Istockphoto Reviews 

My subscription expired yesterday with 105 available downloads. The cumulative cost for my subscription was $840. I had only wanted a few photos but somehow got stuck with the subscription. Now, a year later, I needed a few again for a website update only to discover that those 105 downloads expire if you don't keep paying. So, of the $840 I paid, I used may four photos. It's over priced even if you can keep the downloads you paid for. But having them expire - what a complete rip off.

Buyer Beware: Terrible software and customer service

I subscribed to iStock's AI image generator with a very specific, highly detailed prompt describing exactly what I needed. After 3 image generation attempts, it was immediately clear the software could not deliver anything close to what was described. The results were completely off from my prompt — not minor variations, but fundamentally wrong outputs that were unusable.

Within 15 minutes of subscribing I requested a refund. I had generated only 3 images, downloaded absolutely nothing, and made the request almost immediately after realizing the tool did not work for my needs. iStock refused to issue a refund.

They kept my money after only 3 image generations, 0 downloads, and a refund request within 15 minutes.

This is not a company that stands behind their product. If their AI generator actually worked as advertised, they would have no reason to refuse refunds to customers who discover within minutes that it doesn't meet their needs.

Do your research before subscribing. I strongly recommend looking into any company that offers Nano Banana as an alternative — far better results and a company that actually respects its customers. Save yourself the frustration and the money.

Fraud. This website is fraudulent. I attempted contact professionally and was denied the opportunity to speak with a manager. Please look into this website. Do not go into it. It is a scam.

Terrible customer service. Good selection of images and videos. Bought a monthly subscription to support a one-off consulting project only to find out the way it is labeled onsite is misleading and was an annual billed monthly. In spite of no longer needing the service AND explaining I had been laid off they still kept the second month charge of $99 and added a $100 cancellation fee.

I would not recommend this service. Their small print policies are very misleading and not very "consumer friendly". After 10 years of membership- I'm sad to say that i have deleted my membership. Their customer service department were 'dry' and blunt, with the "if you don't like it- go somewhere else" attitude.

This service was very disappointing. The product didn’t match what was promised, and the packages were not as described. I felt like I paid more without getting any value. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t recommend this service.
SCAMERS

Dreadful customer service experience. We decided to cancel our subscription for a while as we weren't using it enough. We were advised we would lose any credits on the system if we cancelled so we downloaded some images to use the credits up, only to be told there were only 3 credits from previous periods and the balance credits were from the renewal and therefore we could not cancel our subscription. US$380 completely wasted. Our correspondence was not handled well and it was a very unpleasant experience all round being fleeced.

Never ever use IStock! They locked me into an annual plan. After getting charged 145 after the free trial, I clicked the "pause automatic payments" button. That's not something I could afford each month for making content.

So, the next month comes and I wake up to them taking money from my account again. This was right before a holiday vacation, and was sorely needed.

I investigated the transactions on PayPal and found out that they manually charge you for your subscription fee, whether you have automatic payments set up or not. Which means the "pause automatic payments" button is fake!!

I emailed then and they tried to get me to pay an admin fee of 190 something to break the contract. They also said that I downloaded some pictures that month, so me trying to cancel won't work. Which didn't make sense, because if I paid for those downloads from a previous subscription, that has nothing to do with the next subscription that falls on that month.

I wrote a scorching claim on PayPal about how IStock is trying to extort and scam me.

Safe to say, after my trip, I got my money back.

Scammed. We thought we were signing up for a "free" trial and it ended up being a years subscription that we could not cancel. Despite multiple tries, they refused to cancel claiming we agreed to it. We did not.

If I could rate my experience a zero, I would. I have depended on IStock for photos and illustrations, until today. By mistake, I pressed the button for a year-long subscription. The "customer service" representative (read "company-service" representative) was nothing less than hostile when I asked the subscription to be cancelled. Absurdly contentious, customer-hostile attitude. I immediately contacted my credit card company, placed the problem in dispute, and was refunded all my money by my credit card company--immediately. I guess VISA knows how to research IStock reviews, too. How on earth does IStock make sense of such an antagonist business practice when they depend on the customers they're antagonizing? Though I've spent hundred of dollars with them in the past year alone, I'll not be using them again.

Extremely overpriced

Tried the Trial Subscription. Noticed I had been billed for 4 months after. Went to cancel and they told me I need to continue paying for another 6 months and don't have the option to cancel.

Really poor customer service, said that credits never expire, but then removed them because I hadn't logged in for over a year.

Refused to reinstate them, no apology - so I'm moving to adobestock and suggest you do too

Easily trapped into a subscription that you cannot cancel. Avoid this one.

Beware! It's a bait and switch company! They make it look like you can download images and I signed up for a plan which then none of the images were available. Then they don't state anywhere near the subscription signup button/plans that you CAN'T unsubscribe from an annual plan. I will never give them my business again!

Would put less than one star, despite having been a customer for 10+ years across multiple businesses, I will never use them (or unsplash and Getty) ever again. Terrible customer service and trick you into spending more than you want, lock you into contracts and seemingly have zero understanding or will to budge.

Can't redownload an image if you bought it with a subscription. They recharge you.

This company has a very stupid way of canceling the subscription and instead of my nicely request to close my profile and not take any more money from me because I dont need their service anymore, now I blocked the card and got a new one, and let them continue with their stupid business policy...

Rude on chats and no sense of caring about thier customers. Literally disconnect the chat. Avoid.

Signed up to annaul account in error (our company has multiple accounts and partner companies that use it too)

I subscribed to iStock expecting access to quality images, but was quickly disappointed. The images I actually needed weren’t available. When I reached out, I got the usual copy-paste apology and a vague promise to “look into it” — which does absolutely nothing while they keep auto-charging your account.
If you’re thinking of subscribing, read the reviews first. I wish I had. The cancellation process is intentionally confusing, and support is more focused on scripted empathy than real solutions.
If you’re hoping for flexibility, transparency, or even basic decency—look elsewhere. This service is the definition of pay-first, regret-later.
I’m now disputing the charges with my bank because customer support was unhelpful and the service failed to deliver what was promised.