Choosing between bifold and sliding doors can be difficult. Both are excellent ways to bring more light into your home and create an excellent connection from any room in your home to your patio or garden. However, bifolding and sliding doors differ significantly in how they work, how they look, and how they’re used day-to-day.
We’ve put together everything you need to know to help you choose between bifolding or sliding doors, with expert, impartial advice based on decades of experience in the glazing industry. We also know and understand every sliding or bifold brand to help you as much as possible.
Bifolding or Sliding Doors: What’s the Difference?
Both bifolding and sliding doors provide benefits and disadvantages. These are fully explained but the priority will be:
- The size of your available opening
- The design of your home
- How much outside space you have.
- Budget
Both can look beautiful and perform to high standards—but they work in very different ways, and that matters when you’re choosing for your home.
What are bifold doors?
Bifold doors are made from connected or conertina panels that fold and slide along a track. They stack neatly at one or both ends of the opening, creating a nearly full-width clear opening.
Bifold doors start at two panels, going all the way up to multiple door sets.
Bifold doors don’t have to fully fold every time you need them. You can configure them with a traffic door, enabling easy entry and exit without having to fold all the panels back. Bifold doors are also available as hinged single or French doors. So if you have other doors in your home, you can match all your doors, right down to the sightlines, handles and hinges.
Bifolds are an excellent solution in a terraced home, for example where there is typically only one major door out to the garden, giving the impression of enlarging the home and connecting it to the outdoors when open.
The Door and Window Experts Website can help you choose the best bifold door for your project, residential or commercial, based on styling, sightlines, brand or specific functional requirements.
What are sliding doors?
Sliding doors consist of large glass panels that glide behind one another. They stay on track at all times, with no outward swing or folding. Sliding doors also start at two panels, either one or both moving, with three, four or six panels also avaialble.
Unless going into a wall pocket, sliding doors do not fully open up the available opening. Typically they provide either half or two thirds. But they are a great choice when space is limited such as a small patio, balcony.
Because sliding doors have less visible aluminium than bifold doors when closed, they are the more minimalist option. They are also ideal if your home has great views and more natural light coming into your home.
With knowledge of every sliding door in the UK market, we can help you choose the best sliding door solution for your home. From ultra minimalist or nearly frameless sliding doors, to classically styled, residential or commercial, contact for help and advice on the right sliding door for you.
The Pros and Cons of Bifold vs Sliding Doors at a Glance
| Sliding Doors | Bifold Doors |
|---|---|
| Pros | Pros |
| Ideal for wide openings with minimal obstruction when closed | Opens almost the entire width of the opening for maximum airflow |
| Slimmest mullions for better views and more natural light | Traffic door provides convenient everyday access, from inside or outside. |
| Smooth operation with fewer interactions to open the door set than folding systems | More flexible in how you can configure the doors than sliding. |
| Ideal if you are limited on space inside or out | Creates virtually a 98% clear opening when fully opened. |
| Provides a more contemporary look with larger glass panes | Can fold to one or both sides and stack inside or out |
| Compatible with pocket installations for disappearing panels, fixed or open corners. | Available with fixed or open-corner configurations for larger extensions |
| Suits both modern and traditional properties when designed well | Ideal for smaller homes where full-width openings enhance space |
| Cons | Cons |
| Reduced opening width—only part of the aperture can be opened | More visible aluminium when closed due to multiple panels |
| Often needs a deeper frame or structural support for triple tracks | Needs internal or external stacking space when open |
| Less convenient for frequent access | Multiple locking points can be more complex to operate daily |
| Some very slim systems use bonded glass, making servicing or glass replacement difficult | Sightlines are wider than sliders, which can affect views |
| Less flexibility in panel arrangement and opening direction | Not suited to pocket-style installations or fully disappearing panels |
Contact us for more information on the slimmest sliding and bifolding doors helping you maximise the light and views in your home.
Bifold and Sliding Doors – living with them every day
| Considerations | Bifold Doors | Sliding Doors |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | opening up the space | the very best views |
| Typical maximum size | up to 8+ metres | up to 12+ metres |
| Dimensions of vertical mullions | from 88mm to 150mm | from 15mm to 98mm |
| Maximum Panel Widths | 1.5 metres | 3 + metres |
| Maximum Panel Heights | 3.5 metres | 3.5+ metres |
| Low level and flush threshold option | yes | yes |
| Takes up internal/external space when open | yes | no |
| Available space when open | up to 90% | up to 66% |
| Flush Floor Level Internally | yes | yes |
| Flush Floor Levels Externally | yes | yes |
| Cornerless solution | yes | yes |
| Doors disappearing into a wall | No | yes |
| Anti-finger trap technology | yes | soft-close option |
| Matching single and double doors | yes | no |
| Security Tested | yes | yes |
| Low U-Values | from 1.2Wm2K | from 1.38Wm2K |
| Severe Weather Performance. | yes | yes |
Views and Sightlines: What you see inside and out
When it comes to views and sightlines, sliding doors are the clear winner. Their construction means less visible frame, more glass and a better sense of space and light.
In new build openings you can even hide the frame in the structure giving a near frameless look to your new sliding doors.
- Sliding doors give you the best view when closed. Larger panels mean fewer vertical profiles, and many systems offer mullions as slim as 15mm (bonded doors) or 20mm (non-bonded). You get more uninterrupted glass and a better visual connection to your garden.
- Bifold doors have multiple visible sections of aluminium when closed. Even the slimmest bifolds typically have vertical profiles between 88-120mm. That’s fine in larger rooms but may give too much visible aluminium with smaller door sets.
Top Views and Sightlines Tip With Bifold Doors
Schuco, Alumil and Express doors go up to 1500mm wide, that can make your bifolds look like a three panel sliding door when closed.
Top Views and Sightlines Tip with Sliding Doors
Not all ultra slim doors are the more expensive and complex bonded type. Brands like Aston AS-20 and AS-25, Sunflex, Alumil, and others still give you the ultra-thin vertical mullion, but are much easier to service in the future. Get in touch to find out more about these brands.
Openings and Space: How Much Can You Actually Open?
The clear winner if you have an existing opening and want to maximise the entire opening are bifold doors.
Designed to stack neatly to one or both sides, there’s nothing better for creating a fanastic flow out to the outside space.
- Bifold doors can open up almost the full width of your aperture—more than 90% depending on the configuration.
- Sliding doors are limited by how many panels you can stack behind each other. Typically, a two-panel slider gives 50% clear opening; a three-panel with all panels sliding one way can give up to 66%.
Top Space Tip for Bifold doors
Smaller homes are better served with a bifold door because of the way they just make the whole space feel larger, compared to sliding doors.
Top Space Tip for Sliding Doors
If your opening allows, you can have sliding doors where both sides can open with a fixed glazed panel at one end to make your opening even wider.
Daily Use: Access and Convenience
If getting to your outside space daily, such as letting out a pet, taking out the washing, then bifold doors are the better option. They are faster to open just like any hinged door.
- Bifolds almost always include a traffic door—a single hinged panel you can use like a normal door. It also has key locking on the outside. Therefore, it’s ideal for quick garden access in winter or summer and getting into your home via the bifolds not the front door.
- Sliders require one of the large panels to be moved every time you want to go outside. Dual or triple-track sliders improve this but take up more depth.
Top Daily Use Tip for Bifold Doors
The traffic door on a bifold doesn’t always have to be on the one end. You can have it in the middle of the door set as well.
Top Daily Use Tip for Sliding Doors
If you’re concerned about security, consider a lift and slide door over a normal sliding door as these let you secure the door partially open, leaving just a ventilation gap.
Space Considerations: Interior and Exterior Impact
The clear winner for space saving are sliding doors, thanks to their inline sliding design where each panel slides along its frame and track.
- Sliding doors move within their own frame—great where internal or external space is tight.
- Bifolds need stacking space either inside or outside. If that clashes with furniture, garden features, or structural walls, it can limit your layout.
Top Space Consideration Tip for Bifold Doors
The wider your door panels, the more space you need inside or out and the more bulk you’ll get at the stacked end. 950mm each is the sweet spot. If you have loads of space, consider wider panels, which reduce the visible frame and make your glass even bigger.
Top Space Consideration for Sliding Doors
In very narrow openings, such as 1500mm wide or less, even a sliding door may be too tight as panels always need to park. Consider French doors here.
Configurations and Design Options
Bifold doors offer more flexibility:
- Open in or out
- Stack left, right, or both
- Unlimited panels (typically up to 8+)
- Open-corner options with fixed or hidden posts
Sliding doors offer:
- 2–6 panel layouts
- Dual, triple, or pocket tracks
- Pocket sliding into a wall (in new builds)
- Floating or fixed corner systems with visible or hidden posts
If your home is large enough, there is no reason why sliding doors can’t work alongside bifold doors. You can’t match a sliding door to a hinged or a bifold door, but you can create front doors, side and back doors from bifold profiles, so you get a more coherent look.
Thermal Efficiency and Security
Both sliding and bifold doors are available with:
- Double or triple glazing
- Low U-values (as low as 1.2 W/m²K or better)
- PAS 24 tested and Secured by Design Accreditation
- Multi-point locking and laminated safety glass options
There’s no major difference in performance between the two if you choose a good system and it’s installed properly. Always ask your installer for proof of security testing and thermal performance
Affordability and Installation Factors
When choosing bifolding or sliding doors there are many factors that affect the price you pay. Sizes, colour, location, any upgrades or functional requirements, all affect the price.
Sliding doors can be more expensive depending on:
- Panel size
- Track type (triple-track and pocket systems cost more)
- Bonded vs non-bonded
- The brand itself
Some of the top end sliding door brands include: Solarlux, Schüco Sunflex, Hyline, Panoramah, Centor, Cortizo and Vitrosca
Some of the more affordable sliding door brands include Alumil, Visoglide, Aluk, Exlabesa, Origin and Deceuninck
Bifold doors can be more affordable overall, but premium systems with slim profiles or cornerless design often cost just as much.
Some of the top end bifold door brands include: Solarlux, Schuco, Sunflex, Alumil, Origin and Centor
Some of the more affordable bifold door brands include Visofold, Aluk, Exlabesa, Cortizo.
Affordability Top Tips
Many showrooms tend to show only the familiar brands like Origin, Cortizo and Smart Systems. There are over forty bifold and sliding door brands so get in touch if you are on a budget or need a bifold for an investment property.
Installation Top Tips
Bonded and glazed sliding doors are much harder to manoeuvre and may require specialist lifting equipment. This is more expensive and not without risk when moving very large sliding doors. Unglazed sliding doors don’t have this complexity. Sliding doors require more structural depth and floor build-up for the track. Retrofitting into older homes might be more complex than you think.
For bifolds, installation is generally much easier as the panels are smaller and the outer frame can be assembled at the property.
Still Not Sure? Ask the Experts
Unlike door manufacturers or online retailers, the Door and Window Experts Website is an information website. Independent, Impartial and Expert. We don’t sell windows and doors. We simply help you find the best windows and doors for your home and your budget from the best suppliers and installers nationwide. Thousands of people contact us every year for help with their windows and doors. Contact us now for free help and advice.
More information to help you
- Who makes the best bifold doors
- Who makes the best sliding doors
- Pros and cons of structurally bonded doors
- Benefits you only get with bifold doors
- Find out which are the slimmest bifold doors
- Who makes the slimmest sliding doors at the centre mullion
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the thinnest sightlines available?
Sliding door mullions can go as slim as 15mm up to around 90mm. Bifold doors start around 88mm per vertical junction. Outer frames depend on the product and how they’re fixed, but typically from 50mm to 170mm for both
Are sliding doors better than bifolds?
Not always. Bifolds open wider. Sliders give better views. Your home layout, access needs, and design preference will determine what’s best.
What if I want both types?
It’s common to mix sliding doors on the main rear elevation with bifolds on side returns or smaller openings. We can help you plan the best configuration for your project
How Secure are bifolding and sliding doors
Very secure. Safety glass comes as standard, virtually all doors have multiple locking points and have been extensively security and weather tested.
What brands make the best doors?
There’s no one best system. Some brands are designed for architectural projects, some bifold and sliding doors come with unique benefits for the user. Others are intended for those on a budget, or easier to install and service. Contact us for advice.
The good news is all bifolding door brands come with premium grade aluminium, so nobody’s door is better here. Colour coatings are also equal as all major brands are Qualicoat Approved – the standard for colour finishes. Glass quality is also consistent across most product. Hardware, locks and components do vary in quality, some made in China, Europe or Britain. How a sliding or bifold door feels when you move it is an excellent indicator of its quality.
Are bonded sliding doors worth it?
They look amazing, but consider future serviceability. Glass damage or failure can be costly to fix and especially when out of warranty
How do I choose between aluminium, uPVC, steel or composite sliding and folding doors?
There is no bad door on the market and each material has its pros and cons. For example, aluminium is slimmer and goes to larger sizes. uPVC is cheapest but prone to more thermal expansion on hot elevations. Timber is excellent for thermal performance but suitable only for certain homes and may need maintenance in the future. We can help you choose the best material for your project.
