10 Best WordPress Slider Plugins Compared (Free & Premium)

Slides are beautiful. They make your site more interactive, engaging, and overall improve the user experience.

The best thing about sliders is that you can do anything with them. Use them on the header section of your website, add them in your posts/pages, or use them on portfolio pages.

There are so many creative ways of using sliders on your website. That raises an important question:

Which slider plugin should you choose for your WordPress site?

WordPress slider plugins come in all size and shapes. Some have a ton of features while others just let you add a simple slider.

There are a ton of slider plugins for WordPress that would meet your requirements. But not all of them are good.

In this post, I’ll show you the 10 best WordPress slider plugins you can use on your website.

But, before you choose a slider plugin for your website, it’s important to know what a good slider plugin should provide.

Factors To Consider While Choosing A Slider Plugin

You can’t just pick a slider plugin and use it on your website. What if the plugin you chose had some serious issues like theme compatibility, performance etc?

That’s why it’s important to take a step back and know what makes a slider plugin good. So, here are some factors you should consider while choosing a slider plugin:

So, these are the 4 factors you should consider while choosing a slider plugin. The good thing is that our list of best slider plugins only includes plugins that meet the above criteria so you don’t have to worry about it.

Still, it’s a good practice to ensure that the plugin you choose would not cause any problems on your website.

Now, let’s jump right into the best WordPress slider plugins.

1. Slider Revolution

Slider Revolution is known as the best WordPress slider plugin ever made. That’s because of the vast features it has to offer.

The latest version of Slider Revolution brings more features than ever. What I love about this plugin is its asset library. This library contains assets such as images, objects, backgrounds, and icons that you can use on your slider.

Slider Revolution also includes a whiteboard feature that allows you to create whiteboard animations for your sliders. The plugin also has a rich set of over 140 templates that you can import and use on your website.

Here are the different types of sliders you can create using Slider Revolution:

• Regular Slider.
• Carousels.
• Hero Blocks.
• Social Media Feeds.
• Media Galleries.
• Front Pages.

Their powerful visual editor lets you do things you can’t even imagine. You can create shapes, add animations, effects, customize CSS, and what not. 

The plugin is fully responsive and is lightening fast which means you won’t have to compromise the user experience of your website.

Let’s take a look at some of the features of Slider Revolution:

• Responsive.
• Drag-and-Drop Editor.
• Lazy Loading.
• Links And Actions On Slides.
• Parallax Effects.
• Animation Builder.

The list of features is too big to mention here. You might be thinking this plugin costs hundreds of dollars.

You’re absolutely wrong!

It costs only $29. Shocking, right?

At this price, Slider Revolution is probably one of the best WordPress slider plugins out there.

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2. Soliloquy

The second plugin in this list is Soliloquy. This WordPress slider plugin lets you create beautiful responsive sliders easily.

You can create photo and video sliders in minutes using their drag-and-drop builder. The plugin is fully responsive which means your slider would look stunning on all devices.

There are a ton of pre-built templates that you can use to create your slider. Soliloquy also lets you create WooCommerce product sliders easily.

Here’s a breakdown of the features available in this plugin:

• Featured Content Slider.
• Dynamic Sliders.
• Lightbox.
• Carousel Slider.
• Thumbnails For Sliders.
• Pinterest Pin It Button.
• Import Instagram Images Into Your Slider.
• PDF Slider.
• Schedule Sliders.
• Download Protection.
• Customize CSS.

No doubt this plugin has so many features to offer. But at what cost?

Since you asked, here’s what the pricing of the plugin looks like:

You can get the personal license for just $19 which allows you to use the plugin on 1 site. If you wish to use it on 3 sites, you can get the multi-site license which costs $49.

Other plans include a developer license for $99 and a master license for $249.

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3. MetaSlider

MetaSlider is a free WordPress slider plugin that lets you create responsive sliders that are SEO optimized. 

You can select your images and create your slider in minutes. Meta Slider lets you create 4 types of sliders with transition effects.

Here are the features of this plugin:

• Responsive.
• SEO Optimized.
• Drag-and-Drop Reordering.
• Built-in Widget.
• Shortcodes Support.

The plugin is nothing like Slider Revolution, but for someone who’s looking for a free slider plugin that is simple and easy to use, Meta Slider is a good option.

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4. Smart Slider 3

Smart Slider 3 is a smart and powerful WordPress slider plugin that brings you features such as live slide editor, slide library, and slide builder for free. 

This is the best free alternative to big slider plugins such as Slider Revolution.

Smart Slider 3 has beautiful templates that you can choose and edit to build your slider. The plugin is responsive and provides support for page builders such as Elementor, Divi Builder, Beaver Builder, and more.

Here are the features included in Smart Slider 3:

• Content Slide Builder.
• Slide Library.
• Page Builder Support.
• Responsive.
• Live Editor.
• Font And Style Manager System.
• Touch-friendly.
• Background Animations.

The plugin is free and provides great features which makes it definitely worth a shot.

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5. WordPress Carousel Pro

WordPress Carousel Pro is a powerful and user-friendly WordPress Carousel plugin to create beautiful carousels with any type of content such as images, Posts, WooCommerce Products, video, content, etc. Besides, it is highly customizable with a number of customization options. So, in short, you can call it a complete solution of sliding any type of content you want. 

The plugin includes many options and features. Here are some of noticable features:

• Advanced Shortcode.
• Slide Any Content (Image, Post, Product, Content, Video, etc)
• Advanced Typography.
• Lightbox Functionality.
• Video Carousel Slider.
• WooCommerce Product Carousel.
• 15+ Carousel Control Options.
• Multi-Site Supported.
• Page Builders Ready.

You can get the personal license for just $39 which allows you to use the plugin on 1 site. If you wish to use it on 5 sites, you can get the multi-site license which costs $139 and for unlimited sites, you can get it for $299 only. All payments are one time payment with lifetime priority support and updates.

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5. Ultimate Blocks

Ultimate Blocks is a Gutenberg blocks plugin that has more than 20 custom Gutenberg blocks. One of the blocks is Image Slider. This block lets you add an image slider in your Gutenberg editor quickly. 

It’s very easy to use. Just add the ‘Image Slider’ block in your WordPress post/page and then add images. And you’re done. You can reorder images from the ‘Edit Gallery’ option. 

Here are the settings of the block:

• Wrap around.
• Allow dragging.
• Show page dots.
• Enable autoplay.
• Define the height.

This plugin also comes with other awesome blocks like Styled Box, Styled List, Progress Bar, Testimonial, Countdown, Click to Tweet, and more. 

It’s a free plugin. You download the plugin from WordPress.org.

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6. Kreatura Slider

If you want to create sliders with heavy animations, Kreatura Slider is the perfect plugin for you. 

Its drag-and-drop editor makes it easy and fun to create sliders. There are over 200 predefined slide transitions, parallax effects, hover animations, Ken Burns effect, and a lot more.

There are premium slider templates that you can use to create your sliders. Kreatura Slider is fully responsive and optimized for the search engines.

Here are the features of Kreatura Slider plugin:

• Drag-and-Drop Visual Editor.
• Image Editor.
• 200+ Predefined Slide Transitions.
• Pop-out Slider Effects.
• Parallax.
• Filters And Layer Masks.
• Multi-step Animations.
• Slider Templates.
• Responsive.
• SEO Friendly.
• Retina Ready.

The plugin costs $25 for a single site license and includes support for 6 months.

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7. RoyalSlider

Royal Slider is a jQuery image gallery and content slider WordPress plugin. The plugin is responsive and has touch support for mobile devices. 

You can create different types of sliders such as image slider, slideshow, HTML content slider, gallery, banner rotator, video gallery, presentation, and carousel sliders using this plugin.

It doesn’t come with fancy transitions as the plugin focuses more on performance. Here’s a breakdown of the features available in Royal Slider plugin:

• Touch Navigation Support.
• Lazy Loading.
• CSS3 Transitions.
• Youtube And Vimeo Videos In Slides.
• SEO Optimized.

The plugin costs only $14 which makes it quite affordable for the features it has to offer.

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8. Slider by 10web

Slider by 10web is a responsive slider plugin for WordPress that lets you create beautiful sliders that improve the engagement on your website.

The plugin is fully responsive and lets you offer great user experience across all devices. With this plugin, you can add animations and effects to your slides, text, and images.

Its custom CSS support lets you do more to make your sliders look attractive. You can customize every aspect of your slide easily with this plugin. The plugin is easy to set up and customize.

Though the plugin is free, most of its great features of the plugin are only available in the premium version.

Here’s what the premium version of Slider by 10web has to offer:

• Unlimited Slides And Sliders.
• Multiple Layers.
• Multiple Transitions.
• Image Watermarking.
• Sharing Buttons.
• Parallax And Carousel Support.
• Filmstrip Support.
• Video Slide Support.

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9. Slide Anything

Slide Anything is a free WordPress slider plugin that lets you create HTML content and carousel sliders.

You can create responsive and touch-enabled sliders using this plugin. Here’s a breakdown of the features available in this plugin:

• Transition Effects.
• Infinite Looping .
• Responsive.
• Link Slides.

Though the plugin is free, it has very limited features. Still, it’s a good choice if you want a lightweight slider plugin.

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10. Master Slider

Master Slider is a touch slider plugin for WordPress. The plugin comes with a visual drag-and-drop builder which lets you create stunning sliders in minutes.

There are over 70 pre-built sliders that you can load and use on your website. You can create video sliders, create transitions, and do a lot more.

The plugin is responsive and lightning fast making it perfect for use. Master Slider has the following features:

• Custom Post Type Support.
• Responsive.
• SEO Optimized.
• Visual Composer Integrated.
• Google Fonts Support.
• WooCommerce Product Slider.
• Parallax Effect.
• Hotspots.
• 70+ Templates.
• Interactive Transitions.
• Animated Layers.

The plugin costs Only $24 and gives Slider Revolution a tough competition.

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Conclusion: Which WordPress Slider Plugin Should You Choose? 

You’ve seen it all. Now, it’s time to decide which plugin is best for you. 

To help you do this, I’ve given my recommendations based on different requirements. This will help you make your decision without much confusion.

Free WordPress Slider Plugin:

Smart Slider 3 is my recommendation here as it provides many features that other free plugins fail to offer.

The plugin comes with a live slide editor making it easy to create and customize slides. There are slide animations and transitions that you can use to make your slides more interactive.

WordPress Slider Plugin With Stunning Animations:

LayerSlider is the perfect choice for you if you want to create sliders with stunning animations and effects.

With over 200 slide transitions, you can create awesome sliders that attract your audience.

Best WordPress Slider Plugin:

Slider Revolution is the best slider plugin for WordPress without a shred of doubt. It offers tons of features that can help you create very awesome sliders.

There are pre-built templates, slide transitions, effects, multiple slider types, and a lot more. And all of this comes in a live drag-and-drop editor making the whole process easy and intuitive.

WordPress Slider Plugin For Beginners:

Soliloquy is the best slider plugin for beginners. It’s easy to use and there is no learning curve. You can start building slides after installing the plugin right away.

So, these were the best slider plugins for WordPress. If you have any questions regarding the plugins mentioned in this list, feel free to comment below. Also, you’re welcome to recommend new slider plugins that you feel are worth being mentioned in this list.