Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking to understand how Shutterstock, Inc. is navigating the massive shift toward generative AI, and honestly, it's a fascinating pivot from a simple stock photo house. After two decades analyzing these shifts, I see their late-2025 model-anchored by a trailing twelve-month revenue of about $1.02 billion-is now fundamentally about data licensing, especially with big deals like the one with OpenAI. This isn't just about selling pictures anymore; it's about monetizing their massive content library as the fuel for tomorrow's AI models, while still managing their core subscription business. Below, I've broken down their entire nine-block strategy, showing exactly where the risks and the real growth opportunities defintely lie in this new structure.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're mapping out the core relationships that fuel Shutterstock, Inc.'s content engine, and honestly, the biggest story here is the pivot toward supplying the massive appetite of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) developers. This isn't just about selling stock photos anymore; it's about licensing the foundational data that builds the next generation of creative tools.

The partnership with OpenAI is definitely a cornerstone. Shutterstock signed a six-year agreement to license its content-pictures, video, and audio libraries, plus all that rich metadata-specifically for training OpenAI models. This positions Shutterstock as a preferred data and distribution partner for generative AI industry leaders. In return, Shutterstock gets priority access to OpenAI's latest technology, like integrating DALL·E's text-to-image capabilities directly onto the Shutterstock platform for its own customers.

This AI data licensing isn't limited to just one player. Shutterstock is actively licensing its content library as training datasets to several major tech companies. This strategy is clearly driving a significant portion of the Data, Distribution, and Services revenue stream. For instance, in the second quarter of 2025, that segment brought in $67.2 million, representing 25% of total revenue. Shutterstock sees this data business growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22% through 2030, up from $104 million in revenue for the entire data business in 2023.

Here's a look at the major tech players relying on Shutterstock's licensed content:

• OpenAI: Expanded six-year agreement for training data.
• Meta: Expansion of a long-standing relationship to fuel AI investment.
• Apple: Partnership for AI model training data, estimated to be worth between $25 million to $50 million.
• Amazon and LG AI Research: Also licensing content for machine learning capabilities.

The core resource remains the global network of creators supplying the content. While the most recent public data point for contributors is older, the prompt specifies the scale Shutterstock relies on for its library depth:

Partner Type	Key Metric / Detail	Associated Data Point
Global Contributors	Supplying the core content library	Over 1.9 million contributors (as specified for this model)
Envato Authors	Providing unlimited-download assets via Envato Elements	650,000 subscribers added from Envato acquisition (July 2024)
Envato Content Bolster	New assets added to the library post-acquisition	1 million audio clips, 0.5 million templates, 0.2 million graphics & fonts

The acquisition of Envato in July 2024 significantly broadened the creator base and asset types. This move added 650,000 subscribers, more than doubling Shutterstock's total subscriber base to 1.15 million as of mid-2025. Envato Elements is key here, offering unlimited-download assets, which complements Shutterstock's existing licensing models.

Finally, the distribution and technology collaboration with Databricks is crucial for scaling the data business. Shutterstock is rolling out its training data onto marketplaces like Databricks, Snowflake, Amazon, and Google Cloud. This shifts the model from being purely a wholesale provider to a retail one for smaller, custom model trainers. This partnership is built on the foundation of Shutterstock's ImageAI model, which was trained on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core engine driving Shutterstock, Inc. right now, late in 2025. It's all about managing that massive content vault while aggressively pivoting toward AI data and integrating major acquisitions. Here's the quick math on what keeps the lights on and drives growth.

Curating and managing a massive, legally-safe content library of over 400 million assets

The foundation is still the sheer volume of legally-vetted material. Shutterstock's digital library contains over 400 million assets across categories like stock photos, vector graphics, video footage, music tracks, editorial content, and 3D models. Shutterstock, Inc. maintains very high-quality standards for everything that fills their submissions inbox-they receive well over 100,000 files per day that they curate against those standards. This massive, clean corpus is what feeds both the traditional e-commerce platform and the high-value data licensing business.

The core content business remains the largest revenue driver, though its growth pace is shifting:

Metric	Q2 2025 Value	Q3 2025 Value	Comparison Point
Content Revenue	$199.8 million	$194.4 million	Q2 2025 vs Q2 2024: 18% increase
Content Revenue Share of Total Revenue	75%	75%	Q3 2025 vs Q3 2024: YoY decrease in Content revenue of $9.3 million, or 5%
Total Revenue (TTM)	N/A	$1.02 billion	Annual Revenue 2024 was $935.26 million

Developing and integrating Generative AI tools like Shutterstock Generate

The push into Generative AI is a key activity, moving beyond just being a data supplier to offering creation tools. You can get full access to advanced tools, including the AI image generator, via the Shutterstock Gen AI Plus plan. That plan costs $7 per month and includes 100 generations, which creates up to 400 AI images per generation.

Executing high-value Data Licensing deals with major AI labs

This is where the content library's size and quality translate directly into high-margin revenue. The Data, Distribution, and Services product offering is growing significantly faster than the core content business. Shutterstock, Inc. is formalizing capabilities to be an active partner in model construction, training, and assessment, leveraging its rich metadata.

The financial impact of these data deals is clear:

• Data, Distribution, and Services revenue reached $67.2 million in Q2 2025.
• This segment saw a 34% increase year-over-year in Q2 2025.
• In Q3 2025, this segment grew 40% year-over-year to $65.7 million.
• The company projected $138 million in total revenue for the entire business unit, including AI licensing, for fiscal year 2024.
• Shutterstock, Inc. expects this data business to generate $250 million in annual revenue by 2027.
• Key partners leveraging this data include NVIDIA, Meta, OpenAI, and Runway.

The timing of data deal revenue recognition can cause quarterly fluctuations, but the trend is sharply upward.

Maintaining and enhancing the core e-commerce and subscription platform

The platform maintenance is about keeping the existing customer base happy and driving recurring revenue. Total revenue for Q2 2025 hit $267.0 million, a 21% increase from Q2 2024's $220.1 million. This platform supports the subscription model, which management considers a key indicator of business health. For the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2025, total revenue reached $1.02 billion.

Integrating acquired platforms like Envato and Giphy into the ecosystem

Integration of recent acquisitions is a critical, ongoing activity affecting current financials. The acquisition of Envato in July 2024 is already a material factor. Envato contributed $29.8 million to the year-over-year increase in Content revenue for Q2 2025, and it also contributed to the 32% rise in Adjusted EBITDA in that same quarter. The company is also integrating Backgrid, with its metrics included beginning February 2025. GIPHY, part of the family of brands, is focused on strategic distribution through GIPHY Ads, which are embedded and organically shared. Other brands in the family include TurboSquid, Pond5, and PremiumBeat.

If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) relies on to operate and compete in late 2025. These aren't just line items; they are the foundation of their value creation engine.

Extensive Content Library

The sheer volume of content remains a primary asset. Shutterstock maintains access to a library stated to hold over 400 million licensed images, videos, music, and 3D models. This scale is crucial for meeting diverse customer demands across various creative projects.

Proprietary AI/ML Technology

The investment in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is a clear resource differentiator. This technology powers search relevance, content tagging efficiency, and the generative creation tools. For context on the scale of their generative output, Shutterstock's AI tools produced over 300 million images in 2023. By Q3 2025, management emphasized product value expansion by including AI image, video, and audio generative models within their unlimited content offerings.

Financial Capital

Liquidity provides operational flexibility and supports strategic moves, like the pending merger activity. As of September 30, 2025, Shutterstock reported strong liquidity with $165.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. This figure represented an increase of $49.1 million from the end of the prior quarter, June 30, 2025.

Global Contributor Network

This network is the source of the intellectual property (IP) that populates the library and the data that trains the AI models. It represents the human capital and creative supply chain underpinning the entire platform.

Digital Platforms

The owned and operated digital properties are the primary touchpoints for customers and contributors. These include Shutterstock.com, the acquired assets like GIPHY and Envato Elements, and internal tools such as Creative Flow. Performance across these platforms shows a clear shift in revenue mix. The Data, Distribution, and Services segment, which includes data licensing deals, generated $65.7 million in Q3 2025 revenue, marking a 40% year-over-year increase. Still, the core Content offering saw revenue decline by 5% year-over-year to $194.4 million in the same quarter.

Here's a quick look at some of the key operational and financial metrics that define these resources as of Q3 2025:

Resource Metric	Value/Amount	Reporting Period/Context
Cash and Cash Equivalents	$165.5 million	As of September 30, 2025
Data, Distribution, & Services Revenue	$65.7 million	Q3 2025
Data, Distribution, & Services YoY Growth	40%	Q3 2025 vs. Q3 2024
Content Revenue	$194.4 million	Q3 2025
Paid Downloads	111.7 million	Q3 2025
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	30.5%	Q3 2025

The generative AI tools also have a specific pricing component, with the Shutterstock Gen AI Plus plan costing $7 per month for 100 generations, which yields up to 400 AI images.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core value Shutterstock, Inc. delivers to its customers and contributors as of late 2025. It's all about scale, legal certainty, and new AI capabilities.

Legally-Indemnified Generative AI: Commercial-use AI content with legal protection for users.

Shutterstock, Inc. is formalizing capabilities that leverage its global creative network and professional-grade production studio to deliver end-to-end value for partners in model construction, training, and assessment. This includes support across the entire model training lifecycle.

• Custom Content Production is supported with 10 production hubs.
• This network involves over 2M+ creators.

Vast, Diverse Content: Single-source access to over 400 million assets for any project.

Shutterstock, Inc. began as an online marketplace offering a modest selection of images and quickly scaled its library to hundreds of millions of assets. The platform maintains a huge advantage over competitors, holding a market share of 61.55% as of recent analysis. In the third quarter of 2025, the company processed 111.7 million paid downloads.

The sheer volume of content available is a key draw for customers needing diverse visuals.

Metric	Value (Late 2025 Context)
Q3 2025 Total Revenue	$260.1 million
Q3 2025 Content Revenue	$194.4 million
Q3 2025 Content Revenue Percentage of Total	75%

Unlimited Creative Subscription: Envato Elements offers unlimited downloads for a fixed fee.

Shutterstock, Inc. continues to improve the value proposition of its unlimited content products by including AI image, video, and audio generative models as part of the offering. A pilot program introduced in April 2025 allows customers to subscribe to an "Unlimited downloads plan."

Enterprise API Access: Seamless integration of content and AI tools into corporate workflows.

The Data, Distribution, and Services product offering, which includes API access for enterprise integration, showed significant growth. This segment is a major driver for the company's overall performance.

Q3 2025 Metric	Amount
Data, Distribution, and Services Revenue	$65.7 million
Data, Distribution, and Services Revenue Percentage of Total	25%
Income from Operations	$32.5 million

Ethical Contributor Compensation: A fund to compensate artists for their work used in AI training.

Shutterstock, Inc. has established mechanisms to compensate contributors for their work used in training models. The structure for this compensation varies based on the use case.

• For data licensing where Shutterstock sub-licenses datasets for AI training, contributors receive around 20% of the corporate royalties received by Shutterstock.
• For the new "Unlimited downloads plan" pilot introduced in April 2025, contributors can receive 50% of the profits generated from those subscribers based on content usage.
• The minimum payout threshold for contributors remains $25 USD.

The company has paid over $1 billion to contributors since 2003.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Shutterstock, Inc. manages the connection with its buyers and creators as of late 2025. It's a dual approach: high-volume automation for the masses and dedicated service for the biggest spenders.

Automated Self-Service: Primary relationship model via the online platform and subscription management.

The bulk of Shutterstock, Inc.'s customer interaction happens through its digital storefront. This is where the majority of transactions for standard content licenses occur, relying on intuitive platform design and efficient subscription handling. You see this scale in the subscriber metrics; as of the third quarter of 2025, the subscriber base stood at 1.06 million. This self-service channel is critical, though the Content product offering revenue saw a slight contraction, decreasing by 5% year-over-year to $194.4 million in Q3 2025, partly due to weakness in new customer acquisition in that segment. Still, the sheer volume is there, with 111.7 million paid downloads reported in Q3 2025, which was in line with the prior year period.

The relationship here is transactional and scalable. Key elements driving this relationship include:

• The online platform for immediate content access.
• Automated management of monthly recurring products.
• Integration of generative AI models into the core offering.

Dedicated Enterprise Sales: High-touch relationship management for large corporate clients.

For Shutterstock, Inc.'s largest accounts, the relationship shifts to a high-touch model managed by dedicated sales teams. This is where the growth engine is firing on all cylinders. The Data, Distribution, and Services product offering, which includes these enterprise relationships and data licensing deals, surged by 40% year-over-year in Q3 2025, reaching $65.7 million. This segment now accounts for a significant 25% of total revenue, up from a smaller portion in Q3 2024. Management noted they are actively attracting new logos and expanding these existing corporate relationships. This segment is key to the overall revenue growth, which hit $260.1 million in Q3 2025, a 4% increase overall.

Here's a look at the core customer base metrics as of late 2025:

Metric	Value (Latest Reported)	Context/Period
Total Revenue	$260.1 million	Q3 2025
Subscribers	1.06 million	Q3 2025 End
Data, Distribution, and Services Revenue	$65.7 million	Q3 2025
Content Revenue	$194.4 million	Q3 2025
Paid Downloads	111.7 million	Q3 2025

AI Contributor Fund: Financial incentive and ethical assurance for content creators.

This relationship is about maintaining the supply side of the marketplace-the creators. Shutterstock, Inc. established the Contributor Fund to compensate artists whose intellectual property was used in training generative AI models, like the one partnered with OpenAI. This is a direct financial tie-in to the data licensing revenue stream. The fund pays royalties for the future licensing of AI-generated content created on the platform. While specific 2025 payout figures aren't public, the mechanism is in place to ensure creators see a share of the revenue from these high-margin data deals, which helped drive the 13% year-over-year increase in Adjusted EBITDA to $79.4 million in Q3 2025.

Community Engagement: Supporting and communicating with the global network of contributors.

The platform's value proposition rests on its creative network. While the exact figure for late 2025 isn't explicitly stated in the latest reports, the company has historically referenced a community of over 1 million contributors across its brands, which is the engine for content supply. The relationship is supported through specific programs and communication channels. For instance, the company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.33 per share in January 2025, which flows directly to the shareholder base, many of whom are also contributors. Furthermore, the company profiles its creators through initiatives like Shutterstock Presents to foster a sense of community and recognize talent.

Key engagement points for the creator community include:

• Issuing payments from the Contributor Fund every six months.
• Providing real-time performance data on content via the contributor dashboard.
• Maintaining a network of over 1 million content providers.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Shutterstock, Inc. gets its creative assets and AI capabilities into the hands of customers as of late 2025. The delivery mechanism is clearly splitting between direct customer transactions and large-scale data/service integrations.

The primary e-commerce platform, Shutterstock.com, still drives the majority of revenue, though this segment is under pressure. For the third quarter ending September 30, 2025, revenue from the Content product offering-which largely reflects direct licensing via the main site and related subscription services-was $194.4 million. This represented 75% of the total Q3 2025 revenue of $260.1 million. This channel saw a year-over-year decline of 5% in Q3 2025, driven by softness in new customer acquisition.

The growth engine is clearly the API and Direct Integrations pathway, categorized under Data, Distribution, and Services (DDS). This segment saw revenue of $65.7 million in Q3 2025, a substantial 40% increase compared to the third quarter of 2024. This channel now accounts for 25% of the total revenue mix. The trailing twelve months revenue ending September 30, 2025, stood at $1.02 billion, showing a year-over-year growth of 13.06%.

The strategic acquisition of Envato in July 2024 significantly impacts the Content channel delivery. The Envato Elements subscription platform, offering unlimited creative assets, is now integrated, helping to offset some of the weakness in new customer acquisition on the core platform. Before the deal, Shutterstock's subscriber count was around 500,000; the addition of Envato's base pushed the combined subscriber count to 1.15 million at that time. As of the end of Q3 2025, Shutterstock's subscriber base stood at 1.06 million.

Here's how the revenue streams broke down in the most recent reported quarter:

Channel Proxy	Q3 2025 Revenue Amount	% of Total Revenue (Q3 2025)	YoY Change (Q3 2025 vs Q3 2024)
Shutterstock.com (Content Product)	$194.4 million	75%	-5%
API/Integrations (DDS Product)	$65.7 million	25%	+40%

Distribution also occurs through other means, though specific financial metrics tied directly to these are less granular in recent reports. The GIPHY Platform serves as a distribution channel for short-form visual content, with management highlighting efforts to expedite monetization here. Furthermore, Shutterstock maintains Mobile Applications for iOS and Android, which are part of the overall digital access strategy, though specific app-only revenue figures aren't separately detailed in the primary financial segmentation.

The overall customer base health, which feeds these channels, shows some shifts:

• Subscriber count at the end of Q3 2025: 1.06 million.
• Subscriber count one year prior (end of Q3 2024): 1.105 million.
• Content revenue in Q1 2025 was $202.9 million, representing 84% of total revenue for that quarter.
• DDS revenue in Q1 2025 was $39.7 million, representing 16% of total revenue for that quarter.

The company is actively incorporating generative AI models into its unlimited content offerings, which directly impacts the value proposition delivered through these channels.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the customer base for Shutterstock, Inc. as of late 2025. The company serves a broad spectrum, but the financial data clearly shows where the bulk of the revenue is coming from, especially with the growth in data licensing.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, Shutterstock reported total revenue of $260.1 million. The customer base is segmented both by the type of content/service they purchase and their size/need, which is reflected in the Content versus Data, Distribution, and Services revenue split.

Customer Segment Grouping	Q3 2025 Revenue Contribution	Q3 2025 Revenue Amount	Key Metric Context
Content Customers (General Licensing)	75%	$194.4 million	Total Paid Downloads for the quarter were 111.7 million.
Data, Distribution, and Services Customers (Includes AI/Tech)	25%	$65.7 million	This segment grew 40% year-over-year compared to Q3 2024.

The overall customer base is served across more than 150 countries. The average revenue per customer over the last twelve months was $279.

Enterprise Customers

These are the large corporations and media companies needing high-volume or custom licensing solutions, often engaging through the Shutterstock Enterprise offering. While a direct revenue split isn't provided for this specific group, they contribute heavily to the overall Content revenue stream.

Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs)

SMBs and marketing agencies largely fall into the subscriber category, which is a core part of the Content offering. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Shutterstock had 1,060,000 subscribers. The revenue generated from these subscribers for Q3 2025 was $107.2 million.

Individual Creators/Freelancers

Designers and social media influencers typically use the lower-tier or on-demand subscription plans. They are included within the total subscriber count of 1,060,000 and contribute to the total subscriber revenue of $107.2 million for the quarter.

AI/Tech Companies

This group is the primary driver for the Data, Distribution, and Services segment. Revenue from this offering reached $65.7 million in Q3 2025. This segment capitalizes on licensing the content library for training large language models. For context on this specific revenue stream, Shutterstock AI licensing generated $104 million in 2023, with projections aiming for $250 million by 2027.

Editorial/News Outlets

These customers license news, sports, and entertainment imagery, falling under the Content product offering. The Content offering generated $194.4 million in Q3 2025. The company also provides custom content solutions that would serve this segment.

Here are the key operating metrics related to customer volume:

• Subscribers (end of period, Q3 2025): 1,060,000.
• Paid Downloads (Q3 2025): 111.7 million.
• Paid Downloads (Nine Months Ended Sep 30, 2025): 345.2 million.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the expenses that drive Shutterstock, Inc.'s operations as of late 2025. Honestly, a big chunk of the cost structure revolves around paying the people who create the content, plus the tech to deliver it and the costs associated with that big Getty Images deal hanging over everything.

Content Acquisition Costs: Royalties paid to the 1.9 million contributors.

The core cost here is compensating the contributor community. While the exact royalty expense for the period isn't broken out separately from Cost of Revenue in the latest quarterly filing, the total Cost of Revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2025, was $102,558 thousand. You should also note the liability on the balance sheet; the Contributor royalties payable balance at the end of Q3 2025 stood at $12,329 thousand.

Technology and R&D: Significant investment in AI/ML development and platform maintenance.

Shutterstock, Inc. is pouring money into its platform, especially with the generative AI push. For the first quarter of 2025, the Product development expense line item-which covers much of this-was $19,865 thousand. Management has emphasized product value expansion, including AI image, video, and audio generative models within their unlimited content offerings. This investment is key to competing in the evolving visual content landscape.

Sales and Marketing: Customer acquisition costs for subscriptions and enterprise deals.

Getting new customers, especially in the Content segment where new customer acquisition was soft, requires spending. Sales and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2025 totaled $59,358 thousand. This spend is aimed at driving revenue, which for Q3 2025 was $260,094 thousand in total.

Professional Fees: Costs associated with the proposed Getty Images merger, totaling $7.1 million in Q3 2025.

The proposed merger with Getty Images Holdings, Inc. has generated significant non-recurring costs. Specifically, professional fee expenses in the third quarter of 2025 tied to the merger totaled exactly $7.1 million. To be fair, cash used in investing activities for the three months ended September 30, 2025, was unfavorably impacted by $8.0 million of expenses related to this same proposed merger. If you look back, Q2 2025 saw $8.7 million in these fees, and Q1 2025 saw $11.9 million.

Debt Interest Expense: Increased interest costs from debt used to fund acquisitions like Envato.

Financing growth, like the Envato acquisition in July 2024, means taking on debt, which brings interest costs. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the reported Interest Expense was $-4 Million. This follows reported increases of $3.7 million in interest expense for both Q1 2025 and Q2 2025, directly attributed to the increased debt used to fund the Envato purchase. As of June 30, 2025, Shutterstock, Inc. reported total Debt of $297.03 million.

Here's a quick look at the major operating expense components for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the prior year's corresponding period for the listed items:

Cost Component (Q3 2025)	Amount (in thousands USD)	Year-over-Year Change (Q3 2025 vs Q3 2024)
Cost of revenue	102,558	Decreased from 104,405
Sales and marketing	59,358	Increased from 55,403
Contributor royalties payable (Balance Sheet)	12,329	Increased from 11,938

The overall cost picture for the period reflects the ongoing operational expenses alongside the one-time drag from the merger work. You can see the key cost drivers below:

• Cost of revenue for Q3 2025: $102,558 thousand.
• Sales and marketing for Q3 2025: $59,358 thousand.
• Merger professional fees recognized in Q3 2025: $7.1 million.
• Interest expense for the three months ended September 2025: $-4 Million.
• Product development expense in Q1 2025: $19,865 thousand.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the money Shutterstock, Inc. (SSTK) brings in, which is definitely shifting toward data and away from pure content transactions. Here's the quick math on how they are structuring their revenue streams as of late 2025, based on the latest filings.

The total top-line number for the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2025, was approximately $1.02 billion. This represented a year-over-year growth of 69.6% for the TTM period.

For the third quarter of 2025 specifically, Shutterstock reported total revenue of $260.1 million, which was a 4% increase year-over-year. The revenue streams break down into two main buckets: Content and Data, Distribution, and Services.

The Data, Distribution, and Services segment is the high-growth area you need to watch. For Q3 2025, this segment generated $65.7 million in revenue, marking a substantial 40% increase compared to the third quarter of 2024. This segment is supported by the timing of data deal revenue recognition.

The core Content product offering, which includes both subscriptions and on-demand purchases, saw a decline in Q3 2025. Content revenue was $194.4 million, representing a 5% decrease year-over-year. This segment accounted for 75% of the total revenue in the third quarter of 2025.

Here is a breakdown of the key financial components driving that Content revenue:

Revenue Stream Component	Financial Metric/Amount	Period/Context	Citation Reference
Content Licensing (Subscriptions)	$344.9 million	Subscriber revenue (Last Twelve Months ending Sep 30, 2025)
Content Licensing (On-Demand Volume)	345.2 million	Paid downloads (Last Twelve Months ending Sep 30, 2025)
Data, Distribution, and Services	$65.7 million	Q3 2025 Revenue
Total Content Revenue	$194.4 million	Q3 2025 Revenue

The AI Data Licensing stream is a critical part of the Data, Distribution, and Services growth. While the Data, Distribution, and Services segment brought in $65.7 million in Q3 2025, the company had a specific projection for its AI-related revenue from the prior year. Shutterstock projected $138 million in Revenue for the AI licensing business unit for the 2024 fiscal year. The company is on track to meet its 2027 revenue target of $1.2 billion.

You can see the structure of the Q3 2025 revenue mix here:

• Content Licensing (Subscriptions & On-Demand): $194.4 million
• Data, Distribution, and Services: $65.7 million

The company is focused on expanding its unlimited content offerings, which include AI image, video, and audio generative models. Also, the Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPC) for the last twelve months was $279 as of Q3 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.