CSS-in-JS Libraries Comparison
styled-components vs emotion vs theme-ui vs rebass
Search packages..
1 Year
styled-componentsemotiontheme-uirebassSimilar 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. They provide a modern approach to styling in React applications, promoting better encapsulation and component-based design. These libraries facilitate the creation of reusable styles and themes, making it easier to manage styles in large applications. Each library has its unique features and design philosophies, catering to different needs in styling and theming.

NPM Package Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
styled-components5,502,52240,5751.76 MB3154 months agoMIT
emotion602,785---4 years agoMIT
theme-ui50,4295,30980.4 kB662 months agoMIT
rebass44,7197,941-985 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: styled-components vs emotion vs theme-ui vs rebass

Theming Support

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components offers a robust theming API that allows you to create a ThemeProvider to pass theme values down the component tree. This makes it easy to manage and switch themes across your application, promoting design consistency.

  • emotion:

    Emotion provides a powerful theming solution that allows you to create a theme object and access it within your styled components. It supports dynamic theming, enabling you to switch themes at runtime based on user preferences or application state.

  • theme-ui:

    Theme UI is specifically designed for theming and provides a powerful theming API that allows you to define design tokens and easily apply them across your components. It supports responsive styles and is highly customizable.

  • rebass:

    Rebass has built-in theming capabilities that allow you to define a theme object and use it throughout your components. It encourages consistent design by providing a set of predefined design tokens for spacing, colors, and typography.

Performance

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components can introduce some overhead due to its dynamic nature, but it offers features like server-side rendering and automatic critical CSS extraction to mitigate performance issues. Proper usage can lead to optimized performance.

  • emotion:

    Emotion is optimized for performance, utilizing a runtime that generates styles on the fly and minimizes the CSS output. It also supports server-side rendering, which can improve initial load times and SEO.

  • theme-ui:

    Theme UI is designed to be performant with a focus on design tokens and responsive styles. It leverages Emotion under the hood, ensuring efficient style generation while maintaining a small bundle size.

  • rebass:

    Rebass is lightweight and built for performance, focusing on minimal CSS output while providing a set of responsive components. It leverages styled-components under the hood, ensuring efficient style generation.

Learning Curve

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components has a relatively easy learning curve for developers familiar with React. Its syntax is intuitive, and the concept of styled components aligns well with React's component-based architecture.

  • emotion:

    Emotion has a moderate learning curve, especially if you are new to CSS-in-JS. However, its API is straightforward, and once you grasp the concepts of styled components and theming, it becomes easy to use.

  • theme-ui:

    Theme UI may have a slightly steeper learning curve due to its focus on design tokens and theming. However, once you understand its principles, it provides a powerful way to manage styles and themes in your application.

  • rebass:

    Rebass has a gentle learning curve, especially for those familiar with styled-components. Its component-based approach and predefined design tokens make it easy to get started and build consistent UIs quickly.

Extensibility

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components is designed for extensibility, allowing you to create higher-order components and mixins. You can also extend existing styled components to create variations without duplicating code.

  • emotion:

    Emotion is highly extensible, allowing you to create custom styled components and utility functions. It supports theming and can be integrated with other libraries, making it suitable for complex applications.

  • theme-ui:

    Theme UI is highly extensible, allowing you to define custom styles and themes. It provides a flexible API for creating responsive designs and integrating with other libraries or frameworks.

  • rebass:

    Rebass is built on top of styled-components, making it extensible and customizable. You can easily create your own components or modify existing ones while maintaining a consistent design system.

Component Library

  • styled-components:

    Styled-components is primarily a styling solution rather than a component library. However, it can be used to style any React components, making it versatile for various applications.

  • emotion:

    Emotion itself is not a component library but can be used to style components in any React application. It gives you the flexibility to create your own components or integrate with existing libraries.

  • theme-ui:

    Theme UI is not just a styling library; it also provides a set of components that are designed to work seamlessly with its theming capabilities, making it ideal for building design systems.

  • rebass:

    Rebass is a component library that provides a set of pre-built, responsive UI components styled with styled-components. It is designed to help you build consistent and accessible interfaces quickly.

How to Choose: styled-components vs emotion vs theme-ui vs rebass
  • styled-components:

    Opt for styled-components if you want a robust solution for styling React components with a focus on component-level styles. It allows for easy theming and supports server-side rendering, making it suitable for larger applications that require a cohesive styling approach.

  • emotion:

    Choose Emotion if you need a highly flexible and performant solution that supports both styled components and traditional CSS syntax. It is ideal for projects that require dynamic styling based on props and state, and it provides excellent theming capabilities.

  • theme-ui:

    Use Theme UI if you are building a design system or need a library that emphasizes theming and design tokens. It integrates well with Gatsby and provides a powerful theming API, making it ideal for projects that prioritize design consistency and customization.

  • rebass:

    Select Rebass if you are looking for a lightweight, responsive UI component library that is built on top of styled-components. It is perfect for building consistent and accessible design systems with a focus on simplicity and minimalism.

Similar Npm Packages to styled-components

styled-components is a popular library for styling React applications using tagged template literals. It allows developers to write CSS directly within their JavaScript files, creating styled components that encapsulate styles and logic. This approach promotes modularity and reusability, making it easier to maintain styles across large applications. Styled-components also support theming, dynamic styling, and server-side rendering, making it a versatile choice for modern web development.

However, there are several alternatives to styled-components that also provide unique features and benefits:

  • emotion is a highly performant and flexible CSS-in-JS library that offers similar capabilities to styled-components. It provides a powerful styling solution with a focus on performance and developer experience. Emotion allows for both styled components and traditional CSS styles, giving developers the flexibility to choose their preferred method of styling. With features like theming, dynamic styles, and a small bundle size, Emotion is an excellent choice for those looking for a robust CSS-in-JS solution that can easily integrate with existing projects.

  • styled-jsx is a library developed by Vercel that provides scoped CSS for React components. It allows developers to write CSS directly within their components while ensuring that styles are scoped to the component, preventing style leakage. Styled-jsx is particularly useful for projects using Next.js, as it integrates seamlessly with its server-side rendering capabilities. If you are looking for a solution that offers scoped styles with minimal configuration and works well with Next.js, styled-jsx is a great option.

To explore how styled-components compares with emotion and styled-jsx, check out the comparison: Comparing emotion vs styled-components vs styled-jsx.

Similar Npm Packages to emotion

emotion is a popular CSS-in-JS library designed for styling React applications. It allows developers to write CSS styles with JavaScript, enabling dynamic styling based on component props and state. Emotion provides a powerful and flexible API, allowing for both styled components and traditional CSS styles, making it a versatile choice for modern web development. While Emotion is a robust solution for styling, there are several alternatives worth considering:

  • sass is a preprocessor scripting language that is interpreted or compiled into Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). It extends CSS with features like variables, nested rules, mixins, and functions, making it easier to write and maintain complex stylesheets. If you prefer a more traditional approach to styling and want to leverage the power of variables and nesting without the overhead of JavaScript, Sass is an excellent choice.
  • styled-components is another popular CSS-in-JS library that allows developers to write actual CSS code to style their components. It utilizes tagged template literals to style components, enabling a seamless integration of styles with JavaScript logic. Styled-components also support theming and dynamic styling, making it a great option for applications that require a consistent design system. If you appreciate the CSS-in-JS paradigm but want a slightly different API and feature set, styled-components is a strong alternative.
  • styled-jsx is a CSS-in-JS library specifically designed for Next.js applications. It allows developers to write scoped CSS directly within their components, ensuring that styles are applied only to the respective components. This approach helps prevent style conflicts and promotes better maintainability. If you are working within the Next.js framework and want a simple way to manage styles, styled-jsx is a suitable choice.

To see how Emotion compares with Sass, Styled-Components, and Styled-JSX, check out the comparison: Comparing emotion vs sass vs styled-components vs styled-jsx.

Similar Npm Packages to theme-ui

theme-ui is a library designed for building themeable user interfaces in React applications. It provides a set of tools to create responsive, accessible, and customizable designs using a theme-based approach. With theme-ui, developers can easily manage styles and themes, allowing for a consistent look and feel across their applications. While theme-ui offers a robust solution for styling, there are several alternatives in the React ecosystem that also provide powerful styling capabilities. Here are a few notable options:

  • emotion is a popular CSS-in-JS library that allows developers to write CSS styles with JavaScript. It provides a flexible and performant way to style applications, enabling the use of dynamic styles and theming. With emotion, you can create styled components and apply styles conditionally based on props or state. If you are looking for a highly customizable and efficient styling solution that integrates seamlessly with your React components, emotion is an excellent choice.

  • rebass is a React component library that focuses on creating responsive and themeable UI components. Built on top of styled-system, rebass provides a set of primitive components that can be easily customized using props. This makes it easy to create a consistent design system while maintaining flexibility in styling. If you want a library that combines component-based design with a focus on responsive layouts and theming, rebass is a great option.

  • styled-components is another widely-used CSS-in-JS library that allows developers to write actual CSS within their JavaScript files. It enables the creation of styled components with encapsulated styles, making it easy to manage and maintain styles in large applications. styled-components also supports theming, allowing for easy customization of styles across your application. If you prefer a well-established library with a large community and extensive documentation, styled-components is a solid choice.

To see how theme-ui compares with emotion, rebass, and styled-components, check out the comparison: Comparing emotion vs rebass vs styled-components vs theme-ui.

Similar Npm Packages to rebass

rebass is a popular library for building responsive and themeable user interfaces in React applications. It provides a set of primitive components that are styled using a system based on styled-system, allowing developers to create consistent and scalable designs with ease. Rebass is particularly useful for developers looking to implement a design system or maintain a cohesive look and feel across their applications. While Rebass offers a solid foundation for styling, there are other libraries in the React ecosystem that provide alternative approaches to styling components. Here are a few alternatives:

  • emotion is a performant and flexible CSS-in-JS library that allows developers to style applications using JavaScript. It provides a powerful API for defining styles, including support for theming, dynamic styles, and server-side rendering. Emotion's flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of use cases, from small projects to large-scale applications. If you need a highly customizable styling solution that integrates seamlessly with your React components, Emotion is an excellent choice.
  • styled-components is another widely used CSS-in-JS library that enables developers to write actual CSS code to style their components. It allows for the creation of styled components with encapsulated styles, making it easy to manage styles in a modular way. Styled-components also support theming and dynamic styling, making it a popular choice for building component libraries and design systems. If you prefer writing traditional CSS syntax while leveraging the benefits of JavaScript, styled-components is a great option.
  • theme-ui is a library designed specifically for building themeable user interfaces in React applications. It is built on top of the styled-system and provides a set of components and hooks for managing themes and styles. Theme-ui focuses on providing a consistent design language and allows for easy customization of themes. If your project requires a strong emphasis on theming and responsive design, theme-ui is an ideal choice.

To see how Rebass compares with Emotion, Styled-components, and Theme-ui, check out the comparison: Comparing emotion vs rebass vs styled-components vs theme-ui.

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-components → style: 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.

Terms & PrivacyProduct HuntJSON to TypeScriptCopilotChat for Web Dev