Adobe Express vs. Shutterstock

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly Adobe Spark) is a task-based, web and mobile product used to create and share rich multimedia content – from social media posts and stories to invitations to marketing materials like logos, flyers and banners.
$0
Shutterstock
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Shutterstock is a global technology company headquartered in New York, offering a creative platform boasting high-quality assets, tools and services. With it, users can license images, video, music, and editorial assets -- as well as custom content tailored to a brand’s needs. Shutterstock offers a variety of plans for individuals, teams, and enterprise customers as well as creative editing and collaboration capabilities.
$379
per month (2 users)
Pricing
Adobe ExpressShutterstock
Editions & Modules
Free
$0.00
Premium
$9.99 / $99.99
per month
Teams
$9.99
per month per user
Single User - 10 Images
$29 ($49)
monthly, annual contract (no contract)
On-Demand Packs - Standard License
$29, $49, $299
number of images (2, 5, 25)
Single User - 50 Images
$99 ($125)
monthly, annual contract (no contract)
Single User - 350 Images
$169 ($199)
monthly, annual contract (no contract)
Single User - 750 Images
$199 ($249)
monthly, annual contract (no contract)
On-Demand Packs - Enhanced License
$199, $449, $1,699
number of images (2, 5, 25)
Teams (750 images per month)
$379
per month (2 users)
Teams (750 images per month)
$479
per month (3-10 users)
Teams (750 images per month)
Contact Sales
per month, 11+ users
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe ExpressShutterstock
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsContact Adobe directly for Enterprise pricing plan details.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe ExpressShutterstock
Best Alternatives
Adobe ExpressShutterstock
Small Businesses
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
Adobe Express
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
Adobe Express
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Pexels
Pexels
Score 10.0 out of 10
Adobe Express
Adobe Express
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe ExpressShutterstock
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe ExpressShutterstock
Likelihood to Recommend
I needed to create quarterly safety training posters. In the past, I have used Canva. But in Canva's free version, your options are limited. So off to AE I went. I was able to find four templates to help me create my four posters. I found templates that looked like a movie poster, and the results were so professional looking. It was easy to add my own pictures from my computer to further personalize the posters. I loved them so much I made them into movie poster size printouts, sprayed some liquid glue on a styroboard, and hung them up around our offices. Our employees loved them too, and it drummed up more people to attend my sessions.
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Shutterstock is ideal for creatives who need images for digital marketing such as websites, blogs, case studies, or presentations. Visual elements can make or break a brand, and Shutterstock has an enormous library with a huge variety of image styles. Yes, there are your cliché stock images that look goofy or fake, but it's easy to find world-class photos and vector illustrations that add authenticity to any brand.
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Pros
  • Out-of-the-box templates save a lot of time and effort for designers and new users.
  • Collaboration to share resources and monitor task status centrally.
  • Great design elements bring a wow factor to digital content.
  • Single design tool for all types of content design.
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  • Large library with a great variety of high quality images
  • "Similar images," "same model," and "same artist" suggestions to help you drill down your search for the right image
  • Handy editing tool that lets you save your custom image sizes
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Cons
  • Canva has a better interface, in my opinion... I like that this one is friendly to Adobe users, but I would likely recommend Canva to someone who's never used design software for a complete beginner.
  • Removing the background from images doesn't always work well. I almost always need to switch to Photoshop for this.
  • The touch screen interface could be better; graphics on mobile apps are tough in general but specifically, the iPad interface could use some improvement.
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  • i think the pricing is still higher than other platforms
  • locating right files is sometimes difficult here like the search results could be better
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Likelihood to Renew
I use it daily for almost all my marketing needs. So far it is the program that has the most and best to offer for what I need and is the easiest to use
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No answers on this topic
Usability
The overall usability of the software was strong. The application, especially relative to other Adobe services like Photoshop that can demand a lot of knowledge and skill, was highly easy to use. At the same time, that also speaks to the somewhat limited amount of customization opportunities that allow content designers to truly create content that is dynamic, engaging, and different than the standard stuff that floods our vision every day.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Because adobe is so widespread the community support is amazing. I have never actually used adobe support short of their website, but I go to youtube a lot to get my questions answered. You can google any problem you have and not have any issues finding an answer. In my opinion, community support is much more meaningful and helpful than support directly from the company
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
For users already in the Adobe ecosystem, Adobe Express is a great tool to consider for it's modern, professional templates, impressive stock image library and the easy drag-and-drop tools. I mostly do most of my work on desktop, but I know Canva is generally better for mobile usability and its got more third-party integrations that may be important to some users.
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Shutterstock library and pricing is better than Adobe Stock also the preview is far better than Adobe Stock that's why i am still using shutterstock rather than Adobe Stock, their have a huge collections of images, videos than Adobe Stock. also the user interface of shutterstock is easy than Adobe Stock
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Return on Investment
  • It has allowed us to complete more demos and projects in less time by being so flexible.
  • It has positively impacted our efficiency in delivering creatives such as YouTube thumbnails, event poster designs, Instagram story posts, etc to clients in a timely manner no matter where work takes us.
  • I would say the ROI has been seeing more projects completed and invoiced per month. I would estimate overall a 20% increase in volume on deliverables.
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  • it improved our work quality
  • it helped us to handle multiple projects as catered our creative needs well
  • due to faster project creation our business scaled
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ScreenShots

Adobe Express Screenshots

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