Optical vortex trapping can allow the capture and manipulation of micro-and nanometresized objects such as damageable biological particles or particles with a refractive index lower than the surrounding material. However, the quest for nanometric optical vortex trapping that overcomes the diffraction limit remains. Here we demonstrate the fi rst experimental implementation of low-power nano-optical vortex trapping using plasmonic resonance in gold diabolo nanoantennas. The vortex trapping potential was formed with a minimum at 170 nm from the central local maximum, and allowed polystyrene nanoparticles in water to be trapped strongly at the boundary of the nanoantenna. Furthermore, a large radial trapping stiffness, ~ 0.69 pN nm − 1 W − 1 , was measured at the position of the minimum potential, showing good agreement with numerical simulations. This subwavelength-scale nanoantenna system capable of low-power trapping represents a signifi cant step toward versatile, effi cient nano-optical manipulations in lab-on-a-chip devices.