Thumbnails
Gaming thumbnail templates: Envato vs Placeit
Gaming thumbnail templates compared: Envato Elements vs Placeit pricing as of 8 Nov 2026, cost per thumbnail, reuse rules and what each licence covers.
Envato Elements and Placeit both sell subscription access to templates you can use for gaming thumbnails, and the choice comes down to price, licence scope and what you will actually reuse. As of 8 November 2026, Envato’s Core plan is $16.50 a month billed annually and Placeit shows “From: $7.47/mo”. Placeit’s licence is the clearer of the two on reuse, while Envato’s per-project rule adds a small admin step. Neither licence wording we read names thumbnails.
Sections on this page (6)
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The short comparison
Envato Elements is a large stock-asset subscription with a per-project licence, and Placeit is a template and mockup service with a single subscription. The table lists only what each company’s pages state.
| Envato Elements | Placeit | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price on the page | Core: $16.50 a month billed annually, or $39 monthly | From $7.47/mo |
| Higher plans | Plus: $39 annual or $59 monthly; Ultimate: $168 annual or $259 monthly | One plan, the Unlimited Subscription |
| Downloads | Unlimited downloads of stock assets on individual plans, subject to a Fair Use Policy | Unlimited downloads of mockups, logos, templates, videos |
| Where you edit | Listing filters include Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, Affinity and Canva, so check which app a template needs | The licence refers to editing “with the functionality provided on Placeit” |
| AI | 20 AI credits a month on Core | Not stated |
| Licence scope on the page | Each licence covers a single specified use | Any number of end products from one customised design, for commercial use |
| Thumbnails in the catalogue? | A YouTube thumbnail graphic templates category | A gaming YouTube thumbnail category |
| Thumbnails in the licence wording? | Not on the pages read | Not named; “online videos” is an example of an end product |
| Refunds | “We do not refund canceled subscriptions” | Auto-renews; one-month minimum if any template is downloaded; refunds are generally not offered |
Envato prices are in US dollars excluding tax, per its pricing page. Placeit’s figures are from its pricing page and terms of use.
What each plan costs per thumbnail
Cost per thumbnail depends mostly on how often you upload. This is arithmetic from the listed prices as of 8 November 2026, assuming 12 months on one plan and counting only thumbnails. It ignores tax, and Envato’s figure buys a wider library.
| Thumbnails a year | Envato Core annual ($16.50 x 12 = $198) | Envato Core monthly ($39 x 12 = $468) | Placeit at the “from” price ($7.47 x 12 = $89.64) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52 (one a week) | $3.81 each | $9.00 each | $1.72 each |
| 104 (two a week) | $1.90 each | $4.50 each | $0.86 each |
| 156 (three a week) | $1.27 each | $3.00 each | $0.57 each |
Use the Placeit column as a floor. The next section explains why the amount you pay may differ.
Do the Placeit prices conflict?
Placeit’s pricing page contains figures that may or may not be a conflict. It shows a price from $7.47/mo, and its FAQ says the annual plan is “33% off from our monthly subscription”. The same page also shows “Just $8.33 / Month, Save 58 %” next to a Monthly/Annual toggle. Those could reflect a promotion or a different billing term, and the page does not say which. We cannot reconcile them, so treat $7.47 as the page’s “from” price and confirm the amount, term and renewal at checkout. Placeit’s terms also say a promotional price renews at the then-standard rate.
What the licences say about reuse
Reuse is the question that matters for a channel, because a thumbnail template is something you return to every week. We read Placeit’s full licence, last revised 11 March 2025. Envato’s licence and user terms returned a 403 error on 8 November 2026, so Envato is covered from its own social media guide and licensing guide.
| Your situation | Envato Elements | Placeit |
|---|---|---|
| Same template layout, new image each upload | The guide treats a “genuinely distinct piece of creative” as needing a new licence, and an unchanging intro as one end product for a whole series. A thumbnail that changes every week looks closer to the first case | “You can make any number of End Products based upon a single Customized Product” |
| Commercial use on a monetised channel | Guide says monetised YouTube content and Shorts are covered | “You can use Products for commercial purposes” |
| Selling a thumbnail pack made from the template | The guides say you cannot resell or redistribute items as-is, or post an asset with superficial changes as finished work | Not allowed as-is or with superficial changes |
| After cancelling | Completed projects stay covered; unfinished ones lose the licence; old downloads cannot go into new projects | FAQ says you keep access to downloads; the licence itself does not address cancellation |
The Envato question has a practical answer even without a ruling on what counts as a project. The guide says you can create a new licence from My Downloads or the item page without downloading again, and it puts no cap on how many you can create during your subscription. A cautious habit is to create one licence per upload, named after the video. It costs a few seconds, and it means you do not depend on your own reading of “one project”. You can still ask Envato support to confirm in writing.
What neither licence removes
A template licence covers the template and nothing else you put into the image. Placeit’s licence shows why that matters in gaming.
- Game characters and art. Its thumbnail listings include templates described as inspired by named games, such as Baldur’s Gate and Fortnite. Clause 19 says Placeit may use images and names of third-party products “that have not been cleared for use by you”, and that evaluating whether you need permission is your responsibility.
- People in the template. Clause 17 says that even with a model-released image, you cannot imply a personal endorsement or create a fake identity.
- Exclusivity. Clause 13 notes that more than one user could legitimately make the same or a very similar design. Your thumbnail can look like another channel’s.
Our reasoning on that last point: a template works best as a layout, not a finished look. Replace the character, change the colours to your channel’s, swap the font if the template allows, and keep one or two fixed elements so your thumbnails look related. The file limits and phone-size checks still apply, and thumbnail A/B testing for streamers covers testing the result.
Which to pick
These are conditions, since neither library has been reviewed for quality.
- Choose Envato Elements if you also need music, video, fonts or graphics for other work, you already use one of the design apps its templates target, and you will keep a licence for each use. Core is the entry plan.
- Choose Placeit if you only want templates and mockups at the lowest listed price, you would rather edit on the site than learn an app, and you value the plainer reuse wording.
- Choose neither if you make a thumbnail or two a month. A single design in a free editor may cost less than either subscription.
Before paying, open one gaming template on each site and check that you can place your own screenshot, resize it and add the text you need. Both sites list thumbnail templates, including gaming ones (Envato, Placeit), but we have not assessed their quality or how much each can be customised.
If you want AI generation instead of templates, see the best AI thumbnail makers for gaming and Pikzels vs Canva. The thumbnails hub lists the rest.
Last checked 8 November 2026. Prices and limits change; we re-check monthly.
Not tested yet
What a real test of this would need. None of it has been run.
- Licence reading; sample template builds