09 Feb 8+ Best WordPress Slider Plugins Compared 2021

I’m never on the side to use sliders on a website because they can easily increase the page load time by an inadequate amount but still they are good to increase user engagement. If speed isn’t a problem for your website then having a slider working on a homepage of your website or blog to display highlighted or featured content is really going to add further points to overall user experience. So here I’m starting with this helpful guide covering best WordPress slider plugins you can use.

The main reason why they increase page load time is that they exist because of JavaScript. More numbers of JavaScript code on a webpage can increase the page load time severely and it can affect user experience, especially when a user isn’t having a faster internet.

Also see:

• 12 Best WordPress Content Slider Plugins (Free and Premium)
• 32+ Free Quality WordPress Magazine News Themes
• 10 Must Have WordPress Plugins

Best WordPress Slider Plugins

I should stop bubbling around facts now and provide you what you came looking for. Besides it’s your decision so following are the best slider plugins for WordPress blogs.

#1 RoyalSlider

As the name suggests, it’s the best premium plugin available out there. If you truly believe that premium codes are worthy of the free one then this is the one you should be using from day one. It is completely responsive and touch-enabled using which you can display images, posts, videos and it also comes with integration for Instagram, Flickr, and other popular websites.

The plugin comes integrated with WooCommerce if you wish to run a product catalog over the home page. It also comes with dozens of CSS driven skins using which you can anytime change the whole look and feel. More specifically, it does what it meant to be and that too at a premium stand.

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#2 Nivo Slider Lite

If you’re looking for the best free WordPress slider plugin around, you have to check out Nivo Slider Lite. The fact that this plugin has already been downloaded over 30,000 times tells you that the creators are onto something good. Seriously though, it takes a LOT for a WordPress plugin to get downloaded that many times. Props to the creators.

Nivo Slider Lite is the slimmed-down version of the Nivo Slider WordPress plugin, and is a great, free introduction into the feature-packed paid version the company offers. If you’re looking to unlock features such as creating galleries, getting access to responsive sliders, unlocking all 16 transition effects, or getting access to Dev7studios’ support desk, you’ll need to shell out for the upgrade.

Whether you’re looking for basic functionality or a boatload of features, check this plugin out.

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#3 Soliloquy

This particular plugin is available in both free and paid versions and it can let you create beautiful sliders over the home page of any blog or website driven by WordPress platform. It’s extremely simple to setup because of which I’m recommending it over all other options we have here.

It comes with a simple to use control panel which is added within Dashboard and can be used to not just create sliding images but also add Meta description and other SEO aspects. This plugin even supports touch-enabled devices. While most of its features are available for free, you can get their premium version at a cost which is totally worth.

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#4 LayerSlider

Gorgeous animations are the reason why this plugin even exists. It brings on a lot of options in front of its users that it becomes worthy of every buck you had spent to get your hands on it. Its code is promised to be optimized for search engines and it even supports lazy loading feature that can compensate a bit for the page load time it increases.

It can be used to pin down almost any post format on the home page like video, audio, post, image, etc. It’s totally responsive and can be added over the complete webpage, creating a beautiful full page slider.

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#5 Slider WD

There’s a lot to love about the WordPress slider plugin from 10Web. First, it looks really nice. The company did a great job of packing tons of features into the plugin without sacrificing aesthetics. Some features that stood out to us were parallax slider effects, video intregration (Vimeo, Youtube, Flickr, etc..), pre-built animations, custom navigation buttons, and over 700 Google fonts to choose from. All of this can be built by a simple and easy to use drag-and-drop interface.

In addition, the plugin is not only good looking and easy to use, but it’s also responsive and SEO friendly. This ensures that your pages and posts will operate as full efficiency, but also look nice.

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#6 Smart Slider 3

If adding posts or images isn’t the only thing you wish to pin over the home page then try Smart Slider 3 which is available in both free and premium versions. This plugin will let you pin either a simple post or almost anything ranging from Twitter, YouTube Gallery, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Its design style ranges a lot which gives a lot of options for its users to choose and change its overall presence. It’s totally responsive which makes it compatible with certain mobile phones as well. The design of the slider is built with 6 varied layers – image, heading, text, button, vimeo, and youtube.

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#7 Master Slider

Remember the cons I was bubbling about using slider plugins in starting? Well, if I was at your side then out of all the available options I would prefer using Master Slider. I hope you got the reason why I’d pick this one up and if not then the reason behind my decision is the overall size of this plugin.

It is lightweight and SEO friendly, which simply means that it doesn’t cost much over total page load time and makes it super cool to use. You can either use its free version or satisfy your urge for more premium features with its paid one. And yes it comes with every sliding feature you wish to have.

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#8 Slider PRO

Now here comes the second to last premium product in our category. It will let you create touch-enabled sliding posts over homepage which can be setup using different design layouts. It comes preloaded with fifteen different design layouts or you may call them as skins.

Using it you can add images, posts, videos or any other custom feed you wish to slide over the homepage of your blog or website. Its premium attribute can be judged simply by looking at different design styles it delivers which is controllable and adjustable through a simple to understand user interface.

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#9 Slider Revolution

Remember CodeCanyon? They are one of the best developers out over the web, bringing premium codes to full fill a lot of needs. Slider Revolution is their premium product and no doubt it’s bestselling according to their stats. It simply adds on to a full page, half page or any other custom sized slider that can hold on to different types of posts.

Even navigation skins can be added within which is a unique feature offered till now. Rest, all I can say is that you should check over its demo here and see yourself. I love people who take decisions on their own.

Wrap up

After using any of these plugins if it made the page load time, worst then I’m afraid you got no other option than to drop the idea of using a slider. Personally I haven’t seen authority blogs over internet using any slider plugin because they care to get the load up as quickly as possible. Do let me know what’s your side on using sliders, I’m waiting for discussion. Peace.

*last updated 01/05/2021