Envato Elements
Envato Elements Review Recap
Offering unlimited access to its extensive library of 13 million creative assets – encompassing everything from images, videos, and audio, to fonts, templates, plugins, and themes – at a mere $16.50 per month, Envato Elements stands out as the unrivaled choice for budget-conscious creatives.
Envato Elements Review: Quick Take
Should you go for Envato Elements?
Absolutely! Envato Elements offers outstanding value for money. It’s not just cost-effective but also user-friendly, and the accompanying commercial license adds versatility to almost any project. Opting for a yearly subscription instead of a monthly one saves you 50%, and students can benefit from an additional 30% discount. When it comes to unlimited stock footage subscriptions, it’s my top pick.
Who is Envato Elements for?
The beauty of Envato Elements is that it caters to everyone who requires a wealth of videos, images, music, and other creative assets on a budget. It’s a fantastic solution for teams, offering discounts for each additional member, making it more affordable than individual subscriptions. A whopping 50% discount is up for grabs with the annual plan. Considering the variety of content Envato Elements provides, it’s perfect for:
- Graphic Designers: Boasting over 6 million stock photos, professional Photoshop actions, and add-ons, Envato Elements is the go-to choice for graphic designers, artists, and other creative professionals. For only $7.47/month, you’ll have unlimited access to Placeit, the most extensive mockup library out there.
- Developers: With over 1,600 WordPress themes, 760 plugins, and 2,500 template kits, Envato Elements has developers covered. Not to mention, both developers and graphic designers can utilize the vast array of 20,000 fonts for their websites or designs. There’s also a wide selection of icons perfect for app development.
- Video Professionals: Unlimited downloads are a big hit among videographers, especially when they require numerous After Effects, sound effects, Premiere Pro templates, and stock footage.
- DIY Enthusiasts: Envato Elements is also ideal for freelancers, individuals, and entrepreneurs seeking an affordable, simple, and high-quality source of creative assets and a mockup generator. It’s perfect for crafting logos, social media posts, promotional videos, and product packaging. This Envato Elements review shows it truly caters to all!
Who might not find Envato Elements suitable?
Due to its somewhat restrictive licensing, Envato Elements might not be the ideal choice for:
- Merchandising Purposes: The licensing terms of Envato Elements do not permit the use of creative assets in merchandise where the asset is of primary value, such as prints on t-shirts. For such purposes, an extended royalty-free license would be required, which can be procured at reasonable prices from platforms like Shutterstock ($67–$99), Adobe Stock ($79), and Depositphotos ($63–$89).
- Corporate Client Work: Many corporations necessitate certain insurance for creative assets, which is relatively minimal with Envato. By obtaining extended licenses from Shutterstock and iStock (each worth $250,000) and Pond5 (worth $1M), you can increase your indemnity coverage.
Content Availability
Here’s a quick snapshot of the content you can find on Envato Elements:
- Stock Video: 3,583,662
- Video Templates: 67,462
- Music: 137,622
- Sound Effects: 611,139
- Graphic Templates: 214,513
- Graphics: 120,838
- Presentation Templates: 84,940
- Photos: 6,701,690
- Fonts: 32,220
- Add-ons: 16,087
- Web Templates: 4,605
- CMS Templates: 1,198
- WordPress: 5,355
- 3D: 159,074
While the platform boasts a vast array of content, it’s crucial to consider your specific needs and requirements before committing to a subscription.
Envato Elements Review: Pricing
Envato Elements presents two types of subscriptions: Individual and Team. The Individual subscription costs $33.00 per month or $16.50 per month if paid annually, plus local taxes. For Teams, the plan begins at $10.75 per member each month, with an incremental discount for every additional team member, leading to potential savings of up to 35%. Students are eligible for an extra 30% off, reducing their monthly expense to just $11.50.
Subscription Tiers
| Subscription Type | Monthly Plan | Annual Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals | $33.00/month | $16.50/month |
| Students | $11.50/month | Not Available |
| Teams (2 members) | $58.00/month | $29.00/month |
| Teams (3 members) | $74.50/month | $37.25/month |
| Teams (4 members) | $91.00/month | $45.50/month |
| Teams (5 members) | $107.50/month | $53.75/month |
What Does Envato Elements Offer?
With a paid subscription, you get unlimited access to everything on Envato Elements, including legal coverage equivalent to the last six months of your subscription payments. All downloaded materials can be used commercially, making it an ideal choice for designers and video editors.
Compared to other platforms, Envato Elements offers more value. For instance, Artlist’s packages — Max Social ($30/month), Max Pro ($40/month), Max Teams ($68/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing) — are pricier and offer a smaller collection, even though they do provide up to 8K videos, which are not available on Envato.
Understanding the Cancellation and Refund Policy
You have the option to cancel your Envato Elements subscription at any time. However, it’s important to note that no refunds are provided upon cancellation. If you cancel a monthly subscription 24 days or more before its expiry, the subscription will remain active for the remaining period. You’ll still be able to access and download all assets during this time, but access to the Envato Elements library will cease once the subscription ends.
Policy on Upgrading Subscriptions
When upgrading from a monthly to an annual subscription, the cost is adjusted based on the remaining days in your current plan. This means you’ll only pay for the remainder of your current subscription period, not the full annual fee.
For instance, if you have 20 days left on a $33.00 monthly subscription and decide to upgrade to a $198 annual subscription ($16.50/month), your upgrade cost would be calculated as $198 – 20/30 * $33.00, which amounts to $176.00.
Envato Elements Review: Licensing
Envato Elements simplifies the licensing process with its unique Envato Elements License. This royalty-free license is applicable to both Individual and Teams subscriptions, while an Enterprise license caters to businesses.
Key Features
The Envato Elements License is summarized into three key features:
- Commercial Use: All downloaded creative assets can be utilized in any commercial project without requiring additional rights. However, it’s important to note that the use of these assets as the primary value in merchandise or products is prohibited.
- One License, One Use Case: Each project requires a new license, even when using the same creative asset. This implies that once your subscription expires, you cannot use the asset in new projects that were not registered prior to the expiration of your subscription.
- Perpetual Use: After unsubscribing, you can still use the creative assets that were registered for your licensed projects.
Indemnity Considerations
The Envato Elements License offers one of the lowest indemnities in the industry, which could be viewed as a trustworthiness indicator. The low liability amount is justifiable given that the subscription offers unlimited downloads for a minimal monthly fee.
The total liability Envato holds towards you equals the total amount paid for the Envato Elements subscription 6 months prior to the event causing the liability. For Individual plans, the maximum amount is $246, while Teams can get up to $645.
Envato Elements Review: Pros
No Limitations on Downloads
As a designer, balancing between the best assets for your project and staying within your subscription plan’s limits can be challenging. Envato Elements eliminates this issue with its affordable subscription plan that offers unlimited downloads.
You gain access to their extensive library of top-notch digital assets, including images, videos, music, templates, fonts, and WordPress themes and plugins. All these assets come with a royalty-free license, making them suitable for personal or commercial projects without extra costs.
The service is popular among graphic designers, web developers, entrepreneurs, small-to-medium business owners, and students who can avail of a subscription discount.
Commercial Use of Assets
Envato Elements provides a convenient and economical solution for developers and designers to access a diverse range of digital assets. With a subscription, there are no restrictions on the number of assets you can download.
Each asset comes with a commercial, royalty-free license, allowing you to use them for various purposes, including personal use, websites, marketing, advertising, and social media.
Thus, Envato Elements is an ideal choice for those seeking high-quality digital assets at a fair price, with no additional fees or licensing limitations.
Uncomplicated Licensing
With Envato, there’s no need to stress over choosing the correct license as they offer only one, making it impossible to make a mistake. This simplicity contrasts with some stock agencies, like Dreamstime, which complicates matters with nine types of extended licenses besides the standard royalty-free license.
Suitable for Individuals, Teams, and Businesses
While Envato Elements is favored by individual designers, it also caters to teams and large enterprises. Their team and enterprise subscriptions are designed to meet the needs of larger organizations and include features such as asset sharing within the team.
A notable feature of these plans is enterprise licensing, permitting the same asset to be shared within a team — a beneficial feature for collaborative projects and resource sharing.
Envato Elements Review: Cons
Lower Indemnification Coverage
While Envato Elements is a reputable platform, its indemnity insurance coverage is significantly lower compared to other stock agencies. This insurance is important as it covers damages stemming from improper licensing, guaranteeing that the assets you use are legitimate.
Envato Elements offers up to $246 in indemnity for individuals and $645 for teams, which pales in comparison to the $10,000 coverage provided by Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and iStock.
Limited Usage of Assets After Unsubscription
With an active subscription, you can download unlimited assets from Envato Elements, each coming with a specific license based on your declared usage intent.
However, if you cancel your subscription, while you can still use the downloaded assets for existing projects, you cannot use them for new projects. If you wish to reuse an asset, you would need to license it again, which contradicts the promise of ‘unlimited downloads’ during active subscriptions.
Smaller Photo and Video Collection
Although Envato Elements boasts about 6.6 million images and half as many videos, this collection size is modest when compared to platforms like Shutterstock or Adobe Stock. Despite this, it’s worth noting that Envato Elements remains the largest marketplace offering unlimited downloads. Other platforms with similar payment models have considerably smaller collections.
No Refund Policy
Unlike most other agencies, Envato Elements does not offer a refund option, which can be frustrating for users. This may be slightly mitigated by the fact that there used to be a 7-day free trial that allowed users to assess whether the platform was a good fit for them before committing financially, but this has been discontinued.
How Envato Elements Works
Envato Elements is a comprehensive digital assets service that provides a vast array of resources, including but not limited to, stock photos, vector graphics, templates, and more. These resources can be utilized for a multitude of purposes such as building websites, crafting marketing materials, or designing presentations.
The key advantage of having an active Envato Elements subscription is unrestricted access to their entire library. This means you can download as many assets as you require for your projects. It’s a cost-effective and time-saving solution since you’re not paying for each individual asset.
The image below exemplifies the kind of high-quality photos offered by Envato Elements. The platform prides itself on providing a diverse and inclusive range of assets. However, remember that an active subscription is required to download these resources.
After subscribing to Envato Elements, you’re free to peruse their expansive library and download whatever assets you need. If you’re looking for something specific, the search feature comes in handy. Alternatively, you can explore the curated collections to find new and exciting resources for your projects.
Comparing Envato Elements with Its Alternatives
Envato Elements vs Envato Market
Envato Elements and Envato Market are two separate platforms under the Envato umbrella, each offering creative assets with different pricing structures, licensing terms, and available resources. The significant distinction is that Envato Elements offers unlimited downloads of all its assets with a subscription starting at $16.50/month. On the other hand, Envato Market provides assets on a pay-per-item basis, with prices ranging from $1 to over $70, depending on the specific asset.
While some resources are exclusive to one platform or the other, most are available on both. Your choice should depend on your usage pattern. Choose Envato Elements for regular downloads (at least five per month), or opt for Envato Market if your downloads are less frequent.
Envato Elements vs Shutterstock
Envato Elements and Shutterstock serve as two distinct marketplaces. Shutterstock outnumbers Envato Elements considerably in terms of photos (over 400 million vs 6.6 million), videos (25 million vs 3 million), and audio files. However, Envato Elements offers unique content licenses, such as fonts, web templates, themes, plugins, and more, which Shutterstock does not provide.
The pricing models vary significantly too. Envato Elements licenses all its content under one subscription with unlimited downloads, while Shutterstock provides on-demand credits and various subscription sizes.
Consequently, Shutterstock tends to be pricier than Envato Elements but offers more comprehensive licensing terms (higher indemnity, extended license). Thus, I recommend Shutterstock for professionals requiring images or videos, while Envato Elements may be a better fit for creatives and those working within a budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wrapping Up: The Value of Envato Elements in 2023
To wrap up, Envato Elements presents itself as a fantastic resource for creatives who are keen on maximizing their budget. It provides limitless access to an extensive collection of assets such as images, videos, audio tracks, fonts, templates, plugins, and themes. Its reasonable monthly subscription combined with an intuitive interface makes it an ideal solution for individuals, teams, and businesses in need of a plethora of creative tools.
The licensing can feel a bit limiting at times, but Envato Elements simplifies things by offering royalty-free licenses. Even though their asset collection may not be as large as some competitors, they still hold the title for being the largest platform with unlimited downloads. It’s important to remember that while refunds aren’t an option, users can enjoy unrestricted access to the library for as long as they maintain their subscription.
When placed side-by-side with other platforms like Envato Market and Shutterstock, there are noticeable differences in cost, license agreements, and the range of resources available. But for those creatives who are watching their pennies, the affordable unlimited download feature of Envato Elements could make it their go-to choice.
Students looking to beef up their creative arsenal will find Envato Elements even more appealing with a 30% discount. The cancellation policy might raise a few eyebrows, but the sheer volume and diversity of resources available make Envato Elements an indispensable tool for any creative individual or team.
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