Splice vs Storyblocks Comparison 2026
Splice licenses samples and loops by the monthly credit for building your own music, and anything downloaded stays licensed even after you cancel, from $12.99 a month for 100 credits. Storyblocks is unlimited footage, images and templates on one flat subscription with no credits to track, billed annually only, from $21 a month equivalent at entry. Splice hands you raw material to arrange yourself; Storyblocks hands you finished assets to drop in as they are.
A sample library rented by the month
Unlimited stock downloads on one subscription
At a glance
- Splice starts cheaper, at $12.99.
- Neither has a free tier.
- Storyblocks bills annually only, so there is no month to try it for.
Side by side
Splice | Storyblocks | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $12.99 | 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 |
Splice
A sample library rented by the month
Splice licenses samples, loops and presets by the credit, and anything downloaded stays licensed after the subscription stops, which is the arrangement that made it standard in music production. Credits refresh monthly and roll into the next month unused. It previews sounds inside the digital audio workstation rather than in a browser tab. This is raw material for making music rather than finished tracks to drop under a video, so a creator who wants a background bed should buy a licensing library instead.
Our note
Buy on credits rather than on features, since the tiers differ almost entirely in that number and the sound library is the same at every level. The permanent licence is the reason to subscribe for a few months rather than to subscribe forever: download hard, then stop.
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 Splice
- Storyblocks gives unlimited stock downloads on one subscription at $21.
- Splice instead of Storyblocks
- Splice rents a sample library for music production specifically, starting at $12.99, narrower and deeper than Storyblocks' broader footage-plus-music bundle.
Which one should you pick
Pick Splice if you are making music rather than scoring a video: raw samples and loops you arrange yourself, with a permanent licence on anything downloaded, so a few months of subscribing builds a library you keep. Sounds+ starts at $12.99 a month for 100 credits, and credits roll over if a month is quiet.
Pick Storyblocks for finished stock assets you can use directly: footage, images and templates on its entry tier at $21 a month, billed annually with no monthly option, or All Access at $30 for music and sound effects too. There is no credit limit to manage, but also no separate raw-sample library the way Splice has one.
Common questions
- Which one is cheaper?
- Splice's entry tier is $12.99 a month for 100 credits. Storyblocks' entry tier is $21 a month, but that figure only exists billed annually; there is no monthly-only option.
- Do downloads stay usable after I cancel?
- On Splice, yes: anything downloaded during a subscription remains licensed afterward. Storyblocks does not state what happens to previously downloaded assets after cancelling.
- Does Storyblocks include music, like Splice does?
- Only above its entry tier. Music and sound effects arrive on All Access at $30 a month; the entry tier at $21 covers footage, images and templates only.
- Can I get a finished background track for a video from Splice?
- No, by its own description. Splice is raw material for making music yourself, not finished tracks, so a vlog needing something to drop in as is should use a licensing library like Storyblocks instead.
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.