Free CSS Gradient Generator - Create Beautiful Gradients for Your Website

Create stunning CSS gradients and mesh gradients for your web projects in seconds. Our free gradient generator lets you design linear gradients, radial gradients, and mesh gradients with real-time preview on UI components. Export as CSS, Tailwind classes, or high-quality images - no sign-up required.

Why Use Our CSS Gradient Generator?

• 3 Gradient Types: Create linear gradients, radial gradients, and advanced mesh gradients for any design need
• Real-Time Preview: See your gradient applied to buttons, cards, hero sections, navigation bars, and more UI components
• Background & Text Gradients: Apply linear gradients to backgrounds or create eye-catching text gradient effects
• Multiple Export Options: Get ready-to-use CSS code, Tailwind CSS classes, or download as PNG/WebP images
• 50+ Color Palettes: Start with professionally curated color schemes or create custom gradients from scratch
• Advanced Mesh Gradients: Design organic, flowing gradients with customizable blur, grain texture, and transparency
• 100% Free & Private: No account needed, no watermarks, all processing happens in your browser

How to Create CSS Gradients: Complete Tutorial

Step 1: Choose Your Component

Start by selecting which UI component you want to style from the dropdown menu. Options include Button, Card, Hero Section, Alert, Badge, Pricing Card, and Navigation Bar. This real-time preview shows exactly how your CSS gradient will look in production before you implement it.

Step 2: Select Your Gradient Type

Choose from three powerful gradient types:

• Linear Gradients: Classic CSS gradients that transition colors in a straight line. Perfect for buttons, headers, and backgrounds. Lightweight (pure CSS, no images), SEO-friendly, and work great with text gradient effects. Customize the angle (0-360°) and add unlimited color stops.
• Radial Gradients: CSS gradients that radiate from a center point. Create spotlight effects, circular color transitions, or dramatic backgrounds. Control the shape (circle or ellipse) and center position for unique visual effects.
• Mesh Gradients: Advanced image-based gradients with organic, flowing color blends. Perfect for hero sections, landing page backgrounds, and premium designs. Features include draggable color orbs, adjustable blur (20-200px), professional grain texture overlay, and transparent background support. Export as high-quality PNG or WebP images.

Step 3: Select a Color Palette

Browse our collection of 50+ professionally curated color palettes, each designed by experts for visual harmony. The first color in each palette becomes your base background, while remaining colors create your gradient. Can't decide? Click the "Random" button to discover unexpected color combinations and spark creativity for your web design.

Step 4: Customize Your CSS Gradient

Fine-tune every aspect of your gradient with our intuitive controls:

Linear Gradient Controls:

• Apply To: Choose between background gradients or text gradients. CSS text gradients use background-clip: text for stunning typography effects that work on any device.
• Color Stops: Drag color stops along the interactive slider to adjust positions, click any stop to edit its exact color value and position percentage. Add unlimited color stops with the "+ Add" button for complex multi-color gradients. Remove stops you don't need.
• Angle: Rotate your gradient from 0° to 360° in 15° increments. Popular angles: 90° (top to bottom), 180° (bottom to top), 135° (diagonal), 270° (bottom to top).

Radial Gradient Controls:

• Shape: Choose between circle (perfect round gradients) or ellipse (oval gradients that stretch with your container).
• Center Position: Adjust X and Y coordinates (0-100%) to position the gradient's center point. Create off-center effects for dramatic lighting or spotlight designs.
• Color Stops: Same intuitive controls as linear gradients - drag, edit, add, or remove color stops to perfect your radial gradient.

Mesh Gradient Controls:

• Color Orbs: The first color swatch controls your background color. Following swatches control gradient orbs - click any to edit its color. Add new orbs with the "+" button or shuffle positions for instant variations.
• Interactive Positioning: Drag colored handles directly on the preview canvas to position each color orb. Create flowing, organic gradients by strategically placing colors where you want them to bloom.
• Blur Strength: Control how softly colors blend together (20-200px). Higher blur creates softer, dreamier effects. Lower blur creates more defined color zones.
• Orb Size: Adjust how large each color radiates (20-80%). Larger sizes create bold, dominant colors. Smaller sizes create subtle accents.
• Grain Texture: Add authentic film grain with three controls: Opacity (0-100% visibility), Density (1-50 for fine to coarse grain), and Sharpness (0.5-3.0 for soft to crisp grain). Grain adds organic depth and prevents the overly-digital look.
• Transparent Background: Enable to export mesh gradients with alpha channel transparency (PNG/WebP), perfect for overlaying on other backgrounds or creating layered designs.
• Export Format: Choose PNG for maximum compatibility or WebP for 85-95% smaller file sizes with adjustable quality (75-100%).

Step 5: Export Your CSS Gradient

Export your perfect gradient in multiple formats for maximum flexibility:

• Copy CSS Code: Get production-ready CSS that works in all modern browsers. For linear and radial gradients, get pure CSS gradient code. For mesh gradients, you'll get CSS with a placeholder path - simply download your mesh gradient image and replace the path with your actual image location.
  background: linear-gradient(135deg, #667eea 0%, #764ba2 100%);
  background-image: url('/path/to/gradient.png');
• Copy Tailwind CSS: Get Tailwind-compatible classes using arbitrary values. Works for all gradient types. For mesh gradients, the copied code includes a placeholder path - download your gradient image and update the path after uploading it to your project. Perfect for Tailwind CSS projects, Next.js, and React applications.
  bg-[linear-gradient(135deg,#667eea_0%,#764ba2_100%)]
  bg-[url('/path/to/gradient.png')] bg-cover bg-center
• Download as PNG/WebP (Mesh Gradients Only): Export mesh gradients as high-resolution image files (1200×800px). PNG offers lossless quality and transparency support. WebP provides 85-95% smaller files with adjustable quality (75-100%). After downloading, upload the image to your project and update the path in the copied CSS/Tailwind code.
• Export JSON: Save your complete gradient configuration including all colors, positions, settings, and parameters. Use for documentation, design systems, or keeping a library of your favorite gradients. Future versions will support JSON import.

CSS Gradient Use Cases & Best Practices

When to Use Linear Gradients

• Call-to-Action Buttons: Linear gradient backgrounds make CTA buttons stand out and improve conversion rates. Try 135° diagonal gradients for dynamic, forward-moving button designs.
• Text Gradients: Create show-stopping headlines with CSS text gradients using background-clip: text. Perfect for hero titles, logos, and attention-grabbing headings without needing custom fonts.
• Navigation Bars: Subtle top-to-bottom linear gradients (90° or 180°) add depth to navigation without overwhelming your UI.
• Card Backgrounds: Light linear gradients on cards create subtle depth and visual interest while maintaining readability.
• Section Dividers: Use linear gradients to fade from one section to another, creating smooth visual transitions on long-scroll pages.

When to Use Radial Gradients

• Spotlight Effects: Draw attention to specific UI elements by radiating light from a center point with radial gradients.
• Circular Buttons: Perfect for icon buttons and FABs (floating action buttons) - radial gradients enhance the circular shape.
• Background Overlays: Create vignette effects by fading from transparent in the center to a color at the edges.
• Loading Indicators: Radial gradients work beautifully for pulse effects and loading animations.

When to Use Mesh Gradients

• Hero Sections: Large, organic mesh gradients make landing pages feel premium and modern. The flowing colors create emotional impact and set brand tone immediately.
• Background Images: Use mesh gradients as hero backgrounds, email headers, or social media graphics (Twitter/X headers, LinkedIn banners, Facebook covers).
• Product Launches: Create unique, memorable backgrounds for product announcement pages that stand out from competitors.
• Portfolio Websites: Mesh gradients add artistic flair to creative portfolios, photography sites, and design agencies.
• App Screenshots: Use as backgrounds for app store screenshots, making your product images pop with professional, cohesive branding.

Performance & SEO Best Practices

• CSS Gradients (Linear & Radial): Zero impact on page load time since they're rendered by the browser. No HTTP requests, no images to download. Best for performance and SEO.
• Mesh Gradient Images: Export as WebP for 85-95% smaller file sizes compared to PNG. Use quality 90-95% for hero sections, 80-85% for backgrounds where slight compression won't be noticed.
• Accessibility: Ensure text on gradient backgrounds maintains sufficient contrast (WCAG AA: 4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text). Use our component previews to test readability.
• Responsive Design: CSS gradients scale perfectly to any screen size. For mesh gradient images, consider creating mobile-optimized versions (smaller dimensions) for faster mobile load times.
• Browser Support: Linear and radial CSS gradients work in all modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and IE 10+. Mesh gradients are images so they work everywhere.

Looking for more advanced mesh gradient capabilities? Try our Mesh Gradient Canvas tool for creating completely custom gradient backgrounds from scratch. It offers full creative control with multiple aspect ratios (16:9, 1:1, 9:16, and more), perfect for social media graphics, hero backgrounds, and digital art. You can also use our Background Generator to add gradient overlays to existing images - ideal for enhancing product photography and creating eye-catching social media posts with custom blend modes and opacity controls.

Frequently Asked Questions

Start Creating Beautiful CSS Gradients Now: Choose a component type above, select your gradient style (linear, radial, or mesh), pick a color palette, customize to perfection, and export ready-to-use code. No sign-up, no watermarks, completely free. Create unlimited gradients for all your web projects.