postcss vs tailwindcss vs bootstrap vs unocss vs bulma vs tachyons vs purecss
CSS Frameworks and Utility Libraries Comparison
1 Year
postcsstailwindcssbootstrapunocssbulmatachyonspurecssSimilar Packages:
What's CSS Frameworks and Utility Libraries?

CSS frameworks and utility libraries provide developers with pre-defined styles and components to streamline the process of designing responsive and visually appealing web applications. They help reduce the amount of custom CSS needed, promote consistency across projects, and often include grid systems, typography, and UI components that can be easily integrated into applications. These tools can significantly enhance development speed and maintainability by offering a structured approach to styling.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
postcss83,900,90928,672202 kB247 days agoMIT
tailwindcss13,852,79085,950563 kB9120 hours agoMIT
bootstrap4,703,564171,6369.67 MB677a year agoMIT
unocss210,85417,19920.7 kB1173 hours agoMIT
bulma188,73449,6046.97 MB4922 months agoMIT
tachyons77,42911,656-895 years agoMIT
purecss25,50223,673229 kB9-BSD-3-Clause
Feature Comparison: postcss vs tailwindcss vs bootstrap vs unocss vs bulma vs tachyons vs purecss

Design Philosophy

  • postcss:

    PostCSS is not a framework but a tool that allows developers to write CSS with modern features and plugins. Its philosophy is centered around flexibility and extensibility, enabling custom workflows for CSS processing.

  • tailwindcss:

    TailwindCSS embodies a utility-first approach, encouraging developers to compose styles directly in their HTML. This results in a highly customizable design process that minimizes the need for custom CSS.

  • bootstrap:

    Bootstrap follows a component-based design philosophy, providing a wide range of pre-styled components that can be easily integrated into any project. It emphasizes consistency and responsiveness across devices.

  • unocss:

    Unocss is built around the concept of on-demand utility generation, meaning it only generates the styles you use in your project. This approach maximizes performance by minimizing unused CSS.

  • bulma:

    Bulma adopts a modern, flexbox-based approach that prioritizes simplicity and ease of use. It encourages a clean design aesthetic and is built with mobile-first principles in mind.

  • tachyons:

    Tachyons promotes a functional CSS approach, where styles are applied directly in the markup. This philosophy allows for rapid prototyping and a high degree of customization without writing extensive CSS.

  • purecss:

    PureCSS is designed to be minimal and modular, providing only the essential styles needed for a project. It focuses on reducing CSS bloat and ensuring fast load times.

Customization

  • postcss:

    PostCSS allows for extensive customization through plugins, enabling developers to implement features like autoprefixing, nesting, and custom syntax, making it highly adaptable to various needs.

  • tailwindcss:

    TailwindCSS provides a highly customizable configuration file where developers can define their design tokens, such as colors and spacing, allowing for a unique design system.

  • bootstrap:

    Bootstrap offers customization through its Sass variables and mixins, allowing developers to tailor components to fit their design needs while maintaining a consistent look and feel.

  • unocss:

    Unocss allows for customization through its configuration, enabling developers to define their utility classes and styles on-demand, promoting a tailored approach to styling.

  • bulma:

    Bulma is highly customizable through its Sass variables, enabling developers to easily adjust colors, sizes, and other design elements to match their branding.

  • tachyons:

    Tachyons encourages customization by allowing developers to create custom utility classes. This flexibility enables tailored designs without the need for extensive CSS files.

  • purecss:

    PureCSS is minimal by design, but customization can be achieved by overriding its default styles or using additional CSS for specific needs, keeping the footprint light.

Learning Curve

  • postcss:

    PostCSS requires some understanding of CSS preprocessors and plugins, which may present a steeper learning curve for beginners unfamiliar with these concepts.

  • tailwindcss:

    TailwindCSS has a moderate learning curve, particularly for those new to utility-first CSS. However, its documentation and community resources help ease the learning process.

  • bootstrap:

    Bootstrap has a moderate learning curve, especially for those familiar with HTML and CSS. Its extensive documentation and community support make it accessible for beginners.

  • unocss:

    Unocss is designed to be user-friendly, especially for those familiar with utility-first CSS. Its on-demand generation model simplifies the learning process for new users.

  • bulma:

    Bulma is relatively easy to learn due to its straightforward syntax and clear documentation. Developers can quickly get started with its grid system and components.

  • tachyons:

    Tachyons has a low learning curve, as its utility-first approach is intuitive for developers who are accustomed to applying styles directly in HTML.

  • purecss:

    PureCSS is simple to learn, especially for those who are already familiar with CSS. Its minimalistic approach makes it easy to integrate into projects without a steep learning curve.

Performance

  • postcss:

    PostCSS enhances performance by allowing developers to use modern CSS features and optimize their stylesheets through plugins, resulting in smaller and faster-loading CSS files.

  • tailwindcss:

    TailwindCSS is performance-oriented, generating only the styles you use in your project. This on-demand generation minimizes CSS size and improves loading speed.

  • bootstrap:

    Bootstrap can lead to larger CSS files if not customized properly, but its components are optimized for performance. Developers can reduce bloat by including only the components they need.

  • unocss:

    Unocss focuses on performance by generating styles on-demand, ensuring that only the necessary CSS is included, which leads to faster loading times.

  • bulma:

    Bulma is lightweight and performs well, but like Bootstrap, it can become bloated if all components are included without customization.

  • tachyons:

    Tachyons is optimized for performance with its utility-first approach, ensuring that only the styles used in the project are included, resulting in smaller CSS files.

  • purecss:

    PureCSS is designed for performance, as it includes only the essential styles. Its modular approach ensures that only the necessary CSS is loaded, improving load times.

How to Choose: postcss vs tailwindcss vs bootstrap vs unocss vs bulma vs tachyons vs purecss
  • postcss:

    Opt for PostCSS if you want to leverage the power of modern CSS features and preprocessors. It allows for custom transformations and plugins, making it suitable for projects that require advanced CSS processing capabilities.

  • tailwindcss:

    Select TailwindCSS if you want a utility-first framework that allows for rapid UI development with a focus on customization. It's ideal for developers who prefer to build designs directly in their markup without writing custom CSS.

  • bootstrap:

    Choose Bootstrap if you need a comprehensive, widely-used framework with a large community and extensive documentation. It's ideal for projects that require a robust grid system and pre-built components, especially for rapid prototyping.

  • unocss:

    Use Unocss for an on-demand utility-first CSS framework that generates styles as you use them. It's excellent for performance-focused projects where you want to minimize CSS file sizes.

  • bulma:

    Select Bulma if you prefer a modern, flexbox-based framework that is lightweight and easy to customize. Bulma is great for developers who want a clean design without the overhead of JavaScript components.

  • tachyons:

    Choose Tachyons if you favor a functional CSS approach that promotes rapid prototyping and utility-first styling. It's beneficial for projects that require a high degree of customization and flexibility in design.

  • purecss:

    Use PureCSS for minimalistic projects where you want to include only the essential styles without any bloat. It's perfect for small applications or when you want to maintain a lightweight footprint.

README for postcss

PostCSS

Philosopher’s stone, logo of PostCSS

PostCSS is a tool for transforming styles with JS plugins. These plugins can lint your CSS, support variables and mixins, transpile future CSS syntax, inline images, and more.

PostCSS is used by industry leaders including Wikipedia, Twitter, Alibaba, and JetBrains. The Autoprefixer and Stylelint PostCSS plugins is one of the most popular CSS tools.


  Made at Evil Martians, product consulting for developer tools.


Docs

Read full docs here.