Glitch Text
Two offset colour layers tear through the text in slices, on hover or always. CSS only.
- Category: Text
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Glitch Text
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
children | string | — | |
always | boolean | false |
About Glitch Text
Glitch Text tears two offset colour layers through the text in slices, on hover or always. It is the cyberpunk effect in pure CSS.
Glitch Text is a text animation for React 19, styled with Tailwind CSS 4 and animated with Motion. It drops into Next.js, Vite, Remix or Astro through the shadcn CLI as a single file you own.
When to use Glitch Text
- Gaming and esports.
- Tech launch pages.
- 404 and error pages.
- Music and nightlife brands.
How it works
Two copies clip through animated inset rectangles in steps. The copies are aria-hidden, and reduced motion removes them.
The real text stays in the page for screen readers and search engines; the animated letters are decorative copies marked aria-hidden. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Glitch Text
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
The Customize panel next to the preview lets you change text, always live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.
- always (boolean, default false).
Goes well with Glitch Text
These text pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Scramble Text: React scramble text: characters cycle through glyphs before locking in
- Rotating Text: React rotating text that rolls between words letter by letter and resizes smoothly
- Highlight Text: React highlight text: a marker sweep, hand-drawn underline or scribbled circle on scroll
- Text Morph: React text morph: shared letters glide to new spots while the rest blur in and out
- Split Flap: A React split-flap display: every cell flips through the drum to its letter
Install Glitch Text
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/glitch-textGlitch Text is part of Charcoal UI Pro. One seat unlocks all 300 Pro components, 107 landing-page sections and 100 full templates, for every personal and client project, with updates included. Add the @charcoal registry once with your access token, then the command above copies glitch-text.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge.
You own the file you install: no runtime package, no lock-in, nothing to keep in sync. Change it however your product needs.
See Charcoal UI Pro pricing · Pro setup
Frequently asked questions
- Can the glitch run all the time?
- Yes. By default it glitches on hover; set always to keep it running. The colour layers are aria-hidden copies, so the text is read once.
- How do I install Glitch Text?
- Glitch Text is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/glitch-text. It copies glitch-text.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Glitch Text free for commercial use?
- Glitch Text needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.
- Does Glitch Text work with Next.js?
- Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.
- Can an AI coding agent install Glitch Text?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Glitch Text's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.