styled-components vs jss vs emotion
CSS-in-JS Libraries Comparison
1 Year
styled-componentsjssemotionSimilar Packages:
What's CSS-in-JS Libraries?

CSS-in-JS libraries allow developers to write CSS directly within JavaScript files, enabling dynamic styling based on component state and props. This approach enhances the modularity and reusability of styles, making it easier to manage styles in large applications. These libraries often support features like theming, scoped styles, and automatic vendor prefixing, which streamline the styling process and improve maintainability. By leveraging JavaScript's capabilities, CSS-in-JS libraries can create highly dynamic and responsive designs that adapt to application state, enhancing user experience.

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styled-components6,038,47340,6791.66 MB31219 days agoMIT
jss2,232,8037,085470 kB2212 years agoMIT
emotion630,319---4 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: styled-components vs jss vs emotion

Syntax and Usability

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components utilize template literals to create styled components, making it intuitive for developers familiar with CSS. This approach allows for easy nesting and theming, enhancing readability and maintainability.

  • jss:

    JSS uses a JavaScript object syntax for defining styles, which can be more familiar to developers who are comfortable with JavaScript. It allows for dynamic styles based on props and state, but may require a bit more boilerplate compared to other libraries.

  • emotion:

    Emotion provides a flexible API that supports both the styled-components syntax and the CSS prop, allowing developers to choose their preferred method for styling. This dual approach makes it easy to integrate with existing projects and adapt to different coding styles.

Performance

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components also focus on performance, using a unique approach to generate CSS at runtime and inject it into the DOM. It supports server-side rendering, which can enhance performance by delivering fully styled pages to users.

  • jss:

    JSS compiles styles at runtime, which can lead to performance overhead if not managed properly. However, it offers features like style caching and server-side rendering support to mitigate performance issues in larger applications.

  • emotion:

    Emotion is designed with performance in mind, utilizing a highly optimized runtime that minimizes the amount of CSS generated and injected into the DOM. It supports server-side rendering and critical CSS extraction, which can significantly improve load times and performance.

Theming Support

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components offer built-in theming support through the ThemeProvider component, which allows for easy management of global styles and themes. This feature simplifies the process of creating responsive designs that adapt to different themes.

  • jss:

    JSS provides a powerful theming system that allows for easy customization of styles across an application. It supports theme objects that can be accessed in styles, making it simple to implement consistent theming throughout the project.

  • emotion:

    Emotion has robust theming capabilities, allowing developers to create and manage themes easily. It supports theme providers and context, enabling dynamic theming based on application state or user preferences.

Community and Ecosystem

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components boast a large and active community, with extensive documentation and resources available. Its popularity in the React ecosystem makes it a go-to choice for many developers, ensuring ongoing support and updates.

  • jss:

    JSS has a solid community and is widely used in various projects, especially those that require dynamic styling. It is compatible with many frameworks, making it a reliable choice for developers looking for flexibility.

  • emotion:

    Emotion has a growing community and is part of the larger CSS-in-JS ecosystem. It integrates well with popular frameworks and libraries, making it a versatile choice for modern web applications.

Learning Curve

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components are generally considered easy to learn, especially for developers with a background in CSS. Its straightforward API and template literal syntax make it accessible for newcomers.

  • jss:

    JSS may have a steeper learning curve for those unfamiliar with JavaScript object notation for styling. However, once understood, it offers powerful capabilities for dynamic styling and theming.

  • emotion:

    Emotion has a moderate learning curve, especially for developers familiar with CSS-in-JS concepts. Its dual syntax may require some adjustment, but overall, it is user-friendly and intuitive.

How to Choose: styled-components vs jss vs emotion
  • styled-components:

    Opt for styled-components if you want a straightforward API for creating styled components with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. It is well-suited for projects that prioritize developer experience and rapid prototyping.

  • jss:

    Select JSS if you prefer a more traditional approach to styling with a focus on JavaScript object notation. It is ideal for projects that need a robust theming system and dynamic styles, especially when working with React and other component-based libraries.

  • emotion:

    Choose Emotion if you need a highly performant library that offers both styled components and CSS prop syntax, allowing for flexibility in how you write styles. It is particularly useful for projects that require advanced theming capabilities and a strong focus on performance.

README for styled-components

Visual primitives for the component age. Use the best bits of ES6 and CSS to style your apps without stress 💅

downloads: 600k/month Discord gzip size module formats: umd, cjs, esm Code Coverage

Upgrading from v5? See the migration guide.

Utilizing tagged template literals (a recent addition to JavaScript) and the power of CSS, styled-components allow you to write actual CSS code to style your components. It also removes the mapping between components and styles – using components as a low-level styling construct could not be easier!

const Button = styled.button`
  color: grey;
`;

Alternatively, you may use style objects. This allows for easy porting of CSS from inline styles, while still supporting the more advanced styled-components capabilities like component selectors and media queries.

const Button = styled.button({
  color: 'grey',
});

Equivalent to:

const Button = styled.button`
  color: grey;
`;

styled-components is compatible with both React (for web) and React Native – meaning it's the perfect choice even for truly universal apps! See the documentation about React Native for more information.

Supported by Front End Center. Thank you for making this possible!


Docs

See the documentation at styled-components.com/docs for more information about using styled-components!

Quicklinks to some of the most-visited pages:


Example

import React from 'react';

import styled from 'styled-components';

// Create a <Title> react component that renders an <h1> which is
// centered, palevioletred and sized at 1.5em
const Title = styled.h1`
  font-size: 1.5em;
  text-align: center;
  color: palevioletred;
`;

// Create a <Wrapper> react component that renders a <section> with
// some padding and a papayawhip background
const Wrapper = styled.section`
  padding: 4em;
  background: papayawhip;
`;

function MyUI() {
  return (
    // Use them like any other React component – except they're styled!
    <Wrapper>
      <Title>Hello World, this is my first styled component!</Title>
    </Wrapper>
  );
}

This is what you'll see in your browser:


Looking for v5?

The main branch is for the most-current version of styled-components, currently v6. For changes targeting v5, please point your PRs at the legacy-v5 branch.


Built with styled-components

A lot of hard work goes into community libraries, projects, and guides. A lot of them make it easier to get started or help you with your next project! There are also a whole lot of interesting apps and sites that people have built using styled-components.

Make sure to head over to awesome-styled-components to see them all! And please contribute and add your own work to the list so others can find it.


Contributing

If you want to contribute to styled-components please see our contributing and community guidelines, they'll help you get set up locally and explain the whole process.

Please also note that all repositories under the styled-components organization follow our Code of Conduct, make sure to review and follow it.


Badge

Let everyone know you're using styled-componentsstyle: styled-components

[![style: styled-components](https://img.shields.io/badge/style-%F0%9F%92%85%20styled--components-orange.svg?colorB=daa357&colorA=db748e)](https://github.com/styled-components/styled-components)

Contributors

This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute. [Contribute].


Backers

Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 [Become a backer]


Sponsors

Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [Become a sponsor]


License

Licensed under the MIT License, Copyright © 2016-present Glen Maddern and Maximilian Stoiber.

See LICENSE for more information.


Acknowledgements

This project builds on a long line of earlier work by clever folks all around the world. We'd like to thank Charlie Somerville, Nik Graf, Sunil Pai, Michael Chan, Andrey Popp, Jed Watson & Andrey Sitnik who contributed ideas, code or inspiration.

Special thanks to @okonet for the fantastic logo.