Adding a YouTube videos in WordPress blog posts is very easy. But if you want to add a YouTube video gallery in WordPress, then you will need a plugin for that. These plugins not only display YouTube videos in a gallery, they also optimize video loading for speed and SEO. In this article, we have hand-picked some of the best YouTube video gallery plugins for WordPress.
Each of these YouTube plugins for WordPress come with their own set of features and all of them are available for free.
1. Envira Gallery
Envira Gallery is the best WordPress gallery plugin, and it comes with a videos addon.
Envira allows you to create galleries from your YouTube videos, Vimeo, Wistia, and even self-hosted WordPress videos.
You can display your galleries, paginate galleries, open the videos in a lightbox, and more.
It also comes with an easy to use widget. You can drag and drop it to a sidebar and display a video gallery in any widget ready area.
2. YouTube Simple Gallery
YouTube Simple Gallery is a very simple and easy to use YouTube gallery plugin. It uses custom post types to add videos and you can even categorize your videos. The plugin comes with a shortcode that you can insert from the post editor screen. Upon activation, it automatically creates a video gallery page containing the shortcode. You can edit this page and shortcode to your own needs.
The plugin opens videos in a nice lightbox popup. You can control the video and thumbnail sizes from the plugin’s settings page. One downside of the plugin is that it displays videos in a plain list format. However, if you know a little bit of CSS you can easily convert it into a responsive grid.
3. YouTube Showcase
YouTube Showcase is another easy to use YouTube plugin for WordPress. It utilizes custom post types for videos. You can add categories and tags to your videos and add videos as featured. Upon activation, the plugin can automatically setup video gallery page for you. It also comes with two easy to use widgets for featured videos and recent videos.
The default gallery layout is out-of-the box beautiful. It allows your users to browse through all the videos without even leaving the page.
4. YourChannel: YouTube Channel on Your Website
If you manage your own YouTube channel or like curating videos, then YourChannel offers the easiest way to display showcase your videos quickly. Simply enter a user or channel id and it will fetch the videos for you. Not only that, it will also fetch the channel’s banner image, subscriber and view counts, uploads, playlists, etc.
You can easily add showcase your channel on any WordPress post or page using the simple shortcode. It also allows you to choose the thumbnail size, meta data display, play button settings, etc.
5. WordPress Video Gallery
WordPress Video Gallery plugin is a powerful and highly customizable YouTube gallery plugin for WordPress. It comes with an HD flv player built-in and it can show your videos in customized skins with HD quality. The default settings should work for most websites but if you want to change them, then you will find plenty of options to do just about anything you want.
The plugin comes with some sample videos and automatically creates video gallery page. You can simply go to the page and see how your gallery would look like. Once you are satisfies you can add the default videos and add your own.
6. Workbox Video from Vimeo & Youtube Plugin
Workbox Video plugin works with YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia. It allows you to easily create your video galleries by simply adding video URLs. The plugin comes with a comprehensive settings page, allowing you to control and customize your video gallery. You can add the video gallery on any WordPress post or page using shortcodes.
The best part is that you can create multiple galleries with different videos. This allows you to curate your videos into categories, topics, or channels.
7. uTubeVideo Gallery
uTubeVideo Gallery plugin is a feature rich video gallery plugin for WordPress. It allows you to create multiple galleries and add them to WordPress post and pages. uTubeVideo gallery automatically fetches thumbnails for your videos and caches them on your WordPress site resulting in faster page load.
8. WPG Cool Gallery
WPG Cool Gallery is an easy to use responsive gallery plugin for YouTube and Vimeo. It displays video in a nice grid layout. Videos are displayed in a nice popup. You can add gallery into WordPress posts and pages using shortcodes. The plugin also loads videos with ajax calls allowing your users to see all videos on the same page.
9. Ultimate Video Gallery
Ultimate Video Gallery provides a quick and easier way to manage your YouTube videos in WordPress. Simply paste the video URLs and it will automatically fetch the video details from YouTube. You can create unlimited galleries and easily add those galleries to your WordPress posts or pages using shortcode.
We hope this article helped you find the best free YouTube gallery plugin for your WordPress site. You may also want to check out these useful YouTube tips to spice up your WordPress site with videos.
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I see that this article was last updated this month (Feb 2019), but a good number of the plugins promoted here for WP beginners haven’t been updated in 5 years or more. I personally wouldn’t recommend any beginners use such out-of-date plugins.
Plus your number one choice for the best youtube video gallery plugin can’t do videos without paying — $99 — despite your statement that “Each of these YouTube plugins for WordPress come with their own set of features and all of them are available for free.”
Hi Nate,
We use the WordPress default last updated date functionality. We updated the article to fix a link, and WP by default changes the last updated date.
Also, is there an annual renewal on this program for support and updates and if so, what is the fee if the gold plan is purchased? Sorry for the bother but I simply cannot get them to respond to pre-sale support inquiries
Hi Tim,
Yes you will need to update your license after an year. You can continue to use the plugin after one year but you will not be able to get updates and support after your license expires.
Hi and thanks for a great post. I am looking for a WP Video Gallery (Grid) plugin which I can use to present videos which I have produced myself and are stored in the WP Media library. Any clue?
#5 WordPress Video Gallery – you have to buy their custom theme in order for the plugin to work properly. A hidden surprise..
Does anyone know if there there any WordPress plugins that can play playlists in gallery format AND have the ability for viewers to ‘like’ the videos from within the host website?
Thanks,
Richard.
I am using buddypress and would like to have another buddypress profile tab that will display a gallery of youtube videos (for example, the last 10 videos the member added to their youtube channel) for that member.
Any ideas on how to accomplish this? Is this possible with one of the plugins above?
I was thinking I could capture their youtube related info that one of these plugins requires via BP Extended profiles, and I know how to add another buddypress tab, with a shortcode. But not sure how to feed each members youtube info to the shortcode dynamically.
Not sure if Im on the right track or if there is a better way.
Hi my client wants to resume video at same position he left any idea if there is any plugin with that functionality?
Workbox just updated our video plugin. We think it’s much better now, and still free!
Please let us know if you have any comments.
I downloaded Envira, but it looks like the video add-on is not free. Is this true?
Yes, it is available with the paid plan.
I’m looking for a video gallery that shows thumbnails on the left, no text just thumbnails. No gradients etc. Do any of these galleries fit the bill?
Hi there
I am looking for a solution that will auto-update my WordPress site with new videsos daily. I will be creating a video gallery, and I am looking for a plugin that can automatically fetch videos from Youtube, and update my site automatically (ie no manual intervention). Any ideas ?
Thanks so much for a great website, I visit your site regularly
WP Instant Youtube Video Gallery does exactly what you want. There’s a free version and a premium version (depending on your needs). Literally took 1 minute to setup a constantly updated video gallery with 2000+ pages of results for my niche search term.
I am also looking for a similar plugin but have not found one that works yet.
WP Instant Youtube Video Gallery is not available anymore.
I have a bit confusion about creating video galleries.
I want to create a category (video gallery) on my wordpress blog but just want to know if that can be harmful. Video galleries have only videos in them and no content (approx), so will it get caught by Google algorithms in Thin content category and might run a penalty on my site?
Yes it is a possibility that with only videos your page may rank lower and even penalized. It would be best if you can add more content around your video gallery to avoid this.
Envira video add-on is not free. It comes with the $99.00 option.
Yes it is not free.
I am looking for a gallery that will be a grid, activate when you mouse over, and also allow you to put in videos from various websites, not necessarily all on youtube/vimeo. Pref free but will buy later if necessary. Also that is easy to use for a complete beginner. Thank you
Article is a good read. WordPress comes with number of plugins that fulfills any complex business requirements. It is important to understand what functionalities are required and choose the modules and plugins accordingly. Make sure to use the authenticated plugins that helps to improve the security of a website. WordPress provides inbuilt YouTube plugin that can be customized as per the requirements. This plugin helps to add video from YouTube and can make it downloadable. Make sure to keep it updated to have a secured data streaming.