free-gsap-effects — HTML Starter Template

SHA-256: 9ecd5c4968e23985629bf022c1e01825b06e737b258b3540a06032bca4c5e170

2026-10-06T09:51:57.225Z

# Free GSAP Effects

![Free GSAP effects in motion: parallax hero, scroll text highlight, 3D card flip and the link-in-bio template](./demo.gif)

Nine free, production-ready GSAP animation effects, eleven animated UI components and four complete website templates, all MIT licensed. Copy, paste, and ship. Everything is self-contained, framework-agnostic, accessible, and memory-safe.

From [GSAP Vault](https://gsapvault.com), a library of 117 copy-paste GSAP animation effects, 53 UI components and 82 complete website templates.

## The Effects

| Effect | What it does | Live demo |
|--------|--------------|-----------|
| [Tailwind Component Remixer](./tailwind-class-playground) | Generate fresh Tailwind component recipes with procedural SVG artwork, coordinated colour palettes and animated GSAP layout transitions. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/tailwind-class-playground) |
| [3D Card Flip Gallery](./3d-card-flip) | Tactile GSAP 3D cards with deep perspective, reactive edge lighting and shifting shadows. Flip on hover, keyboard focus or tap, with grouped auto-close. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/3d-card-flip) |
| [Scroll Progress Indicator](./scroll-progress) | A precise GSAP reading-progress indicator in four shapes: a top bar, an SVG ring, a side rail, and a numeric percentage. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/scroll-progress) |
| [Typewriter Text](./typewriter-text) | A typewriter that types a line character by character, holds it, accelerates through deletion, and cycles to the next phrase, with optional cursor, status and progress hooks. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/typewriter-text) |
| [Parallax Hero](./parallax-hero) | A pinned hero that pulls its layers into depth from one scrubbed ScrollTrigger: a headline sandwiched inside the stack, ridges or photographs climbing over it, and a sun that sets behind the far layer. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/parallax-hero) |
| [Image Clip Reveal](./image-clip-reveal) | A cinematic image reveal where a directional polygon aperture opens as the photograph settles from a restrained Ken Burns scale and its caption lands. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/image-clip-reveal) |
| [Hover Underline](./hover-underline) | Four material link underlines (an exit-through line, marker sweep, hand-drawn wave, and an endlessly travelling wave) with coordinated type and active-index responses. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/hover-underline) |
| [Scroll Text Highlight](./scroll-text-highlight) | A scrubbed orange-to-lime reading front lifts each active word before completed copy settles to white and unread copy remains ghosted. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/scroll-text-highlight) |
| [CSS Scroll Reveal](./css-scroll-reveal) | Native CSS scroll-driven reveals for crisp fade, slide, and scale entrances with accessible static fallbacks and no animation JavaScript. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/effects/css-scroll-reveal) |

## The UI Components

Interface components rather than page effects: docks, switches, toasts, dialogs.
Each one ships its variants, its keyboard model and its ARIA contract.

| Component | What it is | Live demo |
|--------|--------------|-----------|
| [Fullscreen Hamburger Menu](./hamburger-fullscreen-menu) | A fullscreen hamburger menu: the burger icon morphs into an X while the overlay wipes in and the links stagger up, with focus trapping. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/hamburger-fullscreen-menu) |
| [Collapsible Sidebar Menu](./accordion-sidebar-nav) | A collapsible sidebar menu for docs and admin apps: sections open on a measured height tween and an indicator slides to the current link. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/accordion-sidebar-nav) |
| [iOS Toggle Switch](./ios-toggle-switch) | An iOS-style toggle switch on a native checkbox: tap or drag the knob, it snaps to the nearer side and the track colour cross-fades. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/ios-toggle-switch) |
| [Progress Stepper](./step-progress-indicator) | A progress stepper for checkouts and onboarding: the track fills to the active step and completed steps flip into a drawn checkmark. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/step-progress-indicator) |
| [Skeleton Loader](./skeleton-to-content-reveal) | A skeleton loader: shimmering placeholders crossfade into real content with a stagger, and each card's height eases to what it loaded. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/skeleton-to-content-reveal) |
| [Copy to Clipboard Button](./copy-to-clipboard-button) | A copy to clipboard button: the clipboard icon morphs into a drawn check, a Copied label floats up and the copied value flashes. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/copy-to-clipboard-button) |
| [Scrollspy Table of Contents](./scrollspy-toc-rail) | A scrollspy table of contents for long pages: a marker slides to the section in view and a progress line tracks reading. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/scrollspy-toc-rail) |
| [Star Rating](./star-rating-input) | A star rating input on native radios: hover sweeps the fill to the pointer, a click locks it in with a spring pop and a label. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/star-rating-input) |
| [Announcement Bar](./announcement-banner-bar) | An announcement bar for sites: pushes the page down instead of covering it, rotates messages with a masked swap and collapses on dismiss. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/announcement-banner-bar) |
| [Animated Tabs](./sliding-indicator-tabs) | Animated tabs: the indicator slides and stretches between tabs, panels change directionally and the container eases between heights. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/sliding-indicator-tabs) |
| [FAQ Accordion](./faq-disclosure-accordion) | An accessible FAQ accordion: answers open to their natural height, a plus morphs into a minus, with expand all and #deep links. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements/faq-disclosure-accordion) |

## The Templates

Complete single-purpose web pages, not just isolated effects: open `index.html` and you have a finished site to reskin. Same folder structure as the effects.

| Template | What it is | Live demo |
|--------|--------------|-----------|
| [Coming Soon Template](./coming-soon-template) | A free single-screen holding page dressed as a picture house: a projector beam rakes across a dark auditorium, a house light wanders the room, and the countdown is an Academy leader whose sweep hand turns continuously while the day count cuts once a day. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/templates/coming-soon-template) |
| [Charity Campaign Template](./charity-campaign-template) | A free one-page river-restoration appeal built around a draggable before/after comparator: a gauge-board divider wipes between the degraded and the restored river, and every figure on the page counts like a reading. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/templates/charity-campaign-template) |
| [Link in Bio Template](./link-in-bio-template) | A free creator profile page whose link cards toss onto the page like stickers landing on a desk, drag anywhere with momentum, and tween back into a neat stack on 'Tidy up' - while a tap always just opens the link. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/templates/link-in-bio-template) |
| [QR Table Menu Template](./qr-menu-template) | A phone-first digital menu made to open from a QR code at the table, with a sticky category bar that crossfades between sections and dietary chips that filter every dish at once. | [Demo](https://gsapvault.com/templates/qr-menu-template) |

## Quick Start

Every folder contains:

```
effect-name/
├── index.html        # Working demo page, open it in a browser
├── README.md         # Full documentation: options, examples, accessibility
├── START-HERE-AI.md  # Copy-paste integration brief for an AI coding assistant
└── assets/
    ├── style.css     # Styles
    ├── script.js     # Commented source
    └── script.min.js # Minified production build
```

1. Open the folder's `index.html` in a browser to see it working.
2. Read its `README.md` for the copy-paste quick start and all options.
3. Copy the markup pattern and the script into your project. GSAP loads from CDN:

```html
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/gsap.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/ScrollTrigger.min.js"></script>
```

## Using with Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT or Copilot

Every folder ships a `START-HERE-AI.md`: a product-specific brief that tells a coding assistant to inspect your stack first, read the README and source, keep the design and accessibility intact, scope the selectors, add framework-appropriate GSAP cleanup, and report what it tested. Paste it in, or point the assistant at the folder:

```text
Read ./parallax-hero/START-HERE-AI.md and follow it to integrate the effect into this project.
```

AI is optional. Every folder is ordinary, documented HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and the README is the reference either way. How the brief is put together, and what it asks of the assistant: [gsapvault.com/vibe-coding](https://gsapvault.com/vibe-coding).

### Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: install the skill

This repo ships an agent skill, `skills/gsap-vault`, that knows the whole GSAP Vault catalogue (296 products, free and paid), fetches any free one straight from this repo, and carries the integration rules. Install it into your project or globally:

```bash
npx skills add jaydickinson/free-gsap-effects
```

Then ask your assistant for what you need ("add a parallax hero to the landing page", "which GSAP Vault effect does a scroll-scrubbed image sequence?"). It installs the free products directly and points you to the product page for the rest.

## What "production-ready" means here

- **Accessibility built in**: every effect respects [`prefers-reduced-motion`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-reduced-motion) with a static fallback, and keyboard focus mirrors hover interactions.
- **Memory-safe**: `gsap.context()` scoping, `gsap.matchMedia()` for responsive and motion branches, event handlers tracked for cleanup, ScrollTriggers killed on teardown.
- **Framework-agnostic**: plain HTML/CSS/JS that drops into WordPress, Webflow, React, Vue, Astro, or static sites. The [GSAP Vault getting started guide](https://gsapvault.com/getting-started) covers framework integration patterns.
- **LLM-friendly**: clearly commented code that AI assistants can read, explain, and adapt for your project.

## Want more?

This repo is the free tier of [GSAP Vault](https://gsapvault.com). The full library has 117 effects, 53 UI components and 82 templates, including scroll-image sequences, infinite marquees, draggable galleries, text scramble/decode, magnetic cursors, particle systems, and complete portfolio, restaurant, and SaaS landing templates.

- Browse everything: [effects](https://gsapvault.com/effects), [templates](https://gsapvault.com/templates) and [UI elements](https://gsapvault.com/ui-elements)
- By category: [GSAP effects by type](https://gsapvault.com/gsap-effects), [templates by use case](https://gsapvault.com/gsap-templates), [every category page](https://gsapvault.com/categories)
- All of it, one payment: [The Vault](https://gsapvault.com/pricing), a one-time purchase covering every collection in the Vault library, plus future items added to those collections, unlimited commercial projects. Current prices are on the pricing page
- Tutorials and guides: [gsapvault.com/blog](https://gsapvault.com/blog), including [GSAP animation examples with code](https://gsapvault.com/blog/gsap-animation-examples)
- For assistants and agents: [gsapvault.com/llms.txt](https://gsapvault.com/llms.txt)

## License

Everything in this repository is MIT licensed: use it in personal and commercial projects, no attribution required (a link back to [gsapvault.com](https://gsapvault.com) is always appreciated).

GSAP itself is created by Greensock/Webflow and is [100% free](https://gsap.com/pricing/) including all plugins.