Imagely
TL;DR
Imagely is the WordPress photography toolkit from the makers of NextGEN Gallery — the industry-standard gallery plugin since 2007, running on 400,000+ websites. It bundles the plugin with 96+ photography themes, eCommerce, client proofing, watermarking, and Adobe Lightroom sync. It is freemium: the free NextGEN Gallery plugin holds 4.3 stars from ~4,300 WordPress.org reviews, while Imagely Pro runs $279/year for 5 sites. Right now it is 60% off with code PHOTODAY until August 23, 2026.
Key Facts
Free version: NextGEN Gallery is free on WordPress.org — 4.3 stars from ~4,300 reviews and 300,000+ active installs. The free plugin covers basic galleries (slideshow, thumbnail, image browser), two album styles and lightbox effects. Most modern layouts, watermarking, eCommerce and proofing are locked behind Imagely paid plans. Paid plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Pricing
Starting at Free (NextGEN Gallery), or $279/year for Pro (5 sites)
Starter
- Single-site license with lightbox displays, retina images, infinite scroll and watermarking
- Core gallery layouts: film, mosaic, thumbnail, slideshow and image browser
- Two album layouts: grid and list
Plus
- Hover captions, image protection, animations and social sharing
- Fullscreen lightbox, image commenting, deeplinking and frontend search
- More layouts: filmstrip, masonry, mosaic, tile, sidescroll and blog-style
Pro
- Everything in Plus plus the Imagely theme and 96+ photography designs
- Full eCommerce: payments, image proofing, price lists, coupons, optimized checkout
- Automated print fulfillment, tax calculation, digital downloads and Lightroom integration
Ultra
- Everything in Pro for up to 25 websites
- Multisite support and priority support — best for agencies and multi-site photography businesses
Additional Pricing Information
Imagely is freemium. The NextGEN Gallery plugin is free on WordPress.org; Imagely paid plans are annual subscriptions sold by site count: Starter $139/year (1 site), Plus $199/year (3 sites), Pro $279/year (5 sites, most popular) and Ultra $399/year (25 sites). Renewals are at full price — there is no lifetime license. As of mid-August 2026 Imagely is running a World Photo Day promo — 60% off with code PHOTODAY, bringing Pro to $111.60/year. The discount applies to new purchases and upgrades until August 23, 2026.
Details
What is Imagely?
Imagely is the company behind NextGEN Gallery, the WordPress gallery plugin that has been the industry standard since 2007, and Imagely Pro is the paid subscription that turns the plugin into a full photography website toolkit. Free NextGEN Gallery covers the basics — slideshow, thumbnail and image-browser galleries, two album styles, lightbox effects, Gutenberg blocks — and holds a 4.3-star rating from roughly 4,300 WordPress.org reviews with 300,000+ active installs. The paid plans layer on 12+ modern gallery layouts, 96+ photography themes, eCommerce (Stripe/PayPal payments, price lists, coupons, optimized checkout), image proofing, automated print fulfillment, watermarking and right-click protection, frontend search, Adobe Lightroom sync, and new integrations like Instagram sync and Google Photos/Dropbox imports. It is a genuinely powerful, full-featured product for photographers who want to run a business on WordPress — 400,000+ sites trust it. The trade-offs: it is annual-subscription-only with renewals at full price, the free plugin is dated and heavily gated, and the v4 update in late 2025 shipped with enough regressions to draw a wave of 1-star reviews. For photographers and agencies that want galleries plus selling plus proofing in one bundle, Imagely is a serious option — just be ready to pay the subscription and keep an eye on updates.
Key Features
- *Gallery Layouts** — 12+ display types: film, filmstrip, masonry, mosaic, tile, sidescroll, blog-style, slideshow and image browser, each deeply customizable
- *Albums** — group galleries into browsable collections with cover photos and breadcrumbs
- *eCommerce** — sell prints and digital downloads with Stripe/PayPal, custom price lists, coupons, tax calculation and an optimized checkout
- *Print Fulfillment** — automatically ship high-quality prints to customers with no markup or commissions
- *Client Proofing** — visitors select and customize images for purchase
- *Watermarking & Protection** — text/image watermarks, right-click and drag protection, password-protected galleries
- *Adobe Lightroom Integration** — create and sync galleries from Lightroom collections without logging into the site
- *Instagram Sync** — new: pull your Instagram photos and carousels into galleries automatically
- *Google Photos & Dropbox Imports** — import images directly from cloud sources
- *Frontend Search** — filter galleries by tag, alt text, filename and description
- *Social Sharing** — images optimized for Open Graph and X sharing
- *The Imagely Theme** — 96+ photography-focused designs for a turnkey website
- *Performance** — lazy loading, image compression and object caching keep photo-heavy pages fast
Who is it for?
- Photographers, wedding and portfolio sites that want a full photography website, not just a gallery
- WordPress owners selling prints or digital downloads who want eCommerce built in rather than bolted on
- Studios that need client proofing and automated print fulfillment
- Photographers using Adobe Lightroom who want galleries to sync automatically
- Anyone who wants a turnkey bundle: plugin + themes + support in one subscription
Who is it NOT for?
- Casual bloggers who just want a simple, fast gallery — the free plugin is dated and paid plans start at $139/year
- Sites on critical launches who can't afford a rough major update — v4 showed Imagely ships regressions
- Non-WordPress site owners — Imagely only works on WordPress
- Budget users who dislike subscriptions — it's annual-only and renewals are at full price
The Bottom Line
Imagely is the heavyweight WordPress photography toolkit — the maker of NextGEN Gallery, trusted by 400,000+ sites, with serious built-in eCommerce, proofing, Lightroom sync and 96+ themes. If you run a photography business on WordPress, it is one of the most complete options you can buy, and at 60% off with code PHOTODAY, Pro for $111.60/year is a genuinely good deal. The catches: it's a subscription that renews at full price, the free plugin is dated and gated, and the late-2025 v4 release left a trail of 1-star reviews that you should weigh before upgrading anything critical. Buy it for the bundle, budget for the renewal, and don't rush major updates.
Visit website →