LayerSlider vs WP Carousel
Updated 22 Oct 2026. 18 features compared side by side.
Premium animation builder by Kreatura for layered sliders, carousels, hero scenes and popups, with 210+ templates and a choice of annual or one-time licences.
Carousel and slider plugin by ShapedPlugin for images, posts, WooCommerce products and videos, with blocks, page builder support and lightbox.
Choose LayerSlider if…
- You need layers & free-form editing and dynamic content & social feeds
- You want the more complete feature set (97/100 vs 76/100)
- You want the lower entry price ($29/yr vs $39/yr)
- You prefer the more widely used option
Choose WP Carousel if…
- You want to start with a free version
LayerSlider includes 2 features that WP Carousel lacks, including Layers & free-form editing and Dynamic content & social feeds. Both include 15 of the 18 features we track. 1 feature is not yet verified for one or both plugins.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
LayerSlider WP CarouselSlide types6/64/6
Image backgrounds and image layers with links on each slide.
Image carousels and sliders with captions, alt text and links.
YouTube, Vimeo and self-hosted video or audio layers and video backgrounds.
YouTube in free; Vimeo, Wistia, TikTok, Twitch and self-hosted video in Pro.
Post sliders built from posts and pages that update automatically.
Recent posts and WooCommerce products free; pages, CPTs and taxonomy filters in Pro.
Carousel project type is supported.
Multi-column carousels are the core feature.
Free-form text, image, button, media and dynamic layers.
No free-positioned layer editor; Pro content slides use text/HTML blocks instead.
Hero scenes and full-size or full-width layouts.
No full-screen or hero mode documented.
Editing & design5/54/5
Visual project editor with device view and live preview.
Settings panels with live preview and block previews, not a free-form canvas.
210+ templates (120+ sliders, 90+ popups) with a licence.
Ready Patterns library and saved templates added in version 3.0.
200+ transitions, transition builder, Ken Burns, parallax and 3D parallax.
Slide, flip and centre modes; no Ken Burns, parallax or layer animations.
Dots, thumbnails, bar and circle timers, slidebar and keyboard navigation.
Styled arrows and dots plus a Thumbnails Slider block.
Dynamic layers use WordPress posts and custom fields; no social or RSS sources listed.
Sources are images, posts, products and videos; no social or RSS feed sources listed.
Mobile & performance4/44/4
Device-specific layers and show/hide by device or screen width.
Columns and spacing per device and hide navigation on mobile; no per-layer controls.
Tap and swipe gestures to change slides.
Touch swipe and mouse drag supported.
Lazy loading so assets load only when needed.
Lazy-loading option for images added in version 3.0.
Vendor describes output as SEO friendly with real text layers.
Real img tags with editable alt text, titles and captions.
Integrations3/33/3
LayerSlider block for inserting projects in Gutenberg.
Carousel, Slider, Thumbnails Slider and Tiles blocks.
Dedicated Elementor widget and widgets for other popular builders.
Elementor, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, Divi, Oxygen and Bricks support listed.
Docs say WooCommerce data can be pulled via custom post fields; no dedicated product slides.
Product carousels with price, rating and add-to-cart button in free.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
LayerSlider Premium
| Personal (annual) | $29 per year, 1 site |
|---|---|
| Personal (one-time) | $87 lifetime, 1 site |
| Professional (annual) | $69 per year, 3 sites |
| Professional (one-time) | $207 lifetime, 3 sites |
WP Carousel Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Single Site | $39 per year, 1 site |
| Five Sites | $99 per year, 5 sites |
| Unlimited Sites | $199 per year, Unlimited |
| Single Site Lifetime | $278 lifetime, 1 site |
Downloads trend
LayerSlider
No WordPress.org download data (premium-only plugin).
WP Carousel
46,819 downloads last week
Verdict
LayerSlider scores higher on our feature checklist (97/100 against 76/100) and includes layers & free-form editing and dynamic content & social feeds that WP Carousel does not. Only WP Carousel has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
LayerSlider: included. WP Carousel: not included. Free-form text, image, button, media and dynamic layers.
LayerSlider: partial. WP Carousel: not included. Dynamic layers use WordPress posts and custom fields; no social or RSS sources listed.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, LayerSlider or WP Carousel?
LayerSlider scores higher on our feature checklist (97/100 against 76/100) and includes layers & free-form editing and dynamic content & social feeds that WP Carousel does not. Only WP Carousel has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
LayerSlider includes 18 of the 18 features we track, against 15 for WP Carousel. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is LayerSlider free?
LayerSlider is premium only. Paid plans start at $29/yr.
Is WP Carousel free?
WP Carousel has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $39/yr.
Feature data last changed 22 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to LayerSlider or WP Carousel. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.