Shutterstock Anmeldelser 

I am filing this review due to total silence and lack of support regarding my suspended contributor account (ID: 310785758) under Compliance Case #16219896.My account was flagged for alleged unlabeled AI content without specifying any flagged asset IDs. Over 40 days ago, I provided complete proof of 100% human-created original work, including master layered PSD files, exported EPS vectors, and step-by-step workflow screenshots via Google Drive .Despite sending multiple follow-ups, I have received zero response from the Compliance team. I request an immediate manual review of my case and the full restoration of my account.

I've been writing for Shutterstock for 10 years, but AI data detection shut my account down overnight. I didn't upload any AI work, and I unilaterally closed my account without any explanation, robbing the rest of the profits. Shutterstock is selling to big tech companies by learning data without the consent of its contributors. I share profits with contributors, but the amount is very small or not transparent. It turned from a former stock company into a data learning sales site. I think the data from old accounts is unilaterally deleted because it no longer sparks them to learn. I think it's a thief who steals the data from the contributor, not Shutterstock, but a copyright violation. It's the worst company ever. It would be better to leave Shutterstock and contribute to Adobe, Freepic.

It started out well. I was getting all photos accepted and they were being made available quickly. You only get a tiny percentage of what Shutterstock make off your photos, but there were bits coming in.
Then, as I came close to having 1000 photos uploaded, they started holding more and more in the review queue and they were there for months, until finally after about 6 months they got rejected. I'm of the opinion that this is because I changed my settings to not allow AI training on the photos. Whatever the reason, it makes the whole thing a waste of time. The only way to make any reasonable income from Shutterstock is to have multiple thousand photos uploaded. Just 1000 alone is not worth it. So I wasted about 50+ hours uploading those and if Shutterstock were open about the reason for rejecting them I'd be able to do something about it, or wouldn't have started in the first place, but if you contact them you get an AI slop answer that makes no sense, but is designed to make you want to give up.

I mean, is it so hard to just have an ethical company that doesn't want to rob you blind, so both parties can make an honest bit of income of photos? I don't know the answer, but Shutterstock is not it...

I uploaded my photos for over a month ago and it is still on pending. For me adobe stock usually takes a few days, and you get much more money from Adobe Stock when you sells your photos. I can't recommend Shutterstock to anyone

I’ve been a contributor with Shutterstock for over five years, and unfortunately the platform has seen a noticeable decline, especially over the past year to year and a half, and even more so in the last few months.
When I first started, the approval process was efficient and reliable. Images were typically reviewed within 24 to 48 hours, which made the platform viable for timely and even semi time sensitive content. Recently, however, review times have stretched well beyond a week, and that is often after following up directly via email.
What is equally frustrating is the lack of meaningful communication. Responses from support feel entirely templated and impersonal. It is clear that canned replies are being reused with slight edits, with little effort to address specific concerns. In some cases, even the formatting within the email responses changes mid message, which reinforces the sense that replies are being pieced together rather than handled thoughtfully.
As someone who frequently covers breaking news and political events in New York City, timing is critical. Delayed approvals make it nearly impossible to rely on Shutterstock as a legitimate distribution channel for this type of work. The platform no longer aligns with the pace required for editorial photography, and as a result, it has become difficult to consider it a meaningful source of revenue.
Because of this, I have started shifting my focus back to platforms like Alamy and Getty Images, which are better equipped to handle time sensitive content and maintain a more consistent review process.
I hope Shutterstock addresses these issues, because it was once a dependable platform, but in its current state, it is falling short for contributors who rely on speed, communication, and professionalism.

Spent many many hours uploading 4-500 images as a contributor. The process was very time consuming and the rejection rate for inexplicable metadata issues was completely baffling and no solutions were offered. I looked on Trust Pilot and saw how bad they were for others so deleted my account = feel relieved I didn't invest any more time and energy

Extremely untrustworthy. They tried multiple times to withdraw money from my debit card, even without my consent. I never asked for new pictures, I never asked for subscription and they tried to take money from me. Please choose another option, except if you want to get stolen.

I purchased a $59 monthly unlimited picture plan and tried downloading 10 pictures tired I had saved. I was unable to download a single picture because the plan didn’t allow me to download any of my saved pictures. I called customer service and they cancelled that $59 plan and I got a $49 plan which allowed me to download my saved pictures. The problem is it’s terribly difficult to cancel a plan and when you are told it’s cancelled and you will recieve a credit, that’s lies. They just sent me an email telling me the $59 can not be refunded!!! Straight theft, I only had the account for five minutes before cancelling it and they refuse to credit what they said they would credit.

Total Fraud. They advertise all of their stock, yet do not have anything worth using, THEN they charge a ridiculous cancellation fee. Total RipOff. In 5 Months, give or take, I could only find about a dozen images worth downloading. Waste of time and money. Need to go out of business quick.

Extremely Disappointed – Account Closed Without Just Cause

After working with Shutterstock for nearly two years, our team is deeply disappointed. Without warning or a valid explanation, our account was closed, and our hard-earned earnings were withheld. Despite providing 100% proof of our legitimacy and compliance, Shutterstock has failed to present any evidence of wrongdoing on our part.

This action has not only wasted two years of dedicated work but also resulted in the loss of valuable designs created by our team. It feels like our content and revenue were simply taken without accountability.

We strongly advise others—especially designers and content creators—to stay away from this platform. Our experience reflects a serious lack of transparency and fairness. Protect your work and your time. There are better and more ethical marketplaces out there.

I hate this website.
Pull of bullshit
ℹ downloaded only 4 pictures because there is no more option for my job. I haven’t use it since I purchased. But they charged 29$ again now. I payed 58$ for 4 pics
It’s crazy don’t purchase any plan
Do you wanna know how much is cancelation fee for a plan? 145$
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Full of bullshit

Recommended

Le foto sono poche e spesso non inerenti con la tua ricerca.
Ho fatto il piano annuale, subito mi sono reso conto che non c’era tanto. Ho voluto disdire e c’è una penale del 50% del piano annuale da pagare.
Fate attenzione, che cosa da poveri.

Awful company. They didn't reply e-mails.

Shutterstock are a bunch of thieves, they let you make lots of money for them. I had like 100$ of earnings in my account and than they closed my account, saying im suspicious. I contacted them but got no help. Now they don't even reply anymore. I spend lots of time uploading pictures and metadata. and now I get nothing. very poor customer service.

They are stealing sales/money from contributors. If you can see the stock price, it's decreasing throughout the years. So, they are stealing sales from contributors to cover losses. How can the sales and earnings for all contributors decrease all of sudden?

Signed up for a one time 2 image pack for a specific purpose. They automatically Opt you In to an ongoing charge when you use your credits. So they charge you again. In Australia this auto Opt In caper is illegal.

Do not use Shutterstock, they are heading to ending there stock photography in 2030 and being a fully AI focused company (yes I hope you shuddered in disgust like I did, disgusting AI) they are rejecting most images even ones that are in focus and that is because they want to steal your images to train there in my words "Degenerative AI" they include a pretend opt out button for AI use, however once marked for AI use only, if you opt out, they still use your photo, you don't get paid and there is no way to delete them from the AI catalogue, if you close your account, they will still have your photo marked for AI.

Ho comprato shutterstock.#shutterstock.com iö video ho speso 1000 euro per montarlo e vi è smpre la loro scriitta #shutterstock.com in sottofondo ed ho tolto dalla rete il video mi rivolgo ad un legale domani

I'm a long time Shutterstock contributor. I've been submitting work for years. Most of my work consists of vector graphics. I'm very disappointed as of recent because many of my pieces have been rejected citing AI generated artwork. I have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours creating my artwork and they claim some of my work is AI generated so they rejected it. I emailed support and they told me to resubmit the files with a case number but yet they still rejected my art. This makes no sense because they accepted hundreds of my files from the same design base / collection. I'm not sure if they actually have real people reviewing the submissions. As a graphic designer of 25 years it's extremely disappointing and offensive. If this continues I will be deleting my account with them and using a new stock company to sell my work with. They obviously do not take the time to do their research and find the truth. My work is my own. I have created all of it myself 100%. It gets very frustrating to spend countless hours creating then downloading and keywording on their contributor site only to be denied without true reason and proof.