Microstock
Microstock agencies source their images from not just professional photographers but also amateur photographers while still maintaining a strict quality level. In doing so microstock sites can provide images at a much lower cost than traditional stock photo agencies which you might consider to be prohibitively expensive.
Microstock started in around 2002 but took until about 2005/6 to gain acceptance and really start to take off. Rather than sourcing images from professional photographers, the advent of digital cameras meant that a lot of hobbyist photographers were able to easily take some great looking stock images, microstock photographers, sometimes professional and sometimes amateur are able to sell these images direct to you via microstock agency.
Most microstock websites operate on a credit based system where you pre buy credits which allow you to make downloads of images. Although microstock images are not free, they normally cost between $1 and $5 depending on the resolution you need, once you have registered with a microstock site (a few minutes) it's quick and easy to find and download an image to suit your needs. Most agencies have several million images to choose from. With this in mind it's often a better option to use a microstock image than spend 30 minutes searching for a free image with no guarantee that you will find something suitable. Of course because you pay for the image then there is usually no need to attribute / credit link the image where you use it, making everything look a lot more professional.
While 'cheap' might be a good term to describe the agencies listed here, our guiding principle is "quality discount photos", how to get either more or better quality images for your money.
Microstock Sites Directory
| iStockphoto.com |  Credits+Subscription |
 $9 |
|
| visit site for search |  RF |
 7 Million |
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| istockphoto was the pioneer of the microstock revolution, now owned by traditional stock photography company gettyimages | |||
| 123 royalty free | Credits |
$2 |
|
| visit site for search | RF |
4.5 Million |
|
| Great value images, and free link code to paste images into a blog, 123rf have a premium microstock collection called EVO | |||
| Fotolia.com | Credits |
$4 |
|
| visit site for search | RF |
9 Million |
|
| combines one of the largest collections in microstock with reasonable pricing, Fotoila also have a premium price "infinite collection". | |||
| Dreamstime.com | Credits |
$4.22 |
|
| RF+Editorial |
8.5 Million |
||
| Another massive selection of images , but slightly more expensive than fotolia. | |||
| CanstockPhoto.com | Credits+Subscription |
$2 |
|
| RF+Editorial |
2 Million |
||
| One of the best for value, but limited choice for more unusual subjects. | |||
| Crestock.com | Credits+Subscription |
$5 |
|
| RF |
4 Million |
||
| Higher prices, more limited selection but certainly king of quality in microstock - stunning images! | |||
| Pixmac.com | Credits+Subscription |
$5.85 |
|
| RF |
7 Million |
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| One stop shop reselling their own collection, fotolia and dreamstime along with a premium 'luxury' collection from image source | |||
| Bigstockphoto.com | Credits |
$5 |
|
| Visit site for search | RF+Editorial |
4.7 Million |
|
| reliable stock agency, in business for 5 years+, now owned by subscription site shutterstock | |||
| Depositphotos.com | Credits |
$2 |
|
| Visit site for search | RF |
1.7 Million |
|
| launched in 2009, with low prices, also offers subscription plan | |||
| Stockfresh.com | Credits |
$3 |
|
| RF |
<1 Million |
||
| New startup site from the people who originally brought you stock.xchng and stockxpert | |||
Subscription Microstock
| Shutterstock | Subscription |
$49+ ($249/M typ.) |
|
| RF+ Editorial |
10 Million |
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| Shutterstock was one of the first microstock agencies to offer a subscription service, much copied but still one of the best. | |||
Subscription vs Credits ?
Credits allow you to buy images on a casual basis, where as a subscription offers better value to those who regularly require images (usually professional designers and design groups, but perhaps also newspaper and media websites).
More Microstock Sites
Here's a few more libraries we have not reviewed in detail:
Our guide prices are based on obtaining an average resolution image of 3 megapixels or more, in most cases the websites advertise images from $1, this will only buy you a low resolution image (sub 1MP) suitable for a webpage, 3MP allows more flexible online use, cropping and printing at a modest size. Of course you can obtain higher resolutions, these typically cost between $5 and $10 dollars. You can get significant discounts by buying large numbers of credits, but sometimes you need to spend $100 or even $1000 to obtain the lowest price, in calculations we have taken the cheapest starter option which invariably means that individual credits cost more than buying in bulk.
What is RF+Editorial? see our Glossary of Stock Photography Terms
Useful Microstock Search Tools & Directories
If you are a regular microstock buyer and have more than one account you can integrate microstock search into firefox with the picniche buyers toolbar (currently in beta) see picniche.com/toolbar for more details.
cyclo.ps is a search engine that shows results from all the major microstock sites, flickr and a couple of free sites too.
shotspy.com another a search engine that lets you search multiple microstock agencies on one go
MicrostockPhotography.com - microstock photography industry information & news
