Envato Reviews: Marketplaces & Elements Full Test

Last updated on April 28 2026 by José PEREZ

Points to remember

• Envato is an Australian group founded in 2006, which brings together several marketplaces for digital creative resources - including ThemeForest, CodeCanyon, and Envato Elements.
• The distinction between Envato Market (single purchase) and Envato Elements (unlimited subscription) is crucial - the two models are not aimed at the same profiles.
• Registration is free for both buyers and authors - no entry fee, no promo code required to create an account.
• Envato Elements' prices are among the most competitive on the market for resource-intensive creatives.
• There are no permanent promo codes - but one-off offers appear regularly, especially at the end of the year.
• Customer service is fine for simple requests, but can be slow on complex disputes, according to user reviews.
• A serious affiliate program does exist, but is little exploited by French content creators.
• Credible alternatives exist - Creative Market, Adobe Stock, Motion Array, Canva Pro - depending on your use and budget.

What is Envato? Ecosystem overview

I'll start by clearing up a confusion that recurs in almost every review on the subject.

Envato is not a single platform. It is a Australian group, founded in Melbourne in 2006, is the umbrella company for several marketplaces specializing in digital creative resources. WordPress themes, plugins, stock music, videos, fonts, graphic templates - Envato covers almost every creative or developer need.

In its nearly twenty years of existence, the group has distributed over 1.5 billion dollars to its authors. It's a staggering figure, which testifies to the scale of the ecosystem.

Envato Group platforms

Here are the main platforms you'll find under the Envato banner:

• ThemeForest the world's largest marketplace for WordPress themes. It's by far the group's best-known platform.
• CodeCanyon plugins, scripts and extensions for WordPress, JavaScript, PHP and many other environments.
• AudioJungle royalty-free music and sound effects for videographers and podcasters.
• VideoHive video clips, motion graphics and After Effects or Premiere Pro templates.
• GraphicRiver graphic resources - flyers, logos, mockups, computer graphics.
• PhotoDune a bank of stock photos.
• 3DOcean 3D models and textures.
• Envato Elements a subscription giving unlimited access to a selection of resources from all these categories.
• Envato Tuts+ an integrated training platform, with free tutorials and premium courses.

It's a dense, sometimes labyrinthine world for newcomers. The key is to understand the fundamental distinction between two radically different business models: Envato Market and Envato Elements.

Envato Market vs Envato Elements: which to choose?

This is the central question I ask every time someone asks me about Envato. The two models coexist, but they don't address the same profiles.

Envato Market: buying by the unit

On Envato Market - which includes ThemeForest, CodeCanyon, AudioJungle and others - you buy each resource separately. You pay once, you get a permanent license on the purchased product. The price is set by the author, within a range defined by Envato.

It's the right choice if you have a specific, one-off need. Looking for a WordPress theme for a client project? You buy the theme, once, and use it. You only pay for what you need.

Envato Elements: unlimited subscription

Envato Elements is a radically different model. For a fixed monthly or annual fee, you download as many resources as you want, as long as your subscription is active. Themes, templates, fonts, music, videos, plugins - everything is included in the subscription.

The important nuance - and this is crucial - is the notion of project license. Each downloaded resource must be associated with a project declared at the time of downloading. If you reuse a resource on a new project, you have to re-download it and declare it again. It's not complicated, but it's a point that many users discover too late.

Comparison chart of the two models

My opinion on this choice

If you manage several creative projects a month - WordPress websites for clients, videos, presentations - you'll need a lot of resources. Envato Elements pays for itself very quickly. A single theme purchased from ThemeForest sometimes costs as much as a two-month Elements subscription.

If you have a single, well-defined project, Envato Market is more relevant. You pay for what you need, you get dedicated support, and your license is not dependent on subscription renewal.

Envato Elements put to the test: subscription, rates and content

Let's move on to a concrete test of Envato Elements. This is the platform I've used most intensively, and the one that raises the most questions in online reviews.

The catalog: what it really contains

The Envato Elements catalog is colossal. At the time of writing, it includes :

• More 1,500 WordPress themes and site templates
• From thousands of templates for Keynote, PowerPoint, and Google Slides
• From typographic fonts (over 1,400 families)
• From After Effects and Premiere Pro resources - transitions, effects, intros
• From the music and sound effects royalty-free
• From stock photos and graphic elements vector
• From WordPress plugins selected

As with any marketplace of this size, quality is uneven. Some resources are exceptional, others are dated and haven't been updated for several years. I recommend that you always check the last update date before downloading, especially for WordPress themes and plugins.

Envato Elements prices

It's a point that everyone looks at first, and rightly so.

• Annual subscription 16.50 per month, billed in one go at the beginning of the year. This is the most advantageous rate.
• Monthly subscription 33 per month, with no commitment. Useful if your needs are intense but limited in time.
• Teams subscription A sliding scale of charges for teams of two or more users.

These prices are subject to change. Always check the price displayed on the site when you register.

Is there an Envato Elements coupon code?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions in Envato research. The answer is nuanced.

There is no no permanent promo code publicly displayed. On the other hand, Envato regularly offers promotional deals - first-month discounts, reduced rates during sales periods (particularly in November/December), or limited-time free trials. To access these offers, the best strategy is to subscribe to the Envato newsletter, or to go through an Envato sales representative. affiliate link which sometimes includes a dedicated offer.

Envato Tuts+: integrated training

Envato Tuts+ is a training platform accessible free of charge for basic tutorials, and included in the Elements subscription for premium courses. The catalog covers design, web development, photography, video and music. The teaching quality is generally good, even if most of the content is in English. This is a significant bonus that many subscribers under-utilize.

ThemeForest and CodeCanyon: testing single purchases

Let's move on to the test of the purchase model, embodied by ThemeForest and CodeCanyon. These are Envato Market's two most-used platforms, and the ones with the most reviews - both positive and negative.

ThemeForest: the global reference for WordPress themes

ThemeForest is literally the largest library of WordPress themes on the planet. More than 50,000 themes and templates are referenced. It's dizzying, and can quickly become paralyzing if you don't know what to look for.

In my test, I identified several essential criteria for evaluating an item before purchase:

• Last update date A theme that hasn't been updated for over a year is a red flag, especially in terms of compatibility with the latest versions of WordPress.
• Number of sales and overall score A product with several thousand sales and a rating of over 4.5/5 is generally reliable.
• Recent comments Read the last three months' reviews, not the overall average. A theme can have excellent old reviews and poor current support.
• The quality of the demo page test the demo on mobile. A theme whose demo struggles on a smartphone is not a good investment.

CodeCanyon : plugins and scripts

CodeCanyon follows the same logic, applied to WordPress plugins, JavaScript, PHP and mobile applications. Quality is even more variable than on ThemeForest, as code is less visible to the naked eye than design.

My advice: on CodeCanyon, the sales support is the number-one criterion. A poorly documented plugin without a responsive author can cost you hours of debugging. Before you buy, send a pre-purchase question to the vendor from the product page. The speed and quality of his reply will tell you everything about the quality of his support.

Regular vs. Extended licenses: a vital distinction

This is the point I see most often misunderstood in user reviews, and it can have real legal consequences.

On Envato Market, each product is sold with two types of license:

• Regular license license: you can use the product in a project, as long as the end user doesn't have to pay for access to the finished product. This license is suitable for the vast majority of showcase sites and blogs.
• Extended license A mandatory requirement if your project generates direct revenue from end users - an e-commerce platform, a SaaS, a pay-per-use application. Its price is significantly higher.

Please read the license conditions carefully before purchasing. Ignorance is not legal protection.

Sales support: what it really includes

Every Envato Market purchase includes 6 months support from the author. This support covers product-related bugs, not customization or installation on your server. You can extend this support to 12 months for an additional fee, usually offered at the time of purchase.

The quality of this medium varies considerably from one author to another. This is yet another reason to read recent reviews before buying.

Envato rates, prices and promo codes: the complete summary

Now that I've detailed the two models, here's an overview of pricing across the Envato ecosystem.

Average prices on Envato Market

Prices vary according to the category and popularity of the item. Here are the price ranges I found during my test:

Refund policy

Envato offers conditional refunds. If the product is faulty or does not match the description, you can request a refund within 30 days of purchase. On the other hand, refunds are not granted simply because the product doesn't suit you - a common practice on other platforms. Read the full policy before making any major purchase.

How reliable is Envato? Security and honest reviews

Let's come to the question that many people are half-heartedly asking: can we trust Envato?

Reassuring seniority

Envato has been around since 2006. That's almost twenty years of continuous activity, without a single major security incident made public. In an industry where platforms appear and disappear in a matter of months, this longevity is a solid signal of confidence.

Payment security

Payments to Envato are processed via secure service providers - Stripe, PayPal, and credit card. Your financial data does not pass directly through Envato's servers. In my test, all transactions were processed without incident. Your purchase history is accessible from your account, with downloadable invoices.

Real risks to be aware of

Being honest in a review also means mentioning the risks. Here are three that I identified during my test.

Discontinued items. On ThemeForest and CodeCanyon, some products are no longer maintained by their authors, without the platform automatically removing these items from the catalog. A theme that hasn't been updated for three years may present security flaws. Vigilance regarding the update date is non-negotiable.

Faulty support. Envato guarantees a standard of support, but cannot control the responsiveness of individual freelance authors. An unscrupulous author can ignore your tickets with no immediate consequences. This is a structural limitation of the marketplace model.

Licensing confusion. I mentioned this earlier, but it's a real legal risk. Companies have already received formal notices for using a Regular license where an Extended license was required. It's not a scam on Envato's part - it's a misunderstanding of the terms of use, but the consequences are real.

My overall verdict on reliability

Envato is a platform serious, reliable and legitimate. It's not a scam. But it does require a form of maturity on the part of its users - understanding licenses, checking the condition of items, and carefully evaluating vendors before buying. Treated with discernment, it's one of the best resources available to creatives and developers.

Become an Envato author: sell your creations

So far, I've talked about Envato from the buyer's point of view. Now let's take a look at what the platform has to offer designers who want to monetize their work.

Create an author account

Registering as an author is free, and is done via the same interface as your buyer account. You can be both simultaneously - it's even common among freelancers who buy resources for their customers while selling their own creations.

Once you've created your account, you can submit your creations to Envato moderation. The validation process is demanding - not all items are accepted. The platform applies strict quality standards, which is, paradoxically, a guarantee of quality for buyers.

Author's commissions and revenues

Envato Market's remuneration system for authors is based on a variable commission rate, which depends on your status (exclusive or non-exclusive author) and your cumulative sales volume.

• Exclusive author (sells only on Envato): commission ranging from 50 % to 70 %, depending on the number of sales reached.
• Non-exclusive author (also sells elsewhere): fixed commission of 30 to 45 %.

On Envato Elements, the model is different. Authors receive a share of a monthly fund, calculated according to the number of downloads of their resources by subscribers. This model is less predictable than unit sales, but can generate significant passive income for authors whose resources are popular.

The Envato affiliate program

This is the least documented part of most Envato reviews, and it's a shame.

Envato offers a affiliate program via its own platform. As an affiliate, you can promote Envato Elements or Envato Market products via your tracked link, and earn commission on every new account or subscription generated.

The exact terms and conditions of the program change regularly. At the time of writing, the standard commission is approx. 30 % on the first payment of a new Envato Elements subscriber. For an annual subscription, this represents a significant commission per conversion.

It's a lever that I feel is under-exploited by French content creators. If you run a blog on the themes of design, web development or WordPress, readers are naturally relevant targets for Envato - and the affiliate program deserves your attention.

Registration, account and login: a practical guide

Let's move on to the step-by-step registration guide. I'll describe the process as clearly as possible.

Step 1: Create your free account

Go to envato.com or directly to elements.envato.com. Click on «Sign Up» or «Get Started». You can create your account with an email address, or via a Google login. Registration is completely free - no credit card is required to create a basic account.

Choose a neat username. It will be associated with your public profile if you become an author. Avoid generic pseudonyms.

Step 2: Choose your role

You can use your Envato account to buy, sell, or both. If you only wish to buy from Envato Market, your basic account will suffice. If you wish to subscribe to Envato Elements, you will need to enter your payment details when you subscribe.

Step 3: Subscribe to Envato Elements

From your account, go to the Elements section. Choose your plan - monthly or yearly. Enter your payment details. Invoicing is immediate, and catalog access is instant upon confirmation.

If a free trial offer is available at the time of your registration - which happens periodically - it will be displayed on the subscription page. I'd advise you not to wait for these offers indefinitely if you have an immediate need, but they're worth it if you're still in the evaluation phase.

Step 4: The daily connection

You can log in to your account from the main Envato website, using your email address and password, or via your Google account. Remember to activate two-factor authentication in the security settings - a basic precaution, especially if you have registered payment methods.

The Envato mobile application

This is something many people look for before signing up. The answer is clear: there is no official Envato Elements mobile application in the sense of a complete, dedicated app. Envato offers a mobile application called Envato Elements on iOS and Android, but is mainly geared towards consulting and downloading specific graphic resources. It does not offer the full functionality of the website.

For purchases on Envato Market, everything is managed from a browser - mobile or desktop. The interface is responsive, but the experience is more comfortable on a computer for larger purchases.

Envato customer service: responsive or not?

I'm going to give you an honest opinion on this point, as it often comes up in user testimonials.

Available channels

Envato offers several contact channels:

• A Help Center with articles on almost all current issues.
• A ticket system for specific requests - refunds, account problems, disputes with authors.
• A community (Envato Forums) where users help each other, sometimes with answers from Envato employees.

There is no telephone support, and no easily accessible real-time chat. This is a common limitation of large international platforms of this nature.

Response times

For simple questions - forgotten password, missing invoice, license information - the Help Center usually solves the problem without the need to open a ticket. Tickets are answered within 24 to 72 hours on average, depending on their complexity.

For complex cases - a dispute with an author, a disputed refund request, a subscription problem - delays are getting longer. Some users report waits of a week or more. This is the most recurrent complaint in negative reviews of Trustpilot.

My opinion on customer service

Envato's customer service is functional but impersonal. It deals effectively with standard cases, and shows its limitations in atypical situations. For a platform of this scale, it's an acceptable level of service - not exceptional, not catastrophic. If you have an urgent problem with a purchased item, the Envato Forums community is often faster than official support.

Envato vs. alternatives: which creative platform to choose?

This is the most objective comparison I can offer you. I've built it by testing each platform on identical criteria.

Which alternative for which profile?

Choose Envato Elements if you're a web developer, a WordPress designer, or a creative all-rounder who regularly consumes a variety of resources. The catalog/price ratio is unbeatable for this profile.

Choose Creative Market if you prefer to buy by the unit, with a particular sensitivity for hand-crafted graphic resources and high-end fonts. The aesthetics of these resources are often more refined.

Choose Adobe Stock if you're already a Creative Cloud subscriber. Native integration with Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro is a decisive advantage for users of the Adobe ecosystem.

Choose Motion Array if you're a videographer or motion designer, and your main need is After Effects templates, Premiere Pro, and stock music. It's the most specialized platform in this segment, with more responsive customer service than Envato.

Choose Canva Pro if you're looking for an all-in-one solution for creating visuals quickly, without the need for advanced technical skills. The mobile application is excellent, and prices are among the most affordable on the market.

To sum up

Envato is a must-have creative ecosystem for WordPress developers, designers, and creatives who need a high volume of digital assets.

Envato Elements is the most economical solution for profiles with a strong creative appetite - provided you understand the licensing rules and use it regularly. Envato Market remains relevant for one-off purchases, provided you select sellers carefully and check the condition of items before any transaction.

The limitations are real - abandoned items, perfectible customer service, an interface without a satisfactory mobile application - but they don't call into question the overall value of the platform. After almost twenty years of existence and hundreds of millions of dollars paid out to its authors, Envato has amply proven its solidity.

If you're still hesitating, start by creating a free account and browse the Elements catalog before subscribing. The depth of the catalog speaks for itself. And if you're a content creator, check out the affiliate program - it's one of the most under-exploited opportunities in the French-speaking digital space.