1
Envira Gallery
Bloggers and photographers who want an easy gallery editor and plan to buy the Pro plan for albums, video and selling.
94overall scoreDetails
Best WordPress Gallery Plugins (2026)
Layouts, lightboxes, albums, video galleries and image protection: how the main WordPress gallery plugins compare.
About Gallery Plugins
WordPress has a basic gallery block, but it stops at a simple grid. Gallery plugins add the layouts, lightboxes, albums and performance tricks that photographers, agencies, restaurants, portfolios and online shops need to show off lots of images without slowing the site down.
We compare the most popular gallery plugins, including Envira Gallery, NextGEN Gallery, FooGallery, Modula, Photo Gallery by 10Web, Robo Gallery, Responsive Lightbox & Gallery and Meow Gallery. Each one is checked against 24 features covering building galleries, display and lightbox, performance and image protection, and integrations including selling photos and client proofing.
Every feature is marked as free, paid, add-on, partial or not offered, with a note and a link to the source. The ranking blends feature coverage with WordPress.org popularity and ratings.
The ranking
Overall score = 55% features, 20% popularity, 25% ratings. Filter by the features you need, or tick two plugins to compare them.
Must have
2
Modula Image Gallery
Designers and portfolio sites that want hand-crafted grid layouts and will pay for the Trio or Business plan for extras.
93overall scoreDetails
3
FooGallery
Site owners who want a capable free gallery plugin and photographers who want affordable WooCommerce photo selling.
93overall scoreDetails
4
NextGEN Gallery
Professional photographers who want galleries, proofing and print or download sales in a single plugin.
90overall scoreDetails
5
Photo Gallery by 10Web
Photographers and bloggers who want albums, watermarks and many layouts for free in a traditional gallery manager.
86overall scoreDetails
6
Robo Gallery
Budget-conscious sites that want varied image and video gallery layouts with an inexpensive one-time upgrade.
80overall scoreDetails
7
Meow Gallery
Photographers and bloggers who want fast, good-looking galleries in the block editor with minimal setup.
70overall scoreDetails
8
Responsive Lightbox & Gallery
Sites that want a dependable lightbox across all content plus straightforward galleries, without a heavy photography suite.
70overall scoreDetails
No plugin matches every filter you selected. Try removing one.
Pricing compared
Entry and top plans on the same billing period, plus any lifetime deal. Prices are list prices before discounts or tax.
| Plugin | Free version | Entry plan | Top plan | Lifetime | Paid plans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Envira Gallery |
Yes | $79/yrBasic, 1 site | $399/yrUltra, 25 sites | — | 4 |
| Modula Image Gallery |
Yes | $78/yrStarter, 1 site | $199/yrAgency, 10-100 | $269Starter Lifetime, 1 site | 7 |
| FooGallery |
Yes | $59.99/yrPRO Starter, 1 site | $109.99/yrPRO Commerce, 1 site | — | 3 |
| NextGEN Gallery |
Yes | $139/yrStarter, 1 site | $399/yrUltra, 25 sites | — | 4 |
| Photo Gallery by 10Web |
Yes | $30Basic, 1 site | — | $30Basic, 1 site | 3 |
| Robo Gallery |
Yes | $30PRO, 1 site | — | $30PRO, 1 site | 3 |
| Meow Gallery |
Yes | $29/yrStarter, 1 site | $79/yrProfessional, 20 sites | $149Standard Life, 5 sites | 7 |
| Responsive Lightbox & Gallery |
Yes | $69/yrPhoto & Art Bundle – Personal, 1 site | $99/yrPhoto & Art Bundle – Developer, Unlimited | — | 3 |
Spotted an out-of-date price? Suggest an edit.
Full feature matrix
Every plugin against every feature. Scroll sideways on small screens.
| Feature | Envira Gallery | Modula Image Gallery | FooGallery | NextGEN Gallery | Photo Gallery by 10Web | Robo Gallery | Meow Gallery | Responsive Lightbox & Gallery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building galleries | ||||||||
| Drag & drop gallery builder | ||||||||
| Masonry layout | ||||||||
| Justified & mosaic layouts | ||||||||
| Slider & carousel | ||||||||
| Albums | ||||||||
| Video galleries | ||||||||
| Filterable galleries & tags | ||||||||
| Display & lightbox | ||||||||
| Lightbox | ||||||||
| Hover effects & styling | ||||||||
| Captions & EXIF data | ||||||||
| Social sharing | ||||||||
| Pagination & load more | ||||||||
| Deep linking | ||||||||
| Performance & protection | ||||||||
| Lazy loading | ||||||||
| Image optimisation & CDN | ||||||||
| Right-click & download protection | ||||||||
| Watermarks | ||||||||
| Password-protected galleries | ||||||||
| Integrations & selling | ||||||||
| Block editor block | ||||||||
| Page builder widgets | ||||||||
| Instagram & cloud imports | ||||||||
| Sell photos & prints | ||||||||
| Client proofing | ||||||||
| Import from other gallery plugins | ||||||||
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Head-to-head comparisons
Envira Gallery/FooGalleryEnvira Gallery/Robo GalleryFooGallery/Robo GalleryEnvira Gallery/Responsive Lightbox & GalleryFooGallery/Responsive Lightbox & GalleryEnvira Gallery/Meow GalleryFooGallery/Meow GalleryEnvira Gallery/NextGEN GalleryEnvira Gallery/Modula Image GalleryNextGEN Gallery/Photo Gallery by 10WebModula Image Gallery/NextGEN GalleryNextGEN Gallery/Robo GalleryFooGallery/Modula Image GalleryNextGEN Gallery/Responsive Lightbox & GalleryModula Image Gallery/Photo Gallery by 10WebMeow Gallery/NextGEN GalleryModula Image Gallery/Robo GalleryModula Image Gallery/Responsive Lightbox & GalleryFooGallery/NextGEN GalleryMeow Gallery/Modula Image GalleryEnvira Gallery/Photo Gallery by 10WebFooGallery/Photo Gallery by 10WebPhoto Gallery by 10Web/Robo GalleryPhoto Gallery by 10Web/Responsive Lightbox & GalleryResponsive Lightbox & Gallery/Robo GalleryMeow Gallery/Photo Gallery by 10WebMeow Gallery/Robo GalleryMeow Gallery/Responsive Lightbox & Gallery Buyer's guide
Layouts and lightbox first
Almost every gallery plugin offers a grid and a lightbox for free. Masonry, justified, mosaic and slider layouts, plus albums and filterable galleries, are where free and paid versions start to differ, so check the layouts you need are in the plan you will buy.
Performance
Large galleries are heavy. Lazy loading, properly sized thumbnails and pagination or load-more buttons keep pages fast. Some plugins add image compression or a CDN, which can save you a separate optimisation plugin.
Video and social sources
If you mix photos with YouTube or Vimeo clips, or want to pull images from Instagram or cloud storage, confirm those sources are supported. These are often paid add-ons.
Photographers and selling
Watermarks, right-click protection, password-protected galleries, client proofing and print or download sales are specialist features. Only a few plugins cover them well, usually in higher plans.
Switching later
Galleries are stored in plugin-specific formats, so moving between plugins can be painful. Import tools for NextGEN or Envira galleries help if you are migrating an older site.
Browse by feature
Drag & drop gallery builder (8)
Masonry layout (8)
Justified & mosaic layouts (8)
Slider & carousel (8)
Albums (7)
Video galleries (8)
Filterable galleries & tags (6)
Lightbox (8)
Hover effects & styling (8)
Captions & EXIF data (8)
Social sharing (7)
Pagination & load more (8)
Deep linking (5)
Lazy loading (7)
Image optimisation & CDN (7)
Right-click & download protection (7)
Watermarks (5)
Password-protected galleries (5)
Block editor block (8)
Page builder widgets (6)
Instagram & cloud imports (5)
Sell photos & prints (3)
Client proofing (4)
Import from other gallery plugins (3)