AI Image Generator vs Stock Photos: Which Is Better (and Cheaper) in 2026?

For years, stock photos were the default for anyone who needed visuals without hiring a photographer. Shutterstock, Getty, Adobe Stock — you'd pay $29 to $199 per month for a library of pre-shot images and hope you could find something that fit.

AI image generators have completely changed that equation. Now you can describe exactly what you want and get a custom image in seconds for a few cents. But does that mean stock photos are dead?

Not quite. Let's compare them honestly.

Cost Comparison: The Numbers Don't Lie

Stock Photo Pricing

Free options like Unsplash exist, but the selection is limited and you'll see the same images on hundreds of other websites. Nothing kills credibility faster than a hero image your competitor is also using.

AI Image Generator Pricing

At the low end, AI generation is 50–100x cheaper than stock photos. Even premium AI modes cost less than a single stock image download.

Real-World Scenario

Say you're building a 10-page website and need 25 images:

The cost difference is staggering. But cost isn't everything.

Quality Comparison

Where Stock Photos Win

Real people and authentic moments. Stock photos of actual humans in real settings still look more natural than AI-generated people. AI faces have improved dramatically, but subtle things — hand positions, finger counts, jewelry details, teeth — can still look off.

Specific real-world locations. Need a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge or Times Square? A stock photo is a real photo. AI might generate something close, but it won't be the actual place.

Product photography. If you're selling physical products, you need real photos of your actual products. AI can supplement with lifestyle contexts and backgrounds, but the product itself needs to be real.

Legal safety in regulated industries. Healthcare, finance, and legal sectors sometimes require real photography for compliance. Stock photos from reputable agencies come with model releases and legal protections that AI images can't provide yet.

Where AI Generators Win

Custom concepts that don't exist as stock photos. "A minimalist workspace with a holographic display floating above a bamboo desk" — good luck finding that on Shutterstock. AI generates exactly what you imagine.

Brand-consistent visuals. AI lets you maintain a consistent style across all your images. Same color palette, same aesthetic, same mood. With stock photos, you're stitching together images from dozens of different photographers.

Speed and iteration. Don't like the result? Adjust your prompt and regenerate in 10 seconds. With stock photos, you search, filter, scroll, download, realize it doesn't fit, and start over.

Unique imagery. Every AI generation is unique to you. No one else will have the same image on their website. Stock photos? That "diverse team in a meeting room" image has been downloaded 47,000 times.

Volume. Need 100 blog post illustrations? At $0.03–$0.20 per image, that's $3–$20 total. On Shutterstock, that's $290+ and you might not find 100 images that fit your brand.

When to Use Each: A Practical Guide

Use AI Image Generators For:

• Blog post headers and illustrations — custom, on-brand, and cheap
• Social media content — generate daily visuals without blowing your budget
• Website backgrounds and hero images — unique, eye-catching, no licensing headaches
• Conceptual and abstract art — AI excels at surreal, creative, and imaginative visuals
• Mockups and prototypes — test visual concepts before investing in production
• Email marketing graphics — fresh visuals for every campaign
• Presentation slides — professional illustrations that aren't clip art

Use Stock Photos For:

• Headshots and team photos — always use real photos of real people
• Product photography — your actual product needs actual photos
• Location-specific imagery — when you need the real New York skyline
• Editorial and journalism — where authenticity is required
• Regulated industries — when compliance requires real photography
• Images of real events — conferences, ceremonies, news

Use Both Together:

The smartest approach is often combining them. Use a stock photo of a real person and AI-generate the background. Or use AI for most of your content and stock photos for the few situations that require authenticity.

The "Everyone Uses the Same Image" Problem

This is stock photography's biggest weakness and AI's biggest strength. We've all seen it — that woman laughing alone with salad, that team high-fiving in a conference room. When you use stock photos, there's a real chance your competitor is using the same image.

A 2024 study found that the top 100 most-downloaded Shutterstock images appeared on over 2 million websites combined. That's not differentiation — that's blending in.

AI-generated images are unique by default. Even using the same prompt twice produces different results. Your visuals become genuinely yours.

Making the Switch: A Practical Workflow

If you're currently spending $29–$200/month on stock photos, here's how to transition:

1. Start with blog content. This is the lowest-risk place to use AI images. Generate headers for your next 10 posts on Myjourney and see if anyone notices (they won't — except to comment on how good they look).

2. Build a prompt library. Once you find prompts that match your brand aesthetic, save them. Consistency comes from consistent prompts. Check our prompt writing guide for techniques.

3. Keep stock for people. Continue using stock or real photography for any image featuring identifiable humans. This is where stock still has a clear edge.

4. Cancel gradually. Downgrade your stock subscription as your AI library grows. Most people find they can drop from a $29/month plan to occasional single purchases within a month.

The Cost of Doing Nothing

Here's the thing: your competitors are already making this switch. If they're spending $5/month on AI-generated custom imagery while you're spending $199/month on the same stock photos everyone uses, they have both a cost advantage and a branding advantage.

The math is simple. A year of stock photos: $350–$2,400. A year of AI-generated images at the same volume: $12–$120.

That's money you could spend on actual marketing instead of visual assets.

Getting Started

If you're ready to try AI image generation for your business, Myjourney makes it easy to start — no subscription, no credits to decode, just pay per image. Generate a few images in Draft mode ($0.03 each) to test the waters, then upgrade to Standard or Raw when you're ready for production-quality visuals.

Stock photos had a good run. For most use cases, AI just does it better and cheaper.