magnific-popup vs viewerjs vs lightbox2 vs lightgallery.js
JavaScript Image Gallery Libraries Comparison
1 Year
magnific-popupviewerjslightbox2lightgallery.jsSimilar Packages:
What's JavaScript Image Gallery Libraries?

These libraries provide developers with tools to display images and videos in an overlay or gallery format, enhancing the user experience by allowing for easy navigation and viewing of media content without leaving the current page. They are widely used in web development to create visually appealing and interactive media presentations, making it easier for users to engage with images and videos.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
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Publish
License
magnific-popup69,56511,3881.05 MB6748 months agoMIT
viewerjs63,2027,961504 kB353 months agoMIT
lightbox233,9136,272657 kB654 months ago-
lightgallery.js9,9775,325611 kB1-GPLv3
Feature Comparison: magnific-popup vs viewerjs vs lightbox2 vs lightgallery.js

Ease of Use

  • magnific-popup:

    Magnific Popup is straightforward to use, with a simple API that allows for quick implementation. It provides a good balance of features and ease of use, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced developers.

  • viewerjs:

    Viewer.js is also easy to use, focusing on a clean interface and straightforward implementation. It requires minimal setup, allowing developers to quickly integrate it into their projects.

  • lightbox2:

    Lightbox2 is designed for simplicity, making it easy to implement with minimal configuration. It requires just a few lines of HTML and CSS to get started, making it ideal for developers who want a quick solution without extensive setup.

  • lightgallery.js:

    Lightgallery.js offers a user-friendly API and extensive documentation, but it may require more initial setup compared to Lightbox2. It provides a variety of options that can be customized, which may take some time to configure but enhances flexibility.

Customization Options

  • magnific-popup:

    Magnific Popup provides a moderate level of customization, allowing for adjustments in animations and styles. It strikes a balance between ease of use and customization, making it suitable for a variety of projects.

  • viewerjs:

    Viewer.js offers customization primarily focused on the viewing experience, allowing developers to adjust zoom levels, interface elements, and more. It is less about gallery presentation and more about image interaction.

  • lightbox2:

    Lightbox2 offers limited customization options, focusing on a clean and consistent design. While it provides basic options for styling, it may not be suitable for projects that require extensive customization.

  • lightgallery.js:

    Lightgallery.js excels in customization, allowing developers to modify almost every aspect of the gallery, including transitions, thumbnails, and layout. This makes it a powerful choice for projects that need a unique presentation.

Performance

  • magnific-popup:

    Magnific Popup is designed to be lightweight and efficient, ensuring fast loading times and smooth transitions. It performs well even with larger media sets, making it a reliable choice for diverse applications.

  • viewerjs:

    Viewer.js is optimized for high-resolution images, providing smooth zooming and panning experiences. It is efficient in handling large images, ensuring that performance remains high even with detailed content.

  • lightbox2:

    Lightbox2 is lightweight and performs well for basic image galleries, but it may struggle with larger sets of images or videos due to its simplicity and lack of advanced features.

  • lightgallery.js:

    Lightgallery.js is optimized for performance with features like lazy loading and responsive design, making it suitable for galleries with many images or videos without sacrificing speed.

Responsive Design

  • magnific-popup:

    Magnific Popup is responsive and works well on mobile devices, ensuring that images and content are displayed correctly across different screen sizes without additional configuration.

  • viewerjs:

    Viewer.js is also responsive, providing a seamless experience on various devices. It adjusts the viewer size based on the screen, ensuring that users can interact with images easily.

  • lightbox2:

    Lightbox2 is responsive out of the box, adapting well to different screen sizes. However, it may require additional CSS for full responsiveness in complex layouts.

  • lightgallery.js:

    Lightgallery.js is fully responsive and offers options for adjusting layouts based on screen size, making it ideal for modern web applications that need to cater to various devices.

Support and Community

  • magnific-popup:

    Magnific Popup has a solid user base and decent documentation, offering support through forums and GitHub. It is widely used, which helps in finding solutions to common issues.

  • viewerjs:

    Viewer.js has a growing community, and while it may not be as large as others, it provides sufficient documentation and examples to assist developers in implementation and troubleshooting.

  • lightbox2:

    Lightbox2 has a smaller community compared to some other libraries, which may limit support options. However, its simplicity means that many developers can quickly understand and implement it without extensive help.

  • lightgallery.js:

    Lightgallery.js has an active community and good documentation, providing ample resources for troubleshooting and customization. This makes it easier for developers to find support and examples.

How to Choose: magnific-popup vs viewerjs vs lightbox2 vs lightgallery.js
  • magnific-popup:

    Select Magnific Popup for its versatility and lightweight nature. It is a great choice if you want a gallery that can handle images, iframes, and inline content while maintaining a responsive design. It is perfect for developers who need a balance between features and performance.

  • viewerjs:

    Choose Viewer.js if you require a specialized solution for viewing images with zoom capabilities and a clean interface. It is particularly useful for applications that need to display high-resolution images with a focus on user interaction.

  • lightbox2:

    Choose Lightbox2 for its simplicity and ease of use, especially if you need a straightforward solution for displaying images in a modal overlay without complex features. It is ideal for projects that require minimal setup and a clean aesthetic.

  • lightgallery.js:

    Opt for Lightgallery.js if you need a more feature-rich gallery solution that supports video, thumbnails, and various transition effects. It is suitable for projects that demand a high level of customization and interactivity.

README for magnific-popup

Important note This jQuery plugin is deprecated, only critical or security bug fixes will be released in future. Use native <dialog> element if you need a basic dialog/modal/popup, or my PhotoSwipe library if you need an advanced image gallery. Feel free to email me if you need assistance.

Stand With Ukraine

Magnific Popup Repository

Build Status

Fast, light and responsive lightbox plugin, for jQuery and Zepto.js.

Optionally, install via Bower bower install magnific-popup or npm: npm install magnific-popup. Ruby gem: gem install magnific-popup-rails.

Extensions

If you created an extension for some CMS, email me and I'll add it to this list.

Location of stuff

  • Generated popup JS and CSS files are in folder dist/. (Online build tool is on documentation page).
  • Source files are in folder src/. They include Sass CSS file and js parts (edit them if you wish to submit commit).
  • Website (examples & documentation) is in folder website/.
  • Documentation page itself is in website/documentation.md (contributions to it are very welcome).

Using Magnific Popup?

If you used Magnific Popup in some interesting way, or on site of popular brand, I'd be very grateful if you email me a link to it.

Build

To compile Magnific Popup by yourself, first of make sure that you have Node.js, Grunt.js, Ruby and Jekyll installed, then:

  1. Copy repository

    git clone https://github.com/dimsemenov/Magnific-Popup.git

  2. Go inside Magnific Popup folder that you fetched and install Node dependencies

    cd Magnific-Popup && npm install

  3. Now simply run grunt to generate JS and CSS in folder dist and site in folder _site/.

    grunt

Optionally:

  • Run grunt watch to automatically rebuild script when you change files in src/ or in website/.
  • If you don't have and don't want to install Jekyll, run grunt nosite to just build JS and CSS files related to popup in dist/.

Changelog

License

Script is MIT licensed and free and will always be kept this way. But has a small restriction from me - please do not create public WordPress plugin based on it(or at least contact me before creating it), because I will make it and it'll be open source too (want to get notified?).

Created by @dimsemenov & contributors.

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Bugs & contributing

Please report bugs via GitHub and ask general questions through Stack Overflow. Feel free to submit commit pull-request, even the tiniest contributions to the script or to the documentation are very welcome.