We have investigated the magnetization dynamics in single and trilayer circular permalloy nanodots with a diameter of 120 nm using broadband ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy. For single-layer nanodots, two well-separated modes near the saturation field, a high-frequency center mode due to excitations at the center of the nanodots and a low-frequency edge mode due to the inhomogeneous effective field near the edges, were observed. Both the center mode and the edge mode are found to be sensitive to the thickness of the nanodots. However, for trilayer nanodots, two center modes arise due to the in-phase and out-of-phase precession of spins in magneto-dynamically coupled layers. Our experimental results are substantiated by micromagnetic simulations, which are in good agreement. © 2021 Author(s).