Stock Image Libraries
Getty, Shutterstock and Adobe Stock dominate stock imagery, and all three are American. Europe has serious agencies of its own, from mass microstock to premium rights-managed collections, often with more photographer-friendly terms.
Spain's Freepik is the graphics-and-photo powerhouse that now owns Flaticon and EyeEm, and age fotostock is a huge Barcelona agency. Germany is the heart of European stock: PantherMedia, Westend61, imageBROKER, Zoonar and Hamburg's plainpicture. The UK's Alamy runs one of the world's largest, most inclusive libraries.
Below: the European stock image libraries worth licensing from instead of the American giants.
Pexels
Known for: High-quality, royalty-free stock images and videos sourced from a global network of talented creators.
Pricing: Free to use with no attribution required.
Our verdict: Vast library of free images and videos, we use their images frequently here at Euronomy
Freepik
Known for: Graphics-and-photo powerhouse — vectors, photos, templates and AI; owns Flaticon and EyeEm.
Best for: designers and marketers needing graphics plus stock.
Alamy
Known for: One of the world's largest and most inclusive stock libraries, from the UK.
Best for: editorial buyers and photographer-friendly licensing.
Westend61
Known for: A premium royalty-free agency from Munich known for lifestyle imagery.
Best for: brands wanting polished lifestyle and people photos.
imageBROKER
Known for: A German agency with a broad, nature- and editorial-strong collection.
Best for: nature, travel and editorial image buyers.
Zoonar
Known for: A Hamburg-based royalty-free stock agency.
Best for: buyers wanting broad royalty-free photos and illustrations.
plainpicture
Known for: A Hamburg agency known for creative, art-directed rights-managed imagery.
Best for: advertising and design teams wanting distinctive photos.