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Awnica22124780jyrk
Participant
March 10, 2025
Answered

Adobe Stock Credits and Losing if you don't use it

  • March 10, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 512 views
My name is Awnica Browne. I am a Photographer in San Jose, CA. I am a small business that focuses on Brand Photography and Video. I have been a life long Adobe user. I was using your Premiere product to create a movie and used some Adobe Stock footage to complete the video. I was about to use my last credit and thought, this couldn’t be my last credit. I have been paying for Adobe Stock for 4 years, I should have an abundance of credits to download more videos and photos to complete my project. I thought due to not making my monthly payment yet that that was the cause of not allowing me to download more. I called Customer Service to confirm and to my utter shock, I was told that I lost all of my credits. I thought the Generative Ai of 1500 was the number of stock images that I had previously paid for and were sitting there waiting for me to use. That was not the case. I literally lost all of my unused credits, without an email letting me know that my year was about to be up and I would need to download images and I would lose them. 
 
I am messaging the [Moderator deleted private information. Please do not post private information like e-mails and phone numbers] to see understanding as to why this is your policy? If a customer does not get their monies worth, how is it fair that Adobe would be able to pocket the money and the customer doesn’t get what they bargained for? I spoke with a manager, Bhavika and she refunded a year’s subscription, $359.98 (at a rate of $19.99/mo.). But what about the other 3 years, where I paid $29.99/mo.? What about an email reminder from Adobe to its customers that you have remaining unused credits, what about applying that money to the monthly $54.99 I pay per month? As a Photographer I could choose many different stock photo and video companies like StoryBlocks or Envato. I cancelled those subscriptions years ago to stay in the Adobe eco system. I will be reaching out to every forum and every commercial Photography organization like ASMP and APA, WPPI,  X (formerly Twitter) my congressman, my Governor, Gavin Newsom and commercial photographer and videographer, production company small and large of these practices. This is how class-action lawsuits get started.
 
I want an explanation as to why unused credits cannot be rolled over. I struggle to think of one besides greed. If there is another reason I would like to know what it is. I also want to know why an email or some communication is not sent out to let Adobe customers know that there year subscription is coming to an end and to download any assets remaining of their unused credits. Adobe is pocketing the money and not applying them to your monthly Creative Suite subscription. The Artists, Photographers, Videographers Motion Graphic Artists and and Graphic Designers that are contributing to your stock library aren’t seeing the money because they only get paid when a user downloads their asset. So again, why would the customer not be able to rollover the credits? Where is the Integrity Adobe? 
 
 
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    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Jill_C

    Generative AI credits and Adobe Stock credits are 2 different entitlements and the quantity of each depends on your Creative Cloud and Stock subscription levels.

     

    As shown on this FAQ page, Adobe Stock credits do roll over month to month, but are capped at twice your annual subscription levels. 

    https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/faq.html

    The 3-images/month plan, 10-images/month plan, and 40-images/month plan include rollover benefits, which ensure unused subscription licenses continue to be available in your account.

    You can roll over 36-480 unused licenses month to month, depending on your plan, but if you cancel your subscription you'll lose any unused licenses.

    Any unused rollover licenses cannot be used once your subscription has been canceled.

     

     

     

     

    3 replies

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 12, 2026

    Sorry for your frustration.  As a photographer, you know how important contracts are.

    Reading & understanding the TERMS are essential, so there are no misunderstandings later.

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 14, 2025

    When you took your stock plan, you have for sure read the terms and conditions and you have read that the plan credits for stock roll over up to 12 months of plan credits allocations (10 assets per month = 120 plan credits; 40 asssets per month = 480 plan credits). If you do not use the credits, they get forfeited. It's in the terms and conditions. And it's marked on the screen when you take your plan:

     

    Running the service and adding new stock assets each day cost money and basically that is what you are paying for. Like the telophone company, where you get free minutes each month to talk be phone with someone. If you do not use those minutes, they are lost. If you use more than what your contingent is, you need to pay extra. But basically you are paying the phone company for running the service, not for actual calls.

     

    Adobe has made a generous offer, by refunding you some of your expenses. I think that you should be happy.

     

    The generative AI credits are for using Firefly, and they are offered to you curtesy of Adobe as part of your different subscriptions. Don't complain about an extra, you get, and you do not need to pay extra.

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    W
    wendys45979959
    Participating Frequently
    May 12, 2026

    I'd like to respond to the Community Expert's reply here, because I think it missed the mark in a couple of important ways — and because the "Community Expert" designation implies a standard of helpfulness that this reply didn't meet.

    Yes, the terms of service exist. But citing them as a complete rebuttal to a customer's frustration isn't the same as actually addressing the concerns raised. The original poster's questions — why are there no proactive notifications before credits expire, why wasn't more than one year's worth of payments acknowledged, and whether the policy itself is fair — aren't answered by "it's in the terms and conditions."

    The phone minutes analogy is mechanically reasonable, but it actually undermines the point being made: most phone carriers do send expiration reminders. That's one of the specific things the original poster asked about.

    Most importantly, telling someone they "should be happy" with a partial refund is dismissive and frankly not a Community Expert's call to make. A customer with a legitimate grievance deserves engagement, not a reminder to be grateful.

    If the role of a Community Expert is to represent the best of this community, this response fell well short of that. The original questions about rollover policy, proactive communication, and credit transparency are worth taking seriously — both by Adobe and by those responding on this forum.

    Jill_C
    Community Expert
    Jill_CCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    March 11, 2025

    Generative AI credits and Adobe Stock credits are 2 different entitlements and the quantity of each depends on your Creative Cloud and Stock subscription levels.

     

    As shown on this FAQ page, Adobe Stock credits do roll over month to month, but are capped at twice your annual subscription levels. 

    https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/faq.html

    The 3-images/month plan, 10-images/month plan, and 40-images/month plan include rollover benefits, which ensure unused subscription licenses continue to be available in your account.

    You can roll over 36-480 unused licenses month to month, depending on your plan, but if you cancel your subscription you'll lose any unused licenses.

    Any unused rollover licenses cannot be used once your subscription has been canceled.

     

     

     

     

    Jill C., Forum Volunteer
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