especially for a market with generative ai images in today’s market.

I would love to give my feedback directly to Shutterstock, but there's no easy way to contact them. The $29 unlimited is TERRIBLE, and when you ask to only show what's in your plan, at the bottom of the screen, it shows ones that aren't in your plan. And, of course, they are good images that would work. I'm stuck with this plan for a year. It's just awful. I'll be moving to Adobe Stock as soon as I can. I'm so disappointed. I hope someone in Getty management sees this. Shutterstock used to be great.

Don't waste your time contributing to this site!
They're SCAMMER THIEVES.
I spent a year wasting my time and dedicating myself to this garbage!
Always with the same art style, one day, out of nowhere, my account was suspended. I sent dozens of emails and never received an explanation.
DISGRACE!!!
Sell your art yourself on platforms like Gumroad and Ko-fi; these stock platforms are ART THIEVES!

Be cautious with their subscription terms. I signed up for a month and paid the fee, but after canceling, I was still billed for the remaining months of the year. Make sure you understand the cancellation policy before committing.

Very predatory – they pretend their sales team are a legal team, and they continually hound you every year that your account isn't set up to cover your business. There's no transparency in the way they work or in the way you buy credits, everything is hidden in small print and surprise, surprise constantly costs more than you think. Their 'legal' advisor who was pursuing us last time was actually a salesman who boasts about his sales targets and hit rate on his LinkedIn, not particularly lawyer-y behaviour. We've cut all ties and now they've rebilled us for an old subscription that appears nowhere on our account (not for the first time either). The images are poor too.

Most images you can find for $12.99/month (no contract) on Canva. SS locks you into a year contract and auto renew your plan 5 months early by sending you a junk email saying they are renewing your plan in 7 days (5 months before it ends) so they can try to lock you into another yearly contract you'll either have to pay to get out of or dispute with your CC company. Just paid to get rid of the membership we barely used because most images were on Canva anyways.

Avoid this service at all costs! Once you subscribe, it’s nearly impossible to cancel. The cancellation process is either broken or comes with hidden fees. They don’t allow you to remove your credit card details, and even if you get a new card, they’ll still manage to charge you. Feels like a total scam.

Beware of subscription service and cancelation fees. Stay away.

Do not waste your time as a contributor. They are literally the worst place I have ever submitted to. They take FOREVER to put your work on and pay you an absolute pittance! Submissions are rejected because they say they are AI when they're not and there's nothing you can do about it. Genuinely wish I had never bothered.

Stay away! DO NOT make a subscription. It is almost impossible to get out. Cancellation fees or cancellation processes that does not work. You can not delete your credit card information from shutterstock site. You can not ask your bank for a new card because shutterstock will draw from your new card anyway.
Total scam. Stay away.

Don't give your credit card to these Guys. Without you knowing it, you've tied yourself up for at least a year. It's amazing that no one stops these "Smart-Boys". They laugh at us all the way!

I accidentally signed up for a yearly membership with Shutterstock when I thought I was only purchasing one video. I only realized the mistake when I saw repeated $29 charges on my credit card. As soon as I discovered this, I tried to cancel—only to be told I would still be charged for half of the remainder of the year.

When I contacted Shutterstock, I was offered the option to “pause” my membership, but later found out that the pause was only valid for two months. That was not a helpful solution. Out of frustration, I went back to the site to see if I could at least use what I had already paid for, but quickly learned that nearly everything else I wanted to download would cost an additional $79.

This experience has been extremely disappointing. The membership terms are misleading, the cancellation process is unfair, and the options provided to customers feel designed to trap them into paying more than intended. I would not recommend Shutterstock to anyone.

Be aware! Shutterstock.com will sneak in recurring fees without clear consent!
I purchased two images back in 2022, and they charged me twice for the same purchase. Fast forward to 9/8/2025, I noticed a charge from them on my credit card statement. I thought, I haven’t bought anything from them in years—why are they charging me? That’s when I discovered they had been charging me every year!
When I contacted their customer service, the representative told me they automatically sign you up for a subscription when you make a payment. How can they do that? It’s sneaky and completely unethical! I asked the representative to refund me for all the charges they took without my consent, but she said she couldn’t help me.

I overlocked that this was an yearly contract... is this a phone company or what? So now Shutterstock is refusing to cancel my membership or refund me in the 14-day period. The membership is really not great also compared to Envato which gives me unlimited everything for the same monthly fee without this BS commitment. They must be struggling to survive... I am calling my bank to block them as a merchant and to cancel my card.