Envato Reviews 

An exceptionally unpleasant experience. A year ago, I downloaded ONE 3D mockup from Envato. I signed up assuming the subscription would last for one month. However, I have now discovered that it actually continued for an entire year, with Envato charging my card monthly and taking over €400 in total.

This kind of practice borders on fraud. They can clearly see that there has been absolutely no activity on my account, which strongly suggests that the subscription was activated unintentionally and that I simply forgot to cancel it.

When I explained my mistake and pointed out that I had not used their services a single time throughout the entire year, they refused to make any exception. Apparently, extracting money from customers is more important than treating them fairly, and they have no intention of giving any of it back.

Rigid, customer-hostile communication. Would not recommend!

It's just okay. I found most of the music and video options to be pretty generic. It would be okay for someone trying to sell products maybe, or generic travel videos. Otherwise, your options are limited. Just searching for background music gives you an endless list of songs that sound like the start of a YouTube video you immediately click off. Not terrible, but limited value in my opinion. No issues with customer service or anything like that but I did cancel my renewal.

I have been a customer of Envato (ThemeForest) since 2014—now spanning 12 years—having purchased countless products and WordPress themes, as well as being a long-term user of Envato Elements. However, following the acquisition by Shutterstock, the platform has drastically deteriorated from a customer perspective.To give a specific example: Over the years, I purchased numerous licenses for the "The7" theme by "DreamTheme," which were explicitly advertised with a lifetime update guarantee. DreamTheme has now unilaterally changed this model. Banners are now appearing on my clients' websites warning of the loss of security updates and functional limitations unless a paid subscription is completed—despite the lifetime licenses originally purchased.Envato support offers absolutely no assistance to affected buyers regarding this matter. Even worse, Envato blocks factual criticism on its own platform, justifying this by stating that users are only permitted to comment on products purchased within the last 6 months. The fact that, as an agency or web designer, you maintain countless client websites with these products over many years and are now facing massive issues after more than a decade of reliability is completely ignored. Critical voices regarding this license change are thus systematically filtered out.For me, Envato has lost all credibility. I have canceled Envato Elements and will no longer use the platform. If there is a risk that guaranteed license models can be retroactively devalued and the marketplace suppresses criticism through internal guidelines, any purchase made there is, in my view, an unpredictable risk.

UPDATE: Envato asked for the review to be taken offline and since I didn't see the message that asked for additional details I had to post it again. Since Envatos support didn't provide a reference number I instead added the first name of the support person and the initial of the second name. This should help Envato to identify who I was talking to. As for the rest of my claims: nearly everything I posted here is also posted on Envatos websites. That includes their review policy that doesn't allow to post reviews if you didn't buy a product after six months and the changes in the license model of the The 7 theme. Feel free to verify it there.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!
I purchased a year's subscription on April 27, 2026. It was the basic pkg, the $16.50 a month. Everything was fine until about three weeks ago. I had searched for some basic stock footage and saved/booked marked the clip in Envato. When I got to work a couple days later and tried to download them it asked my to sign up for a plan. I already have a plan, until April 27, of 2027. I have sent four "help tickets" so far, since there is no way to talk to someone in person. I have include the screen grab of my purchase of $214 dollars on April 27 of this year along with a screen grab of it asking for me to choose a Plan when trying to download a background.
I have yet to receive any feedback. Even a "we are looking into it" would be something, at least I would know that someone has seen my requests. They have several complaints on BBB. That is probably my next post.

Trash company. First, AI generations were not great compared to many other free options. Second, some downloaded assets did not work with the newer version of my installed DaVinci Resolve. And third, this company participates in sketchy billing/subscription practices -- much like Adobe. I graduated from my Media program and they charged me for a full year when I didn't need their services any longer. When I tried to get a refund, they said their policy was to "give no refunds." My advice, there are much better options out there than Envato. Find them and use them.

I paid USD 129.46 for an annual Envato subscription on 1 July 2026. The cancellation confirmation issued that day said it would end on 1 July 2027. I initially requested a refund and disputed the transaction, then told Envato I wanted to use the paid annual service.

My bank’s 17 July letter says the dispute was rejected. Envato replied on 7 October, Türkiye time, saying the dispute continued afterward and USD 129.46 was credited to my card on 4 September. The July letter does not rule out a later refund. However, I have not verified that credit, and Envato has not supplied the traceable transaction reference and final outcome documentation requested.

My access remains blocked. On 6 October, Envato requested another USD 129.46 to restore it.

I sent a documented complaint on 6 October. Envato did reply, but the ticket was closed on 10 October for no response within 48 hours while the requested documentation remained outstanding. I followed up that day, requesting reopening and documents within two business days, and await a response.

I want the records reconciled. If Envato retains the original funds, restore the remaining prepaid access without another payment. If a refund occurred, provide traceable evidence and clearly explain the final payment status. This request does not commit me to another payment.

AI is a biest. As many generate images, no one uses envato elements anymore. It doesnt help that envato added ai features. As people leaving the plattform, they gather all the money they can. Forget to cancel the subscription and ask for a refund litterally 1 hour after "autorenewal" -> NO. They need the money. Customer service was never really there. That is a word many big companies never heard of..

I love the low cost high value results oriented platform. I can rip new videos, or graphic design anything. The AI makes my videos come to life and really helps me stand out on all of my platforms.....

I have had a great experience with Envato. Ive heard refunds are easy now and the subscription for unlimited downloads is perfect. I would defiantly recommend using Envato!

**Rating: 1/5**

I’m very disappointed with Envato’s website performance, especially considering that we have already subscribed to the service for one year.

The website frequently experiences severe lag, errors, and unexpected crashes. These issues significantly disrupt our workflow and make it difficult to use the service efficiently. Sometimes the website becomes completely unresponsive, which is very frustrating, especially when we are working under tight deadlines.

As a paying customer, I expect a much more stable and reliable platform. The current performance does not feel consistent with the quality of service expected from a paid annual subscription.

I strongly recommend that Envato seriously improve its website infrastructure and technical support. It may also be necessary to review or restructure the technical/IT team responsible for platform stability and performance.

I hope Envato takes this feedback seriously and makes significant improvements, because recurring technical issues can negatively affect users who depend on the platform for their daily work.

got copyright strikes from YT even licensed music is used and copyright claims cleared from the platform.

Already 2 strikes in one week. So totally frustrating and now I have feel that lost of money as well.

I suggest to check something else, if you are looking backround music for YT videos. Music quality itself is ten times better than YT "free audio library", but it sucks to fight against copyright claims and strikes on YT :((

Bad subscription interface. Check the subscription terms carefully before purchasing.

An unethical business - DO NOT SIGN UP!
They will sell your data and make it hard to close account/unsubscribe. Not a good business.
But then look at the Trustpilot score! They obviously don't care.

I have been an Envato customer for many years. In fact, Envato offered me a badge today recognizing how long I have been a customer. After what it took to access my account, I think I earned a very different badge.

All I wanted to do was access my longtime Webpuzzlemaster account, where my purchases, downloads and support are located.

I started at Envato. The Sign in with Google option flashed but when i tried to click on it, it was gone. What did not disappear were the opportunities to sign up for Envato's new subscription offerings. I don't want a subscription. I wanted access to the products I have already purchased over many years.

Since I couldn't get where I needed to go through Envato, I tried CodeCanyon.

The Google sign-in option there also performed its disappearing act. After repeated attempts, I finally managed to catch it at the right moment, select my Google account and authenticate.

I thought I was home free.

Instead, I was sent back to Envato Market, where I was presented with another Sign In button.

At this point, accessing an existing customer account had become less like authentication and more like an escape room.

I kept clicking, trying different routes and navigating between the sites. Eventually, through a sequence of events I honestly could not reproduce if asked, I suddenly found myself logged into the correct Webpuzzlemaster account.

A small miracle had occurred.

All humor aside, this is a serious UX problem. I am a longtime customer with an established account containing purchases, downloads and support entitlements. Accessing those assets should be one of the simplest workflows Envato provides.

Instead, the path to my existing account was confusing and circular, while subscription products I neither wanted nor needed were considerably easier to find.

A successful login shouldn't leave the customer thinking, “I have absolutely no idea how I finally got here.”

And then there is that longevity badge Envato offered me today.

Given the experience, I think a more appropriate award would be:

ENVATO LOGIN ESCAPE ROOM SURVIVOR — EXPERT LEVEL

Perhaps the next badge could include clear directions to my account.

One star because Trustpilot doesn't offer -5.

UPDATE: Envato asked for more information so they could investigate. Trustpilot then gave me three days to respond, warning that otherwise my review might not be recognized as genuine.

I responded. The problem? Trustpilot provided no place whatsoever to answer Envato or provide additional details. It only collected my contact information and then claimed I had “added more details” to my review.

If Trustpilot is going to threaten the credibility of a legitimate review for not responding, it needs to provide an actual way to respond.

Envato asked for more information. I’m willing to provide it. Trustpilot gave me nowhere to do so. Maybe I need to review Trustpilot. I'd give it a 1.

Absolutely POINTLESS to be a member. I signed up mainly for the music and everything I use gets a copyright claim on YouTube which basically means the rights holders takes 100% of the ad revenue. WHY am I paying then? Absolute joke of a platform.

Untrustworthy business model, sudden decisions to do changes to subscriptions tiers.

Scummy behavior with envato gen ai.
"free generations untill 22 september" > "downteired worst video generation model"

after 3 years of being an envato enterprise subscriber. Envato shot itself in the head

I submitted my work for review as an author, but received nothing: no response from support, no document by mail, no income, no answers of any kind, my email was simply blocked in an unknown software without any explanation.

The video templates this site offers are horrifically bad, there is clearly no one quality checking them whatsoever, I tried 7 and all of them were either incredibly buggy with latest adobe products, or didn't work at all. Incredibly disappointed, horrible company that deserves absolutely none of your money.

Envato have just emailed everyone further change of subscription plan. My Ultimate/Unlimited plan expires in Nov 2026. I just received an email Mon 24th Aug stating they will be changing their plans as of 23rd Sept to monthly credits pending on how much you pay. I will be receiving 500 credits on apprx USD1200 per year. It was unlimited a few months ago as I upgraded. Now they're putting more limits on you and want to keep paying more.

They are absolutely disgusting. It's criminal what they're doing. I do not recommend Envato in any shape or form. The video production side is unreliable, extremely slow. They get the text wrong alot of the time. Not worth the money.

Envato Elements is one of the most disappointing subscriptions I've paid for. The best way I can describe it is **the Temu of WordPress themes and digital assets**—a massive warehouse of stuff where quality control seems to have left the building years ago.

There are legitimate developers on Envato, but they're buried in a sea of outdated themes, questionable products, recycled designs, and assets that I wouldn't put on a client's website without inspecting every damn piece first.

I've purchased three themes. **Two were complete garbage.** We're not talking about minor cosmetic issues. I encountered stylesheet problems and demo content that wouldn't properly load. One of them was the **Bizmax theme**. I requested a refund and, on August 23, 2026, Envato denied it.

That pretty much sums up my experience: **they'll happily take your money, but don't expect the same enthusiasm when the product doesn't work properly.**

And then there's the WordPress theme selection.

Before installing anything from this place, **CHECK THE LAST UPDATE AND COMPATIBILITY INFORMATION.** Some of these themes appear to be living several WordPress generations in the past. A giant library isn't impressive when part of the inventory belongs in a digital retirement home.

The image library isn't the gold mine it's advertised to be either. I've gone through image after image that clearly doesn't fit the American businesses I'm building websites for. European-looking architecture, scenery, clothing, vehicles, interiors—you start recognizing it immediately. Some images are usable. A lot aren't.

I ended up replacing or recreating what I needed with AI anyway. So when this membership expires, Envato doesn't have to worry about me coming back.

**I'm done.**

The biggest thing Envato taught me was not design, WordPress, or digital marketing. It taught me to **inspect absolutely everything before trusting their marketplace to have done it for me.**

Read the reviews.

Check the developer.

Check the update history.

Check WordPress compatibility.

Test the demo.

And don't confuse **"included with your subscription" with "worth using."**

If I'm spending real money on a WordPress theme again, I'd rather purchase the individual product through **Envato Market/ThemeForest** and scrutinize the developer and product before handing over a dime.

Envato Elements may have thousands upon thousands of assets, but **quantity doesn't mean shit when you're wasting hours figuring out which ones are outdated, broken, irrelevant, or simply not worth installing.**

After paying for three themes and having **two of them turn out to be garbage**, I've learned my lesson.

**Get in. Take what you can verify actually works. Get out.**

Because my Envato Elements membership isn't getting renewed.

**Not a chance.**

Their customer service is horrible. Not only do they refuse to publish a customer service phone number, but they also make it unnecessarily difficult to figure out how to cancel their service.

Then, when your subscription automatically renews at the full, exorbitant price, they refuse to issue a refund, even if you haven’t logged in or used the service in months.

Instead, they expect you to pay for an entire year of a service you no longer need or use. This is an extremely frustrating way to treat customers, and their cancellation and renewal practices should be much more transparent.