# Video Gallery Widget

> Embed a free YouTube and Vimeo video gallery on any website. Grid, carousel or featured player, no API key. Players load on click so your page stays fast.

- Canonical URL: https://www.zyff.app/widget-builder/video-gallery
- Status: working
- Price: free to build and embed, no signup, no watermark; saving a widget so it can be edited later needs an account, and the paid plans raise the saved-widget and monthly-view ceilings — see https://www.zyff.app/pricing
- Processing: runs on Zyff's servers; input is held in memory for the request and never stored

Zyff's video gallery widget puts your YouTube and Vimeo videos on any website, free — with no API key, no quota and no Google account. You paste the links; the widget composes the public embed URLs itself. Choose a grid, a carousel, a featured player with thumbnails beneath, or a filmstrip. Every tile is a thumbnail and a play button until someone presses it, so a page with twelve videos does not load twelve players' worth of third-party JavaScript before anyone watches anything. The output is one div and one script tag that works in WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or a hand-written HTML page alike.

## How to embed multiple YouTube videos on your website

1. **Paste your video links** — Watch links, share links, Shorts links and embed links all work, for YouTube and Vimeo alike. Give each one a title so the gallery reads properly.
2. **Pick a layout** — A grid is the straightforward channel-page shape, the carousel pages through a long playlist, the featured player puts one large video above a strip of thumbnails, and the filmstrip scrolls sideways in one row.
3. **Choose how videos open** — In a lightbox over the page, or by swapping the tile itself for the player. Either way the player is only created on click.
4. **Copy the embed code** — Paste the container div and script tag where the videos should appear, or download the standalone HTML file. Check the 390px mobile preview before you ship it.

## Features

- **No API key, ever**: YouTube and Vimeo both expose a public player addressed purely by video id, so a gallery built from links you paste needs no credential, no quota and no approval. The trade is that it cannot discover a channel's videos on its own — you add each link.
- **Players load on click**: Every tile is a thumbnail until someone presses play. A grid of pre-loaded YouTube iframes is roughly a megabyte of Google's JavaScript on your page before a single video is watched, and this is the single most valuable thing the widget does for the site it sits on.
- **youtube-nocookie by default**: YouTube embeds go through youtube-nocookie.com, which defers YouTube's tracking cookies until the visitor actually presses play — so nothing is set on your domain, on page load, that your cookie banner has not declared.
- **Four layouts**: A grid, a paged carousel, a featured player with a thumbnail strip beneath it, and a sideways-scrolling filmstrip.
- **YouTube thumbnails for free**: Thumbnails come straight from YouTube's public image path with no API call. Vimeo does not offer that, so a Vimeo entry takes a thumbnail URL you supply, or shows a plain play button.
- **Nothing else to slow your page**: The widget itself runs in the visitor's browser from the settings in your snippet, and makes no request to Zyff when your page loads.

## Specifications

| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Videos | Up to 40 YouTube or Vimeo links |
| API key required | None |
| Accepted links | Watch, share, Shorts, live and embed URLs, or a bare video id |
| Layouts | 4 templates: grid, carousel, featured player, filmstrip |
| Player loading | On click only — never on page load |
| Privacy | YouTube served via youtube-nocookie.com; Vimeo with Do Not Track set |
| Output | One container div plus one script tag, or a downloadable HTML file |
| Price | Free to build; paid plans for saved widgets |

## Frequently asked questions

**How do I embed multiple YouTube videos on one page?**

Paste each video's link into Zyff's builder, pick a layout, then copy the generated embed code into your page. The whole flow is free with no signup, and because the players only load on click, a dozen videos cost your page far less than a dozen ordinary YouTube embeds would.

**Do I need a YouTube API key?**

No, and that is the point of this widget. YouTube's player is addressed purely by video id at a public URL, so composing that URL from a link you paste needs no key, no quota and no Google Cloud project. The cost is that the gallery cannot list a channel's videos automatically — you add each link yourself.

**Can it show my whole channel automatically?**

No. Auto-discovery is the one thing that genuinely requires the YouTube Data API, with a key, a quota and an audit once you exceed it. This widget lists the videos you give it, which means a new upload does not appear on its own — add its link when you publish it.

**Will a video gallery slow my page down?**

Far less than ordinary embeds would. Each tile is a thumbnail and a play button until someone presses it, so nothing of YouTube's player is loaded on page load. Twelve normal YouTube iframes are roughly a megabyte of third-party JavaScript and a dozen connections to Google before anyone watches anything.

**Does this set cookies on my visitors?**

Not before someone presses play. YouTube embeds go through youtube-nocookie.com, which holds back YouTube's tracking cookies until the player is actually used, and Vimeo is loaded with Do Not Track set. Since no player exists until a click, nothing third-party runs on page load at all.

**Why does my Vimeo video show a plain play button?**

Vimeo does not publish thumbnails at a predictable URL the way YouTube does — getting one requires an oEmbed API lookup. Rather than add a server fetch for it, the widget lets you paste a thumbnail URL for Vimeo entries, and falls back to a play button on a neutral ground if you do not.

**What kinds of YouTube links work?**

All the usual ones: a normal watch URL, a youtu.be share link, a Shorts link, a live link, an embed URL, or just the eleven-character video id on its own. For Vimeo, a vimeo.com link, a player.vimeo.com link, or the numeric id.

**Where do I paste the video gallery embed code?**

Wherever the videos should appear — a media page, a product page, or partway down a home page. Put the container div in that spot and keep the script tag with it.

**Is the video gallery widget really free?**

Yes. Building it, styling it and embedding it are free with no signup, no trial and no watermark — a free embed carries a small "Video gallery by Zyff" link, which is how the tool stays free. The grid and filmstrip layouts are free, and click-to-load is free too: selling the behaviour that keeps your page fast would mean the free version is the one that damages your site. A paid plan adds the carousel and featured-player layouts, full colour control and removes the attribution link.

## Related tools

- [Photo Gallery Widget](https://www.zyff.app/widget-builder/photo-gallery): A photo gallery with a lightbox, in four layouts.
- [Logo Showcase Widget](https://www.zyff.app/widget-builder/logo-showcase): A wall of client, partner or press logos.
- [Testimonials Widget](https://www.zyff.app/widget-builder/testimonials): Show customer quotes as cards, a carousel or a pull quote.