Do you want to add a beautiful gallery on your WordPress website? By default, WordPress comes with inbuilt option to add responsive image galleries on any pages/posts. However, if you want more creative options for displaying images with cool animation and lightbox effects then, using a WordPress gallery plugin would be a great option.
If you search for a gallery plugin on the internet, you will get thousands of free and premium result. Among them all, NextGEN Gallery, Envira Gallery and FooGallery are the most popular ones. They have a high number of active users and are reviewed positively.
Here, in this article, we will compare and contrast their feature to determine which of these 3 gallery plugins is the best one. We will analyze their features in details along with their pros and cons, and premium pricing plans to determine the most reasonable ones. At the end of the blog, you will be cleared about their distinguishing features and be able to choose the best one for your WordPress website.
With that being said, let’s get this plugin comparison started and determine the best WordPress image gallery plugin:
NextGEN Gallery
Overview:
NextGEN Gallery is one of the most popular gallery plugin available on WordPress.org repository. It offers a complete package to manage your images by adding them into responsive galleries. The plugin comes with 3 main gallery display styles (slideshows, thumbnails and imagebrowser) and 2 album styles (compact and extended). Besides, you can also add different animation effects and lightbox galleries to display your images in a cool animated way.
Features:
- 3 Main Display Styles
- 2 Different Album Styles
- Plenty of Transition Effects
- Lightbox Galleries
- Bulk Action to Add Images to Galley
- Full Control Over Size of Image
Pros:
- Full control over timing and transition effects
- Supports bulk uploading via FTP
- Imports metadata from your photos
Cons:
- Limited gallery layouts in the free version
- No inbuilt social share option on free version
- No Shortcode options to add your galleries
Pricing:
- Lite Version: Free
- NextGEN Plus: $79
- NextGEN Pro: $99
- Lifetime Everything: $299
Download NextGEN Gallery for Free Purchase NextGEN Gallery
Envira Gallery
Overview:
Envira Gallery is a responsive WordPress gallery plugin to create beautiful and mobile friendly image galleries for WordPress website. It is integrated with drag and drop builder to easily add your images on your gallery just by dragging them. Besides, the plugin is also integrated with lazy loading plugin to optimize your images and not affect the loading speed of your WordPress website.
Features:
- Drag and Drop Gallery Builder
- Responsive Mobile Friendly
- Lightbox Effect
- Integrated with Lazy Loading
- Full Control Over Image Size
- Shortcode Ready
Pros:
- Simple and easy to use gallery plugin
- Integrated with lazy loading plugin to optimize your gallery images
- Shortcode ready to add your gallery anywhere on your website
Cons:
- The free version contains very limited features. To even create basic gallery you need to purchase $29 basic plan.
- No gallery templates. In order to unlock it, you need to purchase $69 plus plan.
- No social sharing option. In order to unlock it, you purchase $99 pro plan.
Pricing:
- Lite: Free
- Basic: $29
- Plus: $69
- Pro: $99
- Agency: $299
Download Envira Gallery for Free Purchase Envira Gallery
FooGallery
Overview:
FooGallery is another most popular WordPress plugin to add responsive image galleries on your WordPress website. It comes with 2 different gallery themes to choose the best matching gallery template for your website. Moreover, you can also add your own custom template designed using the custom CSS option. Besides, the plugin is also integrated with lazy loading to optimize the loading speed of the image gallery.
Features:
- Lazy Loading Integrated
- Drag and Drop Image Reordering
- Beautiful Gallery Templates
- Lightbox Effects
- Different Hover Animation Effects
- Shortcode Ready
Pros:
- The interface of the plugin is simple and beginner friendly.
- Shortcode ready to add galleries anywhere on your website
- Option to create custom templates
Cons:
- No option for social sharing even on the premium version.
- No unlimited license plan for pro version
Pricing:
- Lite Version: Free
- Personal Plan: $49
- Multi Plan: $99
- Business Plan $199
Download FooGallery for Free Purchase FooGallery
Wrapping Up
NextGEN Gallery is probably the best free WordPress image gallery for power users. It will provide you with full control over your galleries and contains many varied options for displaying your images in different ways. However, Foo Gallery and Envira Gallery are not so far behind as they are comparatively easier to use than NextGEN Gallery even for the basics. Among the two, FooGallery edges ahead because of its simplest interface and features available on the lite version of the plugin.
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