Envira Gallery
Drag-and-drop WordPress gallery plugin with a free Lite version and paid add-ons for albums, video, proofing, watermarks and WooCommerce selling.
99
NextGEN Gallery
Long-running WordPress gallery plugin by Imagely with free galleries and albums, plus paid plans for pro layouts, proofing, print fulfilment and photo sales.
Free installs300K+WordPress.org, active
Est. Pro installs~19KLikely 12K–29K
Vendor claims400K+Vendor's own figure
Rating4.3/54,342 reviews
Price from$139/yrFreemium
Last updated29 Oct 2026Version 4.5.5
Overview
NextGEN Gallery has been developed since 2007 and is now maintained by Imagely, a company focused on photographers. It manages images in its own gallery library rather than the standard media library, which makes it suited to sites with large photo collections organised into galleries and albums.
How it works
You create galleries, batch upload photos (including ZIP files or a server folder), and NextGEN imports metadata such as captions and EXIF data. Galleries are then displayed through display types. The free plugin includes basic thumbnail, slideshow and image browser galleries, compact and extended albums, a choice of lightbox scripts, tags, pagination and text or image watermarks, with a block for the editor.
Free vs paid
The paid NextGEN Pro plugin is sold as four Imagely plans. Starter adds mosaic and film galleries, grid and list albums, lazy loading and infinite scroll. Plus adds masonry, tiled, filmstrip and sidescroll layouts, hover captions, image protection, social sharing, deeplinking, a fullscreen Pro lightbox with comments and front-end image search. Pro adds the e-commerce suite: Stripe and PayPal payments, price lists, coupons, tax, automated print fulfilment, digital downloads, client proofing and Lightroom integration. Ultra adds multisite and priority support. 2026 releases added video galleries plus Instagram, Google Photos, TikTok and Dribbble sources.
- One of the most complete photo-selling and proofing toolsets for WordPress.
- Its separate gallery library is powerful but differs from the standard media library workflow.
- The free version looks dated next to newer builders, and modern layouts need a paid plan.
Strengths and limitations
NextGEN is strongest for professional photographers who sell prints or run proofing workflows, because those features are built in rather than bolted on. The downsides are a steeper learning curve, a free tier with mostly basic layouts, and a high entry price, since Starter starts at $139 a year list.
Who should choose it
Choose NextGEN if you run a photography business and want e-commerce, print labs and proofing in one plugin, or if you manage a large archive of galleries. Casual users wanting a quick modern grid may find lighter alternatives easier.
Best for: Professional photographers who want galleries, proofing and print or download sales in a single plugin.
NextGEN Gallery is a mature, photographer-focused system whose real value lies in the Pro plan's e-commerce, print fulfilment and proofing. The free version is functional but basic, and the paid tiers cost more than most rivals, so it makes most sense when you will use the selling tools.
Pros
- Free version includes albums, watermarks, tags and pagination
- Handles large libraries with batch and ZIP uploads
- Built-in photo sales with automated print-lab fulfilment
- Client proofing and Lightroom sync in the Pro plan
- Actively developed, with video and social sources added in 2026
Cons
- Modern layouts like masonry and tiled need the Plus plan
- Highest entry price of the major gallery plugins
- Separate gallery library has a learning curve
- Right-click protection is not in the free version
Key features
What NextGEN Gallery highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Unlimited galleries and albums
- Batch, ZIP and folder uploads
- Thumbnail, slideshow and image browser galleries
- Compact and extended album styles
- Text and image watermarks
- Image tags and tag clouds
- Pagination for thumbnail galleries
- Choice of lightbox scripts
- HTML captions with links
- Metadata import on upload
- Gutenberg block support
- Multisite compatible
Pro / paid adds From $139/yr
- Mosaic, masonry, tiled and filmstrip layouts
- Lazy loading and infinite scroll
- Fullscreen Pro lightbox with comments
- Social sharing and image deeplinking
- Right-click image protection
- Front-end image search
- Stripe and PayPal photo sales
- Automated print-lab fulfilment
- Digital downloads, coupons and tax
- Client image proofing
- Adobe Lightroom integration
- Video galleries and Instagram sources
Feature checklist
22 of 24 features we track in Gallery Plugins, feature score 90/100
Building galleries 7/7
Drag & drop gallery builder Key
Create and reorder galleries visually, with bulk upload from the media library.
Batch, ZIP and folder uploads with drag-and-drop sorting in the free plugin.
Included
Masonry layout Key
Pinterest-style layout for mixed image sizes.
Masonry gallery listed from the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Justified & mosaic layouts
Rows of equal height or tiled mosaic grids.
Mosaic gallery from Starter; tiled gallery from Plus.
Paid version Starter
Slider & carousel
Show a gallery as a slideshow or carousel.
Free slideshow gallery type; filmstrip and sidescroll layouts need Plus.
Included
Albums Key
Group several galleries into albums.
Compact and extended album styles in the free plugin.
Included
Video galleries Key
Add YouTube, Vimeo or self-hosted videos to galleries.
Video galleries added in NextGEN Pro 4.2 (2026); plan tier not shown on pricing page.
Paid version Paid plans
Filterable galleries & tags
Let visitors filter a gallery by category or tag.
Front-end image search and filtering listed from the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Display & lightbox 6/6
Lightbox Key
Opens images full size in an overlay with navigation.
Free plugin lets you choose between several lightbox effects.
Included
Hover effects & styling
Captions, hover animations, borders and spacing controls.
Free styling and sizing controls; hover captions start at the Plus plan.
Partial
Captions & EXIF data
Show titles, captions or camera EXIF details.
HTML-capable captions and metadata import in the free plugin.
Included
Social sharing
Share buttons on images or in the lightbox.
Social media sharing listed from the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Pagination & load more
Paginate large galleries or add load more / infinite scroll.
Free pagination for thumbnail galleries; infinite scroll from Starter.
Included
Deep linking
Each lightbox image gets its own shareable URL.
Image deeplinking listed from the Plus plan.
Paid version Plus
Performance & protection 5/5
Lazy loading Key
Images load only as they come into view.
Lazy loading listed as a Starter plan feature.
Paid version Starter
Image optimisation & CDN
Resizing, compression or a CDN for gallery images.
Free image resizing settings; no built-in compression or CDN.
Partial
Right-click & download protection
Discourages copying or downloading images.
Docs say image protection needs a Plus licence or higher.
Paid version Plus
Watermarks
Adds a text or image watermark to photos.
Text or image watermarks in the free plugin.
Included
Password-protected galleries
Restrict galleries with a password.
Uses WordPress page passwords rather than per-gallery passwords.
Partial
Integrations & selling 4/6
Block editor block
Insert galleries with a Gutenberg block.
Gutenberg block support in the free plugin.
Included
Page builder widgets
Elementor or other page builder widgets.
No dedicated Elementor widget confirmed on primary sources.
Not verified
Instagram & cloud imports
Build galleries from Instagram, Flickr, Google Photos or Dropbox.
Instagram, Google Photos, TikTok and Dribbble sources added to NextGEN Pro in 2026.
Paid version Paid plans
Sell photos & prints
Sell digital downloads or prints from galleries.
E-commerce with Stripe/PayPal, print fulfilment and downloads in the Pro plan.
Paid version Pro
Client proofing
Clients select and approve photos from a gallery.
Image proofing included in the Pro plan.
Paid version Pro
Import from other gallery plugins
Migrate galleries from NextGEN, Envira or similar.
No importer from other gallery plugins confirmed on primary sources.
Not verified
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Starter
$139per year1 site
Introductory price $69.50 (50% off) for the first year; mosaic, film and slideshow galleries, lazy load, infinite scroll.
Plus
$199per year3 sites
Introductory price $99.50; masonry, tiled and filmstrip layouts, image protection, social sharing, deeplinking.
Pro
$279per year5 sites
Introductory price $139.50; e-commerce, print fulfilment, proofing, digital downloads, Lightroom.
Ultra
$399per year25 sites
Introductory price $199.50; adds multisite support and priority support.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use NextGEN Gallery?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
300K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
400K+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~19K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: WordPress.org shows 300K+ free installs, which could mean anything from 300K to 400K. The vendor says 400K+ sites, so we put the free count halfway between the middle of that range and the vendor figure, at about 380K. Website scans by WPoptic find the paid plugin (folder nextgen-gallery-pro) on 8,182 live sites; they find the free version on 177,173 sites against about 380K WordPress.org installs, so each site found stands for about 2.1, giving 17K. About 380K free installs x 8% (the usual share of free sites that also run the paid version when some key features are paid) gives 30K. Combining these (weighted average) gives about 19K. Likely range: 12K to 29K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
155,688 downloads last week, 47.1M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 4.5.5 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 29 Oct 2026 (4 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 5.5.4+, PHP 7.4+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 14 of 15 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 23 Apr 2007 |
Company & policy
| Founded | 2007 (source, 6 Oct 2026) Readme says NextGEN has been a standard WordPress gallery plugin since 2007. |
|---|---|
| Refund policy | 14-day money-back (source, 6 Oct 2026) |
NextGEN Gallery compared
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FAQ
Is NextGEN Gallery free?
Yes. NextGEN Gallery has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $139/yr.
How many sites use NextGEN Gallery?
WordPress.org reports 300K+ active installations of the free version. The vendor claims 400K+ sites in total. We estimate around 19K sites run the paid version.
Does NextGEN Gallery have drag & drop gallery builder?
Yes: included. Batch, ZIP and folder uploads with drag-and-drop sorting in the free plugin.
Does NextGEN Gallery have masonry layout?
Yes: paid version (Plus). Masonry gallery listed from the Plus plan.
Does NextGEN Gallery have albums?
Yes: included. Compact and extended album styles in the free plugin.
Does NextGEN Gallery have video galleries?
Yes: paid version (Paid plans). Video galleries added in NextGEN Pro 4.2 (2026); plan tier not shown on pricing page.
Does NextGEN Gallery have lightbox?
Yes: included. Free plugin lets you choose between several lightbox effects.
Does NextGEN Gallery have lazy loading?
Yes: paid version (Starter). Lazy loading listed as a Starter plan feature.
Is NextGEN Gallery free?
Yes, the core plugin is free on WordPress.org with galleries, albums, watermarks and pagination. Pro layouts, protection and e-commerce need an Imagely plan.
Which plan do I need to sell photos?
The Pro plan ($279/year list) includes the e-commerce suite with payments, print fulfilment, digital downloads and proofing.
Can I password protect NextGEN galleries?
Partly. NextGEN relies on WordPress page passwords, so you protect the page or post that contains the gallery.
Does NextGEN support video?
Video galleries were added to the paid NextGEN Pro plugin in 2026 (version 4.2), alongside TikTok and Dribbble sources.
Last updated 6 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.