Featherlight.js is an open-source project by Noevu founder Noël Bossart. MIT-licensed, complemented by the Featherlight Gallery extension for image galleries. Contributions welcome.
The Lightbox Plugin developers have been waiting for
Featherlight is incredibly lightweight — 400 lines of JavaScript, 100 lines of CSS, less than 6 kB combined. Smart, responsive, and easy to extend.
Smart & Responsive Images, Ajax and Iframes
Featherlight supports images, Ajax requests, and iframes — out of the box. Smart, responsive, and running on hundreds of thousands of websites.
6 kB · 400 lines of JS Low-specificity CSS
400 lines of JavaScript, 100 lines of CSS — less than 6 kB combined. The low-specificity selectors make Featherlight easy to customise and easy to understand.
data-featherlight One attribute, done
Add a selector, image, or Ajax URL as data-featherlight attribute — Featherlight handles the rest. Extensible like the Featherlight Gallery for image galleries.
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Discover all posts Frequently asked Featherlight.js questions
What is Featherlight.js?
Featherlight.js is a minimalist jQuery lightbox plugin. With just 400 lines of JavaScript, 100 lines of CSS, and a total size of less than 6 kB, it is one of the slimmest lightbox solutions available. It supports images, Ajax, and iframes out of the box.
What licence is Featherlight under?
Featherlight is released under the MIT licence. That means: free for private and commercial use, modifiable, and without obligations. Source code on GitHub.
Does Featherlight work without jQuery?
No. Featherlight is designed as a jQuery plugin and requires jQuery 1.7+ as a dependency. For projects without jQuery, we recommend modern alternatives or a custom modal approach using vanilla JavaScript.
How do I include Featherlight?
Load featherlight.css and featherlight.js after jQuery on your page. Then a single data-featherlight attribute on a link with an image or Ajax target is enough — Featherlight handles the rest. Full documentation on GitHub.
Can I use Featherlight for image galleries?
Yes. The Featherlight Gallery extension adds gallery navigation, swipe gestures, and thumbnail views to the base plugin — while staying true to the lightweight principle.
Who is behind Featherlight?
Featherlight is an open-source project by Noël Bossart, founder of the Swiss web agency Noevu. In production on hundreds of thousands of websites worldwide since 2013.
