Subscriptions help page

A credit is the right to download one eligible image under your subscription licence. 1 credit equals 1 download, regardless of the image's individual list price.

There are 3 plans, all billed in monthly download allowances: Start (15 downloads per month), Grow (25) and Scale (50). You can change between plans at any time. For upgrades this happens instantly. For downgrades the new allowance starts at your next billing date.

Credits are allocated at the start of each billing period, every month, whether you're on a monthly or annual plan. Annual subscriptions don't issue a full year's credits upfront, they drip in monthly so your balance stays predictable.

Credits roll over for 1 month, then expire. Oldest credits are consumed first when you download, so the credits most at risk of expiring are always used before fresh ones. For example, on a 50-credit plan, January's unused credits will be used through February alongside February's new allocation, and any that remain unused will expire when March's credits arrive.

Your current month's allocation plus any unused credits from the previous month. On a 50-credit plan, that's a maximum of 100 credits at the start of a new billing month. Credits older than 1 cycle drop off automatically.

No. Subscriptions start with a paid billing period from the date of purchase. You can cancel a monthly plan at any time if it isn't right for you, and you'll keep access until the end of the period you've paid for.

Each download is covered by the Alamy Subscription Standard licence, a single licence that combines editorial and commercial usage rights.

Includes:

Editorial website

Editorial Social media

Magazine article

Newspaper article

Commercial website and social media

Internal business use

Pitch presentations

Editorial and commercial websites and social media, magazine and newspaper articles, internal business use (training materials, internal reports, intranet), pitch presentations, and single project use. The licence is designed to cover the everyday needs of marketing, editorial, and content teams.

Photos, illustrations, vectors, 360s, and panoramic images. Eligible images carry an "Included in subscription" label on search results and product pages, so you can identify them at a glance before downloading. Images marked 'Available for Editorial use only' are not included in your subscription plan, but can be purchased separately.

Editorial-only assets, video, and assets restricted by specific contributors. These will not display the "Included in subscription" label and can be licensed separately through a standard purchase where available.

No. Video sits outside the subscription and must be licensed separately through a standard transactional purchase.

Each download licenses the image for use within one project. If you want to use the same image across a second, distinct project, you'll need to download it again, which uses another credit. A single project can include multiple touchpoints (for example a website homepage and related social posts), but a separate campaign or unrelated piece of work counts as a new project.

Subscription credits don't cover enhanced licences. Contact our customer support team through the Contact us page, by email, or by phone, and they'll advise on the right licence for your use case and arrange the purchase route.

Downloads remain valid under their original licence even after your subscription ends. You don't need to stop using or take down images you've already licensed.

Monthly (no commitment, cancel anytime), annual paid monthly (12-month commitment, billed in monthly instalments), and annual paid upfront (12-month commitment, full year billed at purchase). Annual commitments usually carry a lower effective monthly cost in exchange for the longer term.

No. Credits are allocated monthly on every plan, including annual. This keeps usage steady and helps avoid a situation where a year's worth of credits expires before you've had a chance to use them.

GBP, USD, EUR, CAD, and AUD. Your currency is selected at the point of purchase and applies for the life of the subscription. If you cancel an annual plan early, the penalty is calculated in the original purchase currency.

Credit cards are accepted for subscription purchases. More payment methods coming soon!

At subscription start, then on the same date each billing period. If you start on 10 March, your next billing date will be 10 April for a monthly plan, or 10 March of the following year for an annual paid upfront plan.

A 5-day grace period begins, and you'll receive a notification from our payment provider. Payment will be retried automatically during this window. If payment isn't resolved after 5 days, your subscription is suspended and downloads are disabled. If it remains unpaid 1 month after the first failed payment, the subscription is cancelled and any remaining credits are lost. Resolving payment during the suspended period restores downloads.

No, downloads are disabled while a subscription is suspended. You can still buy individual licences outside the subscription as a one-off purchase. Downloads are re-enabled as soon as payment is resolved.

Yes. Monthly plans: Upgrades will take effect immediately. Annual committed plans: Customer service can assist in getting you on the right plan.

Yes. Monthly plans: Downgrades will take effect at the start of your next billing cycle. Annual committed plans: Customer service can assist in getting you on the right plan.

Cancel at any time from your subscription management page. Your subscription stays active until the end of the current billing period, and any remaining credits are usable until they expire under the standard rollover rules. There is no cancellation fee on monthly plans.

Early cancellation on an annual plan incurs a cancellation fee of 50% of the remaining monthly payments on the contract, excluding the current month. For example, if you cancel in month 6 of a 12-month contract, there are 6 months remaining, and the cancellation fee is 50% of those 6 months, the equivalent of 3 months at your monthly price. On an upfront annual plan, the unused balance is refunded after the fee is deducted. On a pay-monthly annual plan, you'll continue to be invoiced for the remaining months in the cancellation window.

Yes. Credits continue to be allocated each month for the period covered by the cancellation fee, so you can use them up to the contract end date.

From your subscription management page, where you can view your current plan, see your renewal date, upgrade or downgrade, update your payment method, and cancel.

All subscription downloads are recorded on the My Downloaded Images page in your account area. You can re-download previously licensed images from there at no additional credit cost.

Yes. Each subscription has one account owner who manages billing and the plan, and additional users can be added to download under the same subscription. There is no fixed seat limit.

Credits are pooled and shared across the account. If 3 users download 10, 15, and 5 images respectively in the same month, 30 credits are deducted from the shared balance. Everyone draws from the same pot.

The owner manages payment, manages who has access, and controls the plan (cancel, upgrade, downgrade). Members can see how many credits remain on the subscription and use them to download eligible assets, but they can't change billing or plan settings.

When you try to download with zero credits, you'll have 4 options: buy a single licence for that image, buy a credit pack, upgrade your subscription plan to a higher tier, or wait until your next billing cycle when credits renew. Your subscription stays active, you don't lose access to anything else.

Yes. You can buy individual licences and image packs at any time alongside your subscription. This is useful when your credits are exhausted, when you need a licence type that the subscription doesn't cover (for example enhanced or video), or when you want to license an image outside the subscription catalogue.

Subscriptions aren't available if your account has any of the following: Easy Download enabled, permanent discounts applied, custom licences, custom packs, or a Mixed Asset Pack (Alamy Select). A standard live image or video pack with credits doesn't block you from subscribing. If you're unsure why your account isn't eligible, contact our customer service team and they'll walk you through the options.