Free Wallpaper Engine Alternatives for Windows

There are many alternatives to Wallpaper Engine for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Windows alternative is Lively Wallpaper, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Wallpaper Engine and many of them are free and available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Windows alternatives to Wallpaper Engine are ScreenPlay, Sucrose Wallpaper Engine, WinDynamicDesktop and Layered WallPaper.

filter to find the best alternatives

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, Linux, Open Source, Mac, Wallpapers, Mac + Desktop Customization and Mac + Wallpapers. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Wallpaper Engine.
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Alternatives list

  1. Lively Wallpaper icon

    Lively Wallpaper

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

    30 Lively Wallpaper alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Latest Windows 11 fluent design.
     
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    5
    74
    Comments about Lively Wallpaper as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    Top Positive Comment
    Jeff Witty
    1

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

    Top Negative Comment
    hundvd7
    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...

    gltchpnk
    Positive
    2

    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. ScreenPlay icon

    ScreenPlay

     33 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).

    48 ScreenPlay alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Steam
    ScreenPlay screenshot 1
     
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    3
    17
    Comments about ScreenPlay as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    tvgoing1
    Negative
    0

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

    Guest
    Positive
    2

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

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Works great and soon on Linux and Mac as well!

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    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
  4. Sucrose Wallpaper Engine icon

    Sucrose Wallpaper Engine

     19 likes
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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.

    53 Sucrose Wallpaper Engine alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Sucrose Wallpaper Engine screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Sucrose Wallpaper Engine as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Buena Interfaz, tiene un repertorio amplio de wallpapers y se configura rapido.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Wallpaper Engine Icon
    Sucrose Wallpaper Engine icon
    • Sucrose Wallpaper Engine is Free and Open SourceWallpaper Engine is Paid and Proprietary
  5. WinDynamicDesktop icon

    WinDynamicDesktop

     17 likes
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    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.

    27 WinDynamicDesktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    WinDynamicDesktop screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about WinDynamicDesktop as an Alternative to Wallpaper Engine
    RemovedUser
    1

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

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    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

  6. Layered WallPaper

     4 likes
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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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Layered WallPaper screenshot 1
     
  7. Dynamic Theme icon

    Dynamic Theme

     5 likes
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    Dynamic background and/or lock screen picture with daily Bing or Windows Spotlight pictures, one Bing or Windows Spotlight picture or personal pictures.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Dynamic Theme screenshot 1
     
  9. WinWallhaven icon

    WinWallhaven

     3 likes
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    WinWallhaven is one of the most loved wallpaper communities on the web—high-quality images, thoughtful tagging, powerful filters, and a free API focused entirely on wallpapers. While there have been Windows apps for wallhaven in the past, many are outdated, clunky, or built on...

    7 WinWallhaven alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    WinWallhaven screenshot 1
     
  10. LivePaper icon

    LivePaper

     1 like
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    A lightweight app that displays animated wallpapers on Windows and Linux.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    LivePaper screenshot 1
     
  11. Desktop Live Wallpapers icon

    Desktop Live Wallpapers

     1 like
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    Desktop Live Wallpapers brings animated wallpapers to your desktop! Load all your personal video files into this app and set it as your wallpaper or download from collections of hundreds of beautiful animated wallpapers.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Desktop Live Wallpapers screenshot 1
     

  12. weebp

     1 like
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    free and open-source wallpaper engine, set any window as your wallpaper.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    weebp screenshot 1
     
  13. VDesktop icon

    VDesktop

     Like
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    VDesktop is a program that allows users to have animated wallpaper on their Windows desktop. VDesktop supports Windows 7, 8, 10.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    VDesktop screenshot 1
     
  14. AwesomeWallpaper icon

    AwesomeWallpaper

     2 likes
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    AwesomeWallpaper plays videos, shows images and system information on your desktop wallpaper. It supports next modes:

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    AwesomeWallpaper screenshot 1
     
12 of 20 Wallpaper Engine alternatives