jQuery Script Blog

10 Best Sticky Header Navigation Systems In JavaScript (2024 Update)

by jQueryScript,
sticky navigation

What Is Sticky Navigation

Sticky navigation (navbar, header navigation) is a modern site navigation design concept to improve the navigation experience on your long web page.

A sticky header navigation system will be always be fixed on then top no matter how your visitors scroll down or up the web page.

Sticky Navigation In Pure CSS

The simplest way to implement a sticky navigation on your webpage is to using the CSS position: sticky propery, which can be used to position the navigation based on the user's scroll position.

.navbar {
  position: -webkit-sticky; /* Safari */
  position: sticky;
  top: 0;
}

However, if you'd like apply more features (e.g. shrink effects, responsiveness, dropdown sub-menus, etc) to the sticky navigation, you might need a jQuery or JavaScript plugin as shown below:

The Best Sticky Navigation Plugin

We all know how important it is to have a good site navigation. Your visitors can get around more easily and they can find the content they wish to see quick. A sticky header navigation is one of the most popular approaches to get that done, but you have to pick the right plugin for your website.

In this list, you'll find the 10 best and top downloaded jQuery and/or Vanilla JavaScript plugins to create advanced sticky header navigation for your websites. Enjoy.

Originally Published Oct 2019, updated Mar 01 2024

Table of contents:

jQuery Sticky Navigation Plugins:

Sticky Header + Smooth Scroll + Scrollspy = Stoocky Page

A versatile jQuery plugin helps you create easy-to-navigate landing pages, portfolio websites, and single page web applications.

Sticky Header + Smooth Scroll + Scrollspy = Stoocky Page

[Demo] [Download]

Smart Sticky Header Hamburger Navigation Plugin - jQuery mhead

A jQuery plugin used to create a sticky header hamburger navigation for your web application that auto shows/hides as you scroll/swipe the page down or up.

Smart Sticky Header Hamburger Navigation Plugin - jQuery mhead

[Demo] [Download]

Sticky Header Navigation With Smooth Scroll

A sticky, responsive, mobile-friendly header navigation concept that automatically shrinks itself on scroll down and features smooth scroll functionality which makes it possible to scroll through page sections by clicking on nav links. Built with jQuery, HTML, and CSS/CSS3.

Sticky Header Navigation With Smooth Scroll

[Demo] [Download]

Animated Sticky Navbar With jQuery And CSS3

A modern site navigation that collapses a fullscreen hero header into a sticky navigation bar on scroll bar.

Animated Sticky Navbar With jQuery And CSS3

[Demo] [Download]

Responsive Sticky Mega Menu Plugin For jQuery - SnazzyMenu

A lightweight yet customizable jQuery plugin that makes it easy to create a responsive, sticky, multi-level mega menu for your site navigation.

Responsive Sticky Mega Menu Plugin For jQuery - SnazzyMenu

[Demo] [Download]

Vanilla JavaScript Sticky Navigation Plugins:

Responsive Sticky Mega Menu – SnazzyMenu.js

This is the rewritten version of the SnazzyMenu jQuery plugin, which allows you to create responsive, sticky, mobile-friendly, fully customizable mega menus without jQuery.

Responsive Sticky Mega Menu – SnazzyMenu.js

[Demo] [Download]

Simplest Sticky Header Nav In JavaScript

A modern header navigation bar that sticks to the top of the webpage by using the CSS position: sticky property.

Simplest Sticky Header Nav In JavaScript

[Demo] [Download]

Sticky Navigation With ScrollSpy Using Intersection Observer API

A sticky on-page navigation (a.k.a table of contents) that automatically highlights the active menu items based on the visibility of their corresponding content sections within the document.

Sticky Navigation With ScrollSpy Using Intersection Observer API

[Demo] [Download]

Smart Fixed Top Navigation In Pure JavaScript

Just another JavaScript solution to create a smart site navigation that auto hides on scroll down and reveals itself again on scroll up.

Smart Fixed Top Navigation In Pure JavaScript

[Demo] [Download]

Performant Sticky Header Navigation In Pure JavaScript

A high performance and pure JavaScript solution to make your header navigation sticky on scroll using CSS position: sticky property.

Performant Sticky Header Navigation In Pure JavaScript

[Demo] [Download]

Conclusion:

Now, sticky header navigation is pretty commonplace when it comes to web design. That’s probably because it’s super easy to implement and gives a polished, professional look to your website.

If you’re not using a sticky header on your site (yet), we recommend you rethink your decision. We hope this list of best plugins helped you choose the one that is right for your use!

Looking for more jQuery plugins or JavaScript libraries to create awesome Sticky Header Navigation on the web & mobile? See jQuery Sticky Navigation and JavaScript Sticky Navigation sections for more details.

See also: