Is it Worth Contributing Photography to Unsplash+?
Ayup! I've been contributing to Unsplash for over five years now. In this post, I'm sharing some thoughts and insights on the paid work available via Unsplash+. How it works, how much they pay, and the pros and cons.
I'm writing this from the angle of an amateur/enthusiast. Photography isn't my primary source of income, rather, an occasional provider of short holiday funds. Free adventures! That's what I'm talking about.
Unsplash+ launched in October 2022. The new premium service meant subscribers get access to the best of the best that Unsplash has to offer. Additionally, for the first time ever, photographers were about to start getting paid for their contributions. Wohoooo!
Anyone is free to apply to become an Unsplash+ contributor. You don't necessarily need to have built up a library of free images first, either.
We are looking for people with creative ideas, originality, an eye for detail and a commitment to producing exceptional quality imagery.
We welcome both professional and hobbyists to apply and we will provide resources on releases and intellectual property considerations to get you started on your Unsplash+ content creation journey.
How Unsplash+ Works For Photographers
Once you're accepted into the program, you have access to a set of monthly briefs. These are based on trending searches and the most in-demand subjects. Some months there will be briefs that fall in line with your photographic style and subjects, other months there might not be.
At the time of writing this article, the briefs are focussed on the Unsplash Photography Awards for 2025. You can enter images into the following categories:
Architecture & Interiors
Experimental
Film
Nature Animals
Fashion & Beauty
People
Up to 10 images can be submitted per category, with payments of $30 to $50 per photo. As far as I'm aware, this is the only photography competition that pays folks to enter. Happy days!
Usually, however, the briefs are a little more specific. For example, white textures, neutral backgrounds, etc. Furthermore, the price per image dips down to between $5 and $30 (ish, I think this varies).
That said, you can usually enter up to 30 images per brief. So what you'd normally do, is submit a series of photos. If they were paid at somewhere in the middle, say $15 each, that's $450.
How much am I getting paid per image?
One of the minor frustrations of Unsplash+, is that you don't actually know how much you'll be paid. Yes, you know it will be somewhere between the minimum and maximum, but the exact amount is only revealed on your statement.
These are sent the following month, with the payment a short while afterwards.
Unsplash+ licensing
While the photographer retains the copyright of the image, Unsplash holds the exclusive rights to sell the image once they've paid you for it.
Put simply, this means you can't then use the same image on another stock photography website. I have no issues with this whatsoever, but if you're looking to sell your images on more than one platform, Unsplash+ won't be a good fit for your business model.
Your contract with Unsplash will be non-exclusive (meaning you can shoot for other platforms or partners outside of Unsplash). However, the content you submit that’s accepted in the Unsplash+ library will be exclusive to Unsplash+, meaning you agree that you will not license accepted content with other platforms or partners.
The pros and cons of Unsplash+
For me personally, there are no cons to contributing towards Unsplash+. The fact that I'm getting paid for doing what I'd have been doing anyway is a massive win. However, this is fully subjective, and will depend on your own situation and circumstances.
It could be said that a one-off payment, rather than an ongoing commission, is unfair. In fact, photographer, Peter Orsel has some rather strong feelings on the subject.
Unsplash is pretty clear about their contributor payments. They don’t believe in a royalty system, so they decide to pay for every image that got approved by the quality and model/property checks. The payment will be around $5 to $30 dollar per accepted images as a one time payment.
Peter goes on to conclude his article by mentioning he earned $2000 in a year with stock photography. This was achieved through royalty payments based on a certain percentage per image.
Fair play, but you can easily earn this (and then some) with Unsplash+. One of my best months was well over $800. Granted, this can then swoop down to $0 the next month if the briefs don't fit your work. But still, over the year, it's more than possible to earn much more than you would from royalty payments.
Is it worth contributing to Unsplash+?
To conclude, my next Unsplash+ payment will be enough to pay for a short holiday abroad. Therefore, on a personal level, it's well worth contributing towards. Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. Can you make a decent side-income from it? Hell yes!
In case you hadn't guessed, I'm a big fan. This is probably the only way I'll ever earn anything from my photography. While bringing in an income isn't really part of the plan, it's always a welcome addition.
When the Unsplash+ briefs line up with your style and subjects, you're literally getting paid for what you'd have been doing anyway. I'm calling that a winner!
