Shutterstock statistics (2024)

The following article collects all available Shutterstock data, as well as Photutorial-original research and forecasts.

Key Shutterstock stats

Shutterstock has 469 million photos

There are 469 million images on Shutterstock. This includes photos, which represent the majority, illustrations, and vectors.

In recent years, Shutterstock has been adding between 40 and 50 million photos to its collection, a noticeable slowdown from years 2016 through 2019 when around twice as many photos were added yearly.

Following this trend, Shutterstock will reach 500 million images in its collection by the end of 2024 or in the first quarter of 2025.

There are 3.6 million AI-generated images

Shutterstock introduced the “AI-generated” category to its image library in June of 2023, starting with 600,000 files. A year later, the library size grew by six times, currently sitting at 3.6 million AI-generated images.

The slight exponential curve of the chart above corresponds to the AI boom in the image industry we’ve been seeing in the last year.

Subscribers: Numbers & Demographics

Subscribers are defined as customers who buy one or more monthly recurring plans for at least three months.

How many subscribers does Shutterstock have?

• Number of subscribers: Shutterstock has 343,000 active subscribers. In 2020, Shutterstock had 281,000 subscribers.
• Revenue from subscribers: In 2021, subscriptions brought $317.50 million to Shutterstock, 41.05% of the total revenue.
• Revenue per customer: An average customer spent $368.
• Forecast: By 2024, Shutterstock will have 830,000 active subscribers, bringing in $489 million, and $427/customer.

Annual report

Quarterly report

Employees

• Number of employees: Shutterstock employs 1,140 people.
• Demographics: 68% of employees are from the United States, 27% from Europe, and 5% from the rest of the world. By 2020, 64% of employees will be from the United States, 29% from Europe, and 7% from the rest of the world, indicating a trend toward centralization of all human capital in the United States.
• Prediction: Due to the simultaneous growth of the company and automation, the number of employees at Shutterstock will remain about the same. By 2024, Shutterstock could have 1,155 employees.

Acquisitions

Shutterstock has acquired 9 companies for a total of $509 million: PremiumBeat, Rex Features, FlashStock, TurboSquid, and PicMonkey. The amounts paid for Bigstock, WebDAM, and Amper Music were not disclosed.

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Matic Broz

Matic Broz is a stock media licensing expert with over 10 years of experience using and testing creative platforms for his own creative work. He has personally licensed over 5,000 stock assets and helped 20,000+ creators choose the right subscription services through his work at Photutorial.