We see carousels on every website today, and React websites are no exception. React carousel allows us to create banners and product sliders on our website. For react carousels, many components have been created by programmers, and we will review in this article the best carousels in the market.
With carousels in React, you can create a variety of sliders to display banners and product carousels, each component has its own features, which we will introduce in this article to introduce the best carousels in React.
What is React carousel?
On websites, you see sliders and carousels in most parts, including the main slider of the website, which is located at the beginning of the main page and changes the banners one after the other. Or in the product introduction sections (usually on the same main page), the categorized products and groups are changed in a carousel format so that the user can see the products in the same category. In React, this carousel is implemented by components created by programmers, and you can use them, or if you have high programming skills, you can create a carousel component yourself.
Like React, which is a technology based on JavaScript, carousel components are also designed and implemented based on this language.
React Carousel components
In this section, we will mention the types of React carousels designed by companies and programmers, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses, but we have tried to introduce the best carousels for you.
1- Swiper
One of the powerful carousels that can be used in React is the Swiper component. This component is also available in JavaScript, which is presented as a plugin that can be used on websites that are not designed with React. For example, it can be used to create a slider in WordPress.
This powerful and popular carousel component in React provides RTL support, multi-row slide layouts, and multiple transition effects. It contains some advanced techniques such as Virtual Slides and “Two-way control”, which allows you to use the Swiper component as the controller for any number of other Swipers.
This component offers a lot of features that can be confusing for beginners, but it will definitely bring more flexibility to create professional carousels in React.
The only drawback that the Swiper component has in React is that it has relatively poor documentation, which will be problematic for beginners or those who want to use this component for the first time.
On this website, we have provided an article called “React Swiper Component To Create Slider” about creating a carousel and slider with the Swiper component.
2- fullPage.js
Another one of the most powerful carousel components for React is the fullPage.js component, which is full page and has options for more settings.
fullPage.js works by scrolling the whole page at once and snapping to the next section when the user scrolls down. It’s fully responsive, has no dependencies and it’s quite lightweight.
Unlike most other carousels, this component could be used in full screen and allows you to create vertical and horizontal slides at the same time. This is what makes fullPage.js truly unique.
Component installation
npm install @fullpage/react-fullpageHow to use the component
import React from 'react';
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
import ReactFullpage from '@fullpage/react-fullpage';
const Fullpage = () => (
<ReactFullpage
//fullpage options
licenseKey = {'YOUR_KEY_HERE'}
scrollingSpeed = {1000} /* Options here */
render={({ state, fullpageApi }) => {
return (
<ReactFullpage.Wrapper>
<div className="section">
<p>Section 1 (welcome to fullpage.js)</p>
<button onClick={() => fullpageApi.moveSectionDown()}>
Click me to move down
</button>
</div>
<div className="section">
<p>Section 2</p>
</div>
</ReactFullpage.Wrapper>
);
}}
/>
);
ReactDOM.render(<Fullpage />, document.getElementById('react-root'));3- Slick
The Slick component was developed in JavaScript for WordPress long before React, and today it can be used in React to create carousels and sliders.
This component is responsive, but it has more limited features than previous carousels. Slick is used to create simple and responsive carousels.
Component installation
npm install react-slick --saveHow to use the component
import React from "react";
import Slider from "react-slick";
import "slick-carousel/slick/slick.css";
import "slick-carousel/slick/slick-theme.css";
export default function SimpleSlider() {
var settings = {
dots: true,
infinite: true,
speed: 500,
slidesToShow: 1,
slidesToScroll: 1
};
return (
<Slider {...settings}>
<div>
<h3>1</h3>
</div>
<div>
<h3>2</h3>
</div>
<div>
<h3>3</h3>
</div>
<div>
<h3>4</h3>
</div>
<div>
<h3>5</h3>
</div>
<div>
<h3>6</h3>
</div>
</Slider>
);
}4- React Responsive Carousel
One of the simple yet responsive carousels that has fewer settings so that beginners can use it easily. This React carousel supports thumbnails out of the box, vertical scrolling, and comes with a fading effect too. It also provides more advanced options such as server-side rendering, lazy load, and presentation mode.
As the name of the component shows, this component is mobile-friendly and responsive. This library can be used to create vertical and horizontal carousels. It even supports server-side rendering. React Responsive Carousel Library offers powerful features to create professional carousels that you can use in large projects.
This component has two major problems, one of which is fewer features than other carousels, and the other is low support and releases.
Component installation
npm install react-responsive-carouselHow to use the component
import React from 'react';
import { Carousel } from 'react-responsive-carousel';
import 'react-responsive-carousel/lib/styles/carousel.min.css';
const CarouselPage = () => {
return (
<Carousel>
<div>
<img src="https://placehold.co/100x100" />
<p className="legend">Legend 1</p>
</div>
<div>
<img src="https://placehold.co/200x200" />
<p className="legend">Legend 2</p>
</div>
<div>
<img src="https://placehold.co/300x300" />
<p className="legend">Legend 3</p>
</div>
</Carousel>
);
};
export default CarouselPage;5- React Flickity
Flickity carousel was first created in JavaScript and then developed for React. This carousel is one of the carousels with good design and documentation, which has many features and settings.
Unlike other plugins and components, Flickity won’t provide many responsive options and compared with other carousels, it will be failed. It also provides an option to add a “show on full screen” button which can come in handy.
If you do not need your website to be responsive, you can use this carousel.
Component installation
npm install flickity@2.3.0
npm install react-flickity-componentHow to use the component
const Flickity = require('react-flickity-component');
// Or for ES2015 module
import Flickity from 'react-flickity-component'
const flickityOptions = {
initialIndex: 2
}
function Carousel() {
return (
<Flickity
className={'carousel'} // default ''
elementType={'div'} // default 'div'
options={flickityOptions} // takes flickity options {}
disableImagesLoaded={false} // default false
reloadOnUpdate // default false
static // default false
>
<img src="/images/placeholder.png"/>
<img src="/images/placeholder.png"/>
<img src="/images/placeholder.png"/>
</Flickity>
)
}6- React Swipeable
If you are looking for a simple and easy-to-use carousel, the React Swipeable carousel is designed for you. This carousel has few features and settings, but it is easy to use.
One of the features of the carousel is, you can move the slider by following a specific pattern while swiping. It’s not something that you’ll easily find in other components and that also makes it quite unique.
7- Pure React Carousel
It is a simple carousel with relatively few features compared to other carousels. This carousel does not have default styling, and for styling the site designer must do this himself and style the items.
In addition to the expected sliding effects, this carousel also provides a zooming option.
