Photo slideshows are becoming increasingly common in WordPress themes. They are used frequently on the home page to highlight featured content though a lot of premium themes now have gallery and portfolio page templates that help you show your best photographs too.
Today I will be looking at some of the best photo slideshow plugins available for WordPress. The majority of plugins are free though there are some good premium plugins available for those who are looking for additional functionality.
Free Photo Slideshow Plugins
One of the most popular image plugins available, NextGEN Gallery is a fully functional gallery plugin that comes with a useful slider option. You can set the default size of your slideshow and choose from a number of transition effects too. The colour scheme can be modified too.
Due to the popularity of NextGen, a huge number of plugins are available that extend the gallery. Examples include NextGEN Public Uploader, NextGEN Scroll Gallery, NextGEN Custom Fields, JJ NextGen Unload, Effects for NextGEN Gallery, NextGen GalleryView, NextGEN Gallery Voting, NextGEN-ImageFlow, NextGen Gallery SEO titles, NextGEN TinyMce Description, NextGEN Gallery Slidepress XML, NextGen Cooliris Gallery, NextGEN – Resize, User Access Manager, NextGEN Smooth Gallery, NextGEN Gallery Sidebar Widget, NextGen Gallery Add-ons, NextGEN Gallery Search, NGG Video Extend and NextGEN Monoslideshow (this isn’t even a full list!!).
NextGEN Gallery: Info | Download | Demo
A plugin that allows you to create dynamic slideshows on your website.
(a) Slideshow: Info | Download
A great plugin that lets you create slideshows and publish them with a shortcode or a widget.
Meteor Slides: Info | Download
A highly configurable slideshow plugin that comes with over 20 transition options. Slideshows are animated and thumbnails are created automatically.
SuperSlider-Show: Info & Download
A useful javascript slideshow plugin that is perfect for displaying your best content on your home page. Images are automatically linked to the corresponding WordPress post.
Featured Posts Slideshow: Info & Download
A featured post plugin that can be inserted anywhere on your website.
Featurific For WordPress: Info & Download
Lets you add a slideshow to your home page. Slides are taking from one or more categories and the slideshow styling can be customised to suit your needs.
Frontpage-Slideshow: Info & Download
Extends the default WordPress gallery and changes the view to the lightbox to highlight content.
Lightbox Gallery: Info & Download
9. WP Slideshow
A stylish featured posts image slideshow plugin that is easy to customise. In the options area you can modify the appearance of the the slideshow and set the category id for the slideshow.
WP Slideshow: Info & Download
10. Cleaner Gallery
Cleans the code that the default WordPress gallery produces. It works with 18 different lightbox plugins. Useful for those who want to use the ion-built gallery feature WordPress has.
Cleaner Gallery: Info | Download
11. Lazyest Gallery
A good gallery plugin that lets you easily create image slideshows. Slideshows can also be added your sidebar (and other areas) using a widget.
Lazyest Gallery: Info | Download
A beautiful Javascript powered slideshow plugin that lets you embed slideshows into any page or post using shortcodes.
Slideshow Gallery: Info & Download
Not related in any way to Slideshow Gallery, Slideshow Gallery Pro is a good slideshow plugin that uses AJAX and JQuery to displays images in posts and pages. Slideshows can be embedded using shortcodes.
Slideshow Gallery Pro: Info | Download
14. iSlidex
A featured post slideshow that automatically pulls images from each post category. It also includes a widget that can be configured independently from the main slider.
iSlidex: Info & Download
Lets you create a customisable image gallery and place it anywhere on your website. David Smith released a similar plugin that uses JQuery instead.
Featured Content Gallery: Info | Download
A simple slideshow plugin that comes with 27 transition, 8 easing effects and 8 cufon fonts.
All-In-One Slideshow: Info | Download
17. Lightbox Plus
Uses lightbox to highlight images, videos and slideshows.
Lightbox Plus: Info | Download
18. Content Slider by SlideDeck
A lite version of the JQuery powered slideshow plugin SlideDeck. One of the best looking slideshow plugins available to users. Although limited in comparison to the premium version, this is still one of the best free slideshow plugins available to WordPress users.
19. WP Nivo Slider
A simple image slider that shows images pulled from a set category from your blog or website.
WP Nivo Slider: Info & Download
20. Shutter Reloaded
Uses lightbox to darken the current page to highlight images. Visitors can scroll to the next image by clicking on the arrows at the bottom of the page.
Shutter Reloaded: Info | Download
A featured post slider that comes with three transition effects: random, swirl and rain.
Coin Slider 4 WordPress: Info | Download
22. SmoothGallery
Lets you embed SmoothGallery into your posts and pages.
SmoothGallery: Info | Download
A clean and simple Javascript slideshow plugin that integrates into your posts and pages with ease.
Portfolio Slideshow: Info & Download
Add a slideshow to your website using your Flickr photos. There are 13 ways of displaying your photos and 8 different styles.
Flickr + Highslide: Info & Download
25. DM Albums
A good plugin that adds an inline photo album to your website.
26. vSlider
A JQuery based image slideshow that can be used to highlight featured articles.
vSlider: Info & Download
Display images on your home page from your latest blog posts or set categories.
Dynamic Content Gallery: Info | Download
Uses Javascript and CSS to insert a slideshow into any post or page. Slideshows can be embedded using shortcodes.
xili floom slideshow: Info & Download
29. GRAND FlAGallery
A powerful flash and JQuery based plugin that lets you highlight images, audio and video.
GRAND FlAGallery: Info | Download
30. Slideshow
Add a slideshow to any page or post by using the shortcode .
Slideshow: Info & Download
An image slideshow that uses a page flipping effect to show to the next image.
Page Flip Image Gallery: Info | Download | Demo
32. Google AJAX Feed Slide Show Widget
Displays a photo slideshow in your sidebar via a widget or in a post or page using shortcode.
Google AJAX Feed Slide Show Widget: Info & Download
A featured post slideshow plugin that can showcase up to 5 posts or pages.
WP Content Slideshow: Info| Download | Demo
34. WordPress Thumbnail Slider
A featured post slider that helps you highlight your best content.
WordPress Thumbnail Slider: Info & Download
35. Superb Slideshow
A beautiful fade in image slideshow that lets you hyperlink images.
Superb Slideshow: Info | Download
A great plugin that displays all images uploaded to a post or page as a slideshow.
ShowTime Slideshow: Info | Download
37. Smooth Slider
Create a dynamic featured post slideshow to showcase your best content.
Smooth Slider: Info & Download
Display your Flickr photos as a slideshow on your blog.
flickr-slideshow-wrapper: Info & Download
Premium Photo Slideshow Plugins
39. Slideshow Plugin
Single Site License: $19.95, Multi Site License: $49.95, Developer License: $79.95
A fantastic premium photo slideshow plugin that lets you create professional looking slideshows in minutes.The slideshow can be added to posts, pages and widgets.
Slideshow Plugin: Info & Download
40. SlideDeck
Lite Version: Free, Single Site License: $99, Multi Site License: $299
Reviewed last year, SlideDeck is a fantastic JQuery slideshow plugin that lets you highlight your best content.
SlideDeck: Info & Download
41. Portfolio Slideshow Pro
Single Site License: $15, Developer License: $45
Recently updated with some great new features, Portfolio Slideshow Pro is a highly customisable photo slideshow plugin that lets you embed slideshows using shortcodes. There are a number of different layouts available and slideshows are optimised for mobile devices too.
Portfolio Slideshow Pro: Info & Download | Demo
42. Thumbnail Gallery
Regular License: $15
A great plugin that lets you add a photo gallery slideshow into your website. The plugin is optimised for use on mobile devices.
Thumbnail Gallery: Info & Download
43. Simple WordPress Gallery
Regular License: $10
Uses JQuery and AJAX to present a beautiful gallery slideshow to visitors.
Simple WordPress Gallery: Info & Download
44. Premium Gallery Manager
Regular License: $20
Create beautiful galleries and slideshows with just a few clicks. The plugin has a very professional feel to it and galleries can be modified by simply dragging and dropping images where you want them.
Premium Gallery Manager: Info & Download
45. Minimy
Regular License: $15
A beautiful premium photo plugin that has a cool slideshow option. Photos transition smoothly and captions can be added too.
Minimy: Info & Download
46. DDSliderWP
Regular License: $20
Billed as the most powerful slider plugin ever created, DDSliderWP is a beautiful SEO friendly slider plugin that comes with 11 professional transitions.
DDSliderWP: Info & Download
47. uBillboard
Regular License: $20
Another plugin that bills itself as the greatest slider plugin, uBillBoard boasts 18 transition effects, pagination and automatic image scaling.
uBillboard: Info & Download
48. Slider gallery shortcode
Regular License: $16
Lets you add slideshows to posts and pages in seconds by using the shortcode [slider].
Slider gallery shortcode: Info & Download
49. WordPress Media Gallery
Regular License: $18
An inline gallery that can be used to showcase images or video. The plugin has 7 transitions, a unique admin panel to control slideshows and lots of effects.
WordPress Media Gallery: Info & Download
50. DisplayBuddy
Unlimited Site License: $150
One of the biggest and most feature rich photo plugins available for WordPress. iThemes promotes the product as 9 plugins in one as it includes a wide range of different features including featured posts and slideshows.
DisplayBuddy: Info & Download
I hope you have enjoyed this list of free and premium photo slideshow plugins. I’ve tried to include something for everyone: featured post plugins, regular photo galleries and plugins that integrate well with other products.
Another two premium plugins you may want to consider are Picture Slider and SliderVilla. Some free plugins that didn’t make the list include Content Slide, Sponsors Slideshow Widget and Combo Slideshow. There are a lot of other plugins that didn’t make the list so don’t be too disheartened if you are looking for something unique and you can’t find it in this list 
Thanks,
Kevin
thanks for sharing info about these plugins
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