20 of the Best jQuery Slideshow Plugins

jQuery sliders, slideshows, and galleries are extremely common on a variety of different types of websites. Portfolio sites, blogs, e-commerce sites, and about any type of site can make use of a jQuery slideshow. Fortunately, there are a number of great plugins already coded that make it easy to add a slideshow in a matter of minutes. Each one offers different features and has it’s own style. In this post we’ll showcase 20 jQuery plugins that you may want to use for adding a slideshow in your own projects.

Slides
Slides is a jQuery slideshow plugin built for simplicity.Features include captions, multiple slideshows, and more.

jQuery.popeye
jQuery.popeye is an inline lightbox alternative with slideshow. Unlike lightbox plugins, jQuery.popeye doesn’t use modal windows to display images.

jQuery Cycle Plugin
jQuery Cycle offers several different types of transition effects to choose from, including shuffle, zoom, fade, and more.  It supports pause-on-hover, auto-stop, auto-fit, before/after callbacks, click triggers and much more.

Nivo Slider
One of the most popular options for jQuery sliders/slideshows, Nivo Slider includes 16 different transition effects, customizable settings, keyboard navigation, and it is released under the MIT license. It’s also available as a WordPress plugin (for purchase).

TN3 Gallery
TN3 Gallery is a feature-rich slideshow plugin. It is a premium plugin ($37 for a single-site license) that also offers a free Lite version. The Lite version includes features like transition effects, fullscreen options, and optional captions, but it does not include other features from the Pro version including fullscreen keyboard navigation, multiple galleries on the same page, mousewheel navigation, dynamic image sizing, and more.

Pikachoose
Pikachoose is a lightweight jQuery slideshow plugin with features like tooltips and fancybox support. Four premium themes are available for purchase.

Coin Slider
Coin Slider is released under the MIT license and includes features like unique transition effects, flexible configuration, Android and iPhone compatibility, and more.

Galleria
Galleria and its classic theme are released under the MIT license. It includes features like scaling images, touch screen support, and optional premium themes to improve the look of your slideshow.

Orbit
Orbit is a lightweight slideshow plugin from Zurb.  It features simple implementation, optional captions and links, optional bullet navigation, and more.

Supersized
Supersized is a full screen background slideshow plugin. It’s ideal for photography portfolios and other sites that rely on large images and photos.

slideViewer
slideViewer is a lightweight jQuery plugin that allows you to implement a slideshow with a simple unordered list.

Advanced jQuery Background Image Slideshow
Originally a tutorial on Marcofolio, this was later converted to a plugin.  It allows you to use a full-screen slideshow as the back for a website.

Simple Controls Gallery v1.4
Simple Controls Gallery allows you to display images as an automatic or manually-controlled slideshow.

s3Slider jQuery Plugin
s3Slider allows you to implement a simple slideshow with image captions.

Easy Slider
Easy Slider, from CSS Globe, is a versatile plugin that allows options like manual controls, vertical sliding, continuous sliding, and more.

ColorBox
ColorBox is a lightweight, customizable lightbox and slideshow plugin.

simpleSli.de
simpleSli.de is lightweight slideshow plugin that comes in two versions, Big Boy (15KB) and Mini (6KB).

Skitter
Skitter allows you to implement a slideshow with a simple unordered list.  It includes several animation types, navigation options, and more.

ResponsiveSlides.js
ResponsiveSlides.js is a lightweight responsive slideshow plugin. You can use it to create a slideshow that automatically fades from one photo to the next, or you can include manual controls.

Sideways
Sideways is a simple, elegant full-screen image gallery plugin.

For more resources please see:

• 25 Useful jQuery Tooltip Scripts
• 35 jQuery Animation Tutorials
• 25 jQuery Drop Down Menu Scripts
• 25 Excellent jQuery Slider Plugins and Tutorials
• jQuery Resources for One-Page Portfolios

Published January 30th, 2012 by Steven Snell