19 Trippy & Glitchy CSS Distortion Effects

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.

Pure CSS Glitch Effect

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

CodePen Challenge: Color Pop

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

Trippy CSS Effect

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

Glitch Photo Filters CSS

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

Perspective Split Text Menu Hover

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

Clean CSS Glitch

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

Creepy Squiggly Text Effect with SVG

Text Shuffle & Distort

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

Glitch CSS

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

Infinite SVG Triangle Fusion

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

Glitch Effect in CSS

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

Buttons with Trippy Background Animation on Hover

Trippy – CSS only

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

Laser Text Animation

Glitch Text

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

Oddly Satisfying CSS Only Triangle Animation

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

Paint on Heat Distortion

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

Trippy Squares – Left to Right Wave

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

Glitch Clock

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

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.