The Best Wallpaper Engine AlternativesTop Wallpapers Hubs and other similar apps like Wallpaper Engine

Wallpaper Engine is described as 'Enable dynamic, animated wallpapers on Windows desktop with 3D, videos, and apps support. Share creations via Steam Workshop and stay ad-free' and is a popular Wallpapers Hub in the photos & graphics category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Wallpaper Engine for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Steam and Android apps. The best Wallpaper Engine alternative is Lively Wallpaper, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Wallpaper Engine are Variety Wallpaper Changer, ScreenPlay, Sucrose Wallpaper Engine and Paperize.

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Wallpaper Engine alternatives are mainly Wallpapers Hubs, but if you're looking for Desktop Customization Tools or Shell Extensions you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows + Free and Mac + Desktop Customization. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Wallpaper Engine.
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Enable dynamic, animated wallpapers on Windows desktop with 3D, videos, and apps support. Share creations via Steam Workshop and stay ad-free.

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Wallpaper Engine alternatives page was last updated Feb 13, 2025
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  1. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Free and open-source application for setting GIFs, videos and webpages as your desktop wallpaper and screensaver.

    21 Lively Wallpaper alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • IN flagIndia

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Lively Wallpaper Features

    1.  Live Wallpapers
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Support for HD videos
    4.  Video Wallpaper
    5.  Support for scripting
    6.  Widgets
    7.  Wallpaper Cycling

    Lively Wallpaper VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    Comments about Lively Wallpaper as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    Top Positive Comment
    Jeff Witty
    Oct 14, 2020
    1

    ITs infact more powerful than wallpaper engine, and the dev's arnt greedy... unlike the devs of wallpaper engines

    Top Negative Comment
    hundvd7
    Sep 8, 2023
    0

    I really want to like it. For one, the customization UI/UX is so far beyond Wallpaper Engine's, and the performance is supposed to be better. It also has great advanced options, like selecting the web engine. All for free.

    Buuuuut: The performance is much worse than WPE. The wallpapers slow down further when I open the customization menu. The UI lags terribly when I'm dragging it around. Trying to add a website will always add a link to Big Buck Bunny...

    Most Recent Comment
    gltchpnk
    Positive Oct 17, 2021
    1

    Pro: -It's free~ -No clutter -Customizable, you can even change the taskbar (TaskbarX still offers a bit more)

    Con: -JavaScript Wallpapers preinstalled (heavy) -can be cpu%gpu heavy if you don't know what youre doing/uploading.

    has a lot of settings (pro&con)

    Show more comments
    3 of 5 comments
    Wallpaper Engine Icon
    Lively Wallpaper icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Lively Wallpaper is a great Wallpaper Engine alternative.

    • Lively Wallpaper is the most popular Windows alternative to Wallpaper Engine.

    • Lively Wallpaper is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Wallpaper Engine.

    • Lively Wallpaper is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
  2. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Variety is a wallpaper changer for Ubuntu which is featureful, yet slim and very easy to use. It can automatically download wallpapers from various online sources, allows rotating them on a regular interval or on demand, and provides easy to use ways to separate the great images...

    43 Variety Wallpaper Changer alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Variety Wallpaper Changer Features

    1.  Wallpaper Cycling
    2.  Image Filters

    Variety Wallpaper Changer VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    • Most users think Variety Wallpaper Changer is a great Wallpaper Engine alternative.

    • Variety Wallpaper Changer is the most popular Linux alternative to Wallpaper Engine.

    • Variety Wallpaper Changer is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
  3. ScreenPlay icon
     31 likes
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    ScreenPlay is an Open Source cross-platform app for displaying Video Wallpaper & Widgets. It is written in modern C++20/Qt6/QML. It currently supports Windows and macOS (x64 and arm).

    37 ScreenPlay alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Steam
    • Linux

    ScreenPlay Features

    1.  Live Wallpapers
    2.  Video Wallpaper
    3.  Widgets
    4.  Steam Workshop
    5.  Portable
    6.  Visualize Music
    7.  Wallpaper Cycling

    ScreenPlay VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    Comments about ScreenPlay as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    Most Recent Comment
    tvgoing1
    Negative Jun 23, 2024
    0

    It does not support screen sharing, the entire project rely too much on Steam gaming platform. Don't use it.

    Guest
    Positive Oct 12, 2020
    2

    It's open source and cross platform. It also has very active development!

    Guest
    Positive May 18, 2021
    0

    Works great and soon on Linux and Mac as well!

    Wallpaper Engine Icon
    ScreenPlay icon
    • Most users think ScreenPlay is a great Wallpaper Engine alternative.

    • ScreenPlay is the most popular Mac alternative to Wallpaper Engine.

    • ScreenPlay is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
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    Sucrose is a versatile wallpaper engine that brings a wide range of interactive wallpapers to life on your desktop. With light and dark theme options, you can choose the appearance that suits your personal preferences.

    42 Sucrose Wallpaper Engine alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • JP flagJapan

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Sucrose Wallpaper Engine Features

    1.  Live Wallpapers
    2.  Wallpaper Cycling
    3.  Video Wallpaper
    4.  Ad-free

    Sucrose Wallpaper Engine VS Wallpaper Engine

     
  5. Paperize icon
     17 likes
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    Paperize is a dynamic wallpaper changer application built for Android using Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, and Material 3.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • F-Droid

    Paperize Features

    1.  Wallpaper Cycling
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Live Wallpapers
    4.  Material design

    Paperize VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    • Paperize is the most popular Android alternative to Wallpaper Engine.

    • Paperize is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
  6. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    This app ports the Dynamic Desktop feature from macOS Mojave to Windows 10. It uses your location to get the times of sunrise and sunset each day, and rotates through the 16 Mojave wallpaper images throughout the day and night.

    26 WinDynamicDesktop alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Portable
    4.  Wallpaper Cycling
    5.  No registration required
    6.  Support for Multiple Monitors

    WinDynamicDesktop VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    Comments about WinDynamicDesktop as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    RemovedUser
    Jan 16, 2022
    1

    Great app, but it changes static wallpapers depending on time (no animated wallpapers like WallpaperEngine).

    Wallpaper Engine Icon
    WinDynamicDesktop icon
    • WinDynamicDesktop is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
    • WinDynamicDesktop is LightweightWallpaper Engine is not according to our users
  7. Hidamari icon
     8 likes
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    Video wallpaper for Linux. Written in Python.

    8 Hidamari alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Hidamari Features

    1.  Video Wallpaper
    2.  Live Wallpapers
    3.  Streaming
    4.  Video playback

    Hidamari VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    Comments about Hidamari as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    Maretheyu606
    Positive Jul 10, 2024
    0

    This was the first LWPE I used for Linux, and I have to say there is nothing better I can find that is still FOSS. Luv it

    Wallpaper Engine Icon
    Hidamari icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Hidamari is a great Wallpaper Engine alternative.

    • Hidamari is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
  8. RainWallpaper icon
     5 likes
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    RainWallpaper is a powerful live wallpaper engine that allows you to use various types of customizable animated wallpapers on your Windows desktop.

    License model

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Properties

    1.  Configurable

    Features

    1.  Video Wallpaper
    2.  Live Wallpapers

    RainWallpaper VS Wallpaper Engine

     
    • Almost everyone thinks RainWallpaper is a great Wallpaper Engine alternative.

    • RainWallpaper is the most popular commercial alternative to Wallpaper Engine.

    • RainWallpaper is Paid and ProprietaryWallpaper Engine is also Paid and Proprietary
  9. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Bring your wallpaper to life with DeskScapes! DeskScapes is a program that allows users to have animated wallpaper on their Windows desktop. It supports playing video as animated wallpaper, dynamically generated content as animated wallpaper, and more.

    22 Stardock DeskScapes alternatives

    License model

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Stardock DeskScapes Features

    1.  Live Wallpapers

    Stardock DeskScapes VS Wallpaper Engine

     
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    Layered WallPaper allows You to create multi-layered parallax wallpapers. Each layer moves with Your mouse cursor, creating beautiful parallax effect.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Live Wallpapers

    Layered WallPaper VS Wallpaper Engine

     
10 of 42 Wallpaper Engine alternatives