One of the newer kids on the block, Envato Elements, is a branch of the popular Envato market platform. That means it has years of experience and integrity, backing its stock content marketplace. Offering a tremendous collection of all things that are design from templates and 3D images to stock photos, vector graphics, and fonts, Envato Elements delivers an all-inclusive experience. And with unlimited downloads, there's everything to love about this company.
What's interesting about Envato Elements is that it sort of worked its way into the industry backward. It began by offering incredibly useful and professional tools for designers, developers, and other creative types, creating an easy-to-use platform for downloading stock media. It wasn't until more recently that Envato Elements started including stock photos in its library, and that's the most basic stock content of all!
Despite having launched its platform in reverse, Envato Elements is an excellent marketplace for stock content. Here are a few more reasons this company is special:
Below, we've listed the types of media content that are available on Envato Elements, and the list is long. So, we won't repeat it here, but the point is simple. Envato Elements does everything it can to deliver the most useful, professional, and versatile design elements possible for designers and developers to work with. It's not surprising then that Envato Elements is the top pick for most people in the creative fields.
This is the biggest benefit of all and listen carefully, because it might just save you a bundle. Envato Elements offers subscription plans that let you pay a single rate either monthly or annually for the plan. In return, you get access to all of the content on Envato Elements and, get ready for it, UNLIMITED DOWNLOADS. That means that you can download as many stock photos, illustrations, templates, 3D models, or whatever else you want absolutely free. This is easily the most impressive feature of any stock photo service, and it's going to make it very hard for other companies to compete.
This one is also really unique. Envato Elements isn’t just about making the sale and moving on to the next customer. On the contrary, its mission statement is about empowering consumers and business owners to be better at what they do. To that end, Envato Elements offers over 1,000 tutorials and ebooks for download to broaden your mind and hone your skills. You can learn useful things like coding, web design, design and illustration, typography, and a lot more. This is in partnership with Tutsplus.com, so you can go on the website and see what’s available for yourself.
Envato Elements is not your average stock photo service. It's not limited in its content; in fact, quite the opposite. Envato Elements has one of the most eclectic selections of stock media on the market today. You can get virtually anything you need from this catalog, including:
It’s an impressive array of content, and it’s more varied than what you’ll find just about anywhere else. In fact, that’s one of the biggest selling points of Envato Elements; it’s just so designer-friendly.
All items come with royalty-free licensing and have the option to purchase more extensive licensing if need be. It is worth noting that Envato Elements’s stock photo library isn’t nearly as extensive as other competitors like Dreamstime, iStock, or Pond5 that offer millions of images to choose from. Instead, Envato Elements features a mere 250,000 stock photos.
While this number is laughable compared to the competition, the real question is in the quality. After all, if you can get a high-quality image of exactly what you want from a pool of 250K images, why do you need to brainlessly scroll through millions?
While the system and tools are complex, using Envato Elements is actually pretty straightforward. Here’s how it works:
That's easy. Enter your term into the search bar and hit Enter.
If you want to, you can choose a specific media type that you’re looking for or get results from all different types of content categories.
Next, Envato Elements will deliver your search results. We like the way this service displays its search results. It shows you a few search results from each category, and then you can click on SEE MORE to get more search results of that kind. So, for example, if you search for the keyword kitten, Envato Elements will return results in every category and display four or five photos, four or five, stock videos, four or five graphics, etc. If you want to see more kitten search result photos, just click on the link. It's a lot more appealing to the eye and less overwhelming than most other stock media sites.
Once you’ve chosen your media, you can download it via one of the subscription options you’ve chosen (more on that below).
And that’s it. It’s really simple. Envato Elements also has interesting features like a video maker, and logo maker to enhance your experience.
Envato Elements keeps pricing nice and simple. Thank you! Individuals can choose from a monthly or annual plan as follows:
| Annual Plan | Monthly Plan | Teams Plan |
| $16.50 per month | $33 | From $10.75 per member |
As we mentioned earlier, Envato Elements offers unlimited downloads with its monthly subscriptions. This is almost unheard of in the microstock industry, and it's something that should definitely catch your attention. Why? Because it could mean tremendous savings for you if you download content regularly. Instead of paying per unit, Envato Elements allows you to pay a single flat rate each month and gives you access to all the content you could want for free.
But wait, there's a catch. Content you download is free and yours to use forever. However, you can only use it in one project. You cannot share it along multiple projects; you'll have to purchase a similar image for any other project you want. Still, even with the caveat, this is the most affordable stock photo plan option on the market today.
Teams larger than six members and enterprises can also get customized plans. Teams get a 35% savings on the membership fee, the ability to scale and change members any time, and a convenient central storage folder for anything you download on Envato Elements.
Envato Elements has a detailed help center with search functionality, so you can type in a keyword you're looking for (vector graphic editing, for example), and learn all about it. This is great for troubleshooting your own issues. If you prefer to speak to someone directly, you can open a support ticket via the online contact form, and someone will respond within 24 hours.
Envato Elements has eliminated the most difficult part of stock media by offering unlimited downloads to all its members for a low flat fee. This is a real game-changer, and it’s the biggest reason so many people use Envato Elements today. Well, that and the quality content, helpful tutorials, and wide array of unique content. Envato Elements is a rising star, and if you’re in the creative fields, you’d do well to keep a close eye on this one.