123RF Free and Paid Features: What You Can Download and Sell

You might be looking for licensed stock content for personal or business work, or you might be thinking about selling your images, videos, vectors, or audios. Either way, 123RF is still one of the top platforms that offers you both. Let's explore all there is for this digital market hub.

Part 1. What is 123RF Used For?

123RF is basically a content marketplace. It is a huge digital warehouse where creators upload their work, and other people come there to legally download and use that work.

The content on 123RF includes photos, vector graphics, videos, audio files, and fonts. All of these are created by photographers, designers, videographers, and musicians who upload their work to the platform. 123RF then organizes that work and makes it searchable so other people can download it legally.

The platform has two types of content access.

One is the free content area. This section has a limited collection of photos and vectors that are allowed to be downloaded at no cost. These files still have a license, meaning the usage rules are clearly defined. The free section, in which you can search and download photos and vectors only, is a good choice for basic needs and smaller projects. The quality is fine, but the selection is limited compared to the paid library.

The second is the paid stock library, which is the main business of 123RF. This section offers a very large collection of stock photos, vector illustrations, videos, audio, and fonts. Access to this content works through subscription plans or credit-based downloads. The paid library is there because high-quality content takes time and skill to create, and creators are paid when their work is downloaded.

123RF is a go-to online platform for:

• Bloggers
• Website owners
• Designers
• Marketers
• Video editors
• Social media creators
• Small businesses and agencies

So, anyone who needs visuals, audio, or design assets without creating them from scratch can find them at 123RF.

Part 2. What Image Editing Tools 123RF Offers?

Aside from offering free and stock photos, videos, vectors, and fonts, 123RF gives you a few editing tools for your images.

123RF AI Image Generator

123RF now offers a Free AI Image Generator that lets you create photosusing written text prompts. The prompt can be short or detailed, depending on how specific the final image needs to be.

The image generator allows selecting different image generation models. These include options such as Flux, DALL·E 3, Nano Banana, and others. Each model affects how the final image looks, including the style, realism, and overall visual behavior.

You can also choose Image ratios before generation. These are not limited to square images, and can be 1:1, 2:3, 3:2, and 16:9. This makes it possible to generate images suited for different use cases, such as social media posts, website banners, thumbnails, or wide-format visuals.

A reference image can be added as well. This is optional. When a reference image is used, it guides the generator visually so the output follows a similar structure, subject, or look.

There is also a Stealth mode option. When turned on, generated images remain private and are not shown publicly.

The generator also offers you controls for style, color, lighting, and composition. These options affect how the subject is positioned and how much of the background is visible, similar to camera placement in photography.

AI Image Upscaler

123RF has an AI image upscaler too, where you can convert your everyday photos that are shot in low light or in low resolution and convert them into high-res masterpieces. This way, you can reveal the details that you never knew existed. You just have to drag and drop or upload the image, then move the slider up to 4x. Then, you can turn on the Enhance Details feature to sharpen and clarify your image and adjust the details intensity as well. After that, click Generate and download the photo.

Background Blur Tool

With 123RF AI Background Blur, you can manipulate the focus and blur the background in your photos. But while you do so, the main subject in your photo remains in focus, which is more like what you see in the coveted bokeh camera lens effect, even if you use any lens, and the lighting conditions do not matter. Again, all you have to do is upload your image and then select the bokeh effect, like lens, heart, spade, club, diamond, heart outline, spade outline, club outline, or diamond outline. Then move the slider to adjust the blur intensity, click apply, and then download.

AI Image Extend

The 123RF AI Image Extender can enlarge your uploaded photos. This way, you can reveal the hidden details and create amazing panoramic views even from cropped pictures. For example, if you have a photo with scenery in a limited border, you can use this tool to enlarge and fill the extra space.

This is great for anyone, like photographers or designers, who want to add something fresh to their visuals. After you upload the photo, you can select the aspect ratio and then type in a prompt to describe the object or scene you want to fill the extended space with. Then click Extend Image and download the result.

AI Sketch to Image

In the AI Sketch to Image 123RF tool, you can convert your drawings into actual images and see your creative ideas in a visual canvas. For this, there is a drawing board where you can draw anything, and there are tools as well, like the eraser and shapes, which you can add to your drawing. You can also upload an image of your drawing and then describe your sketch through prompts.

Not only that, you can enhance it by selecting different styles, like anime, digital art, and many others, and the result will be generated. All you have to do then is download it.

There are other image editing tools like Generative Fill to remove and fill elements, Background Remix to add a professional background, and the Background Remover, too.

Part 3. How Much Does 123RF Cost?

The Free section of 123RF costs you nothing to download photos and vectors.

123RF offers a Free Plus subscription, which is basically a 7-day free trial. In this trial, you can get unlimited downloads of photos, vectors, audio, and fonts. You also get full legal protection for the stock content and receive a standard license as well. Not only that, but free access to the AI suite is also provided to generate images and videos with NanoBanana and Flux.

Then there is the Plus Team, which is great for teams. While subscribing, you can select from 2 to 5 seats. This costs $18.50 per month for each seat. This has everything in the Plus plan, but you get a 34% discount. It is a good solution if you have a team and are engaged in many projects.

The last plan is Plus Enterprise, which is everything in Plus with unlimited users and unlimited seats, but you have to talk to support to get a price according to your needs.

Part 4. What is the 123RF Contributor Account?

A 123RF Contributor Account allows you, as a photographer, illustrator, or videographer, to sell your photos, vectors, videos, and audio on the 123RF platform. You can earn passive income through commissions as buyers download your work, with earnings varying based on content type and sales volume.

How Much Money Can a 123RF Contributor Make?

On 123RF, contributor level determines your royalty commission rate, which increases as your total earnings grow, allowing you to earn higher percentages (from 30% to 60%) on your sales, with levels often resetting or adjusting based on performance over time or annually. Essentially, the more you sell and earn, the higher your tier, which results in better payouts for your stock photos, vectors, and videos.

How Do I Become a 123RF Contributor?

• Step 1.To become a 123RF Contributer, go to the contributor sign-up page, type in your name, username, email, and password.

  

• Step 2.Then, verify your identity through an ID.

• Step 3.After you enroll, you get access to the 123RF Contributor dashboard, where you can upload your art (images, vectors, footage, audio), preview your daily, monthly, and yearly earning stats stacked with total earnings, number of downloads, and your payment history after you get paid.

  You can also view your total earnings and update your profile.

  

Why 123RF Rejected My Upload?

You can view the updated status of your uploads in the My Upload History section in your 123RF Contributor dashboard. Here you'll see the Accepted, Pending, Rejected, and Uploaded artwork. One thing to remember here is that when you upload anything to sell, 123RF shows it in a Pending state and gives you a time limit to adda title, description, and keywords. During this waiting period, you have to add these details; otherwise, the 123RF time limit will be over, and your creation will move into the Rejected state.

But there is a workaround for that problem. When you click the Rejected link, a new page will pop up. Here, you'll observe the red "Invalid Descriptions/Keywords" and also notice that the keywords are automatically added by the 123RF algorithm, which can be wrong and not related to your art.

Now, what you have to do is change the description and remove all the keywords by clicking the x sign. Then, add the new keywords, click Save, and your creation will now show up in the Pending state. Next, the 123RF team will restart the wait time for the review period and shift it to the Accepted stage.

Your 123RF upload can also be likely rejected due to blurriness, noise, low resolution, bad editing, content violations (copyrighted logos, nudity, sensitive themes, AI artifacts like extra fingers), or missing legal forms (model/property releases) or metadata errors (typos, missing details). Common culprits are low quality (blurry, noisy), visible brands/logos, insufficient detail, or issues with AI generation, requiring clean editing, sharp focus, and proper releases for acceptance.

This avoids all the frustration of pending or rejected uploads.

Part 5. FAQs of 123RF

Conclusion on 123RF

In this guide, you learned all about the 123RF digital marketplace to search, download, and sell photos, videos, vectors, and audio. Although the earnings might not be what you'd expect from a few years back as a contributor, it is still one of the best platforms to find stock and licensed content for your needs.