7 Best WordPress Portfolio Plugins for Designers & Photographers

Remember when building a portfolio website meant hiring an expensive developer or learning how to code? We do!

Thankfully, those days are long gone. WordPress makes it incredibly easy to create beautiful portfolio websites – you just need the right plugin.

That’s why we spent a ton of time testing WordPress portfolio plugins, looking specifically at features that matter the most to creative professionals. We checked absolutely everything – from image quality and gallery layouts to loading speeds and mobile responsiveness.

After thorough testing and consulting with professional photographers and designers, we’ve narrowed it down to our top 7 WordPress portfolio plugins.

Whether you’re looking to create a simple gallery or a complex portfolio with categories and filterable projects, these options will help you build a stunning portfolio without touching a line of code. Let’s dive in, and find the perfect portfolio plugin for you!

Quick Pick: The Best WordPress Portfolio Plugins

Need a fast summary? Here’s a brief overview of the best WordPress portfolio plugins:

#	Portfolio Plugin	Best For	Pricing
🥇	Envira Gallery	Beautiful, easy-to-use image galleries and albums	Freemium Paid plans start at $39.50 per year
🥈	NextGEN Gallery	Image galleries and portfolios with eCommerce options	Freemium Paid plans start at $69.50 per year
🥉	WP Portfolio	Customizable portfolio templates	Starts at a one-time fee of $39
4	Visual Portfolio	Elegant portfolio galleries with easy integration using Gutenberg blocks	Free
5	Portfolio Pro	Extensive layout options, including grid, isotope, and slider layouts with customizable features	Starts at $26 per year
6	GridKit Portfolio Gallery	Simple photo gallery and portfolio options	Free with in-app purchases
7	Meow Gallery	Multiple layout options and Gutenberg block support	Free

Choosing Between WordPress Portfolio Themes vs. WordPress Portfolio Plugins

So, you’re looking to showcase your work online, and you’ve noticed that many WordPress portfolio themes boast built-in features to create your portfolio. It makes you wonder: why bother with a separate plugin when your theme can already do the job?

That’s a great question, and it’s one a lot of people ask. The truth is that WordPress themes are only supposed to handle the visual appearance of your website. This includes colors, styles, layouts, and the presentation of your content.

On the other hand, plugins are the proper way to add features to your WordPress site, such as sliders and contact forms.

Creating a portfolio – displaying your projects in a specific way with descriptions, images, and maybe even case studies – falls squarely into the category of functionality. That’s why we recommend using a dedicated portfolio plugin.

Using a theme for functionality ties your WordPress site to that theme. Imagine this: you spend ages building your beautiful portfolio using features from your current theme. Everything looks fantastic! But then, further down the line, you find a new theme that you absolutely love and want to switch to.

But there’s a problem: if you change the theme, then you will lose your entire portfolio.

By choosing a dedicated portfolio plugin, your portfolio data is separate from your theme. That means you can switch themes whenever you want without losing your precious portfolio. Plus, a dedicated portfolio plugin often has more advanced features and customization options, compared to a WordPress portfolio theme – so you’ll get better results too!

How We Test and Review WordPress Portfolio Plugins

Now, how do you pick the right portfolio plugin for your needs? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s the key factors we kept in mind when testing each plugin in this post:

• Super Simple to Use: We looked for a plugin with an intuitive interface that lets you add your projects quickly and easily, without getting bogged down in complicated settings.
• Compatible with the Block Editor: You should be able to easily add your portfolio to any page or post using blocks – no complicated coding required. This is a big one.
• Customization and Flexibility: Do you want your portfolio to reflect your unique style? No course you do! That’s why we paid close attention to how much you can customize each plugin. This includes looking at the different layout options, filters, and templates.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Tons of people will be checking out your portfolio on their phones and tablets. If your portfolio doesn’t look fantastic and work smoothly on these devices, then you’ll miss out on potential clients. So, mobile responsiveness is a MUST!
• Support for Media Types: We rated these plugins based on how well they handle different types of media. This means not just images but also videos and even payment options for selling your work.
• Additional Features: Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a big difference. That said, we tested any extra features, like filterable portfolios, the ability to use shortcodes, and add-ons like lightboxes or audio commentary that promise to enhance the viewer’s experience.
• Visual Aesthetics: Let’s be honest, how your portfolio looks matters. We paid attention to the overall design and the variety of layouts each plugin offers.

On top of all that, you will also want to think about how the plugin allows you to organize your photographs and designs. Here’s an important consideration:

“Organize your shots into different galleries or themes, but remember, this isn’t a photo dump. Keep it selective and coherent.

You also want to make sure the different galleries make sense together. It’s confusing for a visitor if your galleries make you look like you’re a food photographer, a new york fashion photographer, and a wildlife photographer… now you just look confused. So, keep your galleries as cohesive as the portfolios within them.”

Jaymi Heimbuch – Conservation Visual Storytellers Academy

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 7 of the best WordPress portfolio plugins.

1. Envira Gallery

Looking to show off your amazing photos and designs on your WordPress portfolio? In our opinion, Envira Gallery is the best premium WordPress gallery plugin for creating stunning image galleries and albums on your portfolio website. It’s so easy to use, it’s no surprise that photographers and designers absolutely love it.

Now, we found it incredibly easy to create a portfolio with Envira Gallery. This tool lets you set up beautiful galleries containing your portfolio items with optional descriptions and details.

If you’ve got lots of different types of work, then you can easily group galleries into albums to keep things organized, or make a filterable portfolio.

One thing we really appreciate about Envira Gallery is how simple it is to add your portfolio anywhere on your WordPress website. It’s often just a click of a button.

We’ve tested this plugin thoroughly, so check out our Envira Gallery review for more information.

If you want step-by-step instructions on how to do this, we’ve even put together a handy guide on how to add a portfolio to your WordPress site.

Pricing: A free version is available, but the paid plan starts at $39.50 per year.

2. NextGEN Gallery

Looking to showcase your photography or creative work in style on your WordPress site?

NextGEN Gallery stands out as a popular choice for creating image galleries, albums, and photography portfolios. What we especially like about NextGEN Gallery is how easy it is to use. The interface is super intuitive, so whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned pro photographer, you’ll feel right at home. Plus, it even has built-in options if you’re thinking about selling your work online.

If you’re curious to learn even more about it, we’ve got a detailed NextGEN Gallery review.

When we put NextGEN Gallery to the test, we found that it gives you a ton of different styles and layout options to choose from. You can easily create albums to organize your work, set up portfolios that visitors can filter, arrange your images in columns, and so much more. It even lets you create cool portfolio carousels or sliders, compact portfolio albums, and display your work in a list or timeline format.

If you want to make money from your image portfolio, then NextGEN Gallery has you covered there too. The plugin lets you accept online payments through Stripe and PayPal, so you can turn your image portfolio website into an eCommerce store.

Pricing: Free to get started, but paid plans start at $69.50 per year.

3. WP Portfolio

WP Portfolio is the top choice for photographers, freelancers, developers, and agencies looking for customizable portfolio templates. It allows you to create a unique and professional showcase of your work.

For this article, we downloaded WP Portfolio and put it through its paces to see exactly what it can do. Right from the start, we were really impressed that we could instantly create portfolio websites using over 180 professionally designed templates.

We also learned that WP Portfolio was created by the people behind Astra Theme, which many consider to be one of the best WordPress themes ever. That’s a big thumbs up in our book, because it means you can expect the same level of ease and user-friendliness when you’re building your portfolio with this plugin.

Another thing that really stood out to us is the sheer variety of style choices you get. Plus, it doesn’t matter if you’re showcasing photos, videos, or other types of media – WP Portfolio supports it all. You can easily customize the layouts to perfectly match your brand and style without having to touch a single line of code or CSS.

Most importantly, we can confidently say that all the portfolio layouts look great on mobile devices, based on our own testing. They work just as smoothly and elegantly on phones and tablets as they do on laptops, which is crucial in today’s mobile-first world.

Pricing: Starts at a one-time fee of $39.

4. Visual Portfolio

Visual Portfolio is a really elegant WordPress portfolio plugin that makes it super easy to showcase your work. What’s great is how smoothly it works with the WordPress block editor, making setup and customization a total breeze.

Just like we did with WP Portfolio, we went ahead and downloaded Visual Portfolio to really put it to the test and see what it’s all about.

As we were playing around with all the different features, we were really impressed with the variety of layout styles it offers. With this plugin, you can create a beautiful portfolio in masonry, grid, justified, tiles, or carousel format.

Visual Portfolio also has its very own dedicated Gutenberg block. We particularly like this feature, as it makes adding a portfolio anywhere you like easier. Just insert the block, and you’re good to go.

What’s more, we noticed that it has a filter feature. This lets your visitors sort through your portfolio based on different categories, which is a fantastic way to help them find exactly what they’re looking for and really improves the browsing experience.

Pricing: Free to use.

5. Portfolio Pro

Looking for a super simple way to show off your work on your WordPress site? Then you might want to check out Portfolio Pro by RadiusTheme. It’s one of the easiest WordPress portfolio plugins we tried.

It comes packed with tons of layout options, including classic grids, dynamic isotope layouts, and engaging sliders. Plus, it’s really customizable, so you can tweak it to showcase your work in just about any style you can imagine.

Our experience with the plugin was great. Right from the start, you get to choose from a whopping 57 different layouts. And within each of those main layouts, we found a bunch of different variations and color options that you can play with to really personalize your image portfolio.

This WordPress plugin even gives you a lot of control over things like the carousel settings, how long the autoplay lasts, the size of your images, and how many columns to display on different devices like desktops, phones, and tablets. We especially liked this flexibility because it really lets you create a portfolio that feels unique to you and your work.

With Portfolio Pro, you also get a shortcode generator. Simply customize the appearance of your portfolio and then create a shortcode to display it anywhere on your website.

Pricing: Starts at $26 per year.

6. GridKit Portfolio Gallery

Looking for the absolute easiest way to create a simple photo gallery and portfolio on your WordPress site? Out of all the portfolio plugins we’ve tested, we found GridKit Portfolio Gallery to be the most beginner-friendly option.

No need for a lot of trial and error because this plugin lets you manage your portfolio items within projects, and it makes them super easy to sort. It works great with the WordPress block editor, but if you’re still using the older WordPress editor then it has you covered with shortcode support.

Now, there’s one thing to keep in mind: the free version of GridKit Portfolio Gallery has a limited number of layout styles and features. If you’re looking for more advanced options, then you’ll need to upgrade to their premium version. But it’s a fantastic starting point if you want to get a simple portfolio up and running quickly.

Pricing: Free to use.

7. Meow Gallery

Looking for a fantastic free way to create a portfolio on your WordPress website? Then you should definitely check out Meow Gallery. It’s an excellent WordPress gallery plugin that gives you a bunch of different layout options for your portfolio and works perfectly with the WordPress block editor. While we don’t use this plugin on our own websites, our research shows it’s a fantastic tool for creating photography and design portfolios.

After setting up the plugin on our demo site, we found that Meow Gallery makes it super easy to organize your portfolio items. You can choose from a variety of layouts, including the popular masonry style, a grid, stylish tiles, and a nicely-aligned justified layout. Plus, it lets you select the number of columns you want to display.

One thing we particularly like about Meow Gallery is that it comes with several extra add-on plugins that add more features to your portfolio. These add-ons include a lightbox, audio commentary, and external links.

Pricing: Free to use.

Bonus: SeedProd Drag-and-Drop Website Builder

Looking to build a stunning photography portfolio and have complete control over your website’s design? Then you should definitely check out SeedProd.

It’s not just a gallery plugin – it’s a powerful premium WordPress theme and page builder that you can absolutely use to design a beautiful photography portfolio from the ground up, and it has some excellent gallery features built right in.

We have used SeedProd across our partner websites to design attractive landing pages and even entire sites. So, we feel pretty confident saying that it’s one of the best drag-and-drop page builders on the market.

If you’re interested in all the details, we’ve got a detailed SeedProd review that you can dive into.

What’s really cool about SeedProd is that it lets you create completely custom WordPress themes without having to write a single line of code. You can start from a blank canvas or choose from hundreds of beautiful, ready-made website kits. And guess what? They even have a few designs specifically for portfolios to get you started quickly.

SeedProd offers 2 types of gallery widgets. The ‘Gallery’ block uses the default WordPress image gallery shortcode to embed simple, responsive galleries.

With the ‘Advanced’ settings, you can upload media files and adjust the number of columns, image size, and border size. You can also display your images in a lightbox popup.

SeedProd has an ‘Advanced Gallery’ block that allows you to add multiple galleries on your portfolio website.

As you add more photo galleries, you’ll see a smart filter. This feature lets you switch between categories easily, which can help improve user experience. Plus, it makes your gallery look neat.

Overall, we’re impressed with how easy it is to use SeedProd to create a beautiful portfolio page. The only downside we can think of is that SeedProd doesn’t have dedicated gallery features, such as a video and image slider.

Pricing: The free version is available in the WordPress repository, and the Pro plans start at $31.60 per year.

What Is the Best WordPress Portfolio Plugin?

With so many options, Envira Gallery is the best WordPress portfolio plugin you can use today.

It’s super easy to use, and you can display your photographs and designs to visitors in no time. There are multiple customization options, and it works with some of the most popular WordPress page builders.

Envira Gallery also ensures that your image portfolios are responsive and work seamlessly on desktops, mobile, and tablets.

There are plenty of cool add-ons you can incorporate, like watermarks, slideshows, password protection, WooCommerce integration, tags, and password protection.

FAQs About WordPress Portfolio Plugins

If you’re considering building a portfolio website, you might have some questions about WordPress and how it can help showcase your work. Here are some common questions answered to help you get started.

Is WordPress good for a design portfolio?

Yes, WordPress is an excellent choice for a design portfolio. It offers various themes and plugins that allow you to create stunning layouts that effectively showcase your work.

What is the best web host for a visual artist portfolio?

Some of the best web hosts for visual artist portfolios include Bluehost and SiteGround. These providers offer great performance, customer support, and easy WordPress integration.

How do I create a custom portfolio in WordPress?

In short, to create a custom portfolio in WordPress, you should choose a suitable portfolio plugin or theme. Then, you can add your projects, customize the layout, and use features like filters and categories to enhance user experience.

For more information, you can refer to our guide on how to create an online portfolio website in WordPress.

What are some of the best WordPress photography themes?

Some top WordPress photography themes include Astra, Neve, and Photo Fusion. These themes are designed with photographers in mind, featuring beautiful layouts and easy customization options.

If you want more options, then you’ll like our pick of the best free photography themes for WordPress.

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress portfolio plugins for designers and photographers. Next up, you may also want to see our guide on how to create an Etsy-like store with WordPress and our expert picks of must-have WordPress plugins for business websites.

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