123RF
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you need volume royalty-free images cheaply and will use a unique password.
Comparison
123RF vs Dreamstime
123RF and Dreamstime both land on Depends.
Dreamstime
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Fine for budget buyers who need cheap stock photos, vectors, video, or audio and read the billing terms first.
| Compare | 123RF | Dreamstime |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Bloggers and solo marketers on a budget | Budget-conscious designers |
| Who it's not for | Security-conscious enterprises vetting vendors | Buyers needing premium, curated, exclusive imagery |
| Privacy | Suffered a 2020 breach exposing 8.3M user records; no public security page found.⁶ | No public breaches of the marketplace itself; its official WordPress plugin had a reflected XSS flaw, patched in v4.2. |
| Support quality | Review sentiment not extractable from snippets | Billing and refund complaints recur publicly |
| Public sentiment | Users rate it 4.4/5 on G2, but independent reviewers and Trustpilot threads raise service and trust concerns.¹ | Buyers like the affordability and variety, while complaints cluster around billing, auto-renewal, and curation quality.13 |
| Biggest gotcha | 2020 breach leaked 8.3M accounts . use a unique password, never reuse old credentials⁶ | Subscriptions auto-renew; reviews and forums describe refund battles over unwanted charges |
Pick 123RF when
- Bloggers and solo marketers on a budget
- Small teams needing bulk royalty-free images
- Designers sourcing vectors and clipart
When 123RF is not a fit
- Security-conscious enterprises vetting vendors
- Anyone wanting a top editorial recommendation . reviewers say skip it
- Contributors expecting meaningful payout (one reported ~$100)
- Buyers who want small, cheap credit packs
Pick Dreamstime when
- Budget-conscious designers
- Small businesses needing cheap photos
- Vector and illustration buyers
- Occasional credit-pack downloaders
When Dreamstime is not a fit
- Buyers needing premium, curated, exclusive imagery
- Anyone allergic to auto-renewing subscriptions
- Contributors expecting meaningful royalties
- Enterprise teams with strict rights-cleared workflows
Sources
- 123RF Reviews on G2g2.comreview
review
- 123RF review . Photutorialphotutorial.comreview
- 123RF Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- 123RF review . Stock Photo Secretsstockphotosecrets.comreview
- 123RF breach . Have I Been Pwnedhaveibeenpwned.comsecurity
- Popular stock photo service hit by data breachbleepingcomputer.comsecurity
- 123RF security page123rf.comofficial
- 123RF PLUS plan products page123rf.comofficial
- 123RF standard license terms123rf.comofficial
- 123RF AWS case studyaws.amazon.comofficial
review
- Dreamstime Reviews . Trustpilottrustpilot.comreview
- Dreamstime Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- Dreamstime Review . Experteexperte.comreview
