10 Best Meow Lightbox Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Meow Lightbox has 10,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 10 closest alternatives to Meow Lightbox
- 1
SimpLy Gallery
Closest match4.8 (116) 40,000+ active installsCreate responsive photo, image, video, and mixed media galleries for WordPress with gallery blocks, albums, sliders, and a built-in lightbox.
Shares the lightbox tag on WordPress.org. About 4 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.9, last updated August 5, 2026.
- 2
4.6 (22) 3,000+ active installsBuild a responsive filter gallery for your portfolio. Organize images with filters in a stunning grid or masonry layout easily.
Shares the responsive tag on WordPress.org. About a third of the installs, last updated 13 days ago.
- 3
4.9 (115) 20,000+ active installsIntegration of PhotoSwipe (http://photoswipe.com) for WordPress.
Shares the lightbox, photoswipe tags on WordPress.org. About 2 times the installs, last updated 8 days ago.
- 4
4.3 (240) 100,000+ active installsThe highly customizable lightbox for WordPress
Shares the lightbox, photography tags on WordPress.org. About 10 times the installs, rated 4.3 against 4.9, last updated February 24, 2026.
- 5
FooGallery
Paid version availableGallery : FooGallery
4.8 (987) 100,000+ active installsFooGallery is a fast, responsive photo gallery and image gallery plugin with 7 gallery layouts, built-in lightbox, albums, and SEO optimization.
About 10 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.9, last updated 3 days ago.
- 6
Modula Image Gallery
Paid version availableModula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery
4.7 (614) 100,000+ active installsCreate responsive image galleries with drag-and-drop grid builder. Custom layouts, video support, AI optimization. Works with any theme.
About 10 times the installs, rated 4.7 against 4.9, last updated 10 days ago.
- 7
4.5 (33) 70,000+ active installsAn easy to use plugin to add an animated preloader to your website with fully customisations.
About 7 times the installs, last updated May 18, 2026.
- 8
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid
4.8 (265) 100,000+ active installsDisplay WordPress posts in beautiful grid, list, slider, and filter layouts. Works with Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, and Shortcodes.
About 10 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.9, last updated 14 days ago.
- 9
Starter Templates & Sites Pack by ThemeGrill
4.7 (197) 70,000+ active installsPremium starter sites and website templates by ThemeGrill. Import demo content, widgets, and theme settings with one click.
About 7 times the installs, rated 4.7 against 4.9, last updated 17 days ago.
- 10
3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery
4.8 (182) 70,000+ active installs3D FlipBook is PDF Viewer, allowing to browse images, PDFs or HTMLs as flipbook. Flipbook attracts user attention and makes more impression on him.
About 7 times the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.9, last updated 13 days ago.
Switching from Meow Lightbox: common questions
What is the best alternative to Meow Lightbox?
SimpLy Gallery is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 40,000+ active installs with a 4.8 out of 5 rating.
Which Meow Lightbox alternative has the most users?
Simple Lightbox, with 100,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Meow Lightbox alternative is rated highest?
Lightbox with PhotoSwipe, rated 4.9 out of 5 by 115 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Meow Lightbox alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Meow Lightbox score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Meow Lightbox on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
SimpLy Gallery is the closest match to Meow Lightbox by the data we track, and Simple Lightbox has the widest reach with 100,000+ active installs. FooGallery shipped the most recent release, on September 4, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.