Real content. Remarkable results.

Shutterstock is a global creative platform that combines high-quality licensable content with advanced AI capabilities to help businesses, marketers, and creators produce commercial-ready work, faster. While originally founded as a stock content marketplace, Shutterstock has evolved into an AI creative ecosystem where real human-made content and cutting-edge AI tools work together in one integrated workflow. Today, Shutterstock offers a massive library of over 615 million digital assets including images, video clips, music, sound effects, and 3D models, making it one of the largest collections of its kind. Beyond content, Shutterstock also offers AI-powered tools and creative services to help users create and customize assets. This includes features like AI image and video generators, built-in editing tools, Shutterstock Studios for custom content production, and enterprise solutions such as specialized training datasets, evaluation tools, and strategic partnerships that support the full model training lifecycle. Flexible subscription plans and royalty-free licensing make it easy for individuals and teams to create everything from social media posts to full-scale marketing campaigns.

Shutterstock’s AI capabilities are designed to help users seamlessly discover, edit, generate, customize, and license content, all within a single workflow. This includes a range of tools and features, such as: • AI Image Generation – Create original visuals from text prompts • AI Video Generation – Quickly turn concepts into engaging video content • AI Image Editing Tools – Enhance and customize content with features like background removal, resizing, expansion, and image editing • AI-Powered Search – Discover relevant images and videos faster across Shutterstock’s library • AI Design Assistant – Streamline design creation with intelligent layout and creative support tools • Enterprise AI Solutions – Advanced AI capabilities built for scalable creative workflows, helping large teams create commercially ready, on-brand content with confidence. What makes Shutterstock’s AI capabilities unique is the combination of cutting-edge AI tools with trusted, professionally created content and clear commercial licensing. Rather than relying only on AI-generated outputs, Shutterstock’s platform is built around real human-created assets that can be enhanced, transformed, or expanded using AI tools, creating a more reliable and efficient creative process. Shutterstock also takes a responsible approach to AI innovation by paying royalties to contributors whose content helps power and improve its technology.

Shutterstock licensing determines usage rights for images, videos, or music you download. Most content is offered under two main options: the Standard License and the Enhanced License (learn more). Both provide worldwide, perpetual usage, meaning you can keep using the asset forever after downloading. The Standard License covers most common uses like websites, social media, ads, and print runs up to 500,000 copies, while the Enhanced License removes those limits and allows broader uses like merchandise, templates, and large-scale commercial distribution. Enterprise customers may have access to additional license options tailored to their business needs, offering greater flexibility for more complex or large-scale content use. Shutterstock creative content can be used for commercial purposes with the appropriate license. Most everyday marketing, advertising, and business uses are covered under the Standard License, while projects involving resale, high-volume distribution, or products for sale typically require an Enhanced License. Shutterstock licenses are generally royalty-free, which means you pay once for a license and don’t owe ongoing royalties for continued use. However, “royalty-free” doesn’t mean unrestricted—your usage still depends on the license type you choose. If your project involves higher volume distribution, resale, or commercial products, you’ll likely need an Enhanced License, while everyday marketing and digital use are typically covered under the Standard License.

Shutterstock offers a range of flexible paid products and plans designed to fit different creative needs, whether you're an individual creator, a small business, or part of a larger team. While Shutterstock isn’t free to download and use content, it is free to create an account, browse the library, save assets, and even download watermarked images to test in your projects before committing. You can choose from a variety of subscription and on-demand options based on the type of content you need, how often you download, and how you plan to use it.

You can create and customize a wide range of content for marketing, advertising, social media, presentations, video production, and creative campaigns. Generate AI images, AI photos, AI videos from simple prompts using text-to-image and text-to-video tools, or transform existing visuals with image-to-image and image-to-video workflows. Our AI tools help you create everything from social media content, ad creatives, storyboards, concept art, product visuals, branded graphics, and marketing assets to video clips, animations, and presentation visuals. You can also edit and enhance content with AI-powered tools for background removal, image expansion, resizing, object editing, and design assistance. We also have AI-powered search to help teams quickly discover relevant photos, videos, illustrations, and creative assets across Shutterstock’s library. For businesses and large creative teams, our enterprise AI solutions support scalable content creation with admin controls, privacy protections, and workflows designed to keep content on-brand.

No. Our AI tools are designed for both beginners and creative professionals, with intuitive tools that make it easy to generate, edit, and customize content using simple prompts and guided workflows.

An AI image generator creates static visuals from text prompts or existing images, while an AI video generator creates moving video content from prompts or existing images. We offer both tools so you can create everything from AI photos and graphics to short-form videos and animations.

Yes. You can easily use image-to-video creation to transform a still image into dynamic video content with motion, effects, or animation.