These days it seems as though every single site uses a slider in one (or more) of their pages, and who can blame them? They provide a sleek way to display lots of information, and as long as you’re relying on WordPress slider plugins, they’re also easy to set up – regardless of whether you’re choosing a free theme or a premium option.
There are plenty of slider plugins available, but we’ve scoured the internet and selected what we consider to be the five best options at the moment.
Each of these slider plugins packs in a plethora of features, and in this piece we’ll be testing each of them to find out how they stack up. Throughout, we’ll look at functionality, price, and ease of use.
Slide into your seat and get ready for an in-depth comparison!
The best WordPress slider plugins compared
Here are the five options we believe to be the best slider plugins available. They’re presented in no particular order, so take a look at each of them in turn to see if they’re the right solution for you.
1. Otter Blocks
First on our list is the Otter Blocks plugin. You can see its Slider Block in action in the above GIF.
This nifty block enables you to easily create image carousels directly in the WordPress Block Editor. All you have to do to add a slider is select and insert your media, the same way you would with a classic Image Block. Then, you can adjust image heights, autoplay settings, the slide change display, and more.
However, this tool is so much more than a WordPress slider plugin. Otter Blocks comes with more than 23 incredible (and free) Gutenberg blocks for your site. These include elevated blocks for contact forms, headings, and product reviews, as well as a few sophisticated options like the Flip Block, the Countdown Block, and the Lottie Animation Block.
Main features ️
- Seamless integration with the Gutenberg editor.
- 30+ free blocks, including the Slider.
- Option to add custom CSS, animations, and dynamic content.
- Global default configuration setting options.
- Built-in, mobile-friendly features.
- Additional blocks and expanded settings with premium plans.
Ease of use
Otter Blocks are designed to work specifically with the Gutenberg editor, a.k.a the WordPress Block Editor. This means that every Otter Block functions just like all the other blocks you’ve been using (except with way more features!). However, it’s important to keep in mind that you can’t use Otter Blocks with third-party page builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder.
Price
The standard Otter plugin is completely free. To access more features, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium plan. You can get a Personal license for $49 per year, a Business plan for $99 per year, or an Agency license for $149 per year.
When to consider using Otter Blocks
If you want a WordPress slider plugin that streamlines your page-designing process, this might be the perfect choice for you. With Otter Blocks, you’ll be able to work directly in the WordPress Block Editor at all times. Plus, since the Slider Block comes as part of a package deal, you’ll get tons of other useful blocks for your site!
2. Meta Slider
Meta Slider claims to be the most popular WordPress slider plugin available, and its +800,000 active installs would seem to back that up.
This plugin is relatively straightforward to use, comes with very thorough documentation, and its free version is more than sufficient to create great sliders.
Main features ️
- Responsive and lightweight slides.
- Four types of sliders with unique transition effects for each.
- Enables you to drag-and-drop slides to reorder them.
- Includes a preview feature.
- Ability to display sliders using widgets.
- Crops and resizes your images automatically.
Ease of use
This plugin includes fewer options than expected for such a popular tool. Despite this, creating a new slide is not an uphill battle. All of the settings are located in a tidy menu at the right of your screen, and the plugin provides easy access to all your images for editing purposes.
Price
Free, $39.50, $49.50, or $99.50 licenses (prices vary based on the number of sites you want licenses for).
When to consider using Meta Slider
The free version of this WordPress slider plugin provides a decent option for users who don’t need to set up intricate slides. It provides a fair number of styles, and plenty of transition effects to aid your customization efforts.
3. Soliloquy
Another recent addition to our list is Soliloquy, a responsive slider plugin. It is one of our favorite options for portfolio designers who want to have a slider with only limited (but useful) features. In addition to basic functionality, you will also get Gutenberg blocks for further improving your design.
Main features ️
- SEO friendly WordPress slider plugin.
- Great templates for customization.
- Slideshows for featured content.
- WooCommerce compatibility and responsiveness.
- Import media from Instagram and Pinterest.
Ease of use
Soliloquy focuses extensively on user experience. It closely integrates with the WordPress dashboard and lets you jump from one feature to another quickly. For example, you can disallow users to download slider images by simply checking the box. It is both a simple and easy to use plugin.
Price
This WordPress slider plugin is available for free but the features are a little limited. You’d have to pay a premium for unlocking more. They provide a 14 days money-back guarantee. Here are the plans:
- Personal – $19.5 per year
- Multi – $49.5 per year
- Developer – $99.5 per year
- Lifetime – $349.5 per year
When to consider using Soliloquy
This is one of the most simplistic slider plugins. You can use it for creating a basic slider with fast loading images. If you want to use the slider for a business site, you may want to check your features. Design options are a bit limited, but affordable pricing makes it a fit for new websites.
4. Prime Slider
Unlike other independent slider plugins on our list, Print Slider works along with Elementor page builder. This means you will get better control of the design and customization. You will not only be able to customize the hero image but also other sections of the theme like menu, layout, and almost everything using Elementor + Prime Slider.
Main features ️
- Create slider design on live editor.
- 17 free slider images for a lifetime.
- Multilingual ready and highly responsive.
- Create trendy designs with social share buttons, background, etc.
- Made with the latest coding practice for fast loading templates.
Ease of use
Unlike most of the slider plugins that integrate with WordPress, with Prime Slider you can work on your design directly from the Elementor editor. This will allow you to change everything on the page and not only the hero image section.
Price
The free version is equipped with features that go handy with the Elementor plugin, but you can unlock more widgets and get a custom theme (Rooten) that works well with Elementor and Prime Slider combination. Pricing plans vary based on the number of sites:
- Personal – $29.99 per year
- Business – $59.99 per year
- Agency – $199.99 per year
When to consider using Prime Slider
Prime Slider is good for those who want to have much more than just the basic sliders. You can literally customize every element of your theme and make sure everything aligns with your brand’s visual aesthetics.
5. Master Slider
Finally, we come to our last pick for slider plugins – Master Slider. This is a sleek plugin, and it’s ahead of the others we’ve featured here when it comes to design – it doesn’t lag behind in usability either.
Master Slider comes in three flavors – free, premium, and a standalone jQuery version for use outside of WordPress. Notably, the free version of this plugin doesn’t scrimp at all when it comes to features.
Main features ️
- Modern slider creation menus.
- Responsive design.
- ‘TouchSwipe‘ navigation.
- Drag-and-drop creation and live preview systems.
- Comes with eight pre-built sample sliders and many additional skins.
- Includes a slide preloading option.
- Enables you to import and export sliders.
Ease of use
Despite its sleek menu, newcomers might be confused due to the multiple tabs they need to address while creating new slides. Fortunately, the plugin includes some fantastic documentation.
Price
Free, $17, or $34 licenses.
When to consider using Master Slider
If you want a modern, feature-filled WordPress slider plugin (and don’t mind some reading to figure out what every setting accomplishes), Master Slider will be ideal.
Final thoughts
Naturally, you want to know which of these slider plugins offers the best solution.
All of the sliders have their own benefits and ultimately the “best” solution is going to subjective based on the individual needs of any given individual reading this. Having said that, if we had to pick a winner, it would be Otter Blocks!
What’s your favorite WordPress slider plugin? Share your slider expertise with us in the comments section below!
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