Adobe Stock vs. Pixabay

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Stock
Score 8.9 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
Pixabay
Score 7.6 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 StockPixabay
Editions & Modules
Individuals
Starting at $29
per month
Teams
Starting at $29.99
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe StockPixabay
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe StockPixabay
Considered Both Products
Adobe Stock
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
the main thing about Adobe Stock is first its integration with creative cloud you wont see this feature in any platform. the library is rich with high quality assets from vector to videos their offering is really good. their pricing structure is fair to everyone. the trust …
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 design products are better for print purposes, while Sketch and other new programs are better used for web design
Chose Adobe Stock
The quality and number of images available make Adobe Stock stand out from other options. It's clear artists and creatives trust Adobe Stock with their portfolio - which is apparent in the variety of results provided from a search. The filtering options are more robust than …
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
Adobe Stock stacks well against Getty, Depositphotos, Wix, and Unsplash. Although I sometimes find their stock imagery options to be less robust than Getty, I do like how purchased assets integrate nicely into CC libraries.
Chose Adobe Stock
While adobe stock is similar to these products it is also very different. Photo stock sites and uses credits. This means sometimes you have to figure out how much credit is worth. Annoyingly this can get confusing for credit values. Adobe Stock is very straight toward and the …
Chose Adobe Stock
We selected Stock as we have the entire suite of Adobe products and this pairs nicely as well as with its ability to easily integrate into PPT presentations and the Microsoft suite of products.
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is heads and shoulders better than Shutterstock. I found myself frustrated that Shutter stock didn't have what I needed or was too confusing to navigate to the original image due to so many low-quality fakes and duplicates. I soon learned that Adobe stock didn't …
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock has the best automation for creating big data business creation for many users and is powerful in setting business security and managing larger data analytics and is best in integrating other tools and has best marketing aspects than other features in the field and …
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is less expensive and has a wider variety than other paid stock imagery offerings. They are far better than any unpaid image outlets as well.
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
Adobe Stock is very user friendly. It’s the only one with full integration into other Adobe products. It’s also much more affordable than others like Getty. While it’s lacking some editorial content, there is a wide selection of images to choose from that stand out against 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
both Adobe Stock and shutter stock fulfill the same function, I believe that both can satisfy their customers, however, the position that adobe has against shutter stock is immense, making there more confidence in adobe, in prices and what it offers each one according to the …
Chose Adobe Stock
We did not evaluate other products - this was highly recommended by others in our space.
Chose Adobe Stock
I have found that compared to Getty Images, Adobe stock is much more user-friendly. Adobe Stock has easy-to-use filters that make finding the perfect image much easier. I also believe that Adobe Stock has a wider variety of photos compared to Getty.
Chose Adobe Stock
I've always had an easier time finding quality photos I needed on Adobe Stock. Other services like Shutterstock work fine, it's a personal preference for the catalogue of resources that Adobe curated vs other services.
Chose Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock was given to us as initially an inexpensive add-on to our Creative Cloud subscription. Once the trial pricing expired, we found it so convenient, that we continued subscribing. The convenience of one-stop licensing and its wide variety was key. You do find some …
Chose Adobe Stock
We use iStock and Adobe equally because we have subscriptions. They are pretty equal altho sometimes I think it's easier to find candid shots on iStock.
Chose Adobe Stock
Pexels offered some great free stuff, but Adobe Stock has been the site of choice for graphic designers due to the size and quality of the images and videos that exist on the site. Budgetary choices were made by our company to use both, but the preference overall went to Adobe.
Chose Adobe Stock
For on-demand buying, Adobe Stock wins in flexibility and per-image rates. Shutterstock offers the simpler buying method, though. Shutterstock has a larger collection of stock images, lower prices, and cheaper extended licenses if you buy them in bulk. Adobe Stock is better …
Pixabay
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
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 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
I think that Fotor is my favorite because of the way it allows the easy editing and collection of pictures. Pixabay is really not as well suited for photo editing but it is still like great resource for free pictures. Shutterstock has better images, but is more expensive. …
Chose Pixabay
I use Pixabay in 2 scenarios. The first is when I've done a bunch of searching on iStock already and can't find anything. You wouldn't think Pixabay could show up then, but sometimes it hits. The other time is when I'm in a rush and just doing general Google searches for …
Chose Pixabay
Canva has many more options for pictures available on their pro platform. For my business, it is easier to justify the cost of Canva as it includes other features like photo editing and graphic design. Pixabay does have pictures, and videos, and expanded into gifs but can be …
Chose Pixabay
I selected Pixaby because with it's easier to find free images with excellent quality. Also, in Pixaby the indications for free or paid images is more clear than in the other platforms.
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
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
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
The filtering system is a little bit better on Pixabay and I use that lot. Some of Unsplash's photos can be a little higher quality
Chose Pixabay
I have not used the artist much yet but I have a heard lot about Artlist from other travel videos maker in the community about how good this website is. Based on my little experience of using Artlist, I would say Pixabay has a lot fewer sound effects and music selections …
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
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
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
The thing I like about Pixabay over Canva is the music available and the photos are not the same ones that Canva has. Sometimes I feel like Canva is so much more well-known that everyone uses them and then their social media posts start looking the same. It doesn't help you …
Chose Pixabay
Being a user of this image bank is really useful since if we need different illustrations for a wide variety of contexts, we have images at hand. It is an indispensable tool for companies and individuals, every day at least five new high-quality photos appear. Its main function …
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
iStock doesn't offer free options. Hence we use Pixabay more often, especially with a tight budget.
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
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
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.
Best Alternatives
Adobe StockPixabay
Small Businesses
Pexels
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Pexels
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Score 10.0 out of 10
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe StockPixabay
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(0 ratings)
7.6
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe StockPixabay
Likelihood to Recommend
Well suited for background images and graphics where you want to channel an idea or theme that is known to the general population, e.g., a football field for a social media post related to a company fantasy league or a child holding crayons to promote a donation drive for local schools in need. Where it is less appropriate are images involving people and it's not necessarily Adobe's fault but it's very hard when you consider "your people" unique and want to reflect them in a way that feels genuine when you're creating graphics to represent your company. Many of the best shot set-ups and styles for pictures involving people that Adobe creates have people in them who just don't look like "our people."
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Pixabay is excellent for those trying to create content on a budget, whether for yourself or for a client. It has a huge library of high-quality images and videos for use in creative applications. Beyond that, Pixabay also has a library of free music and sound effects, which is enormously helpful for people trying to create content on a budget without worrying about getting in copyright trouble. Also, due to the fact that you can sort images by "transparent," it's easy to find cut-out images to use in composites.
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Pros
  • Robust portfolio of licensed content available without needing to worry about copyright and ownership infringement.
  • Unique images that are available for our design teams to produce best-in-class collateral and digital design materials.
  • Diverse video and audio content available in addition to rich images.
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  • Pixabay License: Pixabay has its own license which allows the use of the content for commercial and personal use without any attribution. However, attribution supports the talented creators behind the content.
  • Pricing: Pixabay is completely free for everyone.
  • High-resolution: Photos and videos on Pixabay are of high resolution, especially several videos in 4K, which makes them perfect to use in bigger projects.
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Cons
  • It does much more than images however for somebody that doesn't have experience using video or fonts it can be too much.
  • Cost can be a barrier for images that are not free. Your adobe membership does not transfer over to adobe stock unfortunately.
  • I have noticed certain images being used by others, some of their more popular images are often used and duplicated throughout my industry. This isn't a fault of them, but ideally, they would update their images more often.
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  • 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.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Usability
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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Reliability and Availability
It's always available
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Performance
It loads quickly and we have not had any issues
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Support Rating
Never really used it.
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Alternatives Considered
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.
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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 the three and generally have the best image options. Adobe, Shutterstock, and iStock have better images, and I use those for clients who are less budget-sensitive.
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Scalability
It's very easy to integrate
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • 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…
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  • 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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