Affiliate disclosure: SquareLocator is an affiliate marketplace. Some links in this guide are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which plugins we recommend or what we say about them.
Quick answer: if you want one plugin that fixes the Squarespace lightbox properly (pinch to zoom, video, PDFs, product images), buy Lightbox Studio from BeyondSpace. If you need forms, pages or sections in a popup rather than images, the SQPlugins Lightbox Anything plugin is the better fit. For a hosted gallery on a subscription, Elfsight Photo Gallery does the job.
I have built more than 400 Squarespace sites at Altitude Design since 2018, and galleries are the part of 7.1 the platform does half well. Gallery sections are quick to set up and the grid, masonry, slideshow and carousel layouts cover most portfolio pages. The built-in lightbox is basic: no pinch to zoom on mobile, no video in the lightbox, no styled hover captions with a button, and the product page lightbox is the same plain overlay. If you sell prints, shoot weddings or design interiors, those are the moments when someone decides whether your work looks expensive or not.
This guide covers the gallery and lightbox plugins on SquareLocator that I would actually put on a client site. Every description is based on the vendor's own page as it stood tonight, and where I quote a price I say so. If you are new to Code Injection, read the beginner's guide to adding plugins first.
At a glance: gallery and lightbox plugins compared
| Plugin | Vendor | Best for | Type | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightbox Studio | BeyondSpace | Replacing the Squarespace lightbox everywhere | Native-style plugin | One-off licence |
| Video, Product and PDF Lightbox | BeyondSpace | The same licence, bought for one job | Native-style plugin | One-off licence |
| Lightbox Anything Plugin | SQPlugins | Forms, pages and sections in a popup | Native-style plugin | One-off licence |
| Easy Video Lightbox | Ghost Plugins | YouTube and Vimeo popups from buttons and links | Native-style plugin | One-off licence or Pro Access membership |
| Video Lightbox | SQS Mods | Existing video links opened as a popup | Native-style plugin | One-off licence |
| Masonry Gallery Plugin | SQPlugins | Pinterest style reflow of a Grid Gallery Block | Native-style plugin | One-off licence |
| Noa Grid Gallery | Ghost Plugins | Hover captions and buttons on a Grid Gallery Block | Native-style plugin | One-off licence or Pro Access membership |
| Photo Gallery | Elfsight | Hosted gallery with its own layouts and popup | Hosted widget | Subscription (free tier available) |
Lightbox Studio for Squarespace (BeyondSpace)
What it does: Lightbox Studio is a full replacement for the Squarespace lightbox rather than an add-on. Any gallery section, gallery block or image that would normally open the default overlay opens BeyondSpace's version instead, with gestures that behave like a native phone app: swipe between slides, pinch to zoom, drag down to close. It supports zoomable images, video galleries and PDFs, works on 7.0 and 7.1, and there is now a free trial you activate from BeyondSpace's Ground Control dashboard. The vendor page listed it at $45 tonight as a one-off purchase.
Who it suits: photographers, artists, interior designers and anyone whose portfolio is the main sales tool.
The honest limit: it is a replacement, so you are trusting a third party with core front-end behaviour. BeyondSpace keeps up with Squarespace changes well, but budget for the occasional update after a platform release.
See Lightbox Studio on SquareLocator or go straight to BeyondSpace.
Video, Product and PDF Lightbox for Squarespace (BeyondSpace)
What they do: our catalogue does not make this obvious, so I will say it plainly: BeyondSpace sells three further lightbox products, and each vendor page states the feature is part of Lightbox Studio. Video Lightbox opens YouTube, Vimeo, Squarespace-hosted (HLS) and custom video files in the overlay, and turns any link or 7.1 gallery slide into a video trigger. Product Lightbox replaces the store's product image overlay with pinch to zoom and product video. PDF Lightbox opens brochures, menus and size charts in a popup instead of a new tab. All three were listed at $45 tonight, the same figure as Lightbox Studio.
Who they suit: buy the one whose name matches your job if that helps you find the right documentation, but understand you are buying the same licence.
The honest limit: the Squarespace-hosted video support depends on Squarespace's HLS output, which has changed before. Test with your own uploaded video before you rebuild a page around it.
Affiliate links: Video Lightbox at BeyondSpace, Product Lightbox at BeyondSpace, PDF Lightbox at BeyondSpace.
Squarespace Lightbox Anything Plugin (SQPlugins)
What it does: a different kind of lightbox. Rather than improving how images open, Lightbox Anything puts almost any content into a popup: a whole page, a single section or block, an external site, or a direct video or image link. You trigger it by pointing a link or button at a hash URL such as #lightbox_contact, so a contact form, size chart or team bio opens in an overlay without the visitor leaving the page. It also groups items into a swipeable slider. SQPlugins listed a solo licence at $49 and an agency licence at $249 tonight, both one-off.
Who it suits: service businesses and shops that want popup behaviour for forms and information rather than photography. It is what I use when a client wants a contact form reachable from every page.
The honest limit: it is not a gallery tool. It will open an image, but it does not replace the gallery lightbox with zoom and gestures the way Lightbox Studio does.
See Lightbox Anything on SquareLocator or buy from SQPlugins.
Easy Video Lightbox (Ghost Plugins)
What it does: adds a video lightbox to navigation links, buttons, images or hyperlinks. It works on 7.0 and 7.1, needs a Core or Business plan or higher because it uses Code Injection, and supports YouTube and Vimeo. Styling covers width, overlay, border radius and mobile padding. Ghost sells it as a single purchase with a multi-site licence (listed at $20 tonight) or through their Pro Access membership.
Who it suits: anyone who wants a "watch the film" button on a wedding, coaching or agency site without paying for a full lightbox replacement.
The honest limit: Ghost's own note says it plainly: direct file uploads are not compatible, so Squarespace-hosted video cannot open in it. If your videos live in Squarespace rather than YouTube or Vimeo, look at BeyondSpace instead.
See Easy Video Lightbox on SquareLocator or buy from Ghost Plugins.
Video Lightbox (SQS Mods)
What it does: SQS Mods describes this as turning any YouTube or Vimeo video on your site into a customisable lightbox popup within five minutes. You add a marker to the link text of an existing video link and the plugin converts it into a lightbox trigger. It was listed at $40 tonight.
Who it suits: sites with video links already scattered through text and buttons, and editors who do not want to touch a settings panel.
The honest limit: the product page is thin on detail, there is no styling generator, and it is YouTube and Vimeo only. At double the price of Ghost's equivalent, I would want the demo to convince me first.
See Video Lightbox on SquareLocator or buy from SQS Mods.
Squarespace Masonry Gallery Plugin (SQPlugins)
What it does: converts a standard Grid Gallery Block into a true masonry layout. It disables Squarespace's equal-height grid CSS, reads each image's natural dimensions and rebuilds the layout in columns, so portrait and landscape shots sit together without cropping. SQPlugins listed the solo licence at $19 and the agency licence at $99 tonight.
Who it suits: photographers and illustrators who upload mixed orientations and dislike the cropping a grid imposes.
The honest limit: the vendor is explicit that it only works with Gallery Blocks in pages or blog posts, not 7.1 gallery sections. Sections already have a masonry option, so this is really for sites using the classic block, which on 7.1 usually means one enabled through Circle or a developer.
See the Masonry Gallery Plugin on SquareLocator or buy from SQPlugins.
Noa Grid Gallery (Ghost Plugins)
What it does: restyles the Grid Gallery Block so that hovering an image reveals its title, description and a button link over a coloured overlay. That is the styled hover caption Squarespace never gave 7.1 users. Options cover alignment, text size and colour, button text, overlay colour and border radius. It works on 7.0 and 7.1, needs Core or Business or higher, and is a single purchase with a multi-site licence (listed at $20 tonight) or part of Pro Access.
Who it suits: project portfolios where each tile needs a name and a "view project" button: architects, interior designers, agencies, makers.
The honest limit: like the masonry plugin, it depends on the Grid Gallery Block, which 7.1 does not offer by default. Ghost say they can help add the block after purchase, but that is an extra step.
See Noa Grid Gallery on SquareLocator or buy from Ghost Plugins.
Photo Gallery widget (Elfsight)
What it does: Elfsight is the one hosted widget in this list. You build the gallery in Elfsight's editor, choose one of seven layouts, set image shapes, titles and ordering, and paste an embed code into a code block on your page. The popup is Elfsight's own: slide through, zoom, full screen and slideshow, with optional captions. It does not touch your template code, and there is a free tier before the subscription kicks in.
Who it suits: anyone on a Personal plan who cannot use Code Injection, and anyone who wants filters, categories and a popup without installing anything.
The honest limit: it is a recurring subscription, the free tier carries Elfsight branding and view limits, and the widget loads from a third-party domain. I go into the trade-offs in our Elfsight for Squarespace review, and the full widget range is on our Elfsight vendor page.
See Photo Gallery on SquareLocator or try it at Elfsight.
When the native Squarespace gallery is enough
I do not sell a plugin when the platform already does the job. On 7.1, gallery sections give you grid, masonry, slideshow and carousel layouts, per-image alt text, and a lightbox with keyboard and swipe navigation. For an "about the studio" strip, a logo wall or a simple blog gallery, that is all you need, and it will never break after a Squarespace update.
The native gallery stops being enough when you need pinch to zoom, video in the same lightbox as images, a proper zoom on product pages, or a description and button on hover. If none of those apply, spend the money on better photography instead. To change how the native gallery looks without code, SquareKicker can restyle spacing, borders, hover effects and section layouts from a visual panel, and our SquareKicker review covers what it can and cannot reach. For a small hover caption on a gallery section, Will's Toolkit has a Gallery Image Captions with Icon snippet for members.
How to choose
Start with the job, not the plugin. If the complaint is "the images do not zoom" or "videos open in a new tab", you want a lightbox replacement, and Lightbox Studio is the only one here that covers images, video, products and PDFs in one licence. If it is "I want the contact form in a popup", you want Lightbox Anything. If it is only video, Easy Video Lightbox is the cheapest route for YouTube and Vimeo.
Then check what your page is built from. Gallery sections and Gallery Blocks are different things on 7.1, and both the masonry plugin and Noa Grid Gallery only work with the block. On a Personal plan with no Code Injection, the native-style plugins are off the table and Elfsight is your route.
The template underneath the gallery
A lightbox plugin cannot rescue a portfolio page that was never designed for images. If you are starting fresh, our Squarespace templates for photographers collection is the obvious place, and the best Squarespace templates for photographers roundup explains which ones handle full-bleed images well. Interior designers have their own needs and I covered those in the best Squarespace templates for interior designers. You can browse everything in the Squarespace templates hub.
Related guides
- Best Squarespace plugins in 2026
- 20+ best free Squarespace plugins in 2026
- How to add plugins to Squarespace: a beginner's guide
- Elfsight for Squarespace: which widgets are actually worth it
- Best Squarespace templates for photographers in 2026
Frequently asked questions
Does Squarespace 7.1 have a built-in lightbox?
Yes. Gallery sections and image blocks open in a lightbox with arrows and swipe navigation, but it has no pinch to zoom, no video support and no styled hover captions.
Which Squarespace lightbox plugin is best for photographers?
Lightbox Studio from BeyondSpace. It replaces the default lightbox with pinch to zoom, swipe gestures and mixed image and video galleries, and works with 7.1 gallery sections.
What is the difference between Lightbox Studio and Lightbox Anything?
Lightbox Studio improves how images, videos and PDFs open from galleries. Lightbox Anything opens forms, pages, sections and external sites in a popup triggered by a link. They solve different problems.
Do I need a Business plan to use these gallery plugins?
The native-style plugins rely on Code Injection or Custom CSS, so you need a Core or Business plan or higher. Elfsight's hosted widget embeds through a code block and does not need Code Injection.
Can I open a Squarespace-hosted video in a lightbox?
BeyondSpace's Video Lightbox (part of Lightbox Studio) supports Squarespace-hosted HLS video alongside YouTube and Vimeo. The Ghost Plugins and SQS Mods video lightboxes are YouTube and Vimeo only.
Is Elfsight Photo Gallery a one-off purchase?
No. Elfsight is a subscription with a free tier that carries branding and usage limits. The other plugins in this guide are one-off licences, with Ghost Plugins also offering a Pro Access membership.
Disclosure: prices quoted above were checked on each vendor's website on 20 September 2026 and may change. SquareLocator may earn a commission from the affiliate links in this article. Our recommendations are based on what we have used on real client builds.
