Coreless DC motors do away with the laminated iron core in the rotor, and a stationary high performance toroidal magnet makes up the core of the motor. The motor windings are still attached to the motor shaft but are laid up in a resin moulding that rotates around the magnetic core. Because there is no iron core to support the windings, they are often held together with epoxy.

Firstly, the efficiency of the motor is higher because magnetic losses are lower. Secondly, since the windings (the part that heats up under load) are closer to the motor case, they can radiate unwanted heat better and therefore deliver higher power. These two points make the coreless motor enables higher performance.

Coreless motors offer higher performance at a higher cost than iron core motors, so coreless dc motors typically used for highly miniaturized and high-performance applications, but lower volume industrial, instrument and medical applications.