Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromCharles M

  Date: 08/03/2025

  1 star
  When considering a subscription to Shutterstock ***** its essential to be aware of your subscription settings to avoid potential issues. One key recommendation is to disable the auto-renew feature if you prefer not to be charged automatically at the renewal of your subscription. This can help you avoid unexpected charges, particularly if you decide to cancel your subscription later, as you may face fees for early termination of a contract that may not have been clearly communicated.Additionally, some users have encountered situations where they unintentionally paid for multiple accounts, sometimes facing surprising fees for contracts they did not knowingly agree to. Its important to know that many companies, including Shutterstock, may be open to waiving these additional charges if you reach out to them.Moreover, its vital to consider that such practices might raise concerns about compliance with financial agreements related to credit card providers like ********** and ****. By keeping these insights in mind, you can ensure a smoother experience with your subscription.

• Review fromMegan L

  Date: 04/22/2025

  1 star
  How does this business have an A+ rating? Literally all the complaints are the same. Their plans are extremely misleading on their website and it will now cost me $159 to cancel a MONTHLY plan. This is absolutely fraud.

• Review fromDaniel A.

  Date: 02/26/2025

  1 star
  I cannot believe this horrible company has an A rating with BBB. Several months ago, I thought I was buying a font for several dollars. I tuns out that it was just a picture of a font and totally useless. Later I found out that they billed my ******* card $25.00 for the picture. I accepted that Id been the victim of a misleading business practice and moved on. A month later Shutterstock auto billed $31.00 for a subscription. I went online and cancelled the plan and thought that was the end of it. Next month I was auto billed again. So far, the picture of the font has cost me almost $90.00. I am barely getting by and this amount is painful. If you are considering Shutterstock and dont have a large budget, beware, they are not upfront. They will also tell you that with a subscription you can download thousand of images. This may be true but you cant use them for any real purpose (like a t-shirt design) unless you pay $90.00 each, for a still limited use. These people are deceptive pigs. I really hope Ai will destroy this bloodsucking company.

• Review fromAshley K

  Date: 01/14/2025

  1 star
  Seeing all the complaints and negative reviews, I am shocked this company has an A+ rating. Surely responding the complaints is not sufficient when the same complaints continue to be registered. I am, apparently, one more customer among many who purchased use of two single images (I only needed one, but the option was 2 images paid once or 10 images for a monthly fee) only to end up with an unwanted and in no way consented to annual subscription (billed at $29 monthly). I immediately tried to cancel and was told I would have to pay the value of a half-year subscription (~$140) to cancel. This is fraud, plain and simple. I was able to jump through hoops and secure a refund/cancellation. But seeing these reviews it is clear this is business as usual.

• Review fromGenna I

  Date: 11/15/2024

  1 star
  I signed up to ************ to download 1 picture that I wanted to legally use for a college assignement. I saw that it was going to be $29 for a "month" so I agreed to pay to download the image only to find that that particular image had a watermark and I had to upgrade to remove it. I then download 1 picture and thought I could find other pictures that would amount th the 25 allotted amount only to find that you need to upgrade. I decide that this was not a service I needed and immediately went to cancel only to get an email about a cancellation fee of $159 because it was a yearly membership and not a monthly memebership. Im a student, I cant afford to have subscriptions that dont benifit me with hidden cost and deceptive practices

• Review fromKatrina A

  Date: 10/09/2024

  1 star
  Shutterstock had my plan on auto-renew without me ever signing up for it. It was auto-selected two years back when I purchased an image. After I disputed a charge because I didn't know what it was, they suspended my account. The dispute case has been closed for months, but they won't remove the suspension, claiming they need proof the case is closed. I keep sending them the statement from my CC, and they keep claiming (with a different person responding each time) that after review they need me to send the SAME document I just sent in a previous email. It's bonkers. And at the same time, I've lost access to nearly a hundred photos I've purchased over the past ten years. The unethical auto-renew subscription and the horrible customer service are all bad business practices. They've lost a customer in me for sure. Forever.

• Review fromNigel B

  Date: 09/23/2024

  1 star
  I have used and paid shutter stock over $600 for approved purchases. We signed up for a monthly subscription (HENCE THE WORD MONTHLY). What they did is fully fraudulent by sneaking in to the agreement that there is a cancelation charge. You have to pay for the entire year. So it's really not a monthly subscription. Because of this I will never use shutter stock again for anything further and I highly recommend that others go elsewhere. When a company like this starts to defraud their customers by scammy practices. They will lose every time.

• Review fromMichael K

  Date: 08/30/2024

  1 star
  Like all the other complaints here, just noticed I've been paying for two years of service. You have to disable both automatic refill and renewal. Which is absurd. They don't even send an email notification of payment, a clear sign that they are trying to get away with something.

• Review fromJulie L.

  Date: 08/19/2024

  1 star
  One star is too many. I never signed up for Shutterstock's annual plan. I have only ever purchased a package of 5 images at a time. I was shocked to see monthly charges on my card and tried to cancel, but they have threatened to charge 50% as a cancellation fee. I see that others have had similar issues. I am glad to see that one person is filing a lawsuit. Also, it is good to know that if enough people file complaints here at the BBB, the ************************ will investigate. This is the worst customer service I ever experienced, and I will never ever use this site again.

• Review fromMarian G

  Date: 08/16/2024

  1 star
  I made what Shutterstock presented as a "one-time" purchase for five pictures. This purchase was then put, without my knowledge on "automatic refill." This resulted in my card being charged twice. The "automatic refill" charges occurred immediately after the initial charges. Shutterstock is misleading customers to state "one-time" at the initial purchase and then immediately charging the card a second time.