10 Best NextGEN Gallery Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
NextGEN Gallery sits at #1 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. 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 NextGEN Gallery
- 1
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider
4.6 (738) 500,000+ active installsSlider, gallery, carousel plugin for WordPress. Build your image slider, video slider, post slider, YouTube slider, or WooCommerce product slider.
#2 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. About 1.7 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.3, last updated 7 days ago.
- 2
Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider
4.3 (404) 40,000+ active installsRobo Gallery is a powerful image gallery and photo gallery plugin with advanced features to create responsive galleries with a beautiful lightbox
#5 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. 40,000+ installs against 300,000+, last updated 3 days ago.
- 3
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.
#3 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. About a third of the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.3, last updated 3 days ago.
- 4
WP Carousel
Paid version availableCarousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel
4.7 (433) 70,000+ active installsCarousel, Slider, and Photo Gallery with Lightbox plugin. Create Image Carousel, Video Slider, Post Carousel, Post Grid, Product Carousel, and more.
#9 in the WordPress.org Slider Plugins ranking. About a quarter of the installs, rated 4.7 against 4.3, last updated 20 days ago.
- 5
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery
4.5 (1,581) 100,000+ active installsPhoto Gallery is a powerful image gallery plugin with a list of advanced options for creating responsive image galleries with beautiful lightbox.
#4 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. About a third of the installs, rated 4.5 against 4.3, last updated 13 days ago.
- 6
Smart Slider 3
Paid version available4.9 (1,123) 800,000+ active installsResponsive slider plugin to create sliders in visual editor easily. Build beautiful image slider, layer slider, video slider, post slider, and more.
#1 in the WordPress.org Slider Plugins ranking. About 2.7 times the installs, rated 4.9 against 4.3, last updated 19 days ago.
- 7
Gallery by Visual Portfolio
Paid version available4.8 (336) 60,000+ active installsBuild photo galleries, image galleries, and portfolio grids with gallery blocks. Masonry, lightbox, sliders, and filters included.
#10 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. About a quarter of the installs, rated 4.8 against 4.3, last updated 7 days ago.
- 8
4.8 (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.
#7 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. 40,000+ installs against 300,000+, rated 4.8 against 4.3, last updated August 5, 2026.
- 9
4.5 (248) 30,000+ active installsCreate stunning responsive sliders in minutes. Drag-and-drop builder, unlimited sliders, mobile-friendly & SEO optimized!
#10 in the WordPress.org Slider Plugins ranking. 30,000+ installs against 300,000+, rated 4.5 against 4.3, last updated 28 days ago.
- 10
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.
#8 in the WordPress.org Gallery Plugins ranking. About a third of the installs, rated 4.7 against 4.3, last updated 10 days ago.
NextGEN Gallery against each of them
Head to head on installs, ratings, reviews and updates. Each measure names its own leader; there is no overall winner.
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NextGEN Gallery vs MetaSlider300,000+ vs 500,000+ installs · 4.3 vs 4.6
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NextGEN Gallery vs Robo Gallery300,000+ vs 40,000+ installs · 4.3 vs 4.3
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NextGEN Gallery vs FooGallery300,000+ vs 100,000+ installs · 4.3 vs 4.8
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NextGEN Gallery vs WP Carousel300,000+ vs 70,000+ installs · 4.3 vs 4.7
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NextGEN Gallery vs Photo Gallery300,000+ vs 100,000+ installs · 4.3 vs 4.5
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NextGEN Gallery vs Smart Slider 3300,000+ vs 800,000+ installs · 4.3 vs 4.9
Switching from NextGEN Gallery: common questions
What is the best alternative to NextGEN Gallery?
MetaSlider is the closest match: it shares the Gallery Plugins top 10 with NextGEN Gallery and has 500,000+ active installs with a 4.6 out of 5 rating.
Which NextGEN Gallery alternative has the most users?
Smart Slider 3, with 800,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which NextGEN Gallery alternative is rated highest?
Smart Slider 3, rated 4.9 out of 5 by 1,123 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these NextGEN Gallery 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 NextGEN Gallery 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 NextGEN Gallery 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
MetaSlider is the closest match to NextGEN Gallery by the data we track, and Smart Slider 3 has the widest reach with 800,000+ 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.