Shopify is more than one of the best ecommerce platforms. The company offers a website builder, POS solutions, and even one of the best logo makers for business. 

And part of this essential toolkit is Burst, a free online service for businesses that need free stock photos for commercial use. But how does the service compare to some of the best free stock photo sites?  

• You can try Burst by clicking here

Burst by Shopify: Getting started

• A service to look for, find, download and use any photo you like - and it’s free as well 

Burst is a free service - you can browse, download and use any photo or image contained in its library, whether it’s for a Shopify website, or any other commercial project. 

The landing page presents you with a large search field. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, the popular categories list beneath it offers a good guide, as does the Collections tab, located in the menu at the top of the page. The latter is broken down into sections, such as Nature, Fitness, or Animals. Click on any of them to see large thumbnails of a selection of what’s available. You’ll also find above them a list of popular keywords to help you narrow down the results. There is a lot to browse through, but the interface is simple enough that you won’t get lost as you explore what’s on offer.

We would’ve preferred an infinite scroll option as it’s easy to miss those links to additional pages at the foot of the page. However, this helps you see just how many photos are available in your chosen category.

• Getting started: 4.5/5 

Burst by Shopify: Image selection

• Find an image, select it, and download the resolution you’re after - it’s an incredibly easy process, although the outcome differs some browser to browser 

Once you’ve found the photo you’re interested in, click on it to open a larger preview. You’ll also see related images below this, which you can scroll through from left to right. To make use of your selected photo, there are two options located to the left. 

The option ‘Create website with photo’ sends you to Shopify, where you can choose a subscription and start building your online presence. Alternatively, you can choose ‘Download free photo’.

Select ‘High resolution’ or ‘Low resolution’ (high-res is the default). Clicking on the download button has different effects, depending on which browser you’re using. For example, Firefox sends photos straight to the Download folder, while Brave asks for your chosen download location. Safari will bring up the image in your browser window, meaning you’ll have to right-click on it in order to save it to your computer.

Although attribution is not necessary, you’ll find code on the preview page to insert an acknowledgement of who took the shot, and where to find the original. Since photographers don’t get paid for their work, it’s a nice thing to do, although it is optional. 

• Image selection: 4/5 

Burst by Shopify: Portfolio

• If you like a particular photographer’s shots, the portfolio lets you see their work and get contact information - assuming the details are still valid

If you like the shots taken by a particular photographer, you’ll find a link to their page on Burst, lower left of the interface. From there, you’ll be able to see all the other images they uploaded to Burst, where in the world they’re located, and better still, you’ll find a link to their own website, as well as a button to send them an email, should you wish to contact them and - hopefully - hire them to create unique content for you.

That information appears to be the responsibility of the contributors themselves. Occasionally, as we tested the platform, we stumbled across a few pages where the link to their website no longer worked. So, you’ll want to check if the contact information of your chosen photographer remains valid.

Still, Burst has thousands of contributors worldwide who offer their images freely to this library. It stands to reason that most will keep their information up to date, since that’s the only way photographers can earn out of this arrangement.

• Portfolio: 4.5/5 

Burst by Shopify: Contribute

• Join the list of contributors to gain exposure and if you’re really lucky, maybe a paid commission will come out of it 

If you’re a photographer, is it worth contributing to Burst? The biggest downside is there’s no financial remuneration when people download your photos. If you’re lucky, you’ll get some attribution, but that isn’t a requirement for use.

One possible (perhaps even controversial) upside is exposure. The platform is effectively a photo sharing site that could allow your work to be seen - hopefully with commissions to follow. But does it work? We contacted three random photographers by the contact links they provided on their Burst portfolio page. Only one responded, and although they’ve submitted photos to Burst for years, they never received any queries which lead to a paid commission.

Still, that’s a fraction of the photographers on the site. If you feel this is something worth trying, you can apply to join and submit up to 10 photos to be reviewed. Humans will then look at your proposal and decide whether or not to accept you and your work. You’ll find a list of guidelines which you can download to make sure your offerings are in line with the style Burst is looking for.

• Contribute: 2.5/5  

Burst by Shopify: Scorecard

Should I try?

Try it if...

You’re looking for good quality free stock photos you can use for any purpose, including commercial ventures. Or if you’re a contributor, and you like to offer your work with others for free. 

Don't try it if...

You would prefer unique images no other company can use. Or, as a contributor, you’d like to earn a living from your photography. 

Burst by Shopify: Alternatives

We’ve previously tested, reviewed, and rated the top free stock photo sites, including the best Adobe Stock alternatives. 

For similar platforms to Burst, we recommend checking out Unsplash, Pexels, Adobe Stock, Pixabay, Getty Images, iStock.

Also, see our guide How to try Adobe Stock for free or with Creative Cloud. 

Sage might seem like one of the best payroll software options to consider if you’re thinking about changing or updating your current way of working. Sage has been offering business owners, as well as individuals a complete range of products for many years now. The downside to that is it can be a little bewildering knowing which of them are going to be useful, and which are merely unnecessary add-ons.

If you’re looking to save money, rather than spend it in the current economic climate, Sage will certainly supply you with the tools for the job. You’ll just need to ensure you’re getting the right package. Companies with multiple employees and even greater demand for payroll services should probably go straight to the sales department at Sage. A chat with the folks there will probably produce a more tailored result.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at what Sage Payroll options there are, and how they might work for your business depending on its size and number of employees.

• Our guide to the best payroll software

Sage Payroll: Plans and pricing

Over the years Sage has developed an array of products with a view to mopping up just about every type of customer who’s in the market for accountancy and payroll services. As of now, there are numerous products in the portfolio that’ll fit the bill, although which one you choose is largely dependent on the size of your company, its employee base and how much budget there is to spend on such a system.

Currently, something like Sage Payroll Essentials is suitable for up to ten employee businesses, while the rather more muscular Sage Payroll Full Service package is an option for companies with more than ten people to pay. The former currently starts at $49.95 per month but, unsurprisingly, it’s harder to get a firm figure on the latter. Realistically, you’ll therefore need to speak to Sage sales personnel in order to get a tailored quote.

Sage Payroll: Features

Smaller businesses will find the features and functions found inside Sage Payroll Essentials more than satisfactory. The good thing is that it can be used across a wide variety of devices and platforms, which gives business owners much more freedom than the bad old days. There are compromises of course, with labor distribution being limited to five predefined departments. Deductions too are limited to 11 predefined types. However, the reporting is impressive with the opportunity for 26 standard reports to be generated when needed.

It’s really Sage Payroll Full Service where the extra features start coming on thick and fast. This is obviously going to cost you much more too, but deductions are unlimited, reporting is more extensive and general ledger is being expanded all the time so that it will better integrate with Sage 50 and Sage 100. In fact, there’s not much the suite cannot do, but it does need to be tweaked to suit different requirements such is its strength.

Naturally, Sage adds value as well as additional costs if you wish to use their add-ons. These cover a raft of area related to accountancy and payroll, with Recruit and hire, Worker’s comp, General Ledger, Tax credits, Time and attendance, HR compliance, 401(k) and SSN verification all available as add-on products. There’s more too, with Payment options, HR data management, Section 125 and ACA plus Employee check and W-2 view all proving useful if you need them. Again though, these do come at extra cost.

Sage Payroll: Interface and in-use

Expect plenty of features and functions within the interface of Sage Payroll, no matter what the incarnation. While some users report this can be to the detriment of usability, Sage does a pretty good job considering how much potential this software has. Besides, it is more than likely going to be used by administrative staff who might well have been used to working with clunkier, less joined-up systems previously. In that respect Sage Payroll looks and feels like a breath of fresh air.

Sage Payroll: Support

As is the case with most software packages, you’ll find that support levels are largely dependent on what sort of features and functions you’re going to be using. Sage Payroll Services have in-house, certified payroll experts on hand, but you’ll need to be on the right package in order to exploit the best parts of this. In its most basic form there’s support via online chat, click-to-talk and email.

However, cheaper options of the payroll software will need less help to navigate anyway, so you may well get away with the online help to navigate your way around the less complicated aspects of Sage Payroll. Conversely, if your business needs to integrate Sage Payroll with other systems and software, this could present challenges for support staff and potentially incur additional charges to boot.

Sage Payroll: Security

There’s no reason to expect Sage Payroll to be any less robust than any of the other products in the portfolio. This is a company that specialises in handling lots of data, much of it in relation to personal details of employees, tax affairs and, naturally, wages. While there may be potential questions to ask support and sales staff when you’re enquiring about its capabilities, especially if you’re looking to integrate the system with other apps and software that you use, the overall feedback about Sage and its security record seems pretty impressive.

Sage Payroll: The competition

The mighty Sage could be seen by many as a hard act to follow, but there are rivals out there in the payroll marketplace that compete with the software giant. Obvious examples are the likes of ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity and Paycom, but the list goes on with BambooHR, Workday HCM, Rippling, Gusto and Zenefits.

These are some of the core players in the payroll arena and, with the job they need to do, are worth sticking with for their overall dependability. However, which payroll software package you end up going for very much depends on what you expect from it. Smaller business, with fewer employees can make do with more basic features and functionality, whereas corporates will want to reach higher up the product tree.

Sage Payroll: Final Verdict

It’s tempting to ponder if Sage has become a little too big, especially if you’re a business owner who wants to find a sensible solution for your payroll needs. Sage is a huge company, with many different products and sifting through them takes time and some considerable effort. It would be great to see things broken down into a more simplistic structure, so that owners of different sized businesses can make more sense of the expansive product range.

Of course, if you can break through the multiple product options and discover the Sage Payroll products that’s right for you, this is quality software. For the most part Sage has the ability to help you navigate every aspect of your business admin, from accounting through to running payroll. It’s just a little bit daunting, unless you want to get on the phone to their sales department and, to be honest, not everybody does.

• Read our guide to the best payroll software