Photo Sphere Viewer is a WPVR alternative for WordPress that lets you build tours with unlimited scenes for free, where WPVR's free version stops at 5 scenes per tour. It also includes free gyroscope viewing, which is Pro in WPVR. Photo Sphere Viewer Pro costs $19.99 a year or $59.99 lifetime, against $99.99 a year for WPVR Starter. WPVR is still the stronger choice if you need floor plans or background audio.
Disclosure: WPXERO makes Photo Sphere Viewer; this comparison covers version 2.4.0. WPVR details come from its WordPress.org readme and pricing page as of October 25, 2026.
Why people look for a WPVR alternative
WPVR is a capable tour builder, and plenty of sites are well served by it. People usually start looking elsewhere for one of three reasons:
- The 5-scene limit. WPVR's free version allows 5 scenes per tour and 5 hotspots per scene. A three-bedroom house with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, garden and garage needs more.
- The price of Pro. WPVR Pro starts at $99.99 a year for one site, which is a lot for a single listing or portfolio.
- They need more than tours — such as a 360° video, or a product shown as a 3D model with an AR button — and don't want another plugin for each.
Photo Sphere Viewer vs WPVR at a glance
| Photo Sphere Viewer | WPVR | |
|---|---|---|
| Free scenes per tour | Unlimited | 5 |
| Scene-link arrows | Unlimited | Scene-type hotspots (free limit: 5 hotspots per scene) |
| Free info hotspots | 5 per panorama, text and link | 5 per scene, with text, images, video or links |
| Unlimited hotspots, photos in panels | Pro | Pro |
| 360° video | Free, with autoplay and loop | Free, including YouTube and Vimeo |
| AR 3D model viewer (.glb/.gltf) | Free | — |
| Auto-rotation | Free | Free |
| Gyroscope on phones | Free | Pro |
| Scene gallery bar | Pro | Pro |
| Compass | Pro | Pro |
| Full-resolution large images | Pro, per viewer | Free, site-wide setting |
| Floor plan | — | Pro |
| Background audio / VR headset mode | — | Pro |
| Password-protected tours | — | Free |
| Block editor | Panorama block + Virtual Tour block (click to place arrows) | Virtual tour block |
| Elementor | 4 dedicated widgets | 1 widget |
| Divi / Oxygen modules | Shortcode | Yes |
| Pro, 1 site | $19.99/yr or $59.99 lifetime | $99.99/yr or $249.99 lifetime |
| Pro, 5–10 sites | $59.99/yr (5 sites) | $199.99/yr (10 sites) |
| Pro, agency | $159.99/yr (50 sites) | $399.99/yr (unlimited) |
| Refund window | 30 days | See vendor |
WPVR prices are its regular list prices; at the time of writing RexTheme was selling all plans at 30% off.
Where Photo Sphere Viewer wins
Unlimited scenes without paying. The free virtual tour builder connects as many panoramas as you want with 3D arrow hotspots. Each scene has its own caption and starting angle, and you choose which one opens first. Room count never decides whether you pay.
Four viewers in one plugin. Panoramas, tours, 360° video and AR 3D models share one plugin, one settings screen and one set of shortcodes: [psv], [psv_tour], [psv_video] and [psv_ar]. A real estate site can show the tour and a 3D model of a kitchen island; a store can show a showroom panorama and a product in AR.
More in the free version where it counts on phones. Gyroscope viewing — visitors look around by moving their phone — is free, along with auto-rotation, up to five info hotspots per panorama, and 360° video autoplay and loop.
A lower price for Pro. For a single site, Pro is $19.99 a year — a fifth of WPVR Starter's list price — or $59.99 once. It adds unlimited info hotspots with a photo in each panel, the scene gallery bar, compass, restricted viewing angles and full-resolution original loading.
Built for Elementor users. Four separate widgets — Photo Sphere Viewer, PSV Virtual Tour, PSV 360° Video and AR 3D Viewer — each switchable off if you don't need it, instead of one generic embed.
Where WPVR wins
Being honest about this saves you a migration you'd regret:
- Floor plans. WPVR Pro lets visitors jump to a room from a clickable 2D plan. Photo Sphere Viewer doesn't have one.
- Richer free hotspots inside tours. WPVR's free hotspots sit inside tour scenes and can show images, GIFs and video. Photo Sphere Viewer's info hotspots go on single panoramas, and free panels hold text and a link — photos are Pro.
- Audio, VR headsets and analytics. Background audio, Cardboard/VR headset mode and view analytics are WPVR Pro features with no Photo Sphere Viewer equivalent.
- Password-protected tours and more builders — Divi, Oxygen and Visual Composer modules.
If your tours depend on any of these, stay on WPVR.
How to switch from WPVR to Photo Sphere Viewer
There's no importer, but both plugins read standard equirectangular images from the Media Library, so you don't need to re-upload anything.
- Install Photo Sphere Viewer and keep WPVR active while you rebuild, so your live tours stay up. Test on a staging copy first if you can.
- Add the 360° Virtual Tour block in the block editor, the PSV Virtual Tour widget in Elementor, or build a
[psv_tour]shortcode in the Shortcode Builder. - Pick the same panorama images your WPVR tour uses, one per scene.
- Place an arrow at every doorway, pointing where the next room really is — in the block, click Place arrow and then the doorway in the photo.
- Set each scene's starting view so it opens facing the most important feature.
- Replace the WPVR shortcode or widget on your page with the new one, check it on a phone, then deactivate WPVR.
If you relied on more than five hotspots, or on images inside hotspots, plan for Pro — it removes the limit and adds a photo to each panel.
The verdict
Choose WPVR if you need floor plans, audio, VR headset mode, or images and video inside free tour hotspots.
Choose Photo Sphere Viewer if your tours have more than five scenes, you want gyroscope viewing without paying, you want 360° video and AR 3D models in the same plugin, or you'd rather pay $19.99 a year than $99.99. See how it compares with iPanorama 360 and Panorama in our roundup of WordPress virtual tour plugins, or read the complete Photo Sphere Viewer guide.