Let's be honest—sliders are fun. A little bit of movement can really bring a page to life.

Sliders—also known as "carousels" or "image sliders"—are interactive elements for showing images or other media in a web page. 

Take a look at these 20 useful jQuery sliders from Envato Market and you'll see there's more to sliders than you might have imagined.

1. RoyalSlider

Having a touch-friendly and responsive slider for your website is more important now than ever before, and RoyalSlider is both.

Developed with HTML5 and CSS3 best practices, it's a solid choice.

Here are a few of the other royally cool features:

• SEO optimized
• highly configurable
  
• over 10 starter templates
• includes fallbacks for CSS3 transitions
• and more

I think the best feature is the modular architecture that gives devs the option to exclude what they don't need from the main JS file, keeping things as lean as possible.

The RoyalSlider is a solid JavaScript slider that should be a nice addition to any web dev's toolbox.

2. Slider Revolution

It's not easy to be "revolutionary" in the slider space. There are only so many options you can make available when it comes to sliders, but the Slider Revolution does a great job trying.

When it comes to jQuery sliders, this one delivers on just about everything you'll want.

The list of features for this slider is long, so I'll just hit the high points:

• parallax effects and custom animations
  
• SEO optimized and lazy loading options
• add unlimited layers and slides with link options
  
• includes "ready to use" styles and is highly customizable
• and much more
  

The ability to drop in an image, video player embed, and social media source makes Slider Revolution one of the most flexible and customizable options you'll find.

3. LayerSlider

The name doesn't do this jQuery slider justice. Its 200+ 2D and 3D slide transitions will turn some heads.

Some of the notable features include:

• skin design PSD template included
• 13 skins and 3 navigation types
• add a fixed image over the slider
  
• SEO friendly and lazy load images
  
• hardware-accelerated CSS3 transitions with jQuery fallback
• and more
  

Like the previous slider, you can drop in just about any content—even HTML5 self-hosted multimedia content.

The LayerSlider brings a lot of action to the slider space and is downright handsome.

4. jQuery Banner Rotator / Slideshow

The jQuery Banner Rotator / Slideshow slider is a straightforward solution. It's simple without sacrificing essentials.

It includes:

• tooltips, text descriptions, etc.
  
• thumbnail and component viewing options
• timer and delay options on a global or per-slider basis
  
• multiple transitions for all slides or different for each one
• more

While the jQuery Banner Rotator / Slideshow is basic compared to other jQuery sliders, it should not be overlooked if you want a simple, clean interface.

5. All In One Slider Responsive jQuery Slider Plugin

Every slider comes to market with its own unique perspective and provides a solution to whatever slider niche is being targeted.

But not this one.

The All In One Slider Responsive jQuery Slider Plugin is... well... all in one.

I think most web devs and designers have a go-to solution, but at the same time are always on the lookout for something new.

This just might be that something new as it includes:

• banner rotator
• thumbnails banner
• banner with playlist
• content slider
• carousel

And all of these slider styles include most—if not all—of the features needed in a jQuery slider.

Will the All In One Slider Responsive jQuery Slider Plugin be your all-in-one slider solution?

6. UnoSlider

If your slider isn't touch-enabled and responsive, you're not doing it right.

The UnoSlider does it right.

This slider finds its sweet spot between simple and feature rich.

Features include:

• easily themeable
• 12 pre-built themes
• 40 present transitions
  
• IE6+ support (because it's still out there!)
• and more

The feature set leans more towards design and style, making the UnoSlider a great content slider to theme.

7. Master Slider

Looking for one jQuery slider to rule them all?

Try the Master Slider on for size...

When it comes to good looks, this one is in the upper echelon:

• smart preloading
• over 25 templates
• hardware-accelerated transitions
• supports touch navigation and swipe gestures
• and much more
  

The interactive transitions, animated layers, and hotspots will really catch your eye.

The Master Slider collection is a masterpiece.

8. TouchCarousel

TouchCarousel touts "free support and upgrades", but there's a lot more to this lightweight carousel-style jQuery slider.

With "touch" in the name, it's obviously fully responsive and supports touch navigation.

Other features include:

• SEO friendly
  
• smart autoplay
• hardware-accelerated CSS3 transitions
• customizable UI with four Photoshop skins
• and more

However, TouchCarousel takes mobile to a whole new level with its unique physics-based scrolling.

9. Advanced Slider

A jQuery slider isn't just for the web. It can also be useful when integrated into applications, just like you can do with the Advanced Slider.

Using HTML markup or XML, this advanced slider packs a lot of punch:

• animated layers and smart video
• 100+ transitions and 150+ customizable properties
• 15 slider skins, 7 scrollbar skins, and built-in lightbox support
• keyboard navigation, touchscreen support, and fully customizable interface
• and much, much more

The best feature, however, has got to be the Advanced Slider API—making it the perfect slider solution for your application.

10. jQuery Slider Zoom In/Out Effect Fully Responsive

This is one of those jQuery sliders that makes you visit the demo before you start reading about the features, because you want to know what the heck "zoom in/out effect" even means.

Think screensaver.

While the effect is fairly slight, the zoom effect in a slider adds a nice touch in a world wide web full of static image sliders.

This slick slider's features include:

• CSS3 layer transitions
• exit animation parameters for layers
• fixed, full width, and fullscreen options
• CSS and HTML formatted animated text
• and more
  

While most sliders try to deliver many effects in one package, the jQuery Slider Zoom In/Out Effect Fully Responsive slider delivers the Ken Burns effect and delivers it well.

11. Content Timeline

Content Timeline is a beautifully designed and powerful slider—a perfect solution for timelines.

From desktop to mobile, timelines have never looked so good.

It's simple. Take your content, sort it by the date, call the function, and that's it!

Features include:

• powerful and lightweight
• 11 customizable settings
• fully interactive, flexible, and intuitive
• full responsive and built for mobile and desktop
• and more

With seven embedded script control methods and included easing effects, Content Timeline is one of the best timeline sliders you'll find.

12. Sexy Slider

The Sexy Slider isn't nearly as sexy as it used to be, but it has aged well, making it a trustworthy solution.

It's not very impressive at first blush, but with some fine-tuning, this flexible jQuery slider can be configured to fit your design perfectly.

It includes:

• auto slide
  
• image captions
• continuous sliding
  
• 6 transition effects
• and more
  

Sexy Slider is just waiting for you to unlock its power and discover its full potential.

13. Master Slider jQuery Slider Plugin with Visual Builder

The Master Slider jQuery Slider Plugin with Visual Builder makes building a slider a snap—without sacrificing good looks.

This premium image and content slider offers some really nice hardware-accelerated transitions that will surely catch your eye.

Features include:

• smart preloading
• built for both mobile and desktop
• over 80 ready-to-use sample sliders
• masked layer transitions, layer actions, and overlay layers
• and more

Master Slider jQuery Slider Plugin with Visual Builder is fully customizable, SEO friendly, and also supports videos. And of course, the most obvious: a visual builder.

14. Translucent

Most jQuery slider plugins include some sort of design chrome, and while you can configure it to your liking, sometimes you just want to keep everything contained within the slide itself.

Enter the Translucent slider.

There are a lot of presets, so all you'll need to do is configure it and go!

Features include:

• 6 style variations
• 4 transition effects
• 2 touch swipe transitions
• configurable buttons and captions
• and more
  

Like others, it's touch-friendly, responsive, and leverages hardware acceleration.

Translucent is a minimal slider design that does a great job pushing the content to the front.

15. Unleash

Looking for an accordion slider? Then Unleash is what you want!

Packed with features, this beautiful slider is one of the best accordion sliders you'll find.

Features include:

• HTML5 video support for desktop
• hardware-accelerated animations
• fully responsive
• supports touch
• and more

Unleash the Unleash jQuery responsive accordion slider.

16. AviaSlider

AviaSlider is another good-looking slider that includes some really nice effects.

This easy-to-use jQuery slideshow plugin includes eight predefined transitions, but you can create more.

Some other features include:

• includes image preloader
• autoplay stops when users interact
• works with prettyPhoto Lightbox out of the box
• and more

AviaSlider packs a punch, despite the packed version weighing in at only 8kb.

17. Slider Evolution

Start a slider revolution with Slider Evolution! Now you can easily create JavaScript sliders with some of the best effects.

With Slider Evolution, you can create an unlimited number of sliders, each with customized settings, to be placed anywhere on your website.

18. Accordionza

jQuery sliders don't get much lighter than this.

Using only 3kb to load, Accordionza is a super lightweight accordion slider option.

And if you don't like the three included styles, you can tweak the HTML and CSS of this flexible accordion.

Features include:

• keyboard navigation
• easily configure effects and controls
  
• progressive enhancement (viewable without JavaScript enabled)
• and more

Keep in mind that Accordionza can display many kinds of mixed content, making it an excellent choice for a flexible, go-to accordion slider option.

19. mightySlider

The mightySlider is mighty indeed.

You can use it not only as a simple image slider, but also as a full one-directional slider with item-based navigation—making for a nice one-page website design.

You'll find plenty of options under the hood:

• keyboard, mouse, and touch support
• hardware-accelerated CSS3 transitions
• clean, valid markup and SEO optimized
• unlimited slides, caption layers, and caption effects
• and much more

The API is powerful and developer-friendly, adding to the many ways it can be used.

With its clean and well-commented code, the mightySlider is an excellent, forward-thinking jQuery slider.

20. Parallax Slider

The Parallax Slider works like the jQuery Responsive OneByOne Slider Plugin, allowing you to animate each layer separately within a particular slide.

You can do this with multiple slides, or even just one slide, adding some compelling parallax animation to your website.

This comes with four different types of sliders, all offering the same animated, parallax effect.

Like many other jQuery sliders, it also includes:

• fully customizable
  
• touchscreen support
• fully responsive and unlimited layers
• autoplay, loop, height & width, and timer parameters
• and more
  

Animated layers are not limited to text and images either. You can also include YouTube, Vimeo, and HTML5 video.

The Parallax Slider is another fine example of how Flash-like effects can be executed better than Flash—and be supported across all devices.

Conclusion

It's interesting to see how the jQuery slider has evolved from something that just transitioned from one image to the next, into a broad range of creative tools. We see sliders that are 3D, parallax, full page, and are fully responsive and viewable on the desktop or smartphone.

If you didn't find a jQuery slider you liked in this list, you could always take an Envato Tuts+ jQuery Code Tutorial and develop something completely new and unique. Otherwise, dig through the many other great jQuery sliders on Envato Market—there are plenty to choose from.

What's your favorite jQuery slider and why?