If you run a WordPress website and want to showcase multiple images in a stylish and organized way, an image gallery plugin is what you need. It allows you to display images in a grid, slider, masonry layout, or other creative formats. You may also add lightbox, hover animation, and other effects.
As a result, instead of placing images one after another, you can display them in a beautiful and user-friendly layout. This can help you save space. Some gallery plugins include features like lazy loading and compression that can remarkably improve loading time through image optimization.
So, image gallery plugins aren’t just about looks. They play a big role in improving user experiences as well. In this article, we’ll introduce you to some of the best WordPress Image gallery plugins, including their key features. Hope this will help you choose the right plugin for your website.
Things to Consider When Choosing an Image Gallery Plugin
Before you pick a WordPress image gallery plugin, it’s important to know what features and functions to look for. Because if the features of the plugin don’t match how you want to present content, that will be just a waste of time and money. However, there are some common things that all gallery plugins must have. Take a look at them below.
a. Multiple Gallery Layout Options
Different websites need different gallery styles. A flexible plugin will let you create various layouts like grid, masonry, slider, carousel, justified, or tiled. So, look for a plugin that offers multiple gallery layout options so you can fit your content exactly.
b. Lightbox and Image Preview Features
Most modern gallery plugins include lightbox functionality. This allows users to click on an image and view it in a larger size without leaving the current page. Lightbox previews can include navigation arrows, zoom-in features, and even videos. Learn how to add a lightbox in WordPress.
c. Support for Video and Other Media Types
If you want to mix videos with your photos, check whether the plugin supports video files or embeds (like YouTube or Vimeo). Some advanced gallery plugins allow you to create multimedia galleries with images, GIFs, and videos together. This adds more variety.
d. Integration with Other Plugins
Your image gallery plugin should work well with other WordPress tools. For example, if you use a page builder like Elementor, Gutenberg, or WPBakery, your gallery plugin should support those editors. It’s also helpful if the plugin integrates with WooCommerce, form plugins, or social media sharing tools.
e. Loading Speed & Performance
High-quality images can slow down your site if not optimized properly. A good image gallery plugin should support lazy loading and image compression. Besides, lazy loading ensures that images load only when they come into the user’s view. Check if your plugin includes these features or not.
Best WordPress Image Gallery Plugins
You’ll find tons of WordPress image gallery plugins online on various repositories. Here we present a list of the best WordPress image gallery plugins from different plugin types, with a detailed discussion. Hope this will be helpful to you. Keep reading!
1. NextGEN Gallery
NextGEN Gallery is one of the most trusted and powerful image gallery plugins for WordPress. It was first launched in 2007. You can easily upload multiple photos at once, rearrange images, manage metadata, and create unlimited galleries and albums. It also supports zip file uploads and folder imports to save you time when handling large batches of images.
It offers flexible gallery and album styles, including slideshow, thumbnail, and imagebrowser galleries, plus compact and extended album layouts. You can customize everything from sizes, lightbox effects, and transitions to captions and display controls. Upgrading to the PRO version will unlock more features for visual content management.
Key features of NextGEN Gallery:
- Create unlimited image galleries and albums
- Supports slideshow, thumbnail, and image browser gallery styles
- Fully compatible with the Gutenberg block editor and any page builders
- Add lightbox effects to image galleries
- Protect images with watermarking
- Add image proofing for customer selections
- Add social sharing buttons to your images
- Integrate directly with Adobe Lightroom
- Display 25+ image animations for added effects
- Choose from 84+ gallery themes
- Deep link to specific images in a gallery
2. Envira Gallery
Envira Gallery is a drag-and-drop WordPress plugin built to create photo and video galleries. It is fully responsive, optimized for both front-end and back-end speed. It supports direct integration with Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, and the block editor. While the free version allows creating image galleries, the PRO version adds albums, videos, deep linking, and more.
Envira also supports image proofing for client approvals, password-protected galleries, EXIF meta display, and multiple import options, including ZIP files, Dropbox, and Instagram. These feature-rich options make this plugin a complete gallery management tool for image-heavy sites and designers.
Key features of Envira Gallery:
- Support for YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, and other video galleries
- Watermarking for image protection
- WooCommerce integration for selling photos
- Password protection for galleries
- EXIF meta data display
- Dynamic galleries from multiple sources
- Automatic image compression for faster performance
- Social sharing for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
- Fullscreen and lightbox viewing options
- Adobe Lightroom to WordPress syncing
3. FooGallery
FooGallery is great for creating photo galleries, portfolios, image viewers, and carousels. It comes with seven beautiful pre-built templates in the free version, including Masonry, Justified, Carousel, Image Viewer, and more, all optimized for performance and SEO. The plugin supports lazy loading, retina thumbnails, and lightbox effects with customizable colors, transitions, and captions.
It also includes live previews in both the gallery creation interface and the Gutenberg block editor, making it easy to see your changes instantly. Built-in album support, drag-and-drop image reordering, and advanced customization options like borders, shadows, hover effects, and thumbnail filters give users complete creative control.
Key features of FooGallery:
- White labeling options for agencies and freelancers
- Support for variations and downloadable files in WooCommerce
- Deep WooCommerce integration to sell images
- Image protection with watermarking and right-click disable
- Deep linking support for pages and filters
- 11 PRO hover effect presets and 12 CSS thumbnail filters
- Integrates with Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and AIOSEO sitemaps
- Video support for YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, TED, Dailymotion, and self-hosted videos
4. HappyMedia
If you are looking for a comprehensive WordPress media library management plugin with the gallery-building option, you must try the HappyMedia plugin. It serves as an all-in-one media manager that simplifies the organization, uploading, and optimization of images, videos, GIFs, audio files, documents, PDFs, sheets, and any other type of media files.
It has a built-in gallery option in the backend. Once your galleries are ready, they will generate a shortcode for each. By embedding the shortcode anywhere on your posts, pages, or widgets, you can display the gallery on the frontend. Thus, you can use this plugin for multi-purpose use cases.
Key features of HappyMedia:
- Allows you to create even or masonry grid galleries
- Galleries are responsive for all screen sizes
- Integrates stock image platforms, like Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels
- Easy to replace images without changing the metadata
- Able to compress image files
- Create and manage unlimited folders and categories
5. Galleryberg
If you are looking for a Gutenberg block-based gallery builder plugin, you must try the Galleryberg plugin. Although it’s new, it has all the features and functionalities that a modern gallery builder needs. It offers multiple layout styles, including tiles, square, masonry, and justified, so you can showcase your images in the format that best fits your content.
With adjustable columns, custom spacing, border controls, and caption settings, you have complete flexibility to design galleries that match your site’s style. The plugin is fully responsive, ensuring your galleries look perfect on any device, and is optimized with server-side rendering for fast page loading.
Key features of Galleryberg:
- Multiple gallery layouts: tiles, square, masonry, and justified
- Fully responsive design with adjustable column counts
- Built-in lightbox powered by GLightbox
- Lightbox with smooth zoom open/close effects
- Lightbox supports slide navigation between images
- Duotone filter support for images
- Custom link destinations for individual images
- Server-side rendering for faster performance
6. Modula Gallery
Modula is a flexible and beginner-friendly WordPress gallery plugin. You can add your images, choose a gallery type, customize the design, and publish it using a simple shortcode. The plugin is responsive, so your galleries look great on all devices, and it includes Modula AI, which automatically optimizes titles, captions, and ALT text for your images to save you time and improve SEO.
With Modula Pro, you get access to advanced features that take your galleries to the next level. These include image comments, proofing galleries for client selections, Instagram integration, bulk editing, content-synced galleries, and defaults to speed up gallery creation. You can create mixed image and video galleries, add sliders with thumbnail navigation, and more.
Key features of Modula Gallery:
- Enable lightbox functionality for full-size image viewing
- Add filters to galleries for category-based sorting
- Integrate social sharing buttons on images
- Enable gallery albums for grouped collections
- Bulk edit gallery image information
- White-label the plugin for client projects
- Add watermark protection to gallery images
7. Meow Gallery
Meow Gallery is a clean and fast gallery plugin. It flawlessly works well with WordPress and Gutenberg, without locking you into a custom system. You can use its Gallery Block, shortcodes, or even let it replace the default WordPress gallery. The plugin is fully responsive, retina-friendly, and offers modern layouts such as Tiles, Masonry, Justified, Square, and Cascade.
Since it follows native WordPress standards, it remains compatible with most themes and plugins, giving you flexibility without unnecessary features that slow down your site. The Pro version of Meow Gallery unlocks many additional layouts and features. The plugin ensures your images are included in sitemaps and gives you the best SEO results.
Key features of Meow Gallery:
- Integrates with Lightroom via Photo Engine for media management
- Add audio or music to images using the Audio Story Images plugin
- SEO-friendly with image inclusion in sitemaps
- Includes popular layouts like Tiles, Masonry, Justified, Square, and Cascade
- Offers Infinite/Lazy loading for faster pages
- Includes Carousel/Slider layout for dynamic displays
- Features a Map Layout for photo presentations
- Adds animations to galleries for visual appeal
8. Photo Gallery by 10Web
Photo Gallery by 10Web is a user-friendly. No matter if you want to create simple image galleries or complex album collections, this plugin offers a wide range of layout options such as slideshow, thumbnails, masonry, mosaic, and blog style views. You can organize unlimited photos, galleries, and albums on your website.
It supports images, videos, and audio, allowing you to create mixed media galleries. It also comes with multiple widgets, social sharing buttons, watermarking, right-click protection, and a powerful lightbox with slideshow effects, autoplay, and filmstrip view. The plugin gives you full control over the design and customization of your galleries.
Key features of Photo Gallery by 10Web:
- Powerful lightbox with 15 slideshow effects
- SEO-friendly with metadata and tags for better search engine visibility
- Commenting system with CAPTCHA protection
- User role management for gallery editing
- Right-click protection to prevent image theft
- Support for video sources like YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Flickr, and Dailymotion
Final Thoughts!
Hope you enjoyed the post. It’s now your turn to choose the plugin that matches your budget and requirements. However, there are some points to remember when creating galleries. Always use high-resolution images optimized for fast loading to keep your site running smoothly.
Organize your galleries logically with clear titles, captions, and tags to help visitors navigate easily. Also, make sure your galleries are mobile-friendly and responsive, so they look great on all devices. And don’t forget to add SEO-friendly text like ALT tags to improve your site’s search engine ranking.
Hope this will help you get the best results from your image galleries. Now, if there is any question in your mind regarding today’s topic, mention it in the comment box below. We’ll be very happy to answer it.
