Now let’s take a look at some of the best free slider plugins and see if they bring some new features that can give your WordPress website a new look.
New Features for the Better Look of WordPress Site
1. Smart Slider 3
Smart Slider 3 is the sequel to the older and proven Smart Slider 2 WordPress plugin. It claims to be a brand new and intuitive WordPress plugin that allows you to create sliders like never before using any free slider plugin. This includes real-time editors, free templates, mobile-ready sliders, seo optimization, and more.
This plugin enables you to create YouTube and Vimeo slideshows, and even use your WordPress posts and create slideshows from them, so I will continue to try it myself.I like that there are many video tutorials on how to create certain visual effects and a good “getting started” guide.This means that if you choose this slider, you will get good support.
For more features, you can upgrade to Smart Slider 3 pro–it provides lightbox support, dynamic slideshows, animation generator, and more general features (more layers, advanced templates, more slider types, advanced controls, etc.).
2.Depicter Slider
Use Depicter to create stunning sliders for your website.This plugin is loaded with many features, and incredibly, it is completely free.The plugin provides easy-to-use drag-and-drop capabilities as well as ready-made templates, so anyone can start building advanced sliders for their WordPress website.
Depicter enables you to design perfectly responsive sliders, including eye-catching animations, engaging actions (overlays, transitions, etc.), and even automatically enabled elements (such as videos that start immediately after reaching the slide).You can add images, text, titles, videos, shapes, etc. to design pixel-perfect slideshows.Of course, there are many options for choosing slider duration, controls, bullets/arrows, touch sliding, etc.But what really makes Depicter exciting is that it even has a built-in asset library with more than 3 million images, 30,000 videos and more elements to choose from-just one click away.
Although some people avoid sliders for fear of affecting website speed, with Depicter, you don’t need to worry.The plugin is lightweight and SEO-friendly, and it was developed by Averta (the creator of the wildly popular Master Slider, trust us, they know the slider).As mentioned earlier, Depicter is completely free.So what prevents you from trying it today?
3. Gutenslider
If you use Gutenberg to build your posts and pages, then Gutenslider is a must. This lightweight but powerful slider is a great addition to any WordPress website. It has excellent slider features that you can use in a good slider plug-in, such as unlimited slideshows, transition options (slider or fade in and out), arrows, navigation points, automatic subtitles, full screen support, and links. There is also a unique fixed content mode in which you can add a fixed layer with a sliding background.
But most importantly-unlike other sliders, you are not limited to images.You can add anything to your Gutenslider.Create annotations with titles, text, and buttons.Add a pricing table.Showcase WOOCERCE products. Gutenslider even allows you to add other sliders-you can add almost anything!
All of the above is available in the free version of Gutenslider (I know it’s crazy).But for more features, you can upgrade to Gutenslider Pro for less than USD 3/month. This gives you access to customizable slide navigation, parallax, full-screen background, gradient, slider duration settings, video support, and multiple slides per view. Think of all the sliders you can create!
4. MotoPress Slider Lite
MotoPress is known for creating some high-quality WordPress plugins. MotoPress Slider Lite is no exception.This is a good solution for creating slideshows that emphasize visual effects.It has a drag-and-drop interface (I don’t like it very much), a responsive layout, and sliding navigation.
This is a reliable and streamlined plugin that supports custom post types, layers, and even WooCommerce.Another great feature is that you can import and export sliders.I haven’t seen another free slider plugin that provides you with this option.So, if you have multiple sites but you want to use the same slider, or you just want to save the slider settings for later use, you can do it easily with MotoPress Slider Lite.
5. Transition Slider Lite
You may have heard of the popular Transition Slider plugin before, but did you know that they offer a Lite version?That’s right-this free, Gutenberg-compatible slider provides many powerful features that you can use to build stylish sliders for your WordPress website.
Using the Transition Slider Lite plugin, you can design custom sliders with animated text elements, impressive WebGL-driven transition effects, navigation arrows, slider loops and autoplay, deep links, video slideshows, buttons, smart preloaders, etc.There are even built-in options for full-width or full-screen sliders (a great way to make a lasting first impression on website visitors)
Transition Slider Lite is also responsive, supports touch and drag navigation, and is compatible with the most popular Web browsers.For more features, be sure to check out Transition Slider Pro-it adds ready-to-use slider templates, mobile and tablet response layers, advanced support, and more.
6. 10Web Slider
I found that the Slider WD WordPress plugin is one of the fastest plugins.This is an effective tool for creating carousels on your website.You can use shortcodes to insert them manually as widgets, or you can use PHP functions to insert them in any theme file.
With Slider WD, you can add unlimited slideshows, including images and videos (YouTube and Vimeo).There are many transition effects, and 3 layers are also supported：
Text content
picture
Share button (Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook and Tumblr)
The most interesting thing I found on their description page is that they offer to translate the plugin into any language within 3 days. I think this is a good example of plugin support.
7. Meta Slider
One of the most popular WordPress slider plugins, using Meta Slider, you can quickly create carousels.You can do this by selecting images from the media library, dragging and dropping them, setting slide titles, links, and SEO tags.
You can add it to posts and pages, and you can also use shortcodes or template tags to embed slideshows wherever you want.As one of the most commonly used free slider plugins, it has been translated into 16 languages.
8. Slider by Supsystic
Supsystic slider is a responsive solution that allows you to use some beautiful templates and quite a few options to build image and content sliders. This includes responsive image sliders, slideshows, titles, slider thumbnail images, custom links, and a simple slideshow builder interface (the professional version also provides video slideshows, dynamic post feeds, carousels, and HTML layers).
It also claims to be SEO optimized, but you can make any slider image SEO friendly by writing a unique and relevant file name and alt tag.Currently, this slider plugin has 15 dialects, so if you are looking for a localized slider option, it is worth considering.
9. Slider by Soliloquy
Use the Soliloquy image slider to quickly build cute responsive sliders. This streamlined slider includes simple but powerful options through an intuitive drag-and-drop slider builder. Just add your image, use the default layout (or choose from a pre-made template), if you want, you can add custom CSS, and you are ready to use the slider.
Want more? Soliloquy does provide add-ons for advanced templates, image protection, carousel, thumbnail navigation, light boxes, Instagram and Pinterest integrations, WOOCERCE products, dynamic sliders, and customizable default settings (you can access all of them through a development license).
10. Master Slider
Master Slider is a free and responsive image and content slider. It supports smooth transitions and touch navigation.
It claims to be built using WordPress best practices (backend and frontend), but the interface does not seem to belong to WordPress (maybe this is because they want a seamless transition between the free version and the professional version of the plugin).On the other hand, it does work with the default WordPress theme, but it also works with several other themes I have tested.
11. SlideDeck Responsive Slider
SlideDeck is a powerful free WordPress slider plugin that can be used to add visual interest to your website.The most important thing is that SlideDeck is free and easy to use.Just install and use SlideDeck Manager to create a new slideshow from scratch, or choose a free template to get started.Then, you can add images, videos (Youtube or Vimeo), titles, and even buttons. SlideDeck includes built-in options for slideshow links (so viewers can click anywhere), titles, excerpts, and links to read more.
Looking for more features?You can upgrade to SlideDeck Pro to get great extensions for text sliders, custom CSS, WooCommerce integration, added gallery resources, social media feed options, call-to-action, and a large number of advanced slideshow templates.
12. Elementor Image Carousel Widget
Elementor is technically a page builder plugin, and it does contain a great free layout image carousel (if you upgrade to Elementor Pro, the plugin will add more powerful image and video sliders).Therefore, if you want to create a custom layout anyway, Elementor has provided an easy way to build a simple image slider-no additional plug-ins are required. The Image Carousel Widget includes options to select navigation style, speed, swipe/fade effect, autoplay, and hover pause.
On the other hand, the Elementor Slides Widget can be used to create more beautiful sliders with text, buttons, full-width or full-screen layout, ken burns effects, content animation, custom transitions, etc.This widget is only available for Pro, so you need to upgrade before you can use it.
13. Ultimate Slider
Ultimate Slider is a free WordPress plugin with autoplay function, where you can also set the slider delay and sliding interval.Using the included short code [ultimate-slider], you can easily insert the slider you created anywhere in the post and page.
The plugin is fully responsive and compatible with WOOCERCE.It does allow you to create different slides using similar categories to the previous ones, but you can also enter custom CSS to adjust the appearance of the slides.The timer bar will notify the visitor when the slide changes are expected.
14. Slide Anything
Use Slide Anything to create stunning sliders for free. This free carousel and slider plugin includes simple options for adding slideshow images, text, HTML, etc. With the option of Slide Anything, you can of course build an excellent responsive touch slider right away.
Since the plugin was recently updated to use Owl Carousel 2, there are also new options for infinite loops, sliding links, CSS3 conversion 3D transitions, and stunning transition effects (such as flip, zoom, fade in and out, bounce, expand, etc.).
15. Serious Slider
The free Serious Slider plugin is a great choice for adding sliders to your website.Not only is it easy to use, but the plugin is also SEO-friendly, translatable, and fully responsive.
Use settings such as text, buttons, links, appearance styles, transition effects, subtitle animations, etc. to build an unlimited number of custom sliders.Serious Slider also includes a simple “media button”, so you can quickly insert the slider into posts and pages with one click.
16. Avartan Slider
Avartan is an easy-to-use free responsive WordPress slider plugin that contains many features.Add impressive image sliders, video sliders, content sliders, text, and animations to your website.It also includes short codes and button elements.
Avartan slider provides a simple management interface with modern features such as a drag-and-drop slider builder, real-time preview, and options for different types of elements.It includes featured pages, posts, custom post types, and vivid slideshow options for media images on the WordPress website.It is also compatible with mainstream browsers, including Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, and IE.
The element functions of the Avartan slider include the option to automatically play the video, the option to end the next slide on the video, the loop video option, full-screen YouTube, Vimeo, and self-hosted HTML5 videos.In addition, it also has the option to zoom the image, force rewind the video, and mute the video.In addition to HTML + simple text, custom CSS, etc., there are 13 kinds of transitions and animations.All you need to do is select images from the WP library, drag and drop them to a specific location, and set links, slide titles, and SEO fields from a page.
This is a progressive WordPress slider plugin that can also be executed proficiently on desktop and mobile devices. Avartan slider brings users a wonderful experience with stylish effects. It’s not just a slider-it’s a new way to convey ideas!
17. WP Responsive Recent Post Slider
Use your posts to create a slider using the WP Responsive Recent Posts slider. The plugin extracts content from your recent blog posts, all you have to do is use the shortcode to add your slider to any page. Use the options to select the slider or carousel format, the number of posts displayed, the post category, and the slider design (choose from the 4 included presets).
18. Video Slider
Use Rich-Web’s Video Slider to create a rich media slider. This is a great way to show company introductions, product videos, customer reviews, or anything else. This responsive slider plug-in includes options such as overlay color, slide speed, animation, title, etc. In addition, it also supports popular video sources such as MP4, Youtube, Vevo and Vimeo.
19. Prime Slider
Prime Slider is a free slider extension of Elementor that provides advanced features at a low price of 00.This quick and easy slider uses a pre-styled template that you can edit to prepare a beautiful slider for your website in a few minutes. In addition, the professional version also provides support for WooCommerce, event calendar, etc.
20. Product Slider for WooCommerce
Sliders are not just for images-you can also add your products with the help of plug-ins like Product Slider. This free slider allows you to add product sliders or carousels to any page. Just use the simple shortcode generator and select the maximum product quantity, autoplay, loop, product information, shopping cart button, etc. There are also preset themes and font and color options, so you can easily set styles to match your website.
21. Social Slider
The Social slider widget is designed to showcase your social posts and allows you to easily create sliders that contain content from your Instagram feed. Just install and connect to an authorized Instagram account (one or more).Then use the widget or shortcode to add your social slider to any location on the WordPress website.
22. Ultimate Responsive Image Slider
If you are looking for a well-maintained and supported free slider plugin, Ultimate Responsive Image Slider is another good choice.It enables you to upload multiple images in batches, add multiple slideshows to posts or pages, insert using short codes, adjust the height and width of the sliders individually, configure navigation buttons, etc.
The most interesting feature is the slideshow thumbnail.If you have multiple slides in one slider, you can enable the thumbnail images that will be displayed below the slide so that visitors can preview them and jump forward or backward as needed.Another advantage of using this plugin is that you can define fonts in it.I don’t like plugins with this feature, just because it will slow down your website if enabled.However, if you want to use a different slider font than the one defined by the theme, you can use this free WordPress slider plugin to achieve it.
The best free WordPress carousel slider plugin
All the free WordPress slider plugins mentioned claim to have an intuitive interface, but I suggest you try it yourself to see which one provides you with the best functional intuitive ratio.Since no WordPress website runs only one plugin, the load of each plugin on your website also needs to be considered.
