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Modula vs NextGEN
NextGEN Gallery (by Imagely) and Modula both build galleries in WordPress, with different strengths. What each one includes and costs.
Checked on 16 October 2026 against Imagely’s own pages.
Modula fits if
- You want a visual editor with a live preview, and a grid you draw yourself.
- You want image compression and a CDN in the plan, not as a separate product.
- You’d like a lifetime licence: NextGEN sells yearly plans only.
NextGEN fits if
- You sell prints, with lab fulfilment built in.
- You want proofing and a shop in the same plugin.
- You publish straight from Lightroom.
01
Live demo
A Modula gallery, live on this page
Hover the photos: this is the Under Image effect, set in the editor without any code.
02
At a glance
Modula
NextGEN
One site
$27.30 the first year, then $78 a year
$69.50 the first year, then $139 a year
Lifetime licence
From $269
Not offered
Money-back guarantee
14 days
14 days
Rating and sites
4.7 / 5 from 600+ ratings, 160,000+ sites
4.3 / 5 from 4,341 ratings, 300,000+ sites
03
Feature by feature
Modula and NextGEN, row by row
For Modula, the plan each feature starts in. For the other plugin, what its own pages say.
Building galleries
| Feature | Modula | NextGEN Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Gallery layouts | 15 types, from justified to Polaroid, Story and BnB | 4 free, 8 more in Starter and Plus |
| A grid you draw yourself | Every plan | No |
| Visual editor with live preview | Every plan | Preview inside the editor window |
| Hover effects | 44 effects and a hover builder | Hover captions in Plus |
| Video galleries | Every plan | Pro |
| Gallery filters | Every plan | Tags free, search and filters in Plus |
| Albums | Trio and up | Free |
| Gallery slider | Trio and up | Free slideshow |
| Pagination and “load more” | Business | Numbered pages, no “load more” |
| Galleries from posts or Instagram | Trio and up | Pro (Instagram, TikTok) |
Lightbox
| Feature | Modula | NextGEN Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Lightbox with slideshow | Every plan | Free, Pro Lightbox in Plus |
| Fullscreen | Trio and up | Plus |
| Zoom in the lightbox | Business | Not documented |
| A link to every image | Business | Plus |
Protection & selling
| Feature | Modula | NextGEN Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Password-protected galleries | Trio and up | WordPress page password |
| Right-click protection | Trio and up | Plus |
| Watermarks | Business, text or image | Free, text or image |
| Visitors can download images | Business | Pro, free or paid |
| Sell prints or downloads | Not built in | Pro, with print-lab fulfilment |
| EXIF data | Business | Imported, shown in the admin |
Speed & AI
| Feature | Modula | NextGEN Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Image compression | Trio and up | Resizing only |
| Image CDN | Trio and up | Separate product, $100/yr |
| AI alt text, titles and captions | Every plan | No |
Teams & clients
| Feature | Modula | NextGEN Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Role permissions | Business | Free |
| Client proofing | Business | Pro |
| Comments on photos | Business | Plus (Pro Lightbox) |
| White label | Business | No |
Works with
| Feature | Modula | NextGEN Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| Page builders | Block editor, Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder | Block editor; others by shortcode |
| Brings existing galleries over | Free migrators, installed from Modula | WordPress galleries only |
Checked on 16 October 2026 against NextGEN Gallery’s own pages: www.imagely.com/pricing/, www.imagely.com/features/, wordpress.org/plugins/nextgen-gallery/.
04
Where Modula is different
01
A grid you draw yourself
Modula’s custom grid lets you set the size of every tile by dragging it, on every plan. NextGEN has preset layouts only.
02
An editor that shows the gallery
In Modula 3.0 you build the gallery in a visual editor and see it change as you go. NextGEN shows a preview inside its editing window.
03
A lifetime option
Every Modula plan comes as a yearly or a lifetime licence. NextGEN’s plans are yearly, with the first-year price doubling at renewal.
05
What reviewers wrote
“In general, Modula is the best option for people who want the easiest way to create stylish galleries with images or videos.”
“If you’re looking for the options that let you create a great-looking image gallery in as little time as possible, you’ll probably be happiest with Modula.”
“…the galleries look great (and you get that neat grid customizer feature), and it still has some advanced features such as gallery filters, deep linking, and video support.”
06
Questions
Questions, answered
Yes. Modula’s Migrate tab finds your NextGEN galleries and installs a free migrator in one click. It copies the galleries and their images, titles, alt text and captions into Modula, and leaves the old NextGEN galleries in place unless you choose to delete them.
No. Your galleries stay in the same pages and posts, so their addresses don’t change.
Starter (one site) has video galleries, filters, the lightbox and Modula AI. Trio (three sites) adds albums, sliders, password protection, image compression and the image CDN. Business (five sites) adds watermarks, proofing, comments, role permissions and white label. Compare the plans.
Every plan comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
We checked Imagely’s pricing page, documentation and WordPress.org listing on 16 October 2026. If something has changed since, write to us and we’ll update the page.