Say you have five product photos that need to sit in a simple rotating carousel on a homepage. On a fresh Elementor install, that turns out to be harder than it sounds.
The carousel most people reach for is locked behind Elementor Pro, and the free Image Gallery only stacks photos in a grid. There is a free way to get a real image carousel in Elementor, and it does not involve a single line of code.
This guide covers what Elementor gives you out of the box, why the free version stops short of a true carousel, and how to build one for free using the Carousel Anything widget in The Plus Addons for Elementor.
I will also be clear about when a carousel is the right choice and when a plain gallery serves your visitors better.
Does Elementor Have an Image Carousel Widget?
Elementor does have a dedicated carousel, but it is the Media Carousel widget, and that one is part of Elementor Pro. It ships with three layouts, Carousel, Slideshow, and Coverflow, plus autoplay, navigation arrows, pagination dots, and a setting for how many slides show at once.
It is a solid widget if you already pay for Pro.
On the free version of Elementor you do not get that. The free Image Gallery widget arranges photos in a grid or justified layout with an optional lightbox, but it does not rotate, autoplay, or scroll like a carousel.
So if you are on free Elementor and you want a true image carousel, you need an addon that brings one to the free tier.
The Free Way: Carousel Anything by The Plus Addons for Elementor
The Plus Addons for Elementor includes a widget called Carousel Anything, and it ships in the free version of the plugin. The name is literal: it turns almost any content into a carousel, including images, text, videos, buttons, and full Elementor templates.
Each slide is built from a saved Elementor template or a shortcode, so for an image carousel you create a simple template that holds your image, then reuse that same step for richer, designed slides.
That flexibility is the point. Where a basic image-carousel widget only holds pictures, Carousel Anything can carousel a row of product cards, testimonials, or any layout you design.
It is a freemium widget, so the core carousel is free and a few advanced extras live in the Pro version of The Plus Addons for Elementor.
Step by Step: Build an Image Carousel with Carousel Anything
Here is the full no-code flow.
- Install The Plus Addons for Elementor. Add it from the WordPress plugin directory, where the free version has more than 100,000 active installs and a 4.6 out of 5 rating, then activate it alongside Elementor.
- Drag in the Carousel Anything widget. Edit your page with Elementor, search for Carousel Anything in the widget panel, and drop it where you want the carousel.
- Build a template for each slide. Carousel Anything fills each slide from a saved Elementor template or a shortcode, so create a simple template that contains your image, then select it as the slide content. Use the same step for richer, designed slides.
- Set how many slides show at once. Choose the number of images visible per view and how many advance on each scroll, so the carousel fits the width of your section.
- Turn on autoplay and navigation. Enable autoplay and set the speed, then switch on arrows, dots, or both so visitors can move through the images.
- Make it responsive. Set a smaller slides-per-view for tablet and mobile so the images stay large enough to read on small screens.
Carousel Settings That Actually Matter
A carousel lives or dies on a handful of settings. Slides to show controls how many images are visible at once, and three to four is a safe default on desktop. Autoplay speed should be slow enough to read a slide before it moves.
An infinite loop keeps the carousel rotating without a hard stop at the end. Arrows and dots give visitors control, and at least one of them should always be on.
Spacing between slides keeps the row from feeling cramped. Get those right and the carousel feels intentional rather than busy.
Add Links or a Lightbox to Carousel Images
Most image carousels need to do something when a visitor clicks. You can link each image to its own URL, which is useful for product or portfolio carousels, or open the image in a lightbox so visitors can view it full size without leaving the page.
If you are linking each slide individually, our guide on how to add custom links to Elementor gallery and carousel images walks through it step by step.
Carousel vs Slider vs Gallery: Which Should You Use?
These three get mixed up, and picking the wrong one makes a page feel off. A carousel shows several items at once and rotates them sideways, which suits logos, products, and portfolio thumbnails.
A slider shows one full-width slide at a time, which suits hero banners and feature highlights. A gallery is a static grid with no motion, which suits photo collections where visitors want to scan everything at once.
If you are weighing carousel widgets specifically, see our roundup of the best Elementor carousel and slider widgets, and for a brand strip there is a dedicated walkthrough on how to add a logo slider in WordPress.
Keep Your Carousel Fast
A carousel loads several images at once, so it is easy to slow a page down without noticing. Compress your images and size them to the slot they appear in rather than uploading full-resolution files.
Lazy-load slides that start off screen, and keep the slide count reasonable, since twenty images in one carousel hurt both load time and clarity. Our guide on Elementor Core Web Vitals covers how to keep these additions from dragging your scores down.
Wrapping Up
Elementor keeps its Media Carousel in the Pro tier, but you do not have to upgrade just to rotate a few images.
The Carousel Anything widget in The Plus Addons for Elementor gives you a free, no-code image carousel that also scales up to full designed slides when you need them.
Keep the slide count sensible, mind your image sizes, and the carousel will earn its place on the page.
The Plus Addons for Elementor bundles Carousel Anything alongside more than 120 widgets and extensions, with a free version on WordPress.org and paid plans from $39 a year.
![Top 3 Elementor Fashion Templates [Complete Kit]](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Elementor-Fashion-Templates.jpg)
![Top 3 Elementor Business Templates [Complete Kit]](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Elementor-Business-Templates.jpg)
![Top 3 Elementor Agency Templates [Complete Kit]](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Elementor-Agency-Templates.jpg)
![Top 3 Elementor Photography Templates [Complete Kit]](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Elementor-Photography-Templates.jpg)
![Top 3 Elementor Architecture Templates [Complete Kit]](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Elementor-Architecture-Templates.jpg)