ACF Photo Gallery Field vs Import external attachments (2026)
Detailed side-by-side comparison of two WordPress plugins, based on real-time data from WordPress.org.
ACF Photo Gallery Field
60K+ active installs
Free
Import external attachments
2.0K+ active installs
Free
Quick Verdict
As of April 2026, Import external attachments has a higher user rating (4.3/5 from 26 reviews) while ACF Photo Gallery Field leads in active installations (60K+ vs 2.0K+). Both are free WordPress plugins. ACF Photo Gallery Field has accumulated 638K+ total downloads while Import external attachments has 24K+.
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | ACF Photo Gallery Field | Import external attachments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4/5 | ► | 4.3/5 |
| Total Reviews | 29 | ◄ | 26 |
| Active Installs | 60K+ | ◄ | 2.0K+ |
| Total Downloads | 638K+ | ◄ | 24K+ |
| Support Resolution | N/A | N/A | |
| Last Updated | 3 months ago | ◄ | 9 years ago |
| First Released | 2016 | 2016 | |
| Age | 10 years | 10 years | |
| WP Requires | 5.8+ | 3.2+ | |
| PHP Requires | 7.0+ | false+ | |
| Business Model | Free | Free | |
| Latest Version | 3.1 | 1.5.12 |
Rating Breakdown
ACF Photo Gallery Field
Import external attachments
Download Trends
Over the past 30 days, ACF Photo Gallery Field averaged approximately 195 daily downloads while Import external attachments averaged 7.
Recent Reviews
ACF Photo Gallery Field Reviews
Excelent free option for ACF photo gallery field
I have been using ACF Photo Gallery Field for about 4 years now, and it worked excelent. I use it with Elementor Pro and custom templates, and I am able to access the dinamic data in the gallery field
Too buggy
Does not work inside ACF fields groups. Simply does not saving any selected images. Also, if a lot images was added, sometimes spontaneously losing all of them when saving the post. Updated 05.1
Great solution! It works perfectly! thanks Devs!
It works perfectly! thanks Devs! This topic was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by pedrocunhaweb.
Import external attachments Reviews
Работает но не совсем
Плагин выполняет свои функции с классическом редактором, но замораживается процесс, когда попадается статья, с неработающей внешней картинкой. Предварительно лучше избавиться от нерабочих картинок
It worked for me in 2023!
This worked for me in 2023. All I had to do was install Classic editor and make sure the post pages wern’t using any third party page builders. To import the missing attachments, I then opened the edi
Really great, lightweight, awesome job
Works with 5.3.2
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is ACF Photo Gallery Field or Import external attachments more popular?
Which has better ratings — ACF Photo Gallery Field or Import external attachments?
Are ACF Photo Gallery Field and Import external attachments free?
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Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Comparison and analysis by PluginSift.