Fotolia
Fotolia was a French crowdsourced stock photography marketplace acquired by Adobe in 2014 for ~$800M and rebranded into Adobe Stock. It now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary offering 900M+ royalty-free assets with AI-powered editing tools, integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Fotolia does
Fotolia was founded in 2004 in France as a crowdsourced stock photography marketplace and was acquired by Adobe Inc. in January 2014 for approximately $800 million. Following the acquisition, Fotolia was progressively rebranded and merged into Adobe Stock, with the standalone Fotolia brand phased out by 2017. Today the legal entity Fotolia LLC operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary within Adobe's Digital Media segment and is no longer an independently operated business; the source page reflects ongoing migration from Fotolia to Adobe Stock (URL parameter 'ftmigration2') and is effectively the Adobe Stock homepage.
The underlying business now operates as Adobe Stock, a comprehensive stock content platform offering access to over 900 million royalty-free assets spanning images, videos, audio, templates, and 3D content. The platform runs a two-sided marketplace with a contributor portal enabling independent photographers, videographers, and illustrators to upload and monetize content, and a buyer-facing self-serve web property at stock.adobe.com. Adobe Stock is embedded natively into Adobe Creative Cloud applications via the Adobe Stock Panel, enabling direct in-workflow licensing from Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and InDesign. The 2024 launch of AI Studio added a generative AI editing layer that allows buyers to customize assets before licensing (change background, change color, change mood, expand, type-to-edit, animate image, bulk edit, audio match).
The revenue model is freemium-to-paid subscription with monthly billing; pricing tiers are not fully publicly disclosed beyond a free trial offering 10 stock images plus AI editing tools, with conversion to paid plans required for continued use. Go-to-market relies on cross-promotion through Adobe Creative Cloud's installed base, the stock.adobe.com website, the Adobe Blog, and industry events. The primary customer segment is horizontal: creative professionals, designers, marketers, and SMBs requiring stock media assets for commercial projects, with global service availability and no geographic restrictions. No entity-level financials, headcount detail, or named enterprise customers are disclosed in the source data.
Fotolia firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Fotolia
- Legal name
- Fotolia LLC
- Website
- https://fotolia.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Fotolia was a French crowdsourced stock photography marketplace acquired by Adobe in 2014 for ~$800M and rebranded into Adobe Stock. It now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary offering 900M+ royalty-free assets with AI-powered editing tools, integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Fotolia industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Stock Photography Marketplace
- NAICS
- Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Stock Media, Asset Marketplaces & Licensing Platforms (BPAMAJAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Footage & Stock Media Licensing (Archival/Newsreel/Stock) (MPADALAD), Photography & Photo Production (BPAFAIAF)
Keywords
Where Fotolia is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Fotolia business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free trial — 10 stock images plus AI editing tools |
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
Fotolia product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Fotolia operated a crowdsourced online marketplace where independent photographers, illustrators, and videographers could upload and sell royalty-free stock images, vectors, illustrations, and video clips. Buyers—including individual creatives, small businesses, and large enterprises—purchased assets via subscription plans or on-demand credit packs and received licensed files for use in commercial and editorial projects.
Product overview
Adobe Stock is a comprehensive stock content platform offering access to over 900 million royalty-free assets including stock images, videos, audio, templates, and 3D assets. The platform integrates AI Studio as its primary AI-powered editing suite, enabling users to search, edit, and customize stock content before licensing. The product portfolio consists of core content libraries (Images, Videos, Audio, Templates) supplemented by AI Studio's editing capabilities (Image Edits and Motion Edits), all accessible through a unified subscription plan. Adobe Stock integrates natively with Adobe Creative Cloud applications including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and After Effects, allowing seamless workflow integration for creative professionals.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Fotolia Stock Image Marketplace Online marketplace where contributors upload and buyers purchase royalty-free stock photos, vectors, illustrations, and video clips for personal and commercial use.
- Fotolia Subscription Plans Time-based subscription packages (daily, monthly, annual) that allow buyers to download a fixed number of licensed stock images per day or month at a flat recurring fee.
- Fotolia Credit Packs Pre-purchased bundles of credits that buyers redeem to download individual stock images, vectors, illustrations, or videos on demand.
Companies that use Fotolia
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Fotolia technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature1 record
Fotolia partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Fotolia competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Alamy: Alamy is a stock photography marketplace with a broad contributor base and editorial focus, competing with Adobe Stock for licensing of high-resolution and niche imagery.
- Shutterstock: Shutterstock is the closest direct peer to Adobe Stock/Fotolia: a global stock media marketplace offering royalty-free images, video, audio, and editorial content, with overlapping contributor model and enterprise licensing motion.
- Pond5: Pond5 is a stock video, audio, and effects marketplace with a contributor-driven catalog, directly overlapping with Adobe Stock's video and audio inventory for filmmakers and editors.
- Getty Images: Getty Images competes head-to-head with Adobe Stock in licensed stock photography, video, and editorial imagery, serving the same creative professional and enterprise segments with a premium positioning.
- Depositphotos: Depositphotos is a microstock image and video marketplace serving SMBs and agencies, directly comparable to Adobe Stock on price-sensitive licensing of photos and vectors.
- iStock: iStock is Getty's microstock offering and directly competes with Adobe Stock on affordable royalty-free images, illustrations, and video for SMBs and individual creatives.
- Freepik: Freepik is a global marketplace for vectors, photos, PSD files, and AI-generated imagery, competing with Adobe Stock on illustration and graphic-asset licensing for designers and marketers.
- Storyblocks: Storyblocks offers unlimited-download subscriptions for stock video, audio, and images, competing directly with Adobe Stock's subscription plans for SMB and prosumer creators.
- Envato Elements: Envato Elements is a subscription-based creative asset library covering stock video, graphics, templates, audio, and fonts, competing with Adobe Stock's bundled multi-format offering.
Broad incumbents
- Canva: Canva operates a broad creative platform with a built-in stock media library (including its acquisition of Affinity and Pexels), competing with Adobe Stock for SMB and prosumer design workflows where Adobe is less entrenched.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Fotolia social profiles
Digital presenceFotolia financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Fotolia leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Fotolia funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Fotolia M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments2 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Fotolia
What does Fotolia do?
Fotolia operated a crowdsourced online marketplace where independent photographers, illustrators, and videographers could upload and sell royalty-free stock images, vectors, illustrations, and video clips. Buyers—including individual creatives, small businesses, and large enterprises—purchased assets via subscription plans or on-demand credit packs and received licensed files for use in commercial and editorial projects.
Is Fotolia a public or private company?
Fotolia is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Fotolia founded?
Fotolia was founded in 2004. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Fotolia based?
Fotolia is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Fotolia's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Alamy, Shutterstock, Pond5, Getty Images, Depositphotos, iStock, Freepik, Storyblocks and Envato Elements. Canva is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Fotolia have an API?
No public API is recorded for Fotolia.
What industry is Fotolia in?
Fotolia's product category is Stock Photography Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAJAM, Stock Media, Asset Marketplaces & Licensing Platforms, with a secondary code of MPADALAD, Footage & Stock Media Licensing (Archival/Newsreel/Stock). Its NAICS code is 51212 and its SIC code is 7330.