DEV Community

Cover image for I Built a Free CSS Animation Generator with 97 Ready-to-Use Presets
Praneeth Kawya Thathsara
Praneeth Kawya Thathsara

Posted on

I Built a Free CSS Animation Generator with 97 Ready-to-Use Presets

#webdev #frontend #css #productivity

I Built a Free CSS Animation Generator with 97 Ready-to-Use Presets

I work a lot with UI animation and product motion.

One small problem I keep seeing is this:

You need a simple animation for a button, card, loader, badge, or
landing page element...

But then you spend time searching for an effect, editing @keyframes,
changing the duration, testing easing values, and refreshing the browser
again and again.

For a small UI animation, the workflow can become unnecessarily slow.

So I built a free CSS Animation Generator.

👉 https://uianimation.com/css-animation-generator

No signup.

No installation.

Just pick an animation, preview it, customize the motion, and copy the
CSS.

97 CSS Animation Presets

The generator currently includes 97 ready-to-use animation presets.

They are organized into motion categories such as:

  • Attention animations
  • Back In
  • Back Out
  • Bounce In
  • Bounce Out
  • Fade In
  • Fade Out
  • Flip
  • Lightspeed
  • Rotate In
  • Rotate Out
  • Special animations
  • Zoom In
  • Zoom Out
  • Slide In
  • Slide Out

You can also search for an animation directly.

For example, if you need a quick bounce, fadeIn, shakeX, or
zoomOut effect, you don't need to manually search through a large CSS
file.

Pick the motion and start tuning it.

Live CSS Animation Preview

I didn't want to build another page that only shows a list of CSS
effects.

The important part for me was visual motion testing.

The generator includes a live preview stage where you can test the
animation immediately.

You can change the preview object between:

  • Card
  • Button
  • Dot
  • Badge
  • Loader

Then use the Play and Pause controls to inspect the motion.

When you change the animation settings, the preview and generated CSS
update instantly.

This makes it much easier to answer questions like:

Is this animation too fast?

Does the easing feel too aggressive?

Should the movement distance be smaller?

Does this work better as an entrance or attention animation?

For UI animation, seeing the motion is much more useful than guessing
values from code.

Fine-Tune the Animation

After choosing a preset, you can customize the animation.

The current controls include:

  • Animation name
  • Target CSS class
  • Preview object
  • Duration
  • Delay
  • Timing function
  • Distance
  • Scale
  • Rotation
  • Starting opacity
  • Iteration count
  • Animation direction
  • Fill mode
  • Transform origin
  • Object color
  • Preview stage color

You can quickly test different timing functions such as:

ease
ease-in
ease-out
ease-in-out
linear
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

You can also experiment with direction:

normal
reverse
alternate
alternate-reverse
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

The goal is simple:

Tune motion visually instead of repeatedly editing CSS by hand.

Copy the CSS You Actually Need

When the animation looks right, the generator creates the CSS for you.

You can copy:

  • Full CSS
  • Animation rule
  • Keyframes only

For example, your final output can look like this:

.animated-element {
  animation-name: bounce;
  animation-duration: 1s;
  animation-timing-function: ease-in-out;
  animation-delay: 0s;
  animation-iteration-count: 1;
  animation-direction: normal;
  animation-fill-mode: both;
  transform-origin: center;
}

@keyframes bounce {
  /* generated animation keyframes */
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Copy it.

Paste it into your project.

Rename the class if needed.

Done.

There is no animation runtime or external JavaScript library required
for the generated CSS.

Reduced Motion Support

Accessibility was also something I wanted to include in the workflow.

The generator can add reduced-motion CSS for users who prefer less
animation.

For example:

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .animated-element {
    animation: none;
  }
}
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

There is also an option to include will-change when needed.

I think animation tools should help developers think about production
usage, not only make things move.

Why I Built This as a UI Animation Tool

There are already CSS animation libraries on the web.

My goal was not simply to create another animation list.

I wanted the workflow to feel closer to a small motion control panel
for UI production.

The process is:

  1. Pick a motion preset
  2. Preview the animation
  3. Tune timing and motion properties
  4. Check the visual result
  5. Copy production-friendly CSS

This is closer to how I personally think about UI motion.

Motion is not only:

animation-duration: 1s;
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

The relationship between distance, scale, rotation, easing, duration,
and direction changes how an interface feels.

A 300ms movement with a small distance can feel responsive.

The same movement with a larger distance and slower easing can feel
cinematic.

Small values matter.

Where Can You Use These CSS Animations?

The generator is useful for lightweight interface motion.

Buttons

Use subtle attention or feedback animations for important actions.

Cards

Add entrance animations to dashboard cards, pricing sections, or feature
blocks.

Landing Pages

Create fade, slide, zoom, and rotate entrance effects.

Loaders

Experiment with repeated motion and infinite animation loops.

Badges and Notifications

Use bounce, pulse, shake, or flash-style effects for visual feedback.

Microinteractions

Create small motion details without adding a full animation library to
the project.

For complex interactive animation, state machines, character animation,
or runtime-controlled product motion, I still prefer Rive.

But for lightweight web UI motion, CSS can be more than enough.

A Small CSS Animation Tip

When possible, I prefer animating properties such as:

transform
opacity
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

For example:

transform: translateY(20px);
transform: scale(1.05);
transform: rotate(8deg);
opacity: 0;
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

These are often better choices for interface animation than constantly
changing layout-related properties.

Also, don't animate everything.

Good UI animation should help communicate:

  • State changes
  • Hierarchy
  • Feedback
  • Direction
  • Progress

Sometimes the best animation is a very small movement that users barely
notice consciously.

Try the Free CSS Animation Generator

The tool is available here:

👉 https://uianimation.com/css-animation-generator

It currently includes:

  • 97 CSS animation presets
  • Live animation preview
  • Searchable preset library
  • Duration controls
  • Delay controls
  • Easing controls
  • Distance customization
  • Scale customization
  • Rotation customization
  • Opacity controls
  • Iteration controls
  • Direction controls
  • Fill mode controls
  • Transform origin controls
  • Object and stage colors
  • Reduced-motion CSS
  • will-change option
  • Full CSS copy
  • Animation rule copy
  • Keyframes copy

The tool is free and runs in the browser.

I'm Building More UI Animation Tools

This CSS Animation Generator is part of UI Animation Studio.

I'm building tools around UI animation, Rive, Lottie, SVG, GIF, and
developer-friendly motion workflows.

Explore UI Animation Studio:

👉 https://uianimation.com/

I'm Praneeth Kawya Thathsara, a Rive Animator and Interactive
Product Designer.

I also build interactive mascot systems and production-ready UI
animation for web, mobile apps, SaaS products, and AI interfaces.

If you're a frontend developer, indie hacker, or product designer, I'd
love to hear what animation tool would save you time.

What should I build next?

If this CSS Animation Generator is useful for your workflow, feel free
to bookmark it and share it with another frontend developer.

Happy animating 🚀

Top comments (0)