Sometimes a cool glitchy, distorted effect is the perfect addition to your web design. Maybe you’re creating a tech site, a developer’s portfolio, or something completely experimental. Distortion effects are an unconventional but interesting way to grab visitors’ attention with a unique animation. We’ve collected some glitchy CSS effects for you to use today. They’re free to copy or study as a learning tool, and they range from text and image glitch effects to hover distortions to trippy background animations. Whatever you’re looking for, one of these effects has the inspiration you need.

See the Pen Pure CSS Glitch Effect by Felix Rilling (@FelixRilling) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen CodePen Challenge: Color Pop by Johan Lagerqvist (@lgrqvst) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Trippy CSS effect by kryo (@kryo2k) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Glitch Photo Filters CSS by Sergey (@canti23) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Perspective Split Text Menu Hover by James Bosworth (@bosworthco) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Clean CSS Glitch by Piotr Galor (@pgalor) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Text shuffle & distort fx by Blaz Kemperle (@blazicke) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Glitch CSS by Iliuta Stoica (@iliutastoica) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Infinite SVG Triangle Fusion by Rob DiMarzo (@robdimarzo) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Glitch effect in CSS by Thomas Aufresne (@origine) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Trippy – CSS only by Emmanuel Lainas (@RedGlove) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Glitch Text by Chase (@chasebank) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Oddly satisfying CSS Only triangle animation by eight (@eight) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Paint on Heat Distortion by Matt Popovich (@mattpopovich) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Trippy Squares – Left to Right Wave! by Praveen Puglia (@praveenpuglia) on CodePen.dark

See the Pen Glitch Clock by Konstantin (@fearOfCode) on CodePen.dark

Glitchy and Psychedelic CSS Effects

There’s something simply awesome about an unusual distortion effect. Using them correctly can help you make an awesome website that people will love to explore. Too much distortion can be an eyestrain, but a cool trippy background animation or some glitchy text can pull the whole design together.

You also should be careful with implementing too many CSS effects onto your website. Too many animations can lead to a slowdown. If you find your website loading slowly, this guide can help you cut down on bloat and let you keep your awesome new effects.

Next time you’re making a dark website, a site with tech or programming focus, or a page you want to be unconventional and unique, try out one of these free glitchy CSS effects. You’ll love the character it can bring to a design.