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FacebookStock Sites - Royalty Rate Comparison
On this table you can view the royalty rates for each microstock site (percentage of each sale that a photographer earns). As you can probably guess there is more to it than just a simple comparison on which site pays the highest rate we also need to factor in which sites generate the most sales and the value of those sales.
Many sites offer varying incentives to images which are popular, exclusive images or photographer and photographs that have received a large amount of downloads etc. This table only lists the basic commission percentage per download and some additional guidance notes.
Typical microstock royalty rate is less than 50%. Sites which offer 50% or higher are often newer sites which are trying to gain market share, and while royalty might be higher, sales quantity is likely to be significantly lower. Read the full site reviews for details - SEVERAL SITES ARE NOT WORTH THE TIME SUBMITTING IMAGES.
Click the site name on the left to view full details of the site and our rating...
| Site | Royalty Rate | Real US$ Cost of 1 Standard Image |
|---|---|---|
| Shutterstock.com | From Jun 2020: Tiered in 6 Levels from 15% to 40% dependent on downloads Prior rates were $0.25 per image downloaded, $0.30/33 after $500 worth of downloads | 9 |
| iStockphoto | 15% for non exclusive images (video 20%). Exclusive members (25% to 45%) and double image sale price. Subscription downloads for non-exclusive images earn a disgraceful 10c. | 10 |
| Adobe Stock | 33% Photo and Vector, 35% Video | 8 |
| Dreamstime | 20-45% non exclusive, 60% for exclusive photographers | 14 |
| Depositphotos.com | tiered, 34-42% non exclusive (exclusive enrollment no longer offered) | 4.9 |
| Bigstockphoto | 20%, each credit is $3.50, small image are one credit, hence 50c for a small image sale. | 7 |
| Photodune.net | 36% (50%-70% tiered for 'exclusive image portfolios' see review) | 7 |
| 123rf | 50% [as of Jan 2013 Tiered, Starting at 30% increasing to 60% based download value (credits used) in past 12 months] | 6.8 |
| PantherMedia | 30%, 50% for images not sold on 'cheaper sites'; plus a loyalty bonus based on number of images uploaded upto 10% | 12 |
| MostPhotos.com | 50% (12.50 Euros per download - approx 19 US$) | 20 |
| Photocase | 20% increasing to 50% based on portfolio size and sales (reduced from 40% min Apr 2019) | 22 |
| Yay Images | 50% | 4.99 |
| Zoonar | base of 50% of revenue up to 80% of revenue either ranked by uploads or overall sales value. Partner site revenue varies. | 5 |
| Albumo (Fantero) | "at least 50% of sales proceeds" | 1 |
| ImageVortex | 70%, and 70% for images which they sub-license, but less for images which are sub license and sold at a lower resolution | 15 |
Notes: * Image cost is in US Dollars, and is calculated from the cost of a minimum purchase of credits (if required) and the cost is based on a 1600x1200 or larger image. Sites like shutterstock offer better value via subscription options, hence their cost per images is unfairly skewed as the cost is calculated from their lowest-priced and lowest-volume image cost.
Also compare microstock site referral / affiliate rates
