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The best animated websites give motion a purpose: it explains a product, signals a brand, guides attention, or makes navigation part of the experience. These 25 examples show approaches ranging from simple builder interactions to video and WebGL. The stacks and behaviors below are those reported by Colorlib author Aigars Silkalns in an October 1, 2026 review; they are time-sensitive observations, not independently verified or permanent specifications.
What the animations are doing
A useful way to compare animated websites is to ask what the movement contributes before asking which library made it. Some sites make a service easier to understand; others establish a visual identity, tell a product story, or turn a project list into an interface. The examples below are grouped by that primary job, though many combine several.
Explaining a service or idea
- Hello Monday: Illustrated characters change outfits as service labels change, helping connect the studio’s characters to its offer. Colorlib reports custom code, PixiJS, GSAP, and MorphSVG.
- Chartipedia: Geometric lettering animates into a logo, followed by scrollytelling cards introducing the studio’s data-visualization work. The reported stack is Vev and anime.js.
- Home Abroad: A small real-estate agency uses scroll reveals and motion on offer figures. Colorlib reports Webflow Interactions, without an extra animation library.
- Les Animals: Subtle canvas waves and scroll-revealed copy show how a long tool list can produce a restrained result. The reported stack includes WordPress, GSAP, ScrollTrigger, ScrollSmoother, SplitText, MorphSVG, PixiJS, and Matter.js.
Making the brand recognizable
- Resn: One slowly turning faceted glass object establishes the studio’s identity. Colorlib reports custom code, three.js, and GSAP.
- Verholy Relax Park: Spaced-out lettering and offset photography create a slower visual pace for a hospitality site. The reported stack is Nuxt, GSAP, and ScrollTrigger.
- Waaark: Liquid page transitions and isometric panels create an animated identity without WebGL. Colorlib reports WordPress, GSAP (TweenMax), SplitText, and Lottie (Bodymovin).
- Stripe: Slowly moving gradient ribbons sit behind the main message. The reported stack is Next.js, WebGL, three.js, and Framer Motion.
- 1Minus1: A game-like loader and WebGL game-art card set the tone. The reported stack is Nuxt, GSAP, ScrollTrigger, SplitText, Flip, three.js, and Lenis.
Showing a product through motion
- Apple AirPods Pro: Product films and scroll-linked close-ups demonstrate product storytelling. Colorlib reports custom code, video, and three.js, plus a still-image alternative for reduced motion.
- Graza: Hand-drawn olive illustrations and pinned story panels bring personality to a product narrative. The reported stack is Shopify, GSAP, ScrollTrigger, and Lottie.
- OLIPOP: Product footage and can graphics tie movement to product storytelling and navigation. The reported stack is Shopify, GSAP, and Barba.js.
- Duolingo: Brand characters and illustrations appear in short, friendly sequences. Colorlib reports custom code, Rive, and Lottie.
Turning browsing into an experience
- Lusion: Tumbling connector shapes form a 3D scene that pitches the studio’s 3D storytelling and interactive work. The reported stack is Astro, three.js, and SplitType.
- Igloo Inc.: An interactive ice-block scene doubles as navigation. Colorlib reports a custom Vite build, three.js, and GSAP.
- Bruno Simon: A drivable 3D island makes the portfolio feel like a game. The reported stack is a custom Vite build, three.js, and GSAP.
- Dogstudio: A 3D dog changes color and environment as project titles appear, making the work list feel like one continuous scene. The reported stack is WordPress, three.js, GSAP, and Highway.js.
- Castor & Pollux: An eye-shaped cursor follows the pointer while project imagery forms a scrolling collage. The reported stack is SvelteKit, GSAP, Lottie, and Lenis.
- Eszter Bial: Oversized kinetic type carries the portfolio, with cursor labels and a page-transition counter. The reported stack is custom HTML, GSAP, ScrollTrigger, and Lenis.
- Lando Norris: Portrait wipes, pixel effects, and scroll-responsive text combine Webflow structure with a custom script stack. Colorlib reports Webflow, GSAP, ScrollTrigger, SplitText, three.js, Rive, Lenis, and Taxi.js.
- Active Theory: A particle scene and glowing ring introduce the studio’s work. The reported stack is custom code, custom WebGL, and Theatre.js.
- darkroom.engineering: Neon typography and full-bleed projects create an immersive portfolio. The reported stack is Next.js, Lenis, GSAP, and ScrollTrigger.
- Rive: Interactive animation from the company’s own product appears in icons and buttons on its site. The reported stack is Framer, Rive, and Framer Motion.
- Brain Bakery: Torn-paper-style scroll reveals and a carousel are built without custom code, according to Colorlib. The reported stack is Webflow Interactions, Lottie, and Swiper.
- Louis Ansa: Project previews play in sequence. The reported stack is Nuxt, three.js, Lottie, and anime.js.
What stacks appear across the examples?
In Colorlib’s selection of 25 sites, its author reported GSAP on 15, three.js on 10, Lottie on six, Lenis on five, and Rive on three. These counts describe the selected examples, not the prevalence of those tools across the web. The reported stacks also mix frameworks, site builders, animation libraries, rendering technologies, and media; they are not interchangeable alternatives.
| Approach | What it is suited to | Examples from the review |
|---|---|---|
| CSS | Simple fades, hover states, and transitions | The source’s general implementation guidance; no specific example is identified as CSS-only. |
| Webflow Interactions | Builder-based motion without adding a separate animation library | Home Abroad; Brain Bakery |
| GSAP and related tools | Timelines and scroll-linked choreography | Reported on Lando Norris, Hello Monday, Dogstudio, and others |
| Lottie | Vector illustrations and animated graphics | Graza; Duolingo; Brain Bakery |
| Rive | Interactive vector animation | Rive; Duolingo; Lando Norris |
| Video | Filmed or rendered footage | Apple AirPods Pro; Graza; OLIPOP |
| Canvas or WebGL | Interactive scenes and graphics rendered in a canvas or 3D environment | Igloo Inc.; Bruno Simon; Active Theory |
This is a use-case map, not a universal ranking. A small hover transition does not need the same machinery as a scroll-timed 3D scene. Choose the least complex approach that achieves the intended effect and remains usable when animation is unavailable or unwanted.
#1 Best Overall
How do motion, accessibility, and page weight interact?
Animation can affect more than appearance. Visitors may prefer reduced motion, some browsers may not support a demanding scene, and text rendered only inside a canvas can be harder for assistive technology or search engines to access as page text. Media files can also outweigh the JavaScript used to animate them.
Honor reduced-motion preferences and offer control
The MDN documentation for the prefers-reduced-motion CSS media feature explains how a site can detect a visitor’s system motion preference. Colorlib reports that the Apple AirPods Pro example substitutes still imagery, while Stripe’s gradient holds still when reduced motion is enabled. The review also reports that the hero illustration stops on Duolingo, that the hero effect stops on 1Minus1, and that darkroom.engineering stops smooth scrolling. Graza is reported to include a pause control as well as reduced-motion behavior. These are observations of the reviewed pages, and specific effects can change over time.
Keep essential information out of canvas-only text
Igloo Inc.’s scene uses text drawn in canvas, which Colorlib warns may not be available as ordinary page text to assistive technology or search indexing. Keep essential instructions, labels, and navigation in accessible HTML rather than relying exclusively on text embedded in a visual scene. Colorlib also reports that Active Theory showed a “Not Supported” fallback in a browser that could not run its scene, a useful pattern when a core visual effect depends on browser capabilities.
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Distinguish script size from media transfer
In Colorlib’s 2026 test of these 25 examples, JavaScript stayed below 3 MB on 24 sites, while media made some pages much heavier. The author reported these transfer amounts in the first eight seconds of loading:
Rank #3
| Example | Reported transfer in first eight seconds | Context reported by Colorlib |
|---|---|---|
| Waaark | 0.4 MB | Eight-second measurement window |
| darkroom.engineering | 0.65 MB | Eight-second measurement window |
| Resn | 24.6 MB | Includes 13.4 MB of images |
| Louis Ansa | 16.6 MB | Largely due to video |
| Igloo Inc. | 14.4 MB | Eight-second measurement window |
| Graza | 71.2 MB | Mostly video |
These are one author’s measurements of particular pages in a particular eight-second window, not benchmarks for all animated websites; current page weights may differ. The practical lesson is to inspect images and video as well as scripts, lazy-load media where appropriate, and test on a phone connection.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose an approach for your own site
- Define the job. Decide whether movement must explain a feature, tell a product story, establish a visual identity, or clarify navigation. If it has no clear job, simplify or remove it.
- Match the tool to the output. Start with CSS for a modest transition or hover state. Consider builder interactions for a no-code scroll reveal, a timeline-oriented library for coordinated choreography, Lottie for vector illustrations, Rive for interactive vector animation, and video for filmed or rendered footage.
- Set an accessible fallback. Respect reduced-motion preferences, provide a pause control for motion that continues, and make sure essential text and navigation remain available outside a canvas scene.
- Measure the complete experience. Check image and video transfers as well as JavaScript, and test the page on a phone connection and in browsers that may not support advanced graphics.
Colorlib says its author inspected scripts, measured page weight, and tested reduced-motion behavior while reviewing 68 sites for the October 1, 2026 guide. The examples and technology detections are a snapshot of the pages at that time; site designs, stacks, and behavior can change.
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