Envato Elements Group Buy vs Official Plan
Short answer: An Envato Elements group buy means sharing a subscription with others, giving you access to the library for much less than subscribing yourself. The official plan costs more, but is safe, fully licensed, and legal. The official plan is more ideal if you plan to use assets for commercial purposes.
Envato Elements is a favorite among the platforms for creative assets. Paying a flat fee means unlimited downloads of millions of assets, including stock photos, footage, templates, and audio. This is helpful for a lot of professions, including design, marketing, and content creation.
The full subscription plan costs about $16.50 a month if you subscribe for a full year, and some people wish that cost was lower.
Envato Elements group buy
For that reason, “Envato Elements group buy” is a popular search.
Group buy services are exactly what they claim to be. Shared access to Envato Elements is arranged by pooling accounts for a small monthly fee. On the surface, this looks like a clever solution for the high cost, but the reality is more complicated.
This post informs you about both of the options, what you can expect to get, and most importantly, what the most sensible choice is depending on the creative assets that you will use.
A group buy service allows a single person to buy an official Envato Elements subscription, and then shares access with multiple paying users, typically through login information or a download portal. Users pay a fraction of the total cost per person, and the person running the group buy keeps the rest.
Typically people prefer group buy options as they can pay $2 to $5 a month as opposed to the usual $16.50 a month.
When using a group buy, the account holder is the only person with the master account, Users directly logged in, which is a direct term violation for Envato, or used a download portal, where the account holder downloads assets and sends them to users directly.
Envato’s TOS
The biggest downside to using these group buy options is that you are accessing purchased content through a method that goes against Envato’s TOS. Violation of the TOS can get your account terminated, and you can face some legal issues.
The Individual plan from Envato comes with personal account, unlimited downloads, and a new asset with a valid commercial license. This plan also comes with access from Envato directly.
Commercial use is also a valid feature of the Individual plan, as purchased content may be used for paid projects and other client work. Each asset also comes with a license certificate.
Customer support
If something goes wrong, you have direct access to Envato’s support team.
Teams and agencies have the Envato Elements Teams plan, which extends licensing across multiple seats under one billing plan — a legitimate way to share access.
How Do the Two Options Compare?
Take a look at how the two plans compare:
Group Buy
Official Plan
Monthly cost
~$2–$5
~$16.50 (annual)
Legal license
No
Yes
License certificate
No
Yes
Terms of Service
Violated
Compliant
Account security
Low
High
Asset quality/access
Varies
Full, direct
Customer support
None
Full
Risk of account ban
High
None
Cost plays a major factor in both buying methods. But the difference in what is offered is major as well.
What Are the Legal Risks of Using a Group Buy Service?
This is where the group buy option breaks down for most use cases.
When you buy through a group buy service, you don’t hold a valid license for the assets you download. The license, which is issued by Envato, is for the account holder of Envato’s group buy — you. If you use those assets in commercial work, you are doing so without Envato’s authorization.
The practical risk: If a client, employer, or any third party requests proof of licensing for the asset you used in your work, a download through a group buy service won’t clear that request. There will be no certificate for you. In a dispute, you’re stuck.
Account Level Risk: Envato Reviews Violations of Terms of Service. Shared Accounts are Detected and Eliminated. If the Group Buy Operator has their account banned, your access is eliminated, often without notice and without a refund.
To Freelancers and Agencies: Using unlicensed assets for a client project transfers the risk to your client. Some contracts directly state that unlicensed assets cannot be used, and discovering the licensing gap after project completion can lead to both legal and professional risks.
When Group Buys May Be Appealing, and the Problems that Still Persist
The best example for a Group Buy is the private, personal, and noncommercial use of licenses. You are much less likely to be sued if you download a font to play around with a layout in private.
However, the practical problems that persist do not change. Group Buy Portals are often very slow, have a very limited ability to download files, and can be shut down with very short notice. Access to the full library is not guaranteed, and your requests can be completely ignored or take a long time to get fulfilled.
The “savings” get even less valuable when you consider that access may be lost during the project. The cost of redoing a design due to your Group Buy Service shutting down is much higher than the savings.
Who Should Use the Official Envato Elements Plan?
Almost anyone who is using assets in a professional or semi-professional manner should be using the official plan. Specifically, freelance designers and creatives who are delivering work to clients should purchase the plan, because licensed assets cannot be purchased through a Group Buy.
Using templates and stock photos puts in-house marketing teams at risk for possible compliance issues since they don’t obtain licenses.
When content creators monetize their work on platforms like YouTube and other social media and digital platforms, they need to know where they stand with asset rights in case any of these platforms hit them with a copyright strike.
While students and hobbyists find it challenging to cover the expense since they are doing non-commercial work, they will have peace of mind subscribing to the official plan since it is the only plan that adheres to the letter of the law.
If budget is an issue, know that Envato offers a free trial, and some resources are free via Envato Elements’ free collection. That is better than a group buy.
Is there a real way to share Envato Elements access?
Sure, Envato Elements for Teams lets multiple users share a subscription legally. Each team member receives their own login, their own download history, and their own license certificates. It is a scalable flexible plan which addresses the same issues group buys address.
For smaller studios and agencies, it is the correct plan.
So which option is actually better?
For anyone using assets in a commercial, professional, or client-facing setting, the official Envato Elements plan is better. The cost is justified simply for the licensing protection alone since the real value of creative asset platforms is licensing.
On paper, a group buy is cheaper. But the expense of legal protection, account stability, and proof of lawful download, outweighs the savings for most creators. The individual plan would be the way to go, unless the cost is a legitimate issue.
In that case, either negotiate the cost with a colleague/partner and purchase the team plan, or utilize the free assets on Envato while deciding if the subscription is justified for your needs.
Cheaper isn’t always better. The team’s plan offers peace of mind, while the group buy doesn’t even come close.
Is an Envato group buy legal?
No. Group buys are illegal as they share a single licensed account with multiple users. This violates Envato’s Terms of Service. The license belongs to the account holder, so purchases through a group buy are not legal.
Can I use group buy assets for commercial projects?
You should not. These assets can be legally challenged, as they do not come with a license certificate. The license is not in your name.
What happens when the Group Buy Service gets shut down?
You lose everything. The accounts that group buy services provide are shared and constantly detected and shut down by Envato. Most of these services don’t do refunds and you end up losing access to the resources you relied on, mid project.
What is the official price for an Envato Elements subscription?
The official monthly subscription plan for Envato Elements is $16.50 a month with an annual commitment. Envato Elements for Teams has a monthly subscription that costs more. Pricing for Envato Elements for Teams is based on the number of users.
Does Envato Elements offer value compared to other stock services?
Envato Elements has one of the stock service offerings that is the most complete and covers the broadest range of assets. If you are a creator that uses a lot of different assets, the value of an Envato Elements subscription can be better than stock services that charge for each individual asset.
Are there free stock services that can be used instead of Envato Elements?
Yes. Envato does have some free stock resources which change on a regular basis. Unsplash for stock photos, Google Fonts for fonts, and Mixkit for stock video and audio also do free licensed resources that are good for both personal and commercial use. These also have much smaller libraries than what you can find in Envato Elements.
Envato Group Buy vs Subscription
About to buy into an Envato Elements group buy? Read about the risks and loss in value to the legal consequences of the group buy service compared to subscription costs.
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