Photo Sphere Viewer is a free WordPress plugin that embeds four kinds of immersive content: 360° panoramas, multi-scene virtual tours, 360° video and AR-ready 3D models. You add them with a block, an Elementor widget or a shortcode, using any stitched equirectangular image from any 360° camera or drone — with no hosted embed account and no limit on panoramas or tour scenes.
This guide explains what each viewer does, how to embed them, what is free and what Pro adds, and how to get sharp, well-composed 360° content.
Why use 360° content on a website
A flat photo shows one angle chosen by the photographer. A 360° panorama lets the visitor choose where to look, which is why it is common wherever people want to judge a space before they commit to it:
- Real estate — buyers walk through a property before booking a viewing.
- Hotels and vacation rentals — guests see the actual room, view and common areas.
- Museums, campuses and venues — remote visitors explore at their own pace.
- WooCommerce stores — shoppers see a product in a room, or place it in their own space with AR.
The four viewers
1. 360° panorama viewer
Upload an equirectangular JPEG or PNG and visitors can drag, pinch and zoom around it on desktop or mobile.
Free settings:
- Starting view — yaw (-180° to 180°) and pitch (-90° to 90°)
- Field of view, zoom limits and movement speed
- Width and height in px, %, vh or vw, and a canvas background color
- Mouse-wheel zoom, drag movement, two-finger touch, Ctrl+scroll, cursor capture and fisheye toggles
- Navbar buttons for zoom, caption, fullscreen and download, with background, caption color and typography controls
Pro adds: auto-rotation, on-screen move buttons, a description panel, clickable info hotspots, a gallery bar for several panoramas, a compass overlay, gyroscope viewing on phones, restricted horizontal and vertical viewing angles, and full-resolution loading of large originals.
2. Virtual tour builder
String together as many panoramas as you want, connected with 3D arrow hotspots. Each scene gets its own caption and starting angle, and you choose which scene loads first. Visitors click the arrows to "walk" from room to room.
Place each arrow where the doorway actually is — if the kitchen is to the left, put the arrow on the left — and the tour feels like moving through the real space.
Pro adds: a scene gallery bar so visitors can jump to any room, a compass overlay, auto-rotation, move buttons and a description panel.
3. 360° video player
The same look-around interaction, for an equirectangular MP4. Visitors get play/pause, seek and volume controls and can drag to look in any direction while the video plays. Pro adds muted autoplay and loop.
4. AR 3D model viewer
Embed a .glb or .gltf 3D model using Google's <model-viewer>, with an AR button on phones that support it so visitors can place the object in their own room. Point it at a Media Library file or an external URL, and set a poster image, auto-rotation, shadow intensity and alignment for free. Pro adds HDR environment lighting, a skybox background, a custom camera orbit, and the option to lock zoom and tap-to-rotate for a fixed product showcase.
Three ways to embed
| Method | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Block editor | A 360° Panorama block — pick a photo and set the toolbar, height and hotspots in the sidebar | Gutenberg sites |
| Elementor | Four widgets — Photo Sphere Viewer, PSV Virtual Tour, PSV 360° Video and AR 3D Viewer — each can be switched off if you don't need it | Elementor sites |
| Shortcodes | [psv], [psv_tour], [psv_video] and [psv_ar], built visually in Photo Sphere Viewer → Shortcode Builder | WooCommerce product descriptions, widget areas, theme builders |
The Shortcode Builder shows a live preview and writes every attribute for you, so you never need to type a shortcode by hand — copy it and paste it wherever shortcodes render.
Large drone panoramas: the -scaled.jpg problem
Since WordPress 5.3, any upload larger than 2560px on its long edge is saved as a -scaled.jpg copy, and WordPress serves that copy instead of your original. That is fine for a blog photo and very visible on a 40-megapixel aerial panorama stretched across a full sphere.
Photo Sphere Viewer Pro includes an ImageResolver that loads your original upload instead. Switch on Use Original Image in an Elementor widget, or add use_original="yes" to a shortcode.
Free vs Pro at a glance
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Panorama, virtual tour, 360° video and AR 3D viewers | Yes | Yes |
| Number of panoramas and tour scenes | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Block, Elementor widgets and Shortcode Builder | Yes | Yes |
| Zoom, caption, fullscreen and download buttons | Yes | Yes |
| Auto-rotation, move buttons and description panel | — | Yes |
| Clickable info hotspots | — | Yes |
| Tour scene gallery and compass | — | Yes |
| Panorama gallery bar and restricted viewing angles | — | Yes |
| Gyroscope viewing on phones (HTTPS) | — | Yes |
| Full-resolution original loading | — | Yes |
| 360° video autoplay and loop | — | Yes |
| HDR lighting, skybox and camera orbit for 3D models | — | Yes |
| Support | WordPress.org forum | Priority email support |
The free plugin is enough for most panoramas and tours. Pro is worth it when you shoot large drone panoramas, need info hotspots for property or venue tours, or want gyroscope viewing on phones. See current plans on the Photo Sphere Viewer pricing page.
How to set it up
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New, search for "Photo Sphere Viewer", then install and activate it.
- Block editor: add the 360° Panorama block and choose an equirectangular photo, then set the caption, height and toolbar buttons in the sidebar.
- Elementor: search the widget panel for Photo Sphere Viewer, PSV Virtual Tour, PSV 360° Video or AR 3D Viewer and drag one into your layout.
- Anywhere else: open Photo Sphere Viewer → Shortcode Builder, build a shortcode and paste it into the page.
- Set the starting angle and navbar options, then publish.
Tips for better 360° content
- Shoot at full resolution. A 360° image is stretched across a whole sphere, so it needs far more pixels than a normal photo; use your camera's highest setting.
- Export as equirectangular. The image should be exactly twice as wide as it is tall (2:1). Most 360° cameras and stitching apps export this format by default.
- Use a tripod and consistent light. Sharp stitching and even exposure matter more in 360° than in a flat photo; remove the tripod from the bottom of the image in post if you can.
- Choose the starting view deliberately. Point the first view at what matters — the bed and window in a hotel room, the countertops in a kitchen.
- Keep file sizes reasonable. Balance JPEG quality against size so the panorama loads quickly on mobile.
Compatibility
Photo Sphere Viewer works with the block editor, Elementor and Elementor Pro, WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, Rank Math, WPML and Polylang, and with WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache and W3 Total Cache. Its frontend is built with Vite and loads only on pages that contain a viewer.
Get started
Install Photo Sphere Viewer from WordPress.org, then see the plugin page for the full feature list and the getting-started guide for setup.