'Inline skates' (often called Rollerblades after the popular trade name) are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which are configured with two front and two rear wheels, inline skates have two, three, four or five wheels arranged in a single line. Some inline skates, especially those used for recreation, have a "stop" or "brake" which is used to slow down while skating; most inline skates have a heel stop rather than the toe stop, particularly indispensable for inline figure skating.

The earliest roller skates were of the inline design, but these were later superseded by quad skates, the design of which made skating curved edges easier. The modern style of inline skates were developed as a substitute for ice skates, for use by a Russian athlete training on solid ground for Olympic long track speed skating events. Life magazine published a photo of American skater Eric Heiden, training for the 1980 Olympics, using such skates on a Wisconsin road.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rollerblade, Inc., a company founded by Scott and Brennan Olson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, widely promoted inline skating; they were so successful that their trademarked name Rollerblade became synonymous with inline skates.

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