Stock Photo Secrets
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy only if you need roughly 200 curated images a year and like a small hand-picked catalog.
New check
Comparison
Stock Photo Secrets and Istockphoto both land on Depends.
Buy only if you need roughly 200 curated images a year and like a small hand-picked catalog.
Buy if your team licenses images regularly and wants Getty-backed rights and indemnification; subscriptions reward volume.
| Compare | Stock Photo Secrets | Istockphoto |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Low-volume buyers (~200 images/year) | Marketing teams buying images weekly |
| Who it's not for | High-volume teams . catalog is 50x smaller than Shutterstock | Anyone needing a handful of images . free sites cover you |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.⁸ | Mature Getty-owned vendor with a HackerOne response policy; only finding is a 2009 phishing incident. |
| Support quality | No support evidence in sources | Refunds granted per Reddit; 927 Trustpilot reviews |
| Public sentiment | Feedback is mixed . some praise the curation and quality, while a 2025 review calls it small, low-quality, and overpriced.¹ | Opinion is split: some find the entry price reasonable, while others complain bitterly about annual subscription renewals.11 |
| Biggest gotcha | Priced above Shutterstock despite a far smaller catalog¹ | Annual subscription rates are the loudest user complaint; read renewal terms before committing13 |