iStock vs Pixabay

iStock licenses royalty-free photos, illustrations, vectors and video clips for advertising, websites, blogs, presentations, video productions, podcasts and other uses. Its Essentials collection covers everyday content; Signature is a collection of handpicked material exclusive to iStock. The service also offers AI image editing to add or remove objects, extend images, change backgrounds, edit by prompt and upscale generated images to 4K. iStock says its AI is trained exclusively on licensed content, not visuals or data scraped from the web, and that generated images receive automatic legal protection of $10,000 per image. Licensed files include a $10,000 USD legal guarantee, with an Extended Legal Guarantee available up to $250,000 USD. Basic costs $29 a month and Premium costs $70 a month, each billed annually with 10 downloads monthly. Premium + Video is listed at $125 a month, with a new-customer offer noted; Unlimited AI costs $14.99 a month. iStock also offers one free Signature photo each week and free illustrations and video clips each month. API access is available, and a plugin links Dropbox for accessing, sharing and collaborating on content across devices.

Pixabay is a community library of royalty-free photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, music, sound effects, and other media. Its About page reports more than 6.3 million assets. Users can browse on the website or Android and iOS apps, choose a download size, and download media; full-resolution photos and videos require sign-up. The content license permits free use without attribution and allows adaptations, subject to limits: media cannot be sold or distributed on its own, and recognizable trademarks cannot be used commercially in relation to goods or services. Pixabay also offers a REST API for searching and retrieving images and videos as JSON. By default, it allows up to 100 requests per 60 seconds, requires 24-hour caching, and prohibits systematic mass downloads. API users are asked to identify Pixabay as the media source when showing search results. Uploading media requires a registered account. Pixabay is a Canva Germany GmbH brand based in Berlin, and says it reviews reported or potentially violating content using automated tools and human moderators.