@splidejs/splide vs flickity vs slick-carousel vs swiper
JavaScript Carousel Libraries
@splidejs/splideflickityslick-carouselswiperSimilar Packages:

JavaScript Carousel Libraries

Carousel libraries in JavaScript provide developers with tools to create interactive, scrollable content areas on web pages. These libraries enable the display of images, text, or other elements in a sliding or rotating manner, often with features like autoplay, navigation controls, and responsive design. They enhance user experience by allowing efficient use of space and creating visually appealing presentations. @splidejs/splide is a lightweight, flexible, and accessible slider with a modern API, while flickity offers a touch-friendly, responsive carousel with a focus on smooth animations and user interactions. slick-carousel is a feature-rich, widely-used slider with extensive customization options, and swiper is a powerful, mobile-first slider with advanced features like virtual slides, lazy loading, and a modular architecture.

Npm Package Weekly Downloads Trend

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Package
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@splidejs/splide05,3391.21 MB143-MIT
flickity07,590338 kB123-GPL-3.0
slick-carousel028,604-1,3378 years agoMIT
swiper041,8253.38 MB24718 hours agoMIT

Feature Comparison: @splidejs/splide vs flickity vs slick-carousel vs swiper

Size and Performance

  • @splidejs/splide:

    @splidejs/splide is a lightweight slider with a small footprint (around 20KB minified). It is designed for performance, making it a great choice for projects where load times and resource usage are critical.

  • flickity:

    flickity is relatively lightweight (about 30KB minified) but offers rich features and smooth animations. Its performance is optimized for both desktop and mobile devices, making it suitable for most web applications.

  • slick-carousel:

    slick-carousel is larger in size (around 70KB minified), but it provides a comprehensive set of features out of the box. The trade-off in size is justified for projects that need its extensive functionality.

  • swiper:

    swiper is modular, allowing developers to include only the features they need, which helps keep the bundle size small. This makes it a good choice for performance-sensitive applications, especially when optimized.

Customization

  • @splidejs/splide:

    @splidejs/splide offers extensive customization options, including themes, animations, and navigation styles. Its API is designed to be flexible, allowing developers to easily modify its behavior and appearance.

  • flickity:

    flickity provides a range of customization options, particularly for its animations and navigation controls. It is easy to style and configure, making it a good choice for projects that need a visually distinctive slider.

  • slick-carousel:

    slick-carousel is highly customizable, with support for multiple breakpoints, variable widths, and a wide range of settings. It is ideal for projects that require detailed control over the slider’s behavior and appearance.

  • swiper:

    swiper is highly customizable and modular, allowing developers to tailor the slider to their specific needs. Its architecture supports deep customization, making it suitable for complex applications.

Accessibility

  • @splidejs/splide:

    @splidejs/splide is built with accessibility in mind, providing ARIA attributes and keyboard navigation out of the box. It is a good choice for projects that need to meet accessibility standards.

  • flickity:

    flickity includes basic accessibility features, such as keyboard navigation and ARIA roles. However, it may require additional work to fully meet accessibility guidelines.

  • slick-carousel:

    slick-carousel has limited built-in accessibility features, and developers may need to implement additional enhancements to make it fully accessible.

  • swiper:

    swiper provides accessibility features, including ARIA attributes and keyboard navigation. It is designed to be accessible, but like other libraries, it may require some configuration to meet all standards.

Touch and Mobile Support

  • @splidejs/splide:

    @splidejs/splide supports touch and swipe gestures, making it suitable for mobile devices. Its lightweight design ensures smooth performance on a variety of platforms.

  • flickity:

    flickity is known for its excellent touch and mobile support, with smooth swipe gestures and responsive design. It is a top choice for mobile-friendly sliders.

  • slick-carousel:

    slick-carousel supports touch and swipe gestures, but its performance on mobile devices can vary depending on the complexity of the slider and the content being displayed.

  • swiper:

    swiper is designed with mobile in mind, offering fast and responsive touch interactions. Its performance is optimized for mobile devices, making it ideal for mobile-first applications.

Ease of Use: Code Examples

  • @splidejs/splide:

    @splidejs/splide is easy to use, with clear documentation and a simple API. It is designed to be intuitive, allowing developers to quickly implement sliders with minimal effort.

  • flickity:

    flickity has a straightforward API and good documentation, making it easy to integrate and customize. Its focus on user experience is reflected in its ease of use.

  • slick-carousel:

    slick-carousel is relatively easy to use, but its extensive feature set can make it more complex to configure. Good documentation helps, but it may take time to master all its capabilities.

  • swiper:

    swiper has a well-documented API and is easy to use for basic implementations. Its modular nature means that more advanced features may require additional learning.

Ease of Use: Code Examples

  • @splidejs/splide:

    Simple slider with @splidejs/splide

    import Splide from '@splidejs/splide';
    
    const splide = new Splide('.splide', {
      type   : 'loop',
      perPage: 3,
      autoplay: true,
    });
    splide.mount();
    
  • flickity:

    Basic carousel with flickity

    import Flickity from 'flickity';
    
    const flkty = new Flickity('.carousel', {
      cellAlign: 'left',
      contain: true,
      autoPlay: 3000,
    });
    
  • slick-carousel:

    Simple slider with slick-carousel

    import 'slick-carousel/slick/slick.css';
    import 'slick-carousel/slick/slick-theme.css';
    import $ from 'jquery';
    
    $('.slider').slick({
      slidesToShow: 3,
      slidesToScroll: 1,
      autoplay: true,
      autoplaySpeed: 2000,
    });
    
  • swiper:

    Basic slider with swiper

    import Swiper from 'swiper';
    import 'swiper/swiper-bundle.css';
    
    const swiper = new Swiper('.swiper-container', {
      loop: true,
      autoplay: {
        delay: 3000,
      },
      slidesPerView: 3,
      spaceBetween: 30,
    });
    

How to Choose: @splidejs/splide vs flickity vs slick-carousel vs swiper

  • @splidejs/splide:

    Choose @splidejs/splide if you need a lightweight, accessible, and highly customizable slider with a modern API. It is ideal for projects that prioritize performance and accessibility while still offering a range of features.

  • flickity:

    Choose flickity if you want a touch-friendly, responsive carousel with smooth animations and a focus on user experience. It is great for projects that require a visually appealing slider with intuitive interactions, especially on mobile devices.

  • slick-carousel:

    Choose slick-carousel if you need a feature-rich slider with extensive customization options and support for multiple types of content. It is suitable for projects that require a robust solution with a wide range of features, including autoplay, lazy loading, and various navigation styles.

  • swiper:

    Choose swiper if you need a powerful, mobile-first slider with advanced features like virtual slides, lazy loading, and a modular architecture. It is ideal for projects that require high performance and scalability, especially for complex applications and large datasets.

README for @splidejs/splide

Splide

Splide

Splide is a lightweight, flexible and accessible slider and carousel.
No dependencies, no Lighthouse errors.

Download
Getting Started
Demo
Documents
Themes
About v4
Discussions/Q&A

Ready For

React Splide React Splide React Splide Vue Splide Vue Splide

Extensions

Auto ScrollIntersectionGridVideoURL Hash

Translation

日本語

Support Splide

Please support the project if you like it!

Features

  • Written in TypeScript
  • No dependencies
  • Lightweight, 29kB (12kB gzipped)
  • Flexible and extensible
  • Protected by 400+ test cases
  • Multiple slides
  • Slide or fade transition by CSS
  • Supports breakpoints
  • Accepts CSS relative units
  • Autoplay with progress bar and a play-pause toggle button
  • RTL and vertical direction
  • Mouse drag and touch swipe
  • Free drag mode
  • Mouse wheel navigation
  • Nested slider
  • Lazy loading
  • Thumbnail slider
  • Auto width and height
  • Accessibility friendly
  • Live Region
  • Internet Explorer 10

No Lighthouse Errors

Here is the mobile version result of the Splide front page:

Lighthouse result of the Splide frontpage

The Splide slider does not degrade Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO 🎉

License

Splide is released under MIT license. © 2022 Naotoshi Fujita