25 CSS Spinners15 / 25

Pure CSSMIT licensed

Bouncing Elastic Dots Spinner

Three coloured dots bounce with spring-like squash and stretch physics — compressing horizontally and elongating vertically at peak height — using a multi-step cubic-bezier keyframe.

Published

Live Demo
Try it

This is a full-page demo — interact inside the frame above, or open it in the playground for the full-screen experience.

The code

<div class="sp-15">
  <div class="sp-15__row">
    <div class="sp-15__dot"></div>
    <div class="sp-15__dot"></div>
    <div class="sp-15__dot"></div>
  </div>
</div>
.sp-15,
.sp-15 *,
.sp-15 *::before,
.sp-15 *::after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

.sp-15 {
  --bg: #0e0b1e;
  --c1: #ff6e6c;
  --c2: #cbacf9;
  --c3: #67e8f9;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  min-height: 100vh;
  background: var(--bg);
}

.sp-15__row {
  display: flex;
  align-items: flex-end;
  gap: 10px;
  height: 70px;
}

.sp-15__dot {
  width: 18px;
  height: 18px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  animation: sp-15-bounce 0.9s cubic-bezier(0.36,0.07,0.19,0.97) infinite;
}

.sp-15__dot:nth-child(1) {
  background: var(--c1);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px var(--c1);
  animation-delay: 0s;
}

.sp-15__dot:nth-child(2) {
  background: var(--c2);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px var(--c2);
  animation-delay: 0.15s;
}

.sp-15__dot:nth-child(3) {
  background: var(--c3);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px var(--c3);
  animation-delay: 0.3s;
}

@keyframes sp-15-bounce {
  0%,
    100% {
    transform: translateY(0) scaleX(1) scaleY(1);
  }

  30% {
    transform: translateY(-40px) scaleX(0.9) scaleY(1.1);
  }

  50% {
    transform: translateY(-48px) scaleX(0.85) scaleY(1.15);
  }

  70% {
    transform: translateY(-40px) scaleX(0.9) scaleY(1.1);
  }

  85% {
    transform: translateY(-4px) scaleX(1.1) scaleY(0.9);
  }
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .sp-15__dot {
    animation: none;
  }
}
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any coding assistant. The block below is pre-framed with everything the AI needs to integrate this demo into your project — markup, styles, scoping notes, and the source URL. Hit Copy and paste straight into your chat.
Here's a working CSS Spinner from CodeFronts. Use it as-is or adapt to your framework. All classes are scoped under a unique prefix so the code won't collide with your existing styles. MIT licensed.
Demo: Bouncing Elastic Dots Spinner
Source: https://codefronts.com/motion/css-spinner-designs/bouncing-elastic-dots-spinner/

Three coloured dots bounce with spring-like squash and stretch physics — compressing horizontally and elongating vertically at peak height — using a multi-step cubic-bezier keyframe.
## HTML
```html
<div class="sp-15">
  <div class="sp-15__row">
    <div class="sp-15__dot"></div>
    <div class="sp-15__dot"></div>
    <div class="sp-15__dot"></div>
  </div>
</div>
```
## CSS
```css
.sp-15,
.sp-15 *,
.sp-15 *::before,
.sp-15 *::after {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
}

.sp-15 {
  --bg: #0e0b1e;
  --c1: #ff6e6c;
  --c2: #cbacf9;
  --c3: #67e8f9;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  min-height: 100vh;
  background: var(--bg);
}

.sp-15__row {
  display: flex;
  align-items: flex-end;
  gap: 10px;
  height: 70px;
}

.sp-15__dot {
  width: 18px;
  height: 18px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  animation: sp-15-bounce 0.9s cubic-bezier(0.36,0.07,0.19,0.97) infinite;
}

.sp-15__dot:nth-child(1) {
  background: var(--c1);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px var(--c1);
  animation-delay: 0s;
}

.sp-15__dot:nth-child(2) {
  background: var(--c2);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px var(--c2);
  animation-delay: 0.15s;
}

.sp-15__dot:nth-child(3) {
  background: var(--c3);
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px var(--c3);
  animation-delay: 0.3s;
}

@keyframes sp-15-bounce {
  0%,
    100% {
    transform: translateY(0) scaleX(1) scaleY(1);
  }

  30% {
    transform: translateY(-40px) scaleX(0.9) scaleY(1.1);
  }

  50% {
    transform: translateY(-48px) scaleX(0.85) scaleY(1.15);
  }

  70% {
    transform: translateY(-40px) scaleX(0.9) scaleY(1.1);
  }

  85% {
    transform: translateY(-4px) scaleX(1.1) scaleY(0.9);
  }
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .sp-15__dot {
    animation: none;
  }
}
```

How this works

Each dot uses a five-step sp-15-bounce keyframe that combines translateY (vertical movement) with scaleX and scaleY for squash-and-stretch: at launch the dot compresses slightly wide, narrows as it rises, reaches peak height with a tall-and-thin shape, then re-compresses on landing. The timing function cubic-bezier(0.36,0.07,0.19,0.97) applies a sharp ease-in (slow start → fast up) and ease-out (fast → slow at peak) that mimics gravity.

Three dots are staggered by 0s, 0.15s, and 0.3s delays, each in a distinct colour. The dots sit in a flex row with align-items:flex-end so the stationary baseline and the vertical bounce are both clearly readable.

Make it yours

  • Edit --c1, --c2, --c3 to change dot colours — a monochrome white-to-grey gradient suits minimal dark UIs.
  • Increase bounce height from -48px to -70px for a more dramatic arc.
  • Reduce the squash/stretch values (e.g. scaleX(0.95) instead of 0.85) for a subtler, less cartoonish bounce.
  • Add a fourth dot at animation-delay:0.45s for a four-dot rolling bounce pattern.
  • Change dot size from 18px to 10px for a compact three-dot ellipsis-style loading indicator.

Gotchas — read before shipping

  • scaleX and scaleY at the same keyframe step will compound with any parent transform — if dots are inside a scaled container, the squash values will be skewed.
  • The cubic-bezier timing function applies to the entire keyframe interpolation, not individual steps — large bounces with a single easing can feel mechanically off if the peak and floor transitions mismatch; split into separate up/down animations for precise control.
  • align-items:flex-end grounds the dots to the bottom of the flex container — if the container height is less than the bounce height (70px), dots will clip; ensure container height is at least max-translate + dot-size.

Browser support

ChromeSafariFirefoxEdge
60+12+60+60+

Compositor-based transform animation; no modern-only features required.

Techniques used in this demo

@keyframesMDN ↗

Search CodeFronts

Loading…

↑↓ navigate↵ selectesc closeOpen full search page →