Envato Elements vs Storyblocks Comparison 2026
Envato Elements bundles footage, music, fonts, mockups and editing templates into one $16.50 a month annual subscription, with music included from the start. Storyblocks splits its catalogue instead: its entry tier at $21 a month billed annually covers footage, images and templates only, and music does not arrive until Unlimited All Access at $30. Storyblocks' own guidance flags this directly: music sitting above the entry tier is the detail people miss when comparing against Envato, which includes it from the first dollar.
Unlimited stock assets on one subscription
Unlimited stock downloads on one subscription
At a glance
- Envato Elements starts cheaper, at $16.50.
- Neither has a free tier.
- Storyblocks bills annually only, so there is no month to try it for.
Side by side
Envato Elements | Storyblocks | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $16.50 | From $21 |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export |
Envato Elements
Unlimited stock assets on one subscription
One subscription covers footage, music, sound effects, fonts, mockups and project templates for Premiere and After Effects, and the licence on anything you have already used survives you cancelling. For somebody publishing weekly it replaces four stock accounts. Quality is uneven, and finding the good file takes longer than the price suggests it should.
Our note
Worth it at the annual price and hard to justify at the monthly one. Count how many separate stock bills it actually replaces first, because the honest answer is usually two rather than the four the pitch assumes.
Only on this side
- Covers design & graphics
Storyblocks
Unlimited stock downloads on one subscription
Storyblocks charges a flat subscription and lets you download as much as you want, which is the opposite of the credit model everywhere else and much easier to budget against. Footage, music, images and templates all sit under the same plan. The library is smaller than Shutterstock's and you notice it on anything specific.
Why people weigh these two
- Storyblocks instead of Envato Elements
- Storyblocks runs the same unlimited-download subscription model as Envato, priced at $21 a month against Envato's $16.50 starting price.
- Envato Elements instead of Storyblocks
- Envato Elements is the same flat-fee, unlimited-download shape as Storyblocks, starting at $16.50, with templates and fonts added into the same plan.
Which one should you pick
Pick Envato Elements if music needs to be in the same subscription as footage from day one, at $16.50 a month billed annually, cheaper than either Storyblocks tier. It also adds fonts and mockups that Storyblocks does not describe, useful for a channel that needs thumbnails and graphics alongside video. Month to month instead of annually, the price jumps to $39.
Pick Storyblocks if footage and templates are the priority and a human-made library matters, since it is marketed explicitly as not generated. Its entry tier at $21 a month billed annually is close to Envato's price but excludes music entirely; the fair comparison is against All Access at $30, where Envato is clearly cheaper. Small Business at $40 extends the same catalogue to a company under 50 people, a structure Envato's single plan does not offer.
Common questions
- Is Envato Elements cheaper than Storyblocks?
- Yes, against the tier that actually includes music: Envato is $16.50 a month billed annually, and Storyblocks' equivalent, All Access, is $30. Against Storyblocks' entry tier at $21, which excludes music, the gap narrows but Envato still includes more.
- Does Storyblocks include music on its cheapest plan?
- No, and its own guidance calls this out directly as the detail people miss when comparing against Envato. The entry tier at $21 a month covers footage, images and templates only; music and sound effects start on the $30 All Access tier.
- Which library is marketed as human-made rather than AI-generated?
- Storyblocks states this explicitly, which its own materials say matters when a client asks. Envato Elements covers AI generations under the same licence as its stock files, so the two take different positions on generated content.
- Does Envato Elements offer a plan for a company under 50 people like Storyblocks' Small Business tier?
- Not in the same shape. Envato sells one individual plan at $16.50 a month billed annually. Storyblocks' Small Business tier at $40 a month extends the catalogue specifically to a company under 50 people.
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