Dozens of sites help photographers earn money with stock photos. These sites usually pay only a few pennies per use, but they sell your photos hundreds of times, allowing you to pull in income for work you did years ago.
Where can you find the best sites to earn money with stock photos? These are our top two picks.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock pays photographers 33% to 35% of the amount it collects for your photos. However, buyers access photos largely through discounted subscription plans that give them the ability to upload between three and several hundred images a month. That means that photographers who sell through the site are likely to earn between 33 cents and $3.30 on any individual sale. Adobe Stock does not limit your rights to sell your photos elsewhere. Read our full review of Adobe Stock here.
Alamy
Alamy is small but pays higher royalty rates to its contributors. To be specific: You’d need to sell an astounding 25,000 images in a year to hit a 40% royalty rate with Shutterstock. But you only need to sell $251 worth of photos to hit that level with Alamy. The catch: The site is smaller and sells fewer photos. So, even though Alamy’s terms are better, you should still also list your photos with the big guys. Read our Alamy review here.
Or you can sign up for Alamy here.