July 1st, 2019 | Updated on April 11th, 2024
An image gallery is a bunch of pictures shown together. It’s a great way to make a visual impact with your photos. If you use WordPress, you’re lucky because it’s easy to create one with gallery plugins.
Whether you’re a photographer, a blogger, or a business owner, good WordPress gallery plugins help you organize your photos in different ways. We’ve listed the top 10 plugins to make your site look more pro.
But, there’s a catch: There are many gallery plugins out there, maybe thousands. But, the best ones usually stand out in the WordPress world. We’ve gathered the top ten plugins to make your images shine and give your site a professional look.
How To Choose A WordPress Gallery Plugin
WordPress has its own image gallery, but it’s basic. Plugins offer more design options. When choosing a plugin, consider:
Gallery Features:
Decide if you need a simple or complex gallery. Look for:
- Mobile-friendly design
- Customization options like colors and layouts
- Lightboxes for better image viewing
- Social sharing and management tools
- Video and audio support
- Integrations for ecommerce and downloads
- Watermarking for protection
User Friendliness:
Consider how easy it is to use the plugin. Some are for beginners, while others need more learning. Look for:
- Drag-and-drop interface for easy editing
- Developer tools for advanced users
- Free versions to try before buying
Price (and Free Versions!):
You usually get more features with paid plugins. But, there are good free versions too. Consider:
- What features you need
- If the free version has enough for you
- If paying for extra features is worth it
- Options with one-time payments or subscriptions
Best WordPress Gallery Plugin
1. Modula Image Gallery
It helps you create galleries easily. You can make grids that adjust to different screen sizes. You can also make custom grids that look like mosaics. With Modula, you can drag and drop images to arrange them how you want. You can even change the gallery’s appearance with CSS.
It’s free to use with some features available. But if you pay, you get extra features like lightboxes and faster speed. You also get more gallery formats like sliders and videos.
2. Photo Gallery By 10Web
It comes in both free and paid versions. In the free version, you can create basic grid galleries, manage files, and add watermarks. You can also make slideshows and lightboxes, but with limits. The paid versions offer more options like different gallery layouts, ratings, and social sharing.
You can also sell photos and include audio and video. You can buy add-ons for specific features you need. Overall, it’s easy to use and great for those who want a good photo display plugin.
3. Envira Gallery
It’s known for its flexibility and easy-to-use features. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, you’ll find it useful. You can drag and drop images, and there are ready-made templates to choose from. With a paid plan, you get more features like unlimited galleries, WooCommerce integration, and video galleries.
You can also protect your images with watermarks and passwords. However, these advanced features come with additional costs. It’s a good choice for businesses or sites that prioritize quality over price.
4. Photo Gallery By Supsystic
With this plugin, you can choose from eight different gallery layouts, like a carousel or a post feed. You can even make Polaroid-style galleries with captions for a nostalgic vibe.
The paid version also lets you add video galleries, tags, and albums to keep everything organized. Plus, it includes a CDN to make your images load faster.
Despite all these features, setting up galleries with this plugin is still easy, and they look great on mobile devices. You can even add watermarks to your photos to protect them from being used without permission.
5. FooGallery
With the free version, you get six different gallery templates that work well on any screen size. You can also customize your galleries by changing things like borders and hover effects. Sorting your galleries into albums helps you keep organized.
You can easily arrange your images using drag-and-drop. Then, you can add your gallery to your website using a Gutenberg block or shortcode. Even without paying, FooGallery is quite powerful, especially when combined with custom CSS.
The paid version, called FooGallery Pro, adds even more features. You get three extra templates and can create video galleries. There are also options for filtering images and lazy loading, which helps your website load faster. Another neat feature is infinite scrolling, so users can see more images on one page without clicking through multiple pages.
6. Gmedia
It might not be as popular as others, but it’s reliable. For Gutenberg users, there are four different blocks available: galleries, albums, categories, and tags.
You can create stylish galleries with lots of customization options. In the paid version, you can even add videos and audio to your galleries.
Editing images directly from your dashboard is another handy feature. Plus, you can easily share your galleries on social media or via email. With drag-and-drop functionality, arranging your photos is quick and easy. And it’s one of the more affordable options out there.
7. NextGEN Gallery
NextGEN Gallery has been the industry’s standard WordPress gallery plugin since 2007 and continues to receive over 1.5 million new downloads per year. It’s easy for simple photo galleries, but powerful enough for the most demanding photographers, visual artists, and imaging professionals.
On the back end, NextGEN offers a complete WordPress gallery management system with the ability to batch upload photos, import meta data, add/delete/rearrange/sort photos, edit thumbnails, group galleries into albums, and more.
8. Jetpack
Jetpack is a popular plugin by Automattic for WordPress sites. It brings features from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress sites. One feature it offers is improving the WordPress gallery function. While it may not be as fancy as other gallery plugins, Jetpack is good for creating simple galleries, especially if you already use Jetpack.
The best part? Jetpack’s gallery feature is free to use, with no extra costs. Even though Jetpack has other paid features, you get gallery functionality for free. Plus, using Jetpack can reduce the number of plugins you need, which is better for your site’s performance.
9. Meow Gallery
Meow Gallery, created by Meow Apps, a team from France and Japan, offers a free version with five layouts: tiles, masonry, justified, square, and cascade. It includes a Gutenberg Block and shortcode for easier gallery management.
It’s one of the quickest WordPress gallery plugins. Compared to others, it significantly reduces the time for uploading and inserting galleries into posts. The core plugin is suitable for most companies. However, upgrading to the premium version gives you extra support, more features, and licenses for multiple sites.
10. Portfolio Gallery
Portfolio Gallery brings stunning galleries to your WordPress site with no need for complex coding. It’s user-friendly, making gallery design quick and easy, taking just a few minutes. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced user, you can create beautiful presentations effortlessly.
The core plugin is free to download, but you can upgrade to the premium version for $29. This offers superior support, more templates, unlimited filters, and additional features to enhance your galleries.
With just a few clicks, you can upload images and place galleries anywhere on your website using shortcodes. Plus, mobile galleries look great on tablets and smartphones.
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