“Out of hundreds of stock photo agencies in the internet, what is the best source for buying images for commercial use?”
This is the most common question that bugs many creative professionals when looking to purchase stock photos for commercial use. Various offers are available in the market. Some are cheap, while others are expensive. Many have high quality, but so are those with low definition. The best place to buy images for commercial use is the site that offers high quality at very affordable prices.
If you still haven’t found the stock agency to purchase photos for commercial use, take a look at this list of well-established stock photo websites.
Stock Photo Secrets
SPS has only over 5 million royalty-free images in their library, but all of which are handpicked with premium quality. You will not find them in any other website. So if you are looking for an
image to represent your brand, this is a very good place to look. They recently added the Extended License to their offering, allowing you to use the images in any project forever – plus, unlimited print runs and use of images for merchandise for sale.
Shutterstock
One of the most popular stock photo websites, Shutterstock boasts the largest stock photo collection with over 100 million photos, vectors and illustrations. Their Extended License is also at 
reasonable price points, starting at two images for $199. When you purchase a larger image pack, you also get bigger savings. Depending on the size you want to buy, you can purchase images between $68 and $99.50 each.
Adobe Stock
Adobe’s very own stock site makes the list of the top three well-established stock agencies because of a number of reasons. For starters, they have a collection of over 60 million high quality images. Their Extended License is priced at $79.99 and gives you unlimited print runs and use on products for resale. Most of all, the website is deeply integrated with Creative Cloud software. You can license, access and manage your photos for commercial use right inside your favorite CC desktop app.
Many other stock photo sites offer stock images for commercial use, such as Depositphotos and iStock. They are also well-established and reputable, and offer high quality images. Both present affordable prices, which is perfect for small and midsize businesses as well as hobbyists. By far, the best deal in the market is from Stock Photo Secrets.
Why do you need an Extended License for stock photos for commercial use?
The standard royalty free license already allows you to use the images in any project for as long as you want. But, it comes with certain limitations such as the print runs and use on products for resale. If you are planning on a large campaign, you will want to extend your usage rights and remove these restrictions. You can only do that with an Extended License.
Every stock photo agency features a different license agreement. Be sure to check it out before you decide to purchase photos for commercial use from them.