7+ Best WordPress Carousel Plugins (Free & Paid)

Imagine landing on a website, and instead of being overwhelmed by too much content at once, you’re smoothly guided through it, one captivating slide at a time. That’s the power of carousels. These sliders have become a design favorite and elegantly display key content like products or blog posts without overwhelming visitors. 

Carousels come in many forms: some highlight product features in an eCommerce setting, others display image galleries or curate posts dynamically. Whether you’re a small business owner trying to feature your best-selling items or a blogger organizing your latest posts, carousels offer a clean, efficient solution for organizing content.

Whether you’re looking to increase engagement, drive sales, or improve your site’s design, choosing the right carousel plugin can make all the difference. Here’s a quick comparison to help you choose.

Soliloquy

40,000+

MetaSlider

600,000+

WP Carousel

60,000+

Smart Slider 3

900,000+

Slider Revolution

N/A

WP Slick Slider and Image Carousel

20,000+

Slider & Popup Builder by Depicter

100,000+

Carousel Slider

40,000+

Let’s move on to their details.

Soliloquy

We begin with Soliloquy, an all-in-one solution for creating responsive sliders and carousels that will catch the eyes of your visitors within seconds. Its intuitive drag-and-drop builder allows you to quickly adapt to creating both simple and dynamic carousels to suit your needs.

The plugin’s primary goal is to offer a straightforward solution for creating responsive and visually attractive sliders and carousels on WordPress websites. Its goal is to simplify the process of building image, video, and product sliders through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, as well as to ensure that the results are fully optimized for speed, SEO, and mobile devices. It supports a variety of use cases, from simple image sliders to more complex carousels, including WooCommerce product displays, fullscreen Lightbox slideshows, and dynamic content like blog posts and Instagram feeds. 

If we move to the exact carousel feature in Soliloquy, we’ll see its focus on providing flexibility with a fully responsive design. With the plugin, you can quickly reorder images to fix their position and adjust item widths, margins, and the number of items to move per animation. On top of these features, you’ll be able to add captions, link images, and even insert videos in your slider to improve the overall presentation.

Top Features

  • Drag-and-drop slider builder.
  • Fully responsive.
  • Support WooCommerce product slider.
  • Instagram and PDF imports.
  • Customizable item widths, margins, and animations.
  • Supports captions, image linking, and video integration.
  • Point-and-click controls for easy setup.

Precio: 

Soliloquy offers both free version and pro versions. But If you’re after the carousel addon, you’ll need the Developer version priced at $199/year. 

MetaSlider

Next, we move to MetaSlider, another well-known plugin for creating responsive sliders, carousels, and galleries with ease. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it a go-to choice for anyone who wants to build professional-looking sliders and carousels for their website. 

MetaSlider provides a flexible and easy-to-use solution for creating responsive sliders, carousels, galleries, and slideshows. It supports a wide range of content types, including images, videos, posts, and WooCommerce products. The plugin integrates with WordPress’s media library and lets you customize slides with captions, links, and SEO fields. You may seek help from the custom theme option to tweak navigation, captions, and layout so that the carousel fits perfectly with your site’s design. MetaSlider is also optimized for speed and performance by perfectly integrating with WordPress Block Editor and various page builders. 

The carousel feature in MetaSlider supports a variety of content, including images, YouTube, Vimeo, local videos, layers, WooCommerce products, and post feeds. The carousels will be fully responsive and customizable, and the customization option will be simple and smooth. The best use of this carousel is for showcasing your latest posts or creating a “Featured Product” display for your homepage.

Top Features

  • Drag-and-drop interface for easy setup.
  • Fully responsive.
  • Supports images, videos, posts, and WooCommerce products.
  • Customizable item widths, margins, and transitions for carousels.
  • SEO optimization with title and alt text fields.
  • Custom theme options for navigation, captions, and layout.
  • Works with YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, and local videos.

Precio

A free version is available, but you can upgrade to the premium version at $79 per year.

WP Carousel

Next, we have WP Carousel, a powerful yet user-friendly plugin designed to create beautiful carousels with images, posts, and WooCommerce products. It allows you to select images from your WordPress media library, drag and drop them into place, and customize them to build professional carousels without any help. 

WP Carousel supports different carousel types, and each type comes with its own set of features. The Image Carousel lets you create beautiful galleries with drag-and-drop functionality, while the Post Carousel allows you to display posts with titles, excerpts, and more. You can also build product carousels to show product names, images, prices, and ratings, or you can even create video carousels with support for YouTube, Vimeo, and self-hosted videos. Each type is fully responsive and customizable to ensure overall smooth performance.

With WP Carousel’s flexibility, you can display images of different heights and set specific carousel behaviors like autoplay, infinite looping, and touch/swipe functionality. The plugin also features watermarking, carousel scheduling, multiple pagination types, and 300+ Visual customization options to create visually appealing and functional carousels. 

Top Features

  • Drag-and-drop interface for building carousels.
  • Supports images, posts, pages, taxonomy, WooCommerce products, and videos.
  • Fully responsive and touch-friendly.
  • Infinite looping and autoplay controls.
  • Advanced styling and color customization.
  • Multiple carousels on the same page.
  • Lazy loading option. 
  • Lightbox integration with custom video thumbnails.
  • Watermarking and image protection options.
  • Scheduling and password protection. 
  • Filter and order specific content. 

Precio

Available in both free and pro versions, with the Pro version starting at $39/year.

Smart Slider 3

Smart Slider 3 is a powerful, flexible plugin that lets you create responsive sliders, carousels, and full-width slideshows with ease. It features a fully responsive, drag-and-drop slider builder that allows you to create various types of sliders, including image sliders, carousels, and full-width slideshows.

Smart Slider 3 features a live slide editor so you can easily build layouts using layers like text, images, buttons, and videos. The plugin comes with pre-designed slider templates and supports advanced features like layer animations, a live animation timeline, lightbox integration, dynamic slide generators, and detailed customization options for full control over every element of your slider.

The carousel slider in Smart Slider 3 supports multiple slides side by side with customizable widths, slide distances, dynamic animations, and responsive resizing for mobile devices. It’s ideal for showcasing posts or products, with flexible design options that include text, images, buttons, and video layers.

Top Features

  • Drag-and-drop builder.
  • Live preview. 
  • Pre-designed templates and advanced customization options.
  • Layer-based editor with support for text, images, buttons, and videos.
  • Dynamic slide generators for posts and custom content.
  • Lightbox integration and layer animations.
  • Customizable carousel slider with adjustable widths and animations.
  • Integración con WooCommerce. 
  • Custom breakpoint to fine-tune responsiveness. 

Precio

This plugin has both Free and Pro versions. But, the carousel type is only available with the Pro version, which starts at $49/year.

Slider Revolution

We now move to Slider Revolution, a powerful plugin that makes building responsive and dynamic carousels effortless. Using its no-code visual editor, you can create images and post carousels that adapt to any screen size, with pre-made templates that simplify the process. 

Slider Revolution’s carousel feature offers full control over visible slides, rotation, and animations. You can place layers freely, customize each slide, and even animate elements with keyframe support. Navigation options like arrows, bullets, and thumbnails enhance user interaction, while the drag-and-drop editor ensures intuitive design control.

With add-ons for advanced effects such as 3D spins, particles, and morphs, Slider Revolution lets you push the boundaries of what’s possible in carousel design. It seamlessly integrates with any WordPress theme, making it ideal for building high-impact carousels anywhere on your site.

Top Features

  • Visual no-code editor for carousels.
  • Full control over layout, rotation, and animations.
  • Supports keyframe animations and advanced interactions.
  • Add-ons for 3D effects, particles, and more.
  • Seamless integration with any WordPress theme.

Precio

Starts at $35/year.

WP Slick Slider and Image Carousel

WP Slick Slider and Image Carousel is a responsive plugin for creating dynamic image sliders and carousels with shortcode support. It offers a variety of layout and design options, letting you control autoplay, navigation, and speed while integrating smoothly with page builders like Gutenberg, Elementor, and Divi.

The plugin’s carousel feature lets you display multiple slides side by side, with customizable autoplay, slide speed, and infinite looping. It also offers 5 sleek designs, touch-enabled navigation, and full support for media sizes like thumbnails and full images. You can even control the carousel’s layout and behavior with shortcode parameters for slide limits, categories, and design options, making it perfect for creating post sliders, product carousels, or even a header image display.

With its fully responsive and touch-friendly design, WP Slick Slider ensures that your content scales perfectly on all devices. It also supports lazy loading, mouse-dragging, and multiple carousels on a single page, giving you complete control over how your sliders perform and display.

Top Features

  • Responsive sliders and carousels with shortcode support.
  • Touch-enabled navigation and mouse dragging.
  • 5 pre-designed layouts for slick sliders.
  • Autoplay, infinite loop, and customizable slide speed.
  • Integrates with Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, and other page builders.
  • Supports media sizes from thumbnails to full images.
  • Multi-language support and lazy loading.

Precio

A free version is available, with the Pro version starting at $99/year.\

Slider & Popup Builder by Depicter

Slider & Popup Builder by Depicter is a versatile plugin that combines sliders, carousels, and popups into one powerful tool for WordPress users. With a professional visual builder, you can easily create sliders, notification bars, carousels, and even hero sections.

The plugin’s carousel feature offers fully responsive layouts, touch-enabled navigation, and animations. You can create dynamic carousels using posts, WooCommerce products, or custom content, with options for video backgrounds, parallax effects, and scheduling.

Depicter’s asset optimization ensures fast loading, with built-in lazy loading, WebP images, and dynamic content generation. You can also schedule sliders or carousels for specific times, ensuring they appear when they’re most relevant.

Top Features

  • AI-powered builder for sliders, carousels, and popups.
  • Fully responsive, SEO-friendly, and lightweight.
  • Supports parallax effects and video backgrounds.
  • Advanced navigation options (arrows, bullets, touch gestures).
  • Dynamic post and product carousels.
  • Scheduling for sliders and carousels.

Precio

This plugin is also available in free and pro versions, with premium options starting at $39/year.

Carousel Slider

The last on our list, Carousel Slider is a touch-enabled WordPress plugin designed to create responsive and customizable carousels. Whether you’re looking to showcase images, posts, WooCommerce products, or videos, this plugin provides all the tools needed to build engaging carousels without compromising on style or performance.

With multiple carousel types, Carousel Slider supports everything from media galleries and video sliders to WooCommerce product carousels. Its flexibility allows you to adjust display items for different devices, customize navigation, and apply lazy loading for fast performance.

With full control over navigation, pagination, and layout, you can build multiple carousels on the same page with ease. Carousel Slider also allows video integrations from YouTube and Vimeo and supports custom posts, making it an all-in-one solution for creative, interactive carousels.

Top Features

  • Supports image, video, post, and WooCommerce product carousels.
  • Fully responsive with touch-enabled navigation.
  • Integrates with Elementor, Divi, and Gutenberg.
  • Options for lazy loading, CSS3 3D acceleration, and multiple carousels per page.
  • Customizable navigation and color options for complete design control.

Precio

Completely free. 

Essential Features of a Great WordPress Carousel Plugin

If you want to figure out how to decide on a perfect carousel plugin, these aspects should be of assistance to you. 

  1. Dynamic Content Integration: A great plugin allows you to pull in dynamic content like posts, WooCommerce products, or testimonials automatically, keeping your sliders fresh without manual updates.
  2. Layered Animations: Plugins offering layered animation controls allow you to create sophisticated, multi-layered visual effects to feel more creative freedom.
  3. Lazy Loading and Optimization: A strong slider plugin should offer lazy loading and media optimization features to ensure your images load quickly without affecting site speed.
  4. Touch and Gesture Support: With mobile traffic being so crucial, a slider plugin that provides flawless touch and gesture support on mobile devices will significantly improve user experience.
  5. Multimedia Support: Not just images—high-quality slider plugins should support videos from YouTube, Vimeo, or self-hosted sources.

Conclusión

Carousels offer more than just a visual display—they provide a way to keep visitors engaged and guide them through your content smoothly. With the right plugin, you can present your posts, products, or images in a sleek, organized format that improves the browsing experience. Now that you’ve seen the top plugins, it’s time to pick the one that best suits your website’s goals and start creating dynamic, interactive content.



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