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These 26 SVG animation examples show how to choose an approach for the motion you want: CSS for small loops and interface states, GSAP for choreographed sequences and morphs, SMIL for animation embedded in SVG markup, and tools such as anime.js, Vivus, mo.js, and Lottie for particular workflows. Each example is a live demo identified in Colorlib’s September 29, 2026 roundup; open it to inspect the implementation and adapt the idea to your project.
How to choose an SVG animation approach
Start with how the animation will be used, not with a library. A pulsing icon has different needs from an illustration with a timeline, a path that changes shape, or an animation that must remain inside a standalone SVG file.
| Approach | Best fit | What to consider |
|---|---|---|
| CSS | Simple loops and interface states such as drawing, pulsing, swinging, or toggling an icon. | Works well when CSS can express the motion and state changes. Some examples use a short script for additional behavior. |
| GSAP | Multi-step timelines, staggered sequences, SVG attribute changes, and shape morphs. | Useful when precise sequencing or interaction control would make CSS cumbersome. |
| SMIL | Animation declared directly in SVG markup, including numeric attributes, transforms, and motion along a path. | Test the actual browser and embedding context; host behavior and sanitization can affect results. |
| Other libraries | Specific workflows such as anime.js scene animation, Vivus stroke drawing, mo.js bursts, or Lottie playback. | Choose according to how the artwork is authored and controlled, and check what code and runtime the result requires. |
MDN’s SMIL guide documents animation of numeric attributes, transforms, and motion paths. The W3C SMIL 3.0 Animation specification describes animation as a time-based function applied to a target attribute, with timing and interpolation rules. Neither reference means every SVG host handles every animation identically.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteCSS SVG animation examples
Colorlib describes these eight examples as using no animation library; most also avoid JavaScript. They are useful starting points for motion that can be expressed as CSS keyframes or transitions.
#1 Best Overall
- Wolf Animation (Pure CSS), by @grizzlyowlet: Groups of low-poly facets slide into place, with staggered delays building the wolf.
- Beating Heart, by @morkett: Stroke-dash properties draw and fill an anatomical heart before separate parts pulse on repeating keyframes.
- Kitschy Animated SVG Mardi Gras Parade, by @mark_sottek: A marching band combines long travel with shorter loops for drumsticks, trombone arms, and head movement.
- Swing Girl SVG Animation, by @uiswarup: Keyframes animate a swing and leaves; varied leaf durations give their movement an asynchronous feel.
- Melting Popsicle, by @hopearmstrong: Drips fall with alternating timing and changes to opacity and transforms.
- SVG CSS Fire Animation, by @deepakkv: Layered flame paths wobble as sparks rise and fade.
- Animated Blob SVG Text Clipping, by Zach Saucier: Moving blobs show through clipped text. CSS animates the blobs, and a short script changes the displayed line and colors.
- Flippin’ Burgers, by Mikael Ainalem: Eight interactive hamburger icons transition into close or arrow states using SVG paths and stroke-dash properties.
GSAP SVG animation examples
These demos show GSAP used where motion involves a sequence, stagger, morph, or interaction. A timeline can make the order and overlap of multiple animated parts explicit.
- Responsive Huggy Laser Panda Factory, by Sarah Drasner: A responsive illustrated machine combines idle timelines, moving gauges and gears, and user-triggered hotspots. Colorlib notes that the demo uses older GSAP syntax.
- Play Hard, by Chris Gannon: Letters morph between path shapes on a repeating timeline with staggered timing and custom easing.
- I Play With Code, by Chris Gannon: One timeline choreographs cursor, selection, and lettering movements with DrawSVG and masks.
- 9 x 9 Circles, by @creativeocean: Circles move into and out of a grid while an SVG turbulence filter seed changes to add texture.
- Impossible Penrose Triangle Loader, by @indextwo: A rotating ring and pulsing blurred glow create a loading indicator with GSAP and an SVG blur filter.
- Simple Shapes Morph, by Jack Domleo: A repeating seven-step timeline changes a shape through a heart, triangle, square, pentagon, star, tick, and circle.
- Morphing Play/Pause, by Osmo: Clicking the control morphs its icon and emits particles using MorphSVG and Physics2D.
- Stormy SVG Animation With Goo Liquid, by @issey: Waves, a boat, and characters move in a storm scene; blur and color-matrix filters make separate drops appear joined.
- Add to Cart, by Aaron Iker: A click triggers a short shirt-to-cart sequence using GSAP, CSS variables, and MorphSVG.
- SVG Brush Animation, by @sndrgb: A masked brush stroke draws and reverses by animating
stroke-dashoffset; the code measures path length withgetTotalLength().
SMIL examples: animation inside SVG markup
SMIL puts animation declarations in the SVG itself. MDN’s guide shows <animate> for attributes such as cx, <animateTransform> for transforms, and <animateMotion> for movement along a path. This can be useful when animation needs to travel with an SVG used as an image, but the intended delivery environment still needs testing.
- Pure SVG Loader Animation, by Nikhil Krishnan: Ten loaders use
<animate>and<animateTransform>embedded in SVG markup. Colorlib describes them as working when loaded as an image or CSS background. - SVG/SMIL calcMode Comparison, by Amelia Bellamy-Royds: Three circles compare linear, paced, and discrete timing over the same positions and colors.
- SVG SMIL Animation, by @willianjusten: One path morphs through a list of shapes. For the interpolation technique shown, the path command structure must match.
The SVG Motion Cookbook offers eight runnable SMIL recipes. Its authors report that GitHub sanitizes scripts and CSS keyframes from SVG images in README files while retaining SMIL. Treat that as a report about that environment, not a standards guarantee; test the actual place where your SVG will appear.
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Examples using other animation libraries
These five demos illustrate alternatives for projects whose workflow or effect does not fit neatly into a CSS, GSAP, or SMIL example.
Rank #3
- Halloween SVG Parallax Animation, by @uchardon: A scene combines anime.js, CSS keyframes, SMIL filter animation, and pointer or device-motion response.
- Back2School SVG Animation, by @Yasio: anime.js animates a student and scattered items with staggered delays and randomized offsets.
- Vivus.js SVG Animation, by @dedevillela: Vivus draws lettering as SVG strokes and provides buttons to replay different animation types.
- Playing With mo.js Burst, by Sarah Drasner: A click creates a motion-graphics burst of spinning polygons and expanding shapes rendered as SVG.
- Lottie Animation With Audio Layers, by @airnan: An After Effects/Bodymovin export plays through lottie-web with an SVG renderer. The demo exposes playback, speed, volume, and completion controls.
Lottie is a distinct authoring workflow: create motion in After Effects, export using Bodymovin, then play the result with lottie-web. The listed example uses its SVG renderer; it is not simply another way to write CSS or SMIL inside an SVG.
How to make an SVG look like it is drawing itself
Use a stroked path and animate its dash offset. stroke-dasharray sets the dash pattern; a dash length matching the path length can make the stroke appear continuous, while changing stroke-dashoffset reveals or hides it over time. CSS can handle a known path length; JavaScript can measure one with the path’s getTotalLength() method, as shown in the SVG Brush Animation example.
The same principle appears in the Beating Heart and Vivus examples. It is most suitable for line-based artwork; it does not automatically animate a filled shape into existence.
Practical checks before adapting a demo
- Match the technique to the motion. For a simple loop or interface state, try CSS first. For a timed sequence, stagger, or morph, inspect the GSAP and other library examples.
- Check whether the SVG is inline or external. Animation behavior can depend on whether SVG is embedded in HTML, loaded as an image, or used as a CSS background. Verify in the intended host rather than assuming the live demo’s context transfers unchanged.
- Preserve hooks used by the animation. If optimizing or minifying SVG, keep IDs and classes referenced by CSS or JavaScript.
- Honor reduced-motion preferences. Provide a less animated or static experience for visitors who request reduced motion.
- Test the actual target environment. Browser behavior, embedding, and sanitization can affect results. The SMIL cookbook’s compatibility notes are repository-author reports, not a universal compatibility guarantee.
- Judge performance in context. Colorlib’s roundup counts 26 examples and describes eight CSS examples, but the reviewed material supplies no independent performance measurements. Do not infer file-size or speed advantages from those descriptions alone.
Source and scope
The 26 demos and their implementation descriptions are drawn from Alex Ivanovs’s Colorlib roundup, “26 Best SVG Animation Examples (With Code & Live Demos)”, dated September 29, 2026. The examples are demonstrations to inspect and adapt, not a measured ranking of animation libraries.
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