7 Best WordPress Portfolio Plugins for Designers & Photographers

Building a portfolio website as a designer or photographer doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right WordPress plugin, you can showcase your work beautifully and professionally in just a few steps.

We’ve helped a lot of designers and photographers start their own websites, so we asked them what they look for when designing an online portfolio.

Then, we went ahead and tested popular plugins to see if they really deliver on their promises. After trying out all the options, Envira Gallery stood out as a strong contender because of how easy it is to design and organize image galleries online. We were also impressed by NextGEN Gallery and WP Portfolio, among other plugin options.

In this article, we’ll introduce you to the 7 best WordPress portfolio plugins designed to help you create stunning portfolios with ease.

Quick Pick: The Best WordPress Portfolio Plugins

Need a fast summary? Here’s a brief overview of the plugins we’ll discuss in this article:

#	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

Many WordPress portfolio themes come with built-in functionality to create a portfolio website. This makes many beginners wonder why anyone would want to choose a plugin when themes can do the job.

WordPress themes are only supposed to handle the visual appearance of your website. This includes colors, styles, layouts, and the presentation of your content.

Plugins, on the other hand, are the proper way to add functionality to your WordPress sites, such as sliders, contact forms, and more.

Adding a portfolio comes under functionality, which is why we recommend using a plugin.

Using a theme for functionality ties your WordPress site with that theme. If you change the theme, then you will lose your portfolio data.

On the other hand, if you decide to use a portfolio plugin, then you are free to use it with any theme you want.

How We Test and Review WordPress Portfolio Plugins

There are several important factors to consider when choosing a portfolio plugin.

First, ease of use is key. You want a plugin that lets you set up your portfolio quickly and without a headache.

Compatibility with the WordPress block editor is also important, as it allows for smooth integration and makes it easy to add your portfolio anywhere on your site.

Keeping these points in mind, here’s a look at other factors we considered when reviewing the plugins:

• Customization and Flexibility: We looked at how customizable each plugin is. This includes options for different layouts like grids, masonry, and tiles. It’s also about adding filters and templates that you can tweak to fit your style.
• Mobile Responsiveness: It’s super important for portfolios to look great and work smoothly on mobile devices. If they don’t, you might lose potential clients who check your work on their phones.
• Support for Media Types: We rated the plugins 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: We considered some extra cool features, like filterable portfolios, the ability to use shortcodes, and add-ons like lightboxes or audio commentary that can enhance the viewer’s experience.
• Visual Aesthetics: We paid attention to how nice the portfolios look overall. The variety in layouts and design really matters when you’re trying to impress potential clients.

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

Envira Gallery is the best premium WordPress gallery plugin for creating stunning image galleries and albums on your portfolio website. With its user-friendly interface, it’s no wonder that Envira Gallery is a favorite among photographers and designers.

We have tested it thoroughly to learn about all its features, which you can see in our Envira Gallery review.

Now, we found creating a portfolio with Envira Gallery quite easy. This tool lets you set up galleries containing your portfolio items with optional descriptions and details. You can also group galleries into albums or make a filterable portfolio.

We also like that this plugin makes it easy to add your portfolio anywhere on your WordPress site with the click of a button.

For detailed instructions, you can take a look at our 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

NextGEN Gallery stands out as a popular choice for creating image galleries, albums, and photography portfolios. We most like the fact that it features an intuitive interface that caters to both beginners and expert photographers. It also offers eCommerce options for those looking to sell their work.

If you want more information, feel free to read our NextGEN Gallery review.

During testing, we discovered that NextGEN Gallery includes multiple styles and layout choices with support for albums, filterable portfolios, columns, and more. You can also create a portfolio carousel/slider, compact portfolio albums, and list or timeline-style layouts.

The plugin also lets you accept online payments through Stripe and PayPal. We found it to be very handy for those who want to make money from their image portfolio website and turn it 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 and tested this plugin to check out all its features. During setup, we liked that we could instantly create portfolio websites from 180+ professionally designed portfolio templates.

We also learned that WP Portfolio was created by the creators of the Astra Theme, which is one of the best WordPress themes of all time. This means you can expect the same level of ease and user-friendliness when building your portfolio.

Another thing that stood out to us is that it comes with multiple style choices, supports all media types layouts, and can be easily customized without writing any code or CSS.

Most importantly, based on our experience, all portfolio layouts look equally great on mobile devices and work as elegantly as they do on laptops.

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

4. Visual Portfolio

Visual Portfolio is an elegant WordPress portfolio plugin that enables you to create beautiful portfolio galleries. Its seamless integration with Gutenberg blocks makes it a breeze to set up and customize.

Like WP Portfolio, we also downloaded and put this plugin to the test.

Along the way, we’ve experimented with different features, and we appreciate its multiple layout styles. With this plugin, you can create a beautiful portfolio in masonry, grid, justified, tiles, or carousel format.

Visual Portfolio also has a dedicated Gutenberg block. We particularly like this feature, as it makes adding a portfolio anywhere you like easier.

What’s more, we noticed that it has a filter feature that lets users sort portfolios based on categories. This definitely helps improve the user’s browsing experience.

Pricing: Free to use.

5. Portfolio Pro

Portfolio Pro by RadiusTheme is one of the easiest-to-use WordPress portfolio plugins we tried. It offers extensive layout options, including grid, isotope, and slider layouts. Plus, its customizable features make it suitable for showcasing your work in various styles.

Our experience with the plugin was great. During setup, you can choose from 57 layouts, including grid, isotope, slider, and more. Within each layout, we found multiple layout variations and color options you can use to customize your image portfolio.

The WordPress plugin even offers options to control the carousel, autoplay timeout, image size, number of columns to display on desktop, mobile, or tablet, and more. We particularly liked this flexibility because it helps you create a unique portfolio.

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

Pricing: Starts at $26 per year.

6. GridKit Portfolio Gallery

GridKit Portfolio Gallery, out of all the portfolio plugins we tried, is the most beginner-friendly option for creating a simple WordPress photo gallery and portfolio.

No need for a lot of trial and error because this plugin allows you to manage portfolio items in projects and make them sortable. We also found that it comes with support for the new WordPress block editor with shortcode support for an older WordPress editor.

One drawback is that the base plugin has limited layout styles and features. You’ll need the premium version to access more styles and features.

Pricing: Free to use.

7. Meow Gallery

Meow Gallery is an excellent free WordPress gallery plugin that supports multiple portfolio layout options and fully integrates with the Gutenberg block editor. While we don’t use this plugin on our 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 the Meow Gallery plugin allows you to organize your portfolio items by choosing from multiple layouts, including masonry, grid, tile, and justified. It also lets us select the number of columns we want to display.

Our personal favorite is that Meow Gallery comes with several add-on plugins that can be used for additional functionality. These add-ons include a lightbox, audio commentary, external links, and more.

Pricing: Free to use.

Bonus: SeedProd Drag-and-Drop Website Builder

SeedProd is a premium WordPress theme and page builder plugin that can be used for designing a beautiful photography portfolio. While it’s not solely a gallery plugin, it does offer excellent gallery photo capabilities.

We have used SeedProd across our partner websites to design attractive landing pages and even entire sites. So, we’re in a good spot to say that it’s the best drag-and-drop page builder on the market. With the easy-to-use visual builder, adding a portfolio only takes a few seconds.

For more details, you can see our extensive SeedProd review.

The plugin lets you create custom WordPress themes from scratch without writing a single line of code. You can choose from hundreds of beautiful, ready-made website kits, including a handful of portfolio-specific designs.

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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