Live Composer vs Smart Slider 3
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Live Composer v2.1.22 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.4/5 Visit Details | Smart Slider 3 v3.5.1.39 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.9/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 10,000+ | 800,000+ |
| Last updated | September 21, 2026 | August 19, 2026 |
| Editions | Page Builder: Live Composer · Live Composer Premium Extensions ($) | Smart Slider 3 · Smart Slider 3 Pro ($) |
| Pros | Drag-and-drop pages, headers and footers; Content modules for blog, staff, projects and WooCommerce; Free core with optional premium extensions | Visual layer editor with rows and columns; Works with many page builders and themes; Free edition covers core slider types |
| Cons | Premium extensions need a licence key; Some modules are gated behind extensions; Adds several custom post types to the site | Premium sliders and templates need Pro; Template import calls the vendor API; Large plugin with many admin screens to learn |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Header and footer builder, Page templates and template parts, Testimonials module, Staff module, Projects module, Galleries module, WooCommerce products module, Switch premium extensions on or off ($) | Import sliders and templates from the vendor API, Find sliders used on a page by URL, Google Fonts CSS fetched and cached locally, Premium sliders need a Pro licence ($), Pro updater referenced by the free code ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Social | Facebook, X/Twitter, Pinterest | — |
| E-commerce | WooCommerce | — |
| Plugins | — | Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Advanced Custom Fields, WP Rocket, Rank Math, TablePress |
| Other | Live Composer licence server ($) | Smart Slider vendor API (api.nextendweb.com) |
| Requires WordPress | 6.0 | 5.0 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 7.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.0.2 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | graph.facebook.com, cdn.api.twitter.com, api.pinterest.com | fonts.googleapis.com, api.nextendweb.com |
| Blocks | — | 1 |
| Shortcodes | 43 | 2 |