What it does
Alamy offers stock photography, vectors, footage, live news and archive images. You can buy licences for individual uses or subscribe to Alamy Open for monthly creative-image downloads. Open includes unlimited team seats, but editorial-only images must be bought separately.
Individual licences or Alamy Open
Personal image licences start at £17 per asset and cover a single project. Business licences start at £80 per asset and allow project collaboration. The correct option depends on whether the image is for an article, advertising, merchandise or another use.
Alamy Open has three volume tiers: Start with 15, Grow with 25 and Scale with 50 image downloads a month. All include unlimited seats and one month of unused-download rollover. Creative photos, vectors, illustrations and 360-degree panoramas are included; editorial-only assets are excluded.
Preview and download
Open an asset and use Download preview for a watermarked layout image. To license it, choose Download or Purchase and follow the options for the intended use. Purchased files remain accessible through the account’s download history while the licence is valid.
Annual Open plans have cancellation terms affecting half the remaining contract value. Monthly plans stay active until the paid period ends.
Strengths
- Alamy Open includes unlimited team seats
- Creative, live-news and archive material have separate collections
Watch out for
- Editorial-only assets are outside Alamy Open subscriptions
- Personal licences cover one project and cannot be transferred
Best for
- Picture editors researching specific subjects or archive images
- Teams sharing a monthly creative-image allowance
Sources
- Alamy Open subscription plans (Oct 27, 2026)
- Alamy image licence options (Oct 27, 2026)
- Downloading from Alamy (Oct 27, 2026)