HookSounds vs Storyblocks Comparison 2026
Both cover music licensing and stock footage & assets. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Royalty-free music written in house
Unlimited stock downloads on one subscription
At a glance
- HookSounds starts cheaper, at $9.99.
- Neither has a free tier.
- Storyblocks bills annually only, so there is no month to try it for.
Side by side
HookSounds | Storyblocks | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $9.99 | 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 | Not stated |
HookSounds
Royalty-free music written in house
HookSounds writes its own catalogue rather than aggregating other people's, which keeps it smaller than the big libraries and makes the licensing simpler to reason about. Music, sound effects and intros are covered by one subscription, cleared for as long as the track stays in the video. The cheapest tier is for personal work and does not cover clients. Anybody who needs a specific genre in depth will find the size a limit.
Our note
Read the licence scope before the price, because the cheapest tier excludes client work and that is the line most freelancers cross without noticing. Against Epidemic Sound or Artlist this is smaller and cheaper, and the trade is exactly that.
Only on this side
- Works with YouTube
- Works with Instagram
- Works with TikTok
- Works with Podcast
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.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.