Stuck at creating a website navigation menu? Download over 40 free CSS menus. Modern menus with unique animation effects to pure CSS menus for website performance.
To speed up your menu design on any website you create we have handpicked free CSS templates that are easy to install. The navigation plugins are essential for building a mega menu for large websites or a side menu for eCommerce websites with lots of categories. With this unique set of plugins and code snippets, developing navigation will be pretty much more straightforward. The responsive design and cross-browser support given by most of these jQuery plugins will help you create website menus with confidence.
Sometimes a minimal menu design is preferable for many occasions. So keep checking our list of CSS menus that will help you do that. Start digging.
This website element is always a requirement for web designers and developers. Here you get plugins as well as example designs. Sometimes client requirements might need a bit of tweaking, which can only be achieved by a menu plugin rather than a standalone menu design. Therefore I’ve compiled a list of solid jQuery menu plugins, tab menu for modern mobiles, responsive and simple horizontal menus, and scrollable navigation.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: No
Dependencies: NoneSkill Required: Beginner
This is a set of horizontal navigation menus designed with unique hover effect animations just for your modern website. These are very easy to implement on Bootstrap websites or custom CSS websites. You must have an active account on Codepen to download Html & CSS files.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: No
Dependencies: NoneSkill Required: Beginner

This is a pure CSS navigation menu with horizontal menu designs that use no JavaScript for their menu design. The four menu examples include the Button effect, Strikethrough effect, Hover line & Slide down effects. It is easy to implement on any website by copying the HTML & CSS code.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: NoneSkill Required: Beginner

Most modern websites have started to use scrollable navigation menus instead of a hamburger menu. It sure seems to improve user experience by letting visitors access website categories quickly. This is a pure CSS design and has no jQuery code.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Intermediate

If you are looking for the right tab menu for your website navigation, get this free template. You must have a free account on Codepen to download the source code.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: NoneSkill Required: Beginner

Mobile websites, including progressive web apps, are having huge demands with clients these days. The demand for mobile websites and progressive web apps is on the rise. Clients who need eCommerce websites prefer better visual design along with an impressive user experience. Tab navigation is a crucial UI design for simplifying massive link lists, categories, menus, etc. Here you will find a sleek menu design using SVG icons that you can download for free.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner

Here is a tabbed navigation menu that looks great with fluid animations. Recently many mobile websites and mobile apps tend to use a tab menu rather than a hamburger menu. This menu is free to use and will work great as a footer menu for your device.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, ModernizrSkill Required: Intermediate

slimMenu is a powerful jQuery plugin that lets you create responsive and multi-level navigation menus fast. The plugin is easy to implement on any website, either it’s Bootstrap or standard CSS websites. Unlike standalone menu examples in the list, this plugin offers many options to handle the structure and animations of your menu from the jQuery code. For instance, “resizeWidth” lets you control navigation collapse and “animSpeed” to control an animation’s transition speed.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner

This is a lightweight yet powerful jQuery code snippet that does two things:
- It adds sticky class to your “nav” tag; it also lets you modify jQuery to change scrolling height
- It adds a smooth scroll animation effect; also enables you to modify the scrolling speed.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: No
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner
Like extremely cool navigation? This one looks like a menu in the game. I already love the animation, and it will look great on websites game, and personal websites.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Intermediate

This is a lightweight multi-level menu plugin that lets you create brilliant vertical side menus for your website. The CSS design and the animations are neat and clean. A must-have plugin for front-end developers who build eCommerce websites that need sidebar menus with scrollable menu items.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, Font AwesomeSkill Required: Intermediate
This is more than a small snippet. Here is a full screen website slider that runs with a vertical navigation bar. The design is suitable for creating a beautiful website for portfolios or personal profiles. It is mobile-ready and works on any device. The fluid animated style makes this template worth a try for your new website.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: None,Skill Required: Beginner

Using just simple html code, SVG icons, and CSS code, you get a beautiful sidebar navigation menu. It animates when you hover to the left side of the website.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, Font AwesomeSkill Required: Intermediate

Today I present you with another vertical navigation with flat colors, Font Awesome icons, and an off-canvas push menu. The CSS animations and responsive design are top-notch.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, Line Icons, MorphSVG, GreenSockSkill Required: Intermediate
This is a great menu concept project which is done using the GreenSock JavaScript libraries. The animation is smooth and you may use this for menu design inspiration.
One of the most powerful elements of a website that never gets old. The mega menu works for eCommerce, gaming, business websites, and any website with a large number of categories. The tricky side is to get the responsive design working(get 2 in One Mega menu). Here you also get the goodness of all types of menus – dropdown menus, multi-level submenu, and possibly mobile menus for all mobile plus handheld devices.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, Bootstrap, Font AwesomeSkill Required: Beginner
Yep, you heard that right. This is 2 in 1 menu design where you get two CSS menus.
- A responsive Bootstrap mega menu for desktop and retina devices.
- The second is a mobile menu that adapts itself to an off-canvas menu design.
All the Html, CSS & JS files are available for free download. The sticky menu class is also added for Ecommerce websites.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: No
Dependencies: BootstrapSkill Required: Beginner
This is a free mega menu for Bootstrap websites as it uses Bootstrap as core CSS. There is no jQuery or JavaScript code needed to run this mega menu. Download and use for any purpose.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, ModernizrSkill Required: Intermediate

A responsive horizontal dropdown menu inspired by the Microsoft website mega menu can be your next website menu. The menu requires a user click to trigger the multi-level dropdown items. This mega menu has been designed by Codrops in 2013 and still looks fresh in 2021.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, ModernizrSkill Required: Intermediate

This navigation menu plugin is a CSS dropdown menu from CodyHouse developers. They never cease to impress their audience. The absolute position of this dropdown menu can be changed in the CSS file to any position of the website and the menu reveals with a click/tap. Easy to implement on Bootstrap websites also.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, ModernizrSkill Required: Intermediate

Slicknav is a plugin that is easy to use and provides options to access the jQuery animation library and jQuery UI(optional). It uses a simple markup for a dropdown menu that fits fantastically on any website design. It has cross-browser compatibility and comes with multi-level menu support. The CSS styles are only for mobile devices.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Intermediate

This is a menu example that shows a simple popup circle menu on hover. You also get to adjust the layout of the menus to appear.
The hamburger menu is considered to be a brilliant UX design that is still widely used and known by all people who use a mobile application or mobile website. The purpose of the hamburger menu is to create an easy way to navigate to important sections/pages of the website. Sometimes I often feel like many website designers use a hamburger menu for everything. My advice is to only use this menu when navigations like the horizontal tab menu don’t work. Also, check the full screen menu section for more related CSS menus.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner

This is a very simple CSS hamburger menu that shows full screen overlay on a click. This code is beginner-friendly and very easy to implement. The code structure is clean & independent and so is the CSS and jQuery code. You can easily change the width of the full-screen overlay in CSS, adjust the position of the hamburger menu, and so on.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner

This is a very simple and responsive menu that works on clicking any CSS class or ID you want. The pop menu style is classic but gold. You may write your custom CSS to change the styles.
This is a modern menu that sits outside the viewport and is made mainly for mobile and touch devices. Recently we see many websites with a large number of categories using this menu to improve user experience. The widely opted off-canvas menu designs in modern websites are push and fullscreen overlay menus.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, Font AwesomeSkill Required: Beginner

Pushy is a responsive off-canvas navigation menu using CSS transforms & transitions. This menu is compatible with mobile browsers – chrome and safari.
Sidr Plugin
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Intermediate

This is the best jQuery plugin for creating off-canvas side menus with responsive design. With tweakable features, this is a must-have for developers.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuery, ModernizrSkill Required: Intermediate
Transforms the page in 3D to reveal the menu. There are many beautiful CSS transitions which can use with this design.
Last of the category of navigation menu I handpicked here are full screen menus.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner
This is a brilliant menu design example which you will love. Try to implement it on your website. It is easy to modify to your needs and adapts to mobile & touch devices.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Beginner
This menu can be triggered on a button, class, hamburger icons, or even text elements. At first glance, you will notice the brilliant CSS animations and transitions built into this menu design. This fullscreen menu lets you add a tab menu inside it.
Coding: HTML/CSS/JSResponsive: No
Dependencies: jQuerySkill Required: Intermediate

A superb menu design that has clean html code and minimal design style for your website. The animation makes it look like a book and maybe great for personal websites. This is a lightweight JS and CSS snippet that will be easy to implement on your website. You can activate the menu trigger with any ID or Class of an element. The mobile responsiveness is easy to modify as this snippet is just for desktop variants.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: NoneSkill Required: Beginner
A pure CSS menu with a hamburger icon as the trigger has a very fluid design that uses no Jquery to function. The CSS animations are smooth, and the whole menu design is built with only HTML & CSS.
Coding: HTML/CSSResponsive: Yes
Dependencies: NoneSkill Required: Beginner
This is another variant of fullscreen navigation menu that works flawlessly without jQuery.
Have you found your favorite navigation menu? Not yet? All CSS menus in this topic are free to download. Just pick one and start building a beautiful navigation menu template for your website and impress your visitors. There are many variants to choose from, and with a little touch of CSS coding on your side, you can customize menus to match your website design.
11 comments
hi Can I use Your Main Navigation In My Website???
Yep you can.
Very interesting,good job and thanks for sharing such a good blog.your article is so convincing that I never stop myself to say something about it.You’re doing a great job.Keep it up
Wonderful list of tools. Keep the great work going.
Nice one … but some of your videos not loaded for me …. for example Full-Page Navigation Style 1 … pls check it out ty <3
Seems okay here. Just loads on hover in Chrome.
Very nice collection. Thanks for sharing. I will use one of them on my website.
thank this website like full
Thank you for the code snippets for navbar
Most of the designs will just take 10-20 minutes. Some of them are good but they can’t be used in formal site and can be only used in portfolio or sth like that . And for them you should develop on your own. Bring some formal designs too that can be used in formal sites.
i need to menu to slide out and convert to hamburger menu while i scroll down the page
Comments are closed.