Is shutterstock.com legit?

60
/ 100
Mostly Safe
Industry: Stock Media

While shutterstock.com has a long history and appears to have robust infrastructure, the significant lack of accessible contact information and missing legal pages are concerning. Users should proceed with caution and ensure they can find necessary details before engaging in significant transactions.

Stock Media average: 74/100 · based on 31 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 8:23 AM UTC · Refresh

Is shutterstock.com a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 90/100

The security setup is strong, featuring modern TLS 1.3 encryption and a clean Google Web Risk report, suggesting a secure browsing experience without known threats. The SSL certificate is valid and issued by a reputable provider, Amazon.

Identity 95/100

This domain boasts a highly established identity, being over two decades old and registered with MarkMonitor, a registrar often used by large corporations. This long history suggests a stable and reputable entity behind the website.

Reputation 90/100

Shutterstock.com holds an excellent global rank, is not found on any DNS blacklists, and has a very long domain age, all pointing to a well-established and generally trusted online presence. The only minor gap is the inability to check Web Archive history.

Transparency 40/100

Transparency is a significant concern here. The website returned an HTTP 403 error, suggesting access issues, and critically, no clear contact information or social media presence was found on the homepage. This makes it challenging for users to seek support or understand the company behind the site.

Compliance 30/100

This category presents major red flags, as essential legal documents like a privacy policy and terms of service are missing. For a commercial site, especially one likely handling user data and transactions, this is a serious compliance oversight that raises trust issues.

Infrastructure 85/100

The website's infrastructure appears solid, with multiple good DNS records, proper email authentication (SPF and DMARC), and fast page load times. The use of CloudFront and Amazon for certificates also points to a professional setup, even if DNSSEC is unsigned.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #653

This is one of the most visited websites globally

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[+]
Domain Age: 22 years, 1 months

Domain created 2003-07-10T22:20:53Z (22 years, 1 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: MarkMonitor Inc.

Registered through MarkMonitor Inc.

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2027-07-10T22:20:53Z

Expires in 448 days

[+]
DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

crt.sh returned status 429

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 224 directives and references a sitemap

[?]
Branding: Basic

Site has a favicon but no social sharing metadata

[?]
Server: CloudFront

Web server: CloudFront

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 95 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: Amazon

Certificate issued by Amazon

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[~]
Website Status: HTTP 403

Website returned status 403

[~]
Contact Info: Not found

No obvious contact information found on homepage

[-]
Legal Pages: Missing

No privacy policy or terms of service found

[~]
Social Media Presence: None found

No social media links found on homepage

[?]
Sitemap: Not found

No sitemap found — common for smaller sites

[+]
DNS Resolution: 2 IP(s)

Resolves to: 99.83.219.164, 75.2.58.105

[+]
Email (MX Records): 7 record(s)

Mail servers: aspmx.l.google.com., alt1.aspmx.l.google.com., alt2.aspmx.l.google.com., aspmx5.googlemail.com., aspmx4.googlemail.com., aspmx3.googlemail.com., aspmx2.googlemail.com.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[+]
Name Servers: 4 server(s)

DNS providers: ns-715.awsdns-25.net., ns-1105.awsdns-10.org., ns-2006.awsdns-58.co.uk., ns-231.awsdns-28.com.

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[+]
Page Load Time: 659ms

Fast page load

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When evaluating a platform like Shutterstock, which provides stock photography and other media, consumers often wonder about its legitimacy and safety. Typically, reputable media libraries have a long-standing online presence, clear operational details, and robust legal frameworks. Shutterstock.com, with a domain age of over two decades and an impressive global traffic ranking, certainly checks the box for established identity and widespread usage. However, a surprising finding from our analysis is the lack of easily accessible contact information and, more critically, missing legal pages like a privacy policy or terms of service. For a platform where users download and often license creative assets, understanding data handling and usage rights is paramount. While the site's underlying security (TLS 1.3, no Google Web Risk flags) and infrastructure are strong, these transparency and compliance gaps are significant and unusual for a company of this apparent stature. Potential users should actively seek out these legal documents and contact methods within the site before making any commitments or purchases if the homepage doesn't readily provide them. A legitimate media platform should make this information highly visible.