123RF

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123RF started life in Malaysia in 2005. Like it’s main competitors, Shutterstock and iStock, it is home to millions of royalty-free images, videoclips and audio files.

123RF offers quality, low-price stock photography options. It is priced to offer something for everyone, whether you need a one-off photo for a project or have a high volume need

They boast large corporate customers such as Google, American Express and Microsoft, but are equally suited to a small business owner looking for an image for a social media post, book cover or poster.

You can buy either standard stock images from 123RF or choose from their premium "EVO" range.

123RF User Experience

123RF has an easy to use interface with powerful search facility. Users choose an asset, save it to their 'likebox' (not the usual 'lightbox'), choose their payment model and download. The process is easy and the choice of images huge.

They have a couple of nice touches like offering a selection of images for free (small size good for web use) and in the my account section, you have you download history so if you need to re-download any assets, this can be done easily.

Just be aware that services like 123RF leave the default setting on purchases to ‘auto renew’ so be sure to switch this off if you don’t want to be charged with additional months/credit packs.

Licensing with 123RF

The licensing rules are very similar for 123RF as they are with other royalty-free stock photography websites such as Shutterstock, iStock and Adobe Stock. Royalty-free means you purchase the right to use the asset multiple times, worldwide with no time expiry.

Depending on what you need your asset for, you’ll need to choose a licence type. There are three types:

Standard licence

• Used for web/electronic uses such as websites, banners, newsletters, PDFs, blog, email and presentations.
• Used for printed material such as magazine articles, books, advertising, brochures, booklets and business cards.

The use of an image with a standard licence is limited to 500,000 print runs.

Extended licence

Carries all the same benefits as the Standard licence but allows print runs of more than 500,000. You can use the asset for products or services intended for resale or distribution.

• Good for merchandise or book publishing of more than 500,000 copies.

Editorial licence

Content marked ‘Editorial Use Only’ may not be used for commercial / advertising / promotional purposes.

Credits and Subscriptions

To give you an idea of how many credits you need to download images, video and audio clips, check out this table:

123RF Pricing

You can purchase from 123RF in three ways, either via download packs and subscriptions for standard images or via credits for video, audio clips and TIFF files.

With credits, they do expire after one year so make sure you purchase as many as you are likely to need as they don’t carry the quota forward.

Not sure which payment model would be best for you? This table outlines the differences between credits and subscriptions:

123RF Support

123RF have a great FAQ section which will give you information on licensing and other terms and conditions.

They also have a UK number you can call if you need to seek advice about making sure you a purchasing the correct licence for your image.

Live chat is also offered 24/7.

123RF Ratings and Reviews

123RF is well rated with the 860 reviewers on Trustpilot giving it an average 8.6/10. 68% gave 5 stars.By far and away away, the biggest grievance was the expiry of credits. It might be 123RF have since updated their pricing details to make sure this is clear, but take note, you have 12 months to use your credit pack with credits expiring thereafter.

Customer support was also well rated. They offer a good range of support choices should you need help and advice.

Main Benefits of using 123RF

• More than 80 million creative works and growing.
• 90,000 daily content from 300,000 creative contributors.
• 12,000,000+ monthly active users at 123RF.com.
• Trusted, well rated and long established.
• Good selection of free images.
• Able to re-download images should you need to.
• 24/7 support available.

Images

• Photos: High-quality stock photos to help bring your ideas to life.
• Vectors: Scalable graphics and illustrations for your designs.
• Editorial: Images for news publications.

Video Footage

• 4K, HD, SD, and Web resolution.

Audio Clips

• High-quality tracks. Simple, straightforward pricing.
• Search by Genre, Mood or Instruments.

Download Packs

• 5 Images – £26.
• 25 Images – £115.
• Valid for one year.
• Download at anytime.
• No monthly commitments.

Subscriptions

• 150/month  downloads- £59/month or £39/month annual.
• 200/month downloads – £109/month or £96/month annual.
• 780/month downloads – 149/month or £109/month annual.

On Demand Credits

(Standard Images, Editorial Images, EVO, Vectors, TIFF, Footage and Audio)

• 20 credits – £18.
• 40 credits – £33.
• 90 credits – £70.
• 200 credits – £153.

Rating score is a weighted average from the following respected sources: