How does a CSS gradient animation work?

CSS gradient animations work by changing the background-position of an oversized gradient over time using @keyframes. The gradient is made larger than the element (e.g., 400% wide) and then background-position is animated from 0% to 100%, creating a shifting color effect.

Can I use the generated CSS in production?

Yes. The generated CSS uses standard properties supported by all modern browsers. For older browser support, vendor prefixes for -webkit-linear-gradient can be added, but they are rarely needed today.

How do I control animation speed?

Speed is controlled by the animation-duration property. A shorter duration (e.g., 2s) creates a fast, energetic feel. A longer duration (e.g., 10s–15s) creates a slow, ambient atmosphere. Most animated gradient backgrounds work best at 6s–10s.

Will animated gradients affect performance?

Background-position animations are generally GPU-accelerated and perform well. For best performance, avoid animating gradients on very large sections of the page and prefer will-change: background-position to hint to the browser for optimization.

CSS Gradient Animator

Design animated CSS gradient backgrounds with customizable colors, keyframes, and timing

Gradient Type

Direction

Duration: 10s

Timing Function

Iteration Count

Keyframes

(0%)

Color Stops

Position: 0%

Position: 100%

(50%)

Color Stops

Position: 0%

Position: 100%

(100%)

Color Stops

Position: 0%

Position: 100%