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Wallpaper Engine has been the de facto ‘best’ live wallpaper utility available for a while.
It allows deep customization, and the library of user-generated content keeps it relevant.
Wallpaper engine admittedly has more tweakable performance options than Lively Wallpaper.
It will also pause the wallpaper when running something full screen, to not impact performance.
However, some consumers don’t want to pay for something when there is a free alternative.
Lively Wallpaper was awarded in 2023 for the best in the Microsoft Store Personalization Category.
It has 4.4. stars out of 5 with over 13,000 reviews.
It seems to do everything that Wallpaper Engine does but for free.
For me, I’ll choose the open-source option over the paid option most of the time.
Wallpaper engine admittedly has more tweakable performance options than Lively Wallpaper.
I don’t think I’m alone in my desire to spruce up myWindows 11desktop.
Live wallpapers are the Ritz of customization options.
Let’s take a look.
Both apps come with pre-loaded live wallpaper options.
I prefer the simplicity and layout of LIvely Wallpaper more.
It’s almost impossible not to find a great-looking Wallpaper for any taste.
That doesn’t seem to be the case, though.
The Discover tab in Wallpaper Engine is its best feature.
This was the same across both Wallpaper Engine and Lively Wallpaper.
Wallpaper Engine vs Lively Walllpaper: Which should you install?
Honestly, I’m torn.
I was seeing 15 to 30% GPU utilization while running basic pre-installed live wallpapers from Wallpaper Engine on an RTX 4070 Super.
Wallpaper Engine is still likely the King of live wallpaper applications.
Lively Wallpaper is a great free option and does everything I could need it to.
Lively Wallpaper also had a pretty big ding on my GPU utilization usually sitting around 30% but sometimes getting up to 40%.
Some of the community-made live wallpapers on Wallpaper Engine are just out of this world.
