88
Lightbox with PhotoSwipe
Lightweight photo viewing that stays out of your way.
HealthyDeclining
88/100
Users appreciate the simple setup and lightweight code despite some minor mobile display bugs.
Active installs
~47,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 20k+
Rating
4.9★
114 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-24%
Declining
132 → 100 installs/day
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Declining · -24% in the last year
132/day a year ago→100/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayLightbox with PhotoSwipe is well-regarded as a clean, lightweight, and easy-to-use lightbox plugin with a responsive developer, though a handful of users note specific functional limitations around captions and EXIF data handling.
What people like
- +Simple, lightweight implementation that works out of the box without complex configuration×6
- +Clean, minimalistic design that looks good on both desktop and mobile without customization×4
- +Responsive and competent developer support×5
- +Supports image grouping into galleries via data tags
- +Offers multiple PhotoSwipe versions (e.g. v4) as a fallback option in settings, resolving display issues for some users
- +Free alternative to expensive or overly complex lightbox plugins×2
Common complaints
- −EXIF data display for WebP images was removed in an update, breaking functionality that had previously worked
- −No true full-screen mode (hiding all browser chrome), a feature available in competing plugins like ARI FancyBox
- −Caption display on mobile is problematic — a large grey transparent strip appears over images, making captions and images look poor together
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.96★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.90★
- 6%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 114 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-04-11★★★★★The Best PhotoSwipeJosh Journey
- 2026-03-13★★★★★Works perfectMichael Rieder
- 2026-02-19★★★★★Sharp photos finallyRoland Bischoff
- 2025-05-27★★★★★Lightbox was easy to implementniguramu
- 2024-12-17★★★★★Very useful plugin. 10 starssuiramus
- 2024-10-23★★★★★Number one WP lightboxtastymouse
- 2024-10-03★★★★★Super lightweight and does all the things!keempoo
- 2024-02-01★★★★★Awesome Pluginbenyiyang
- 2024-01-15★★★★★Una lastimaelyeti2017
- 2024-01-10★★★★★Best lightbox on WPthkleinert
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Lightbox with PhotoSwipe
Top Media plugins, ranked by score.For developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
92
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
100
Prior 7-day baseline
101
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
4,872
Mean release-day peak (30d)
332
Latest day · 2026-06-03(spike)
-8.0%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
13%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.42
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
97%
5★ share in analyzed sample
6%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.97 → 4.96★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered