Meet Stockhub – a new Microstock Analytics Tool (In Beta)

A couple of weeks ago I got a message on Facebook if I would like to test a new Microstock statistic tool called Shutterstats (now Stockhub). I was thrilled to see whats behind the beautiful curtain.

Stockhub is a simple statistics tool that helps keeping track of downloads and earnings across agencies. When you upload images to a multitude of agencies, it is not easy to find out if you had a good or bad day or month. With stockhub, sales are collected from different agencies and presented in a nice way. Click through the screenshots on top of this article to get a first impression how the statistisc at Stockhub work and look like.

How does Stockhub work?

There have been quite a few tools to track downloads and sales in the past. Some work on your mobile phone, some are for your computer. Stockhub works in the browser: Using a plug-in, they are pulling the data from the websites just like you would do it manually. This also means, you don't need to supply them any account names or password because it's still you who logs in to the agencies in your browser. They are just reading out the sales data and pull them together.

The statistics will then show you how many of your images were downloaded today or last month, how that compares to the months before and which agencies provides what percentage of your overall earnings.

Stockhub is available for Chrome and Safari browsers and covers the three biggest agencies, Shutterstock, iStock and Fotolia, at the moment. Further agencies are planned to be added soon.

What does Stockhub cost and is it worth it?

The monthly fee for Stockhub will be € 5. Considering that it collects all the data from different agencies and puts them into a nice graph, it can save you quite a few hours of analysis each month. It compares to StockPerformer which is priced a bit higher (€ 9/month) for the base version but also covers a few more agencies. The full version of StockPerformer includes additional analytics that Stockhub does not offer at the moment but also costs € 29 per month. Therefore, Stockhub looks like a cheaper alternative for independent photographers who just simply do not want to check five different sites each day.

Stockhub is now in a private beta, only invited users can test it for the time being. However, if you want to find out right now, you can leave a comment on this article…

Interview with Stockhub Founder Chris

Hi Chris, we just had contact via Facebook and I'm also a beta user of your newest venture Stockhub (former Shutterstats). Tell us a little bit about your background please!

My name is Cristian Teichner — I’m a London based UI / UX designer, a stock photographer in my free time, and also like to build products that make our lives easier. Stockhub is one of them.

I made my first contact with stock photography as a contributor back in 2006. I used to buy stock photos for various client projects but never really thought about signing up as a contributor until a friend told me: “Hey, why don’t you sell your photos?”!

A few days later I was building myself an improvised light tent and started shooting things around the house: nuts, vegetables .. you know 🙂 But I lost my interest fairly quick, and started shooting again only in 2013 when I bought a new camera.

What is the main idea behind Stockhub?

When you start with stock photography you get excited about each download, but tracking your downloads and earnings across multiple agencies has proven to be quite time consuming. Simply put, Stockhub is a dashboard that allows stock photographers to do just that — track downloads and earnings in a clean and beautiful interface.

What is the difference between Stockhub and similar statistic software?

Simplicity. Stockhub is web-based, which means that you don’t have to install any software,works on both Mac and PC and you don’t have to give out your passwords to third parties.

Which agencies are you covering at the moment? Which do you plan to implement soon?

Stockhub currently supports Shutterstock, Fotolia and iStock but we’re planning to add support for Dreamstime and 123RF in the near future.

You are currently in a invitational Beta phase. What do you plan to add before officially going live? And when?

There’s not much to add, but to fix 🙂 Stockhub is currently in private beta because we want to monitor the service and make sure that everything runs smoothly by the time we open registration to everyone. However, it’s not a closed beta anymore and there’s a high chance that everyone who requests an invite will also receive one.

Stockhub Beta Invites

UPDATE:

I have send out the beta invites to all 7 commenters. There are still 3 invitations left, just comment and we will take care.