Wirestock is a new agency that will make your stock photography workflow easier by keywording and uploading to multiple content marketplaces, including Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and Alamy, etc. This professional service helps free up contributors’ valuable free time / energy so they can stick to what is the most fun: shooting!
Wirestock provides a one-door access to the largest content marketplaces (Shutterstock, Adobe, Dreamstime, Alamy, Depositphotos, Pond5). Instead of opening accounts on each and every site, the creator opens one account and submits all their images to all the largest marketplaces from one place (also possible to opt out of specific agencies). With Wirestock, it becomes irrelevant debating about the best place to sell photos as it aggregates all of them.
Keywording and Captioning
In addition, Wirestock’s best-selling point is that they have a dedicated in-house team that will keyword the commercial images to a high-level. More on this later with some concrete examples.
Getting paid
Wirestock provides the ability to track and collect all of your earnings from a single site. Wirestock provides a single dashboard for tracking all sales from all agencies and allows withdrawing all their royalties from all sites with a single request ($30 minimum threshold).
Given all the benefits mentioned above, Wirestock has become a no-brainer for anyone who wants to start in stock photography also considering that the tool is free to use and only charges 15% commission on paid royalties. Wirestock do not make money unless the creator does, which is more than fair. I would imagine that Wirestock are already at a top-tier level at Shutterstock, which means you’d start earning more right away (38cents vs 25cents on the subs)
Keep in mind that Blackbox, which provides a similar service on the footage side, also charges 15% commission on paid royalties.
Easy to read dashboard
All sales information is readily-available on the Wirestock Dashboard, see example below:
I thought, what better way to test them than do it myself? So, I’ve uploaded 50 of my own (no sales yet but still early days) images to them and wanted to see in particular how well they’ve keyworded. But first, how to upload:
Uploading Commercial Images
Well, uploading to them is super easy. Just drag and drop, literally. Oh then click, submit and they do the rest.
I checked within a few days and lo and behold most of my images were up for sale at the agencies. Wirestock did, however, reject, some of my batch which would have probably been rejected by the agencies anyway.
Uploading Editorial Images
In case of editorial, it’s trickier since they will still have you do the grudge work by inserting the correction caption/description and keywording.
Seems slightly unfair to still do all the work and give them a commission on sales. So, I quizzed Wirestock on this, for which they responded:
“In the future, we may add easy submission for editorials too only requiring to add location and date in case if our system can’t detect it. As for Wirestock’s value for creators, please take into account that many of our contributors are either new to stock photography or not very experienced. They prefer to pay 15% and not have to open accounts on 6-7 different websites, use software like stocksubmitter, deal with ftp, receive payments from multiple sites and etc. Having a one-door access to the largest agencies is also a great time saver even if you have to the keywording yourself.”
I was particularly curious about just how good their (commercial) keywording is…so I checked out their Alamy portfolio consisting of 42,000 images to dig deeper. For sake of completeness, you can also check out their 24,000-image Shutterstock portfolio.
I decided to click on the following three images that stood out and see their keywords as a gauge, also recommend you do it yourself:
Example 1:
Example 2:
Example 3:
More on Alamy ranking
Alamy is a funny site in that depending on how well (or not) ranked your portfolio is relative to others, your images would appear (or not) at the higher rankings. To make a long story short, being part of the Wirestock Alamy portfolio is better than starting out by yourself due to this competitive advantage in keywording.
Who would benefit from Wirestock?
Who would NOT benefit from using Wirestock?
– Explainer Video
– Recent article one of Wirestocks’s contributors wrote after switching from Unsplash (turds) to Wirestock.
– Can you still make money as a Photographer? By Ted Forbes
-Independent review:
I trust you’ve found the review useful and I hope you’ll take advantage of this excellent service!
About Alex
I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Madrid, on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted six years to making it as a travel photographer / videographer and freelance writer (however, had recently go back into full-time office work to make ends meet!). I hope to inspire others by showing an unique insight into a fascinating business model.
I’m proud to have written a book about my adventures which includes tips on making it as a stock travel photographer – Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography
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For stock photographers and videographers, effective keywording and distribution of media across various stock photography platforms are crucial. However, the time-consuming nature of these tasks can be overwhelming.
That’s where Wirestock comes in. Wirestock is an innovative stock photography platform that streamlines the submission process by handling all the keywording and uploading for you, allowing creators to focus on their passion for producing exceptional photos, illustrations, and footage.
But what is the most interesting part of Wirestock is what it is offering for those creating and selling AI-generated images.
In this review, we will closely examine the features of Wirestock and evaluate the associated benefits and risks.
Further reading:
What is Wirestock?Wirestock is an all-in-one solution for stock producers to sell stock photos, illustrations, Videos, and AI-generated images. It eliminates the need for the contributor to keyword and upload images and videos one-by-one to each stock photography site.
With Wirestock, you can quickly and easily upload your images and videos to multiple stock media agencies. The platform will take care of all the keywording and captioning for you, so you can concentrate on what you enjoy most – creating amazing photos, illustrations, and videos.
Keywording is all done by humans, not machines or AI, so you can be assured that your photos and videos are accurately tagged for better search engine optimization.
Wirestock can help you increase your earning potential by allowing you to sell stock media to multiple agencies at once. This means that you can easily reach a wider audience, and earn more money.
Which Stock Photography Agencies Are Supported?Wirestock supports all of the most popular stock photography platforms, including:
Wirestock also offers additional content licensing options via their Extra Channels and Instant Pay programs.
Instant Pay program means that you get a one-time fee for media licensed via this channel. This is optional and can be opted out.
What Are Easy Submissions?In this post, I’ll be referring a lot to easy submissions.
The process of captioning, keywording, and distribution performed by Wirestock for you is called Easy Submissions.
Using an easy submission option is what Wirestock is all about. It’s a human-controlled process where the Wirestock staff will do all the heavy lifting for you.
This includes:
However, if you have editorial media, you must fill out some extra information fields such as location and description.
So, the easy submission process is most valuable for submitting commercial images and videos.
Selling AI-Generated Images on WirestockWirestock has made significant changes to its business model, clearly indicating a strong focus on generative AI. They are actively encouraging contributors to create and sell AI-generated images on their platform.
They’ve introduced their own discord AI bot, the Wirestock Bot, which uses Stable Diffusion tech to generate very high-quality AI-generated images.
The images that users create and upscale with Wirestock Bot get automatically uploaded to the Wirestock platform. From there, they can easily be submitted for sale via the easy submission service. Very easy, quick, and convenient.
The images created can also be easily submitted to daily challenges that have the potential to win you cash prizes.
To gain access to Wirestock’s AI bot, you will need to subscribe to the Premium AI plan. However, if you already have a subscription to an AI image generator from another website, you can sell these images using the more affordable Premium plan. (More about the plans later in this post)
Here’s a list of the main features Wirestock offers for AI Image creators:
The challenges are a fun addition to Wirestock, offering subscribers the opportunity to participate in short-term competitions. What’s even better is the chance to win cash prizes… Every day!
Especially challenges for AI-generated images are becoming increasingly common on Wirestock. So you don’t need to be a top artist to win these competitions.
As long as you have an AI image generator to use and a Premium subscription with Wirestock, you can join these challenges and win awards.
There are challenges for photography as well but the vast majority is for AI-generated images.
Cash prizes have ranged from $50 to $1350 thus far. Photo challenges have been most lucrative with typically over $1000 prize pool. However, the daily challenge prizes normally range between $50 and $100.
The top three entries will be awarded, but sometimes an extra 3 runners-up have won some money too.
Furthermore, all participants may upload their images to the Wirestock marketplace for sale as well.
What Does Wirestock Cost?Wirestock used to be free until the recent AI-generated image boom. So, they switched to a subscription-based model apparently because they couldn’t keep up with reviewing, keywording, and distributing all the media being uploaded. Now you only get 5 easy submissions for free.
You still have a possibility to sell for free on the Wirestock platform without easy submissions, meaning no keywording or distribution to other stock media agencies. However, I personally don’t see much value in that because in my experience sales volume in these kinds of small stock sites alone is almost non-existent.
If you want more easy submissions, you need to subscribe to one of Wirestock’s premium plans. On top of the subscription plans, Wirestock takes 15% off each sale.
While it may initially seem unfavorable, it’s important to note that images sold through Wirestock generally fall under the higher contributor tiers. As a result, you can expect to receive a better price for each sale.
There are currently two premium plans available: Premium and Premium AI.
The Premium plan is best suited for photographers, videographers, and illustrators who are not excited about keywording their content. Also, AI image creators who already have AI tools like DALL-E or Midjourney and aim to monetize the images they create may find this plan useful.
The Premium plan will give you the following benefits:
You can subscribe for $7.79 per month when paid annually or $12.99 per month if paid monthly. And you can get an extra 20% discount by using my code: JAMO20
Be aware the prices may change as there are often discounts. You should always try to use my code to get an extra discount, even from the already discounted prices!
The Premium AI plan is, as it says, best suited for AI-image creators. You get the same benefits as in the premium plan with the following differences:
You can subscribe for $14.99 per month when paid annually or $19.99 per month if paid monthly. And you can get an extra 20% discount by using my code: JAMO20
Be aware the prices may change as there are often discounts. You should always try to use my code to get an extra discount, even from the already discounted prices!
Pros of Using WirestockWirestock offers a range of benefits for those interested in selling their stock media. Here are some of the pros:
In my opinion, the absolutely best thing about using Wirestock is the time you save and the fact that you don’t have to keyword and distribute your assets on your own.
Cons of Using WirestockWirestock also has some potential drawbacks, including:
One of the major downsides, in my opinion, is that sometimes the keywording and captioning provided might not meet the same level of quality as if I were to do it myself. That’s why filling in the additional information box is preferred, as it helps get better keywording and captioning.
Who Is Wirestock Best Suited For?Wirestock is a versatile platform designed to make the process of selling stock images more accessible and efficient. It’s an excellent tool for various user types including:
However, while Wirestock offers some nice benefits, I’d recommend contributors take a strategic approach to uploading. For this, I mean using Wirestock along with directly submitting to stock media platforms.
This way, contributors can enjoy the convenience and higher royalty rates that you get via Wirestock, while also diversifying their stock media portfolio and minimizing any risks involved.
How To Use Wirestock?Wirestock is probably the easiest stock media platform to use. All you need to do is sign up for a Wirestock account and then upload the photos, illustrations, or videos you want to sell.
Once you’ve uploaded your media, Wirestock will take care of all the keywording and tagging for you if you have one of the premium plan subscriptions.
Just to be clear, I’ll show here step-by-step how to use Wirestock
Signing Up to Become Wirestock ContributorTo become a Wirestock contributor, first, navigate to the Wirestock website and click on the ‘Sign Up’ button in the upper right corner to create an account.
Nothing fancy here. Just fill out the required information and accept the Contributor Agreement. After that, you can start uploading your photos, vectors, or videos to Wirestock.
Uploading Stock MediaOnce your account is set up, you can start uploading stock media to Wirestock. You can upload AI-generated images, photos, illustrations, vectors, and videos from your computer, or from your Google Drive or Dropbox accounts. Also, FTP upload is supported.
Fill and Submit Your AssetOnce you’ve selected and uploaded the asset you wish to sell, the next step is to fill out the necessary information in the following view.
The Easy Submission option is selected by default meaning Wirestock will do the keywording and distribution of your media.
It’s recommended that you fill out the additional information field as well – adding things like the location of where the photo was taken – since this will make your media more discoverable. The keyworders don’t know where the photo was taken so it’s important you fill it yourself.
From here, you can select which stock photo agencies you’d like to sell your content on. You have the option to not upload to certain channels. You can also add a Model Release here if applicable.
If you’re uploading AI-generated images you need to tick the appropriate box. More about submitting AI images later in this post.
If your content is editorial in nature, then select “Event / News / Brands” option and this view will open up.
For editorial submissions, you’re required to include the country, city, date, and description of the media in question. Also, you can add additional information and choose the sites where you want to sell your media. If you’re unsure what is editorial or commercial use, read this post.
You can also submit your asset without easy submission. This means you can add keywords, descriptions, and other information on your own just like on any other stock photography site.
This comes in handy when you already have metadata embedded in the photo or video, so there’s no need to tag the assets anymore.
Finally, when you are done click ‘Submit’, and your stock media is sent for review.
The DashboardThe Wirestock Dashboard summarizes your earnings and account activity altogether on one page.
The dashboard also allows you to quickly access the upload page, your portfolio, and to your assets pages.
How to Create And Sell AI-Generated Images Using Wirestock Bot?Creating and selling AI-generated images with Wirestock is a pretty straightforward process. Here’s how it goes:
Preparing Your Own Discord ServerNow you are ready to start creating AI images with the Wirestock Bot. You can add other bots such as Midjourney bot in your server similarly.
Creating and Submitting AI-Generated ImagesThats it! You can also participate in the challenges if there’s a suitable one for your images and maybe win some extra money or just post your AI-generated images and wait for them to start selling.
Discount CodeWirestock offers a discount code for new subscribers. Simply enter the my promo code JAMO20 at checkout to receive 20% off your subscription! This code sometimes works with already discounted prices so always try it before paying full price.
Final Thoughts and ConclusionWhen I first started using Wirestock towards the end of 2021, I wasn’t completely sold on it. Although it was free to use and had a simple process for uploading assets, the review times seemed to drag on forever. Plus, the company itself appeared a bit uncertain, seeking new investors and all. So, I didn’t want to go “all-in” and take too much risk with it.
However, In 2023, a bunch of things have changed. The not-so-great part is that now you need a subscription to submit images, and you can’t upload as many assets as before.
Yet, the upside is that you can get your images reviewed and distributed way faster than before, and the spammers can no longer flood the platform with low-quality content.
Contributors who are ready to create unique, on-demand, and high-quality content instead of just chasing quantity are going to come out as winners. When it comes to selling stock media today, the key is to prioritize quality first and quantity second.
Also, Wirestock’s focus has turned towards selling AI-generated images. They now have magnificent tools for creating and selling AI-generated stock images. I think this is a driving force behind the platform’s future success.
Wirestock is best suited for AI image creators who are willing to make high-quality content and those who want to get their assets reviewed, keyworded, and distributed quickly without having to struggle with the tiresome keywording and distribution themselves.
But if you’ve already got a solid workflow for keywording and distribution, then Wirestock might not bring much more to the table for you.
Personally, I’ll keep my Premium subscription and keep uploading more photos, videos, and AI-generated images through Wirestock. In my opinion, it really adds value to my workflow and can help increase future income.
I hope this review helps you make a decision about whether or not Wirestock is the right platform for your needs.
What do you think? Have you had any experience with Wirestock?
Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
Further Reading:
FAQHere’s a list of some common questions about Wirestock.
Is Wirestock Legit?Yes, Wirestock is a legitimate service. They have been around since 2018 and have helped thousands of stock media creators submit their assets to stock photography platforms. Also personally I’ve never had any problems with them. Payments are always on time.
Wirestock has offices in Armenia, the US, Europe, and Asia.
How Much Can You Make from Wirestock?The amount of money you can make selling stock photos on Wirestock is based on the royalty rate, which varies among each stock photography platform. Generally speaking, you make 85% of all the sales that you make through Wirestock. This means that if you get $10 on any stock site sale, then you will get $8.50 out of it.
How To Get Paid?Wirestock supports currently PayPal and Payoneer.
Will I lose the copyright to my media if I use Wirestock?No, you will always keep your copyright.
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