Pixabay vs Shutterstock

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.

Shutterstock is a paid creative platform for finding and licensing photos, vectors, illustrations, video, 3D models, music, and sound effects. It is available on the web and through an API, which can bring library search and licensing into third-party applications. The company says its library contains more than 450 million images and grows by 200,000 images a day. Image tools include Expand Image, Variations, Magic Brush, and Background Remover; the remover works only on images up to 7000×5000 pixels and does not remove vector background layers. Its AI image generator returns four results per prompt, downloadable under a Standard or Enhanced license. Both licenses allow perpetual use of downloaded content; Enhanced adds permissions for merchandise, templates, and unlimited physical print runs. Unlimited plans include models from Runway, Google, OpenAI, and others, but cap downloads at 100 assets daily. Monthly subscription downloads do not roll over. The API license bars raw asset-file access or downloads and requires assets delivered in an app to be limited to projects created there. The listed 10-image subscription is $25 a year, billed yearly at $300; a one-time image pack is 29.00 USD.