CSS Gradient Generator
Design stunning CSS gradients with a live preview. Add multiple color stops, adjust angles, and copy the CSS code in one click.
How to use CSS Gradient Generator
Create multi-stop CSS gradients with a visual editor — drag stops, adjust colors, and instantly preview on sample UI elements. Export clean CSS ready to paste into your stylesheet, or download a PNG swatch. Includes preset gradient packs (sunset, ocean, neon, pastel, monochrome) for quick inspiration.
- Choose a preset gradient or start from scratch by clicking "New Gradient".
- Click the gradient track to add color stops; drag to reposition them.
- Double-click a stop to edit its color using the full color picker.
- Switch between linear, radial, and conic modes.
- Copy the CSS output or download a 1×100px PNG swatch for use in design tools.
Your data never leaves your device — 100% private processing.
Building brand-aligned gradient systems
Design systems increasingly include gradient tokens alongside flat color tokens. A brand gradient system typically defines 3–5 gradients: a primary (brand colors), a neutral (grey scale), a success (green tones), a warning (amber tones), and an error (red tones). Keeping gradients on the same hue axis as flat brand colors ensures visual consistency. For dark mode, the same gradient at reduced opacity or with adjusted lightness stops maintains brand identity without the harshness of full-saturation gradients on dark backgrounds.
Performance considerations for CSS gradients
CSS gradients are resolution-independent (vector) and cost nothing to scale — they are always sharper than raster images and add zero bytes to page weight. They are rendered by the GPU and do not trigger layout or paint if used as background-image on elements with fixed size. Avoid animating gradient color stops using CSS transitions or keyframes — this is CPU-intensive and can degrade performance. Instead, animate the background-position on a larger static gradient for smooth movement at near-zero GPU cost.
Glossary
- Gradient token
- A named CSS custom property containing a gradient value, part of a design token system.
- Hard stop
- A gradient color stop where the position of two consecutive stops is identical, creating a sharp line instead of a blend.
- Midpoint
- An optional control point between two color stops that shifts where the midpoint of the blend occurs.
- Background-position animation
- A GPU-efficient trick for animated gradients: define a large gradient and animate the background-position property.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions
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Why use CSS Gradient Generator?
- Converts between HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, and CMYK instantly
- Accessibility contrast checker built in
- Generates harmonious palette variations from a single colour
- Export-ready CSS variables and design tokens
Common use cases
- Pick brand colours that meet WCAG accessibility standards
- Generate a complementary palette from a logo colour
- Convert Figma HEX codes to CSS rgb() for developers
- Create a gradient from two brand colours
- Verify sufficient contrast for text on coloured backgrounds
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