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Shutterstock VS The Noun Project

Compare Shutterstock VS The Noun Project and see what are their differences

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Shutterstock logo Shutterstock

Shutterstock is a provider of stock photos, illustrations, and vector art. The website allows individuals to purchase a subscription and download copyrighted art for creative projects. Read more about Shutterstock.

The Noun Project logo The Noun Project

Creating, Sharing and Celebrating the World's Visual Language
  • Shutterstock Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20
  • The Noun Project Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-28

Shutterstock features and specs

  • Large Library
    Shutterstock offers millions of high-quality images, videos, and music tracks, providing a diverse and extensive selection for users.
  • Search Functionality
    Advanced search and filtering options make it easy to find exactly what you're looking for quickly.
  • Flexible Pricing Plans
    A variety of subscription plans and on-demand options allow users to select a payment method that fits their budget and needs.
  • High-Quality Content
    Stringent quality controls ensure that users have access to professional and high-resolution media.
  • Royalty-Free License
    All content is royalty-free, providing users with the peace of mind of knowing they can use the media without ongoing costs.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform is designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate, even for those who are not tech-savvy.
  • API Access
    Shutterstock provides API access for businesses that need to integrate media directly into their own applications.

Possible disadvantages of Shutterstock

  • Cost
    Shutterstock can be relatively expensive, especially for individuals or small businesses with limited budgets.
  • Subscription Limitations
    Some subscription plans have limits on the number of downloads per month, which can be restrictive for high-demand users.
  • Stock Feel
    Some users feel that the images and videos can have a 'stock' or generic appearance, which may not suit all creative projects.
  • Watermarked Previews
    Previews of media assets have watermarks, making it difficult to fully assess an image's suitability before purchase.
  • Occasional Inconsistency
    Despite quality controls, there can be occasional inconsistency in the quality of available media.
  • Overused Content
    Popular images and videos may be widely used across multiple platforms, reducing originality in projects.
  • Complex Licensing for Commercial Use
    While content is royalty-free, licensing terms for commercial use can sometimes be complex and require careful review.

The Noun Project features and specs

  • Extensive Library
    The Noun Project offers a vast collection of over 3 million icons, covering a wide range of themes and styles, which can be used across various projects.
  • Quality & Consistency
    Icons in The Noun Project are designed by professional designers, ensuring high quality and visual consistency across different icons.
  • Ease of Use
    The platform has a user-friendly interface, making it easy to search, download, and integrate icons into projects.
  • Community Contributions
    The platform allows designers from all over the world to contribute their work, encouraging a diverse range of design styles and cultural representations.
  • Cost-Effective
    Offers both free and premium options, allowing users to access a wide range of icons even with a limited budget.
  • Customizable Icons
    Many icons are customizable in terms of color, size, and format, allowing users to tailor them to their specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of The Noun Project

  • Premium Pricing
    While there are many free icons, access to the entire library and some premium icons may require a subscription which could be costly for some users.
  • Attribution Requirement
    Free icons often require attribution to the designer, which might not be practical or desirable for all users or projects.
  • Limited Uniqueness
    Since the icons are openly available, the same icons might be used by many people, reducing the uniqueness of a project.
  • Overwhelming Choices
    The sheer volume of available icons can be overwhelming, making it difficult for users to find the perfect icon quickly.
  • Dependent on External Platform
    Relying on an external platform means that changes, downtime, or disruptions in The Noun Project's service can affect users' access to icons.
  • Limited Integration
    While there are plugins for some design tools, The Noun Project might not seamlessly integrate with every software or platform designers use.

Shutterstock videos

+ Add

How Much Money Can You Make on SHUTTERSTOCK in Your First Year? Earnings, Best Sellers, and Thoughts

More videos:

  • Review - Stock Photography for Beginners | Is Shutterstock Worth it in 2020?
  • Tutorial - Shutterstock Contributor Tutorial and Tips for Beginners

The Noun Project videos

+ Add

The Noun Project review: using icons in your slides - The Good, the Bad and the Tip

More videos:

  • Review - The Noun Project: Brian's Go-To Catalog of Over 1 Million Icons!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Shutterstock and The Noun Project)

Shutterstock

The Noun Project

Photos & Graphics
100 100%
Photos & Graphics
0% 0
Web Icons
0 0%
Web Icons
100% 100
Image Marketplace
100 100%
Image Marketplace
0% 0
Vector Icons
0 0%
Vector Icons
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Shutterstock and The Noun Project. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Shutterstock and The Noun Project

Shutterstock Reviews

12 Best Sites Like Freepik For Downloading Photos
You must have heard of Shutterstock before and if not, it’s high time that we make it familiar to you. Headquartered in New York, Shutterstock is one of the biggest such websites out there. More than 1 million users worldwide share their content on the platform. More than 1 billion images, video clips, and music tracks have been downloaded through the platform. Also, stock...
Source: www.devdude.com
The best Freepik alternatives 2023
Shutterstock provides over 400 million stock images compared to Freepik’s 41 million. It also offers more advanced features, flexible licensing options, and higher maximum image resolutions. The drawback is that Shutterstock is more expensive. But with its vastly larger library and premium features, it can be worth it for professional needs.
Source: photutorial.com
The Complete List of Video Marketing Tools (Updated for 2022)
Shutterstock is arguably the largest stock-anything site with more than 14 million stock footage, music, and images available in their library. If you know you’re going to need many stock content, you can’t go wrong with Shutterstock.
Source: breadnbeyond.com

The Noun Project Reviews

12 Best Free FontAwesome Alternatives in 2023 
The Noun Project is another excellent pack of font icons that you can go for. This pack contains icons for practically everything under the sun. You can find more than 5 million curated icons in this pack that have been created by a global and culturally diverse community. All these icons are royalty-free, and you can get them easily in your workflow.
Source: lineicons.com
7 Best Free Icon Libraries
The Noun Project's web icons library offers integrations with Adobe, Mac, Office, and Google apps. This might make you assume spending for a yearly plan. Remember, you can download and use it for free and without attribution.
Source: www.atatus.com
10 Best Fontello Alternatives 2021
Designers and photographers from all walks of life can submit their original designs and images on The Noun Project, under the Creative Commons Zero license. This way, anyone can freely use these designs or photos without restrictions or the need for attributions.
Source: rigorousthemes.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, The Noun Project should be more popular than Shutterstock. It has been mentiond 143 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Shutterstock mentions (19)

  • [HELP!] I need your feedback about my creations!
    Other reputable places to sell vector artwork online are shutterstock.com, and stock.adobe.com Each will have their own requirements and tutorials for submitting artwork. You can also start your own page on Etsy.com. Source: over 1 year ago
  • I just started my first freelance job. Am I expected to source my own stock photos or do I ask?
    "Freelance" means, "You're on your own, kid." However, all of the things you ask are possible--access to your client's assets, buy your own and bill them, source free images. shutterstock.com is one of my favorites. I was searching for free/royalty free images endlessly until I just bought a monthly subscription. The time savings makes up for the time spent scouring the internet. Good luck and have fun!... Source: about 2 years ago
  • "you coolio" is too offensive i guess
    Just found out the image had "shutterstock.com" on it. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Y2K Aesthetic - how do I create a Y2K computer browser?!
    Go to shutterstock.com and type in these exact keywords. Vaporwave, windows 98, y2k computer browser. You should get a ton of vector assets that will help cut your design time in half. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Where to find graphics like blood splatter, dirt, lightning etc. for use in photoshop?
    Look for royalty-free images. You may try shutterstock.com if you need more and are ok to make a subscription or unsplash.com if you want free images. Moreover you may try deviantart.com or google search for blood splatter. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

The Noun Project mentions (143)

  • IcôNES
    If you’re looking for icons http://thenounproject.com (no affiliation) has a huge collection. - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • The Best 100 Free UI/UX Resources for Every Designer & Developer
    The Noun Project Thenounproject.com Free icons with attribution (CC license). - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • How to make mix-blend-mode round to black or white only
    Relying on backdrop-filter has one issue: even if you have a transparent background behind your blending element, the rectangle behind it will look black or white too. This is fine for rectangular elements such as the simple scroller inside the CodePen example, but not for complex shapes such as the planet logo from the Noun Project shown in the same example. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Show HN: LogoMVP – Generate quick, professional logos for your MVP
    Hey, great work! You could easily add the Bootstrap Icons library to this. And then perhaps the Noun Project. https://icons.getbootstrap.com/ https://thenounproject.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Useful Websites for Cheat Sheets and Programming Resources
    Content: The Noun Project offers a vast collection of icons that can be used in various projects, providing a wide range of icons for different purposes. Benefits: Access to high-quality icons for use in design and development projects, enhancing visual communication and design. Link: https://thenounproject.com/. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Shutterstock and The Noun Project, you can also consider the following products

Pexels - Find the best free stock images about Browser Home Page. Download all photos and use them even for commercial projects.

Flaticon - A database of free vector icons.

Unsplash - Unsplash is a website with high-quality free HD images. It has a catalog of more than three hundred thousand striking images that are neatly organized with tags. Read more about Unsplash.

Icons8 - Free app for Mac & Windows already containing 39,800 icons. Allows to search and import icons…

Pixabay - Over 270,000 free photos, vectors and art illustrations

Font Awesome - Font Awesome makes it easy to add vector icons and social logos to your website. And version 5 is redesigned and built from the ground up!

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