Istockphoto Reviews 

This company is a complete sham! I tried to cancel my plan very shortly after signing up because it did not meet my standards and they basically told me I was locked in. So, I ate my money for the entire YEAR. I used my credits when I could, but I wasn't able to use them all within the year. When I went to try to use them after my year was up, there were no credits in my account. After speaking with terrible customer service, they told me that credits that I PAID FOR are taken away if they aren't used after your subscription ends. They steal your money and then won't let you use the credits that YOU pay for. I will never use this company again and STRONGLY suggest you do the same.

Subscription was supposed to end at midnight. They stopped downloads at 5pm.

Avoide at all cost! Tried their service for a few days and only found half out of 10 monthly downloads did not suit needs. Despite such small usage these guys refused to cancel, and chose to ignore 14 day cooling of period. Seeking charge back with CC and also filing a complaint with Trading Standards. Customer services is dire, would never recommend using them bunch of cowboys.

DO NOT use this company's photos or services. They are not upfront in their pricing and will mislead you to extend your supposedly "trial subscription" period so they can charge you another month.

LOL coming here and seeing that everyone hates them is unsurprising, given my experience. Will rejoice when the feds put them out of business for their scammy practices.

I was charged more than the price shown at checkout, even though a discount coupon was applied and displayed correctly. Customer support ignored the issue, despite the proof I sent, and only offered a discount for a future purchase. I won’t be using iStock again. Very disappointing.

Like many others, got caught up in the recurring charges scam for a yearly contract. Have canceled the subscription but will be charged for another 9 months. I've used their service and other Getty services for years. Not any more. Will find alternatives.

Same issue as everyone else - there's no way to get out of their $70/month subscription fee - they keep charging you this for an entire year and there is no way out. Whatever you do, do not let your free trial roll over into a paid subscription - or you'll be paying them $840 over the course of a year for access to a very average image library.

absolute scam. signed up for a month and they charge you for a whole year with no way to cancel

In my opinion, a touch greedy and unfair especially when compared to others in the same segment. I neglected to turn off auto renew, immediately approached them the same day to request a nullification of the renewal, and they wouldn’t consider it, even though I have not used any resources and have no future need for the services. Very poor customer service in my view and I would advise consumers to vote with their feet.

UPDATE 31/7:
Advise you Avoid, avoid, avoid!

The quality of the resources is fine, but the customer service is awful. Every subscription-based digital services company I have worked with (both through my employment in IT, and in my personal life) has taken a reasonably flexible approach to cancellations when approached courteously and on the basis of a fair case. This company is the exception: if you're the wrong side of their T&Cs, they will not move an iota to help you. So if you value a reasonable, humane approach to customer service, then you need to steer clear of these guys and look elsewhere, which is exactly what I will be doing. There are plenty of competitor options. The worse thing - and in my eyes this is particularly unforgiveable - is the way they insult your intelligence by claiming that they cannot help because they need "to ensure fairness for all of our customers". This line of reasoning makes absolutely no sense in any way, certainly in my case (I am publishing my correspondence in full below, decide for yourselves), and it is so obvious that this is cover for plain short-sighted greediness. I would have preferred they just said "we'd rather keep your money" like the likes of RyanAir do: it may be distasteful but at least it is honest, rather than condescending nonsense.

"Good afternoon Robert.
Thank you for your patience here whilst our management team have reviewed your case.
I can see my colleague outlined our company policy to you on chat, regarding monthly subscription cancellations.
I reviewed your account and confirmed that you signed up for our month-month iStock subscription. We clearly state that auto-renewal will need to be turned off if you do not wish to rollover to another month. This information is presented upfront at checkout and requires users to click "I agree" to the iStock Agreement Terms to complete the purchase. You are making the ultimate decision by taking this action. This is standard industry practice. You can review our terms/policy again here if you wish - (redacted link)

Although I understand this is very disappointing for you, the correct policy was the one which was outlined to you on live chat. The management team here do stand firm on our polies and we make no exceptions to ensure fairness for all of our customers.

We have resolved this by turning off auto-renewal for you now, so that you are not rolled into another month and you have until 25/08/2025 to use your remaining downloads on the account. There will be no future payments.

We have dealt with this issue fairly and in accordance with our terms and conditions and make no exceptions to our cancellation policy. Our adherence to these policies ensures fairness and consistency for all iStock users. We consider this matter to be resolved."

Avoid iStock — especially their so-called free trial. It’s a trap that can cost you money even if you barely use the service.

I signed up for their free trial and downloaded just one image to evaluate the platform back in the end of November. Unfortunately, during the trial period, I became seriously ill with an infection and was prescribed medication that left me severely drowsy and unable to function. I couldn’t use my laptop or respond to the reminder I had set to cancel the trial.

By the time I was well enough to check my accounts, I saw that €86.10 had been charged for a full annual subscription that I never used or will use. I contacted iStock the very next day after the payment was taken, explained my situation in detail, and asked for a refund due to these exceptional medical circumstances.

Their response? A cold, inflexible denial. They cited policy and showed no compassion whatsoever, even though I used the service only once and had no realistic opportunity to cancel due to my illness.

iStock may be technically within their terms, but their lack of basic human decency is telling. If you’re considering the free trial, be extremely careful — any unforeseen life event, even a medical emergency, could leave you out of pocket. And don’t expect them to show empathy or do the right thing.

Zero stars and a bad review! They would not let me cancel after a trial period and charged me 70.00 to cancel. Not customer friendly slapping someone a 70.00 fee just because they do not want to continue with your services. Never getting another penny from me!

Would give 0 stars if option. Worst company ever. Doesn’t believe in their product so they have to dupe people into annual with deceiving marketing practices. Reported them and notifying CC company to stop payment.

Would give zero starts if I could!. Asked to cancel my subscription on day 1 of the month. They said Yes but then removed all access. Paid for the month subscription and then was denied services. Surely against consumer laws. Definitely not ethical practice.

way over priced. I tried to immediately get refunded for a purchase i instantly regretted. but of course they refuse to refund. the only way my money wouldn't be a complete waste was to get more money out of me. wow! this company needs to be shut down asap.

Absolutely awful company. The lack of consistency and clear communication between their 'advisors' is shocking and infuriating. 4 different advisors gave me repeatedly incorrect information and after a week of arguing with these people, I was forced to pay for a year's subscription that I didn't really want and I lost out on 250 unused credits that they promised they would manually add back from a previous subscription. Surprise surprise they blatantly lied that they would do so and when I called them out on it they insisted that it goes against their terms and conditions. Why then tell me this was a possibility if it wasn't? Why not just tell the truth from the beginning? Train your staff better iStock so that they give the correct information to people and stop lying to scam people out of their money.

What a disappointment. I used the free trial, and my mistake was that I forgot to cancel in time, so they charged me $70. That I understand, but when I emailed to cancel my subscription, you will assume I will have access for the month I paid for and just cancel future payments, and that was not the case. They took my $70 and took my access to my subscription. Right away, so I couldn’t download anything. I would stay away! You can download great stock photos on Canva or other sights but I would never use this company or recommend to anyone. Not to mentioned their customer service was horrible just stating their terms and conditions.

Tricked into subscription. I am not sure how I got tricked into a $70/month $770/year subscription. They would not refund me even though I had not used any of their services.

They snag you with a free trial and then say they will bill you $70 PER MONTH FOR A YEAR I did not use the service and canceled the day it was invoiced and they refused to refund the $70.00. Luckily PayPal refunded it but this company is likely scamming plenty of people. Highly recommend not giving them your credit card information.