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Best Free WordPress Plugins for Nextgen

15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Nextgen

All 15 Free only Premium only

Choosing a WordPress plugin for nextgen comes down to a few things: whether it is still actively maintained, whether real users rate it well, and whether it does the specific job you need without dragging the rest of the site down.

We ranked 15 plugins using our WPScore, which weighs the user rating (adjusted for how many people actually rated it), how many sites run it, how recently it was updated, and which WordPress version it is tested against. 15 of them have enough public data to be scored; the rest are listed below the ranked block, clearly marked, rather than being given a number we cannot justify.

How this list is funded. Some links here earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not move anything up the list — the order comes from the WPScore, which is calculated from public ratings, install counts and update history. See the method.

At a glance

  1. 1. Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes Best overall 86/100
  2. 2. FooGallery Migrate 80/100
  3. 3. NGG Smart Image Search 79/100
  4. 4. NextGEN Gallery Image Chooser 71/100
  5. 5. Geo2 Maps Add-on for NextGEN Gallery 70/100
  6. 6. Migrate away from NextGEN Gallery 69/100
  7. 7. NextGEN Download Gallery 58/100
  8. 8. NextGEN Custom Fields 56/100
  9. 9. JJ NextGen JQuery Slider 49/100
  10. 10. NextGEN Gallery Sidebar Widget 49/100
  11. 11. NextGEN Scroll Gallery 48/100
  12. 12. JJ NextGen JQuery Carousel 48/100
  13. 13. Photoswipe for NextGEN Gallery 48/100
  14. 14. Import to Photo Gallery from NextGen gallery 47/100
  15. 15. JJ NextGen JQuery Cycle 47/100
2 FooGallery Migrate
Free by FooPlugins

FooGallery Migrate

Migrate to FooGallery from other gallery plugins like NextGen, Modula, Envira and other gallery plugins.

5★
from 2 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Aug 2026
Tested to
WP 7.1
80

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
9 JJ NextGen JQuery Slider
Free by jjcoder

JJ NextGen JQuery Slider

Allows you to pick a gallery from the 'NextGen Gallery' plugin to use as a 'JQuery Nivo slider'.

4.3★
from 4 ratings
700+
active installs
Updated
Nov 2017
Tested to
WP 3.2.1
49

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
11 NextGEN Scroll Gallery
Free by Benedikt Mo

NextGEN Scroll Gallery

Awesome free JavaScript gallery. BMo-Design's Mootools Javascript ScrollGallery as a Plugin for the Wordpress NextGEN Gallery.

4.1★
from 21 ratings
1k+
active installs
Updated
Nov 2017
Tested to
WP 3.2.2
48

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org
15 JJ NextGen JQuery Cycle
Free by jjcoder

JJ NextGen JQuery Cycle

Allows you to pick a gallery from the 'NextGen Gallery' plugin to use with 'JQuery Cycle Lite'.

5★
from 1 ratings
200+
active installs
Updated
Mar 2011
Tested to
WP 3.1.4
47

WPScore

Read review View on WordPress.org