WordPress YouTube Plugin - List of Best WP Plugins for 2023

Why do you need a WordPress YouTube plugin? With how fast the internet is growing there is no shortage of websites and blogs. So, if you want to step up your game and grow your website, video is the way to go.

Maybe you have a popular YouTube channel and you don’t have a website, in which case creating one is a good idea. You’ll have way more control over your content as you can showcase your videos on your website, and also add links from your videos back to your site.

WordPress supports adding YouTube videos to posts and pages without plugins. However, if you want to do something more advanced you’ll need a plugin.

So in this article, we will be listing various plugins you can use to achieve this.

Reasons Why A Plugin Is Needed

Like we stated earlier, YouTube videos can be added without using plugins. However, using plugins has its perks. Some of the reasons to get plugins are:

Improve page load times by caching YouTube video thumbnails locally
Disabling related videos.
Make galleries out of playlists and channel videos
Support for GDPR ( General Data Protection Regulation )
Custom YouTube player

There are many options when it comes to YouTube plugins for WordPress. For this reason, we compiled a list of various free and paid plugins.

1. Embed Plus for YouTube

Embed Plus for YouTube is one of the best YouTube WordPress plugins on the market. With more than 200,000 active installs and a 4.6 average rating, this made number one on our list. In general, this plugin has everything you might need out of WordPress YouTube embed plugin. You can make video galleries from YouTube playlists or channels. You can also hide related videos and much more.

Although there is a paid version with more features, you can get a lot out of the free version. The PRO versions support caching and it’s going to speed up the page loads. So if you have a bigger website getting the PRO version is a good idea. In case you just want to test this plugin, all core features are available in the free version. The only downside is that your website might run a bit slow.

As at the writing of this article, the premium version costs $39.99. This plugin also offers Analytics Dashboard, Deleted Video Alerts, and Blocked Country Alerts. However, these features will cost $49.99 for 1-year access.

Key Features:

Creation of responsive YouTube video galleries from playlists or YouTube channel
Compatible with the WordPress 5.0+ Gutenberg block editor
Support for GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) out of the box. With options like YouTube no cookie, YouTube API restrictions, and a customizable GDPR consent message
YouTube gallery auto continuous play. Allows for continuous play of playlist or channel gallery. Viewers don’t need to click on the next video
Display YouTube live streams directly on your website
Show or hide related videos at the end. Disabling related videos is a good way to keep users longer on your website
Make your video, gallery, or live stream responsive so that it dynamically fits all screen sizes (smartphone, PC and tablet).

2.Presto Player

Presto Player is a feature-packed plugin that helps leverage video for your business. Whether the video is your core product or part of your marketing campaigns, Presto Player gives you a wide range of options.

Presto Player will work with YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia or any hosting service that lets you embed and share videos publicly.

It works with all major page builders and you can add an email collection field with every video. You can also add call-to-action buttons with any video and use your videos to generate leads and sales or as part of an online course website.

Features

Perfect for trainer, course creators, marketers and bloggers
You can use overlay option to show more information
Add captions to videos
Customizable presets
Viewers can change playback speed
Add optin forms and CTA buttons with your videos
Integrate optin forms with email marketing tools

3. WP YouTube Lyte – WordPress Plugin

WP YouTube Lyte is a completely free plugin. The main focus of this plugin is the “lazy loading” of videos. So if your webpages load slowly because of YouTube videos, this plugin is perfect for you.

The plugin works by inserting responsive “Lite YouTube Embeds”. So from a user perspective, these video embeds look like regular YouTube videos. However, there is no call to YouTube if the user does not click on a video. There is also an option to cache YouTube thumbnails locally, improving both performance and privacy. This may also help with GDPR. That said, you better ask your lawyer for that.

In case you already have some YouTube links, this plugin will pick them up. Therefore you can continue to use a regular WordPress interface for adding video links. Alternatively, you can use the WP YouTube Lyte sidebar widget.

With this plugin, you have support for all web browsers. Also, the plugin has full support for responsive scaling of videos based on device screen size.

Key Features:

Lazy loading
Support for videoObject microdata
Cross-browser compatibility
Full control of player size
Multi-lingual.

In conclusion, if your WordPress video site is running slow from all YouTube videos, give this plugin a go.

4. Essential Grid Gallery WordPress Plugin

If you want to build a grid of YouTube videos we recommend Essential Grid Gallery WordPress Plugin. Besides making a grid of YouTube videos this plugin offers more features. The plugin supports all big social media streams like Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, Flickr, etc. Also, you can build a custom WordPress gallery grid out of posts and pages.

The plugin is not free. It costs $69 for a regular license and $170 for an extended license. In case end users are charged for, you’ll need an extended license.

Key Features:

Support for YouTube, Vimeo, HTML5 self-hosted video, iFrame, images, posts, WooCommerce, and galleries
Dedicated Video Tutorials Channel for Beginners
Responsive and mobile-optimized
Visual skin editor
Various animation types and preloaders.

5. Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery

In case you want to build a YouTube video gallery, we recommend using the YouTube Video Gallery plugin made by Total-Soft. The plugin promises a fully responsive and touch-friendly design. In other words, your gallery will look good on any device. Also, you are not limited to just YouTube videos. The plugin supports Vimeo, Wistia and good old MP4 videos.

There are free and paid versions of this plugin. As at the writing of this article, the paid version cost $15 for a personal, $29 for a business license and $50 for a developer license. Although, there is a paid version you get a lot of features with the free version. The paid version only adds the ability to change the look of the gallery. In other words, you can change the font, color, icons, etc. So if you are happy with the look of the free version you can keep using the free version of the plugin.

Key Features:

User-friendly editor
Video Galleries themes – 16 free version
Responsive and touch-friendly
Support YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, MP4
Gallery animations that run smoothly on modern devices.

6. YouTube Showcase – Best YouTube Video Gallery for WordPress

If you did not like our previous choices we have one more that you can try out. Although YouTube Showcase is marketed as a gallery plugin, it also supports grid layout. If you go with a gallery option this plugin will display video thumbnail navigation at the bottom. The videos are ordered by lasted video first. For the grid layout, you get 4 columns responsive layout.

Compared to our previous plugins on the list, YouTube showcase does not have as many options. However, it’s also a completely free plugin so if its features set works for your website then there is no reason not to use it.

7. Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP

YotuWP is another responsive YouTube video gallery plugin. The plugin supports embedding videos from various sources like playlist, channel, username, etc. It also supports a large selection of highly customizable layouts. You can create YouTube video grids, lists, and mixed layouts.

While there is a premium version, it’s not required since the free version has a lot of features. That said, the premium version is not expensive. It is $21 one-time payment for a personal site, $49 for business and $119 for unlimited. And you get some cool features that might be worth it to some people. You get more carousel/masonry layouts, the big player left and right. Also, you can display video duration, views, comment count and publishing date. The premium version also has better thumbnail styles. In any case, the premium version is mostly cosmetics. So if you like how the free version looks you don’t need to spend money.

8. Visual Composer YouTube Channel with Carousel Premium WordPress Plugin XXX

In case you want to display videos from a YouTube channel page, this premium plugin does it with a style. This plugin comes with 7 pre-defined beautiful design templates. Also, developers promise to make even more templates in the future. For every template, you have the option to select one of three layouts: masonry, fit-rows, and carousel.

While this plugin is a really good option we could not put it higher on the list. The reason being that to use this plugin you also have to get a WPBakery page builder. So technically you need to buy two plugins, not one. Page builder costs $64 for a regular and $299 for an extended license. Also, you need to buy this plugin for $17 for a regular and $105 for an extended license. So in total $81 for regular or $404 extended license. Still, we think this plugin is well worth it, especially if you have a page builder already.

Key features:

Fully responsive YouTube channel gallery
Multiple galleries per page
No API key required
Plug n play. Just add your youtube user-id and it will work
Highly customizable options
Full control over all elements styles(look and feel).

9. Yottie WordPress YouTube Channel Plugin XXX

We decided to include one more YouTube Channel Plugin on the list. Unlike the previous plugin, Yottie does not require the visual composer to work. However, if you have a visual composer, it does support it. It is also compatible with the new WordPress editor Gutenberg.

Yottie has all the features you’ll ever need to display YouTube videos on your WordPress website. You can manage any combination of YouTube channels, playlists, and videos. The plugin allows you to embed YouTube videos anywhere on your website. Also, it has a fully responsive design so your website will look good on any device. When it comes to the customization you can change every little detail. There are over 100+ Adjustable Parameters, 5 color schemes, and 16 language support.

One cool feature that might be unique to Yottie is AdSense support. With this plugin, you can display ads alongside your videos to increase your earnings.

The plugin also comes in two versions self-hosted or hosted by Yottie. As at the writing of this article, the self-hosted version costs $49. Also, you need to take into account WordPress hosting costs. Another option is to host your YouTube widget on Yotties server. This cost from $0 to $25 per month. However, the price varies depending on how many visitors you have on your WordPress blog.

Key features:

User-friendly visual editor
Display videos from YouTube channels, playlists, and videos
Fully customizable with over 100+ Adjustable Parameters
AdSense support
100% compatible with WordPress. Works with any WordPress theme.

10. WordPress Responsive YouTube Playlist Video Player

XXX

Another useful plugin for embedding YouTube videos on your website. This plugin supports playlists, channels or single video sources. The player is fully responsive and it will look good on any screen size. Also, the player has a fully custom look that can be customized. You can embed videos using shortcode into any WordPress posts or pages. There are two layouts for the video player: horizontal and vertical.

If you decide to get this plugin, the price is $20 for regular and $100 for an extended license.

Key features:

Enter a YouTube Playlist, Channel Playlist, or a single Video
Newest YouTube API V3
Native Fullscreen Support for Major Browsers
Fully Responsive & Intelligent Resizing
Custom Player Controls
Continuous Play & Autoplay
Beautiful Admin Panel to change player settings
Many Options More, like continuous playing, autoplay, max results, first video, annotations, fullscreen, fixed-width, volume, etc.

11. YouTubeR – Unique YouTube Video Feed & Gallery Plugin

YouTubeR has one unique feature that we did not find in any other plugin. With this plugin, you can upload videos to YouTube directly from your website. Then easily embed YouTube videos, playlists, channels to your website. Additionally, you get almost all the features that other plugins offer.

Key Features:

Fully responsive layout
5 templates to choose from
Fully compatible with visual composer
Video galleries
Optimized WordPress caching

There is a free Lite version and a paid version of this plugin. With the lite version, you get fewer customization options. The paid version costs $20 for regular and $99 for an extended license.

12. Videozoom – WordPress theme

Videozoom is not a plugin, however, it’s a powerful video theme. If the focus of your website is to display videos then this can be a good option. This is because this theme is an all in one solution. Therefore, you don’t need to mix and match plugins to achieve the result you are going for. All you need to do is buy the theme and customize it to your liking. The price of this theme is $69. Also, WPZOOM offers all themes packages. For $99 you get 36 themes. Although this solution might not be for everyone, we think it is a good option to consider.

13. Feed Them Social – for Twitter feed, YouTube, Pinterest and more

Feed Them Social is an interesting plugin. While you can use it as a WordPress YouTube plugin, it does way more. It supports social feeds from Facebook Pages, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube feeds. With this plugin, you can bring all the social media to your website. When it comes to YouTube, you get a decent features set. The plugin supports a few layouts. There is also a fully customizable gallery, popup video gallery, and single video option.

The power of this plugin is in combining social media feeds. So if this is something that you might need it’s a nice choice. However, if you just need a YouTube plugin we think that the plugins we already presented do a better job. Still, we found this plugin really cool and decided to include it on the list.

This plugin has free and paid versions. The paid version is $50 for a single website. You can check the full list of features of the pro version here.

Conclusion – WordPress YouTube Plugin

To sum up, there are a lot of choices when it comes to YouTube plugins for WordPress. With many plugins having similar features it might be hard to decide. Almost all of the plugins have a free version that you can install. So if the features alone are not sufficient to help you decide, you may install a couple and get a feel of them.

We hope that you found a plugin that fits your needs on our list. If you still need help deciding our recommendations are:

All round the best option is EmbedPlus. In general, you can’t go wrong with this plugin.
If you want to speed up page load time go with WP YouTube Lyte.
For creating video galleries you have a lot of options. If for some reason you don’t like EmbedPlus you can try out Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery or Yottie.
If you are just starting your WordPress site you might want to look at the Videozoom theme.

For more WordPress tutorials check out our WP college. If you have further questions, you may write them in the comment section below.

More Resources:

WordPress YouTube Plugin – List of Best WP Plugins for 2023

Contents: