Are you looking for the best WordPress gallery plugins to beautifully display your images and captivate your audience? With so many options available, it can be challenging to find the perfect one that meets your needs.
In this article, we'll explore the top WordPress gallery plugins, comparing their features, ease of use, and performance, to help you make an informed decision.
Why Use a WordPress Gallery Plugin?
While WordPress offers a built-in gallery feature, it's relatively basic and may not provide the flexibility and customization options you need. A dedicated WordPress gallery plugin enables you to create visually stunning galleries, enhance user experience, and showcase your images in the most appealing way possible.
These plugins offer a wide range of layouts, lightbox effects, and optimization features to ensure your galleries load quickly and look great on any device.
Top 10 WordPress Gallery Plugins
1. NextGEN Gallery
NextGEN Gallery, created by Imagely, is one of the most popular and feature-rich WordPress gallery plugins available. With a whopping 32 million downloads, it's a trusted choice for photographers and website owners alike.
If you're a photographer, visual artist, or photo blogger looking for the best WordPress gallery plugin, NextGEN Gallery is the way to go. This powerful tool puts you in the driver's seat, giving you complete control over every aspect of your image galleries.
Want to customize your photo displays down to the smallest detail? No problem. You can fine-tune animations, adjust image sizes, and present your work exactly how you envision it.
The plugin is easy to use, comes with tons of customizable gallery layouts like mosaic, masonry, tiled, and more, includes a built-in lightbox, and is full responsive so your galleries will look great on every device.
Under the hood, you'll find robust features that take your photo showcases to the next level. Deep linking improves SEO while social buttons make it a breeze for viewers to share specific images. And with a dedicated media library, albums, and front-end search functionality, organizing and managing your photos has never been simpler.
Premium Features for Professional Photographers
NextGEN Gallery is a dream come true for creative professionals who demand the best. Watermarking options protect your work, while proofing features and Lightroom integration streamline your workflow.
NextGEN Gallery even offers it's own native eCommerce system to accept payments for physical products or digital downloads, and it's the only WordPress gallery plugin with automated print fulfillment. Customers can order prints and NextGEN Gallery handles sending it to their professional print lab partner and shipping directly to the customer with zero commission off the top.
In short, if showcasing or selling your photography is the heart of your website, NextGEN Gallery is the ultimate WordPress gallery plugin. With its extensive customization options and powerful features, it gives you the tools to create stunning, professional-grade photo displays that will wow your audience.
Plus, NextGEN Gallery plans also include the premium Imagely theme which comes with countless website designs for photographers and artists.
Pricing: Starts at $69.50 / year (Free version available).
2. Envira Gallery
Envira Gallery is a user-friendly WordPress gallery plugin that offers a perfect balance between simplicity and powerful features. The tool allows you to create stunning galleries featuring both images and videos using its drag-and-drop builder and pre-built templates.
The plugin offers mobile-friendly templates, lightboxes, video support, and SEO-friendly image deep linking, ensuring your galleries look great on any device and are optimized for search engines.
Additionally, Envira Gallery provides pagination for large galleries, watermarking, content password protection, and social sharing options, giving you full control over your gallery's functionality and security. The plugin works perfectly with WooCommerce, allowing you to showcase and sell your images directly from your website.
With its comprehensive set of features and user-friendly interface, Envira Gallery is undoubtedly one of the best gallery plugins for WordPress. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced user, this plugin empowers you to create beautiful galleries effortlessly.
Pricing: Starts at $39.50 / year (Free version available).
Compare NextGEN Gallery to Envira Gallery Here
3. Modula Gallery
Modula Gallery is a sleek and modern WordPress gallery plugin that focuses on delivering an exceptional user experience. It caters to non-technical users, making it an excellent choice for those who want to create stunning galleries without the hassle.
The plugin's drag-and-drop builder allows you to easily size images and format your galleries according to your preferences. For more advanced users, custom CSS styling is also available, providing even greater flexibility.
Specializing in responsive grid galleries, Modula offers options for both standard grids and customizable grids with a mosaic-like appearance. The plugin is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder, ensuring seamless integration with your existing WordPress setup.
Modula Image Gallery comes with a range of features that enhance your galleries' functionality and visual appeal. You can pull captions from image metadata, add social media sharing buttons, apply image animation effects and hover effects, and customize thumbnail settings. The plugin's simplicity and ease of use set it apart, allowing you to create beautiful grid galleries with minimal configuration.
Pricing: Starts at $39 for one site (Free version available).
4. Photo Gallery by 10Web
Photo Gallery by 10Web is a freemium WordPress gallery plugin catering to users with different needs and budgets. One of the main reasons for Photo Gallery by 10Web's popularity among WordPress users is its user-friendly interface. The plugin is fully mobile-friendly and offers a range customization options, allowing you to create galleries that perfectly match your website's design.
The free version provides simple grid gallery formats, a file manager, and options for watermarks, thumbnails, social media linking, and limited slideshows and lightboxes. With the paid versions, users can access more gallery templates and additional premium features, including integrations with social media platforms and video support.
For those seeking a simple gallery plugin for WordPress that provides easy gallery creation and management without the need for extensive setup or a premium investment, Photo Gallery by 10Web is a solid choice. Its straightforward approach makes it an attractive option for a wide range of users.
Pricing: Free (Premium starts at $30 for 1 site).
5. FooGallery
FooGallery is a versatile and customizable WordPress gallery plugin that offers a wide range of gallery types and layouts. Its responsive design and performance optimization features ensure your galleries look great and load quickly on any device.
FooGallery is perfect for beginners while still providing advanced customization options for more experienced users. Its free version offers a generous set of options including 6 responsive image gallery templates and customization options for borders, hover effects, loading icons, and more.
Unlike the standard version, the Pro version offers the ability to import images from many sources, more templates, support for video galleries, image filters, gallery filtering, lazy loading, infinite scroll page loading, and additional hover and loading effects. These advanced options provide even greater flexibility and functionality for showcasing your media.
With its user-friendly interface and attractive set of free features, FooGallery is another excellent choice for creating galleries in WordPress.
Pricing: Starts at $33.99 / year (Free version available).
6. Jetpack
Jetpack is a versatile WordPress plugin that does a lot for your site – from speeding it up to keeping it safe. One of its handy, free features is the Tiled Gallery Block, which enhances the default WordPress gallery by providing customizable designs.
Jetpack's Tiled Gallery Block lets you choose from various layout options, such as square tiles, circular grids, tiled columns, or mosaics along with basic customization options to help you tailor the appearance of your galleries to match your website's style.
Although Jetpack offers various other add-ons and paid features, all gallery functionality is included in the free package. This makes it an excellent option for users who already use Jetpack for its other features or those who simply want to enhance the WordPress block editor without installing a dedicated gallery plugin.
Pricing: Free.
7. RoboGallery
RoboGallery delivers great gallery results without the need for extensive adjustments. Similar to other plugins we've reviews, it offers features that speed up the design process and allows you to preview your gallery before publishing.
The plugin is stocked with a number of professionally designed gallery templates and an array of settings that for limitless creativity. It also includes an Advanced Media Manager for photo importing, supports connections to Vimeo, and offers a variety of other premium features.
That said, the free version is still a great choice. Plus, RoboGallery includes a Gutenberg module for instant publishing, which eliminates the need for shortcodes unless you prefer them.
Pricing: Free (Premium starts at $30 for 1 site).
8. Meow Gallery
Meow Gallery, developed by Meow Apps, is a fast and user-friendly WordPress photo gallery plugin that offers an impressive set of features in its free version. One of the standout features of Meow Gallery is its speed. Compared to other WordPress photo gallery plugins, Meow Gallery is a lightweight plugin.
It works by simply expanding WordPress's native functionality. And with five free layouts, including tiles, masonry, justified, square, and cascade, Meow Gallery shines through simplicity. The premium version of Meow Gallery unlocks additional features, including a carousel design for presenting images in a slideshow format and a unique "Map Layout" that's perfect for travel bloggers.
While some of the more advanced features are only available in the premium version, the free version of Meow Gallery is more than capable of creating professional image galleries with minimal effort. Its user-friendly interface and lightweight code make it ideal for those in search of a simple plugin to enhance their Gutenberg galleries rather than a comprehensive solution.
Pricing: Free (Premium starts at $19 / year)
9. Portfolio Gallery
Portfolio Gallery is a WordPress photo gallery plugin that allows you to create stunning galleries without the need for complicated coding. Although it lacks a dedicated Gutenberg block, the gallery design process is straightforward and can be completed in just a few minutes, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users.
One of the key features of Portfolio Gallery is its filterable galleries, which allow visitors to easily browse and find what they're looking for.
The plugin offers a range of customization options, including the ability to choose the number of columns, add spacing between images, and select from various templates such as masonry formats and regular grids. Users can also customize colors, image roundness, and add text, captions, filters, and numbers to their images.
While the backend interface may not be the cleanest compared to other gallery plugins, Portfolio Gallery's free version includes an impressive array of features, such as filters, lightbox tools, premade templates, and image optimization. Meanwhile, the premium version offers superior support, additional templates, unlimited filters, and an expanded set of features to enhance your galleries.
Pricing: Free (Premium starts at $39 for 1 site).
10. Gmedia Photo Gallery
Gmedia Photo Gallery is a powerful WordPress gallery plugin that works especially well for those who work on multiple websites such as developers and agencies.
This plugin provides four different blocks for Gutenberg users and supports various image displays, including galleries, albums, categories, and tags. With a range of customization tools and visually appealing demos, Gmedia Photo Gallery allows users to preview gallery designs before installation, ensuring a perfect fit for their website's style.
Although Gmedia Photo Gallery has a bit of a learning curve, the published galleries are visually striking and highly customizable, making it a reliable choice for creating image galleries on any WordPress website.
The Pro version introduces additional features such as video and audio support, in-dashboard image editing, social/email sharing capabilities, and more. The pricing structure is per a site, and the more sites purchased, the less expensive it is, which makes it well suited to agencies.
Pricing: Free (Premium starts at $29.99 for 1 site with the price decreasing as more sites are purchased).
What Is the Best WordPress Gallery Plugin?
NextGEN Gallery by Imagely is the overall best WordPress gallery plugin for image-heavy websites. It's comprehensive suite of features and layouts along with built-in eCommerce functionality, automated print fulfillment, client proofing, frontend search capabilities, extensive customization options, and more make it the premiere choice among photographers and visual artists.
That said, many of the other gallery plugins on our list are great choices for users who don't need as many advanced features. Envira Gallery is perfect for a balance of simplicity and power, and it supports video galleries. On the other hand, Modula Gallery specifically caters to non-technical users and Meow Gallery is excellent as a free, lightweight plugin that simply extends the native gallery block in WordPress.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I choose a gallery plugin for my website?
Consider your specific needs, such as ease of use, gallery types, performance optimization, and budget. NextGEN Gallery is an excellent all-around choice, but other plugins like Envira Gallery may suit your needs better, especially if you're looking for video support.
Agencies may prefer Gmedia Photo Gallery due to it's pricing structure, while casual users may be able to get by with a free gallery plugin or the built-in galleries in popular page builders like SeedProd, Elementor, and Divi Builder.
It's impossible to review all of the gallery plugins available, but you can also check out Photo Gallery by Supsystic for bulk image imports via FTP. And Responsive Lightbox & Gallery offers a free core plugin where you can purchase individual extensions, meaning you only pay for the features you need.
Are WordPress gallery plugins easy to use?
All of the plugins mentioned in this article are suitable for beginners. Most of them offer intuitive interfaces, drag-and-drop builders, and pre-built templates to help you create stunning galleries quickly. However, some may be more user-friendly than others depending on your technical experience. If you're a beginner, finding a plugin that you can easily use is crucial. Luckily, you can always try the free version of any plugin on our list before committing to a premium plan.
Can I sell photos using a WordPress gallery plugin?
Yes, many of the plugins on our list support eCommerce. However, NextGEN Gallery is the only one that includes it's own built-in eCommerce system. The plugin lets you collect payments from popular payment gateways like Stripe and Paypal and even provides automated print fulfillment for selling physical products. This makes it an ideal choice for selling photography prints and digital downloads on WordPress. That said, many of the other plugins, such as Envira Gallery, integrate with WooCommerce to streamline eCommerce.
That's it!
We hope this article helped you discover the best WordPress image gallery plugin for your site. Be sure to also check out our article on How to Optimize Your WordPress Galleries for SEO.
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