CSS purification libraries are tools designed to remove unused CSS from your stylesheets, helping to optimize web performance by reducing file sizes and improving load times. These libraries analyze your HTML and JavaScript files to identify which CSS selectors are actually used in your project, allowing developers to maintain cleaner, more efficient stylesheets. By eliminating unused CSS, these tools can significantly enhance the performance of web applications, particularly those with large stylesheets or complex designs.
NPM Package Downloads Trend
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Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
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Publish
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purgecss
821,544
7,792
56.9 kB
35
8 months ago
MIT
uncss
105,140
9,416
-
55
5 years ago
MIT
purify-css
41,826
9,924
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85
7 years ago
MIT
Feature Comparison: purgecss vs uncss vs purify-css
Integration
purgecss: PurgeCSS provides seamless integration with modern build tools and frameworks, such as Webpack, Gulp, and PostCSS. This allows for automated CSS purification as part of your build process, ensuring that your stylesheets remain optimized without manual intervention.
uncss: UnCSS is a standalone tool that can be run via the command line or integrated into build processes. However, it may require more manual configuration compared to PurgeCSS or PurifyCSS, especially for dynamic content.
purify-css: PurifyCSS can be easily integrated into your workflow with minimal setup. It works well with various build systems and can be run as a standalone tool, making it accessible for developers of all skill levels.
Customization
purgecss: PurgeCSS offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to specify which files to scan, which CSS selectors to keep, and how to handle dynamic content. This flexibility makes it suitable for complex applications with varying requirements.
uncss: UnCSS has limited customization capabilities compared to the other two. It primarily focuses on removing unused CSS based on static HTML, which may not be ideal for projects with dynamic content.
purify-css: PurifyCSS provides basic customization options, but it is less flexible than PurgeCSS. It allows you to specify files to include or exclude, but advanced configurations may be limited.
Performance
purgecss: PurgeCSS is optimized for performance and can handle large stylesheets efficiently. It analyzes your content and CSS in a performant manner, ensuring that the purification process does not become a bottleneck in your build pipeline.
uncss: UnCSS can be slower than the other two options, especially for larger projects, as it processes HTML files to determine unused CSS. This can lead to longer build times if not managed properly.
purify-css: PurifyCSS is generally fast for small to medium-sized projects, but its performance may degrade with larger stylesheets or complex HTML structures due to its scanning method.
Dynamic Content Handling
purgecss: PurgeCSS excels at handling dynamic content, such as JavaScript-generated HTML. It allows you to specify custom extraction patterns, ensuring that dynamically added classes are not removed during the purification process.
uncss: UnCSS is not well-suited for dynamic content, as it relies on static HTML files. If your project involves dynamic class generation, you may find UnCSS inadequate for your needs.
purify-css: PurifyCSS may struggle with dynamic content, as it primarily analyzes static HTML. This can lead to the accidental removal of necessary styles if classes are added dynamically.
Ease of Use
purgecss: PurgeCSS has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive configuration options, but it offers greater control and flexibility for advanced users. Documentation and community support are robust, aiding in the learning process.
uncss: UnCSS is relatively easy to use for static projects, but its limitations with dynamic content may require additional effort to ensure proper CSS retention.
purify-css: PurifyCSS is user-friendly and straightforward, making it an excellent choice for beginners or those looking for a quick solution. Its simplicity allows for rapid implementation without extensive setup.
How to Choose: purgecss vs uncss vs purify-css
purgecss: Choose PurgeCSS if you need a highly customizable tool that integrates well with modern build tools like Webpack, Gulp, or PostCSS. It offers advanced configuration options and supports various content types, making it suitable for complex projects.
uncss: Opt for UnCSS if you are working with static HTML files and prefer a simpler, more traditional approach to CSS purification. It is effective for projects where the HTML structure is stable and does not change frequently.
purify-css: Select PurifyCSS for a straightforward solution that is easy to set up and use. It is ideal for smaller projects or when you need a quick solution to remove unused CSS without extensive configuration.
Similar Npm Packages to purgecss
purgecss is a tool designed to remove unused CSS from your stylesheets, helping to reduce the size of your CSS files and improve the performance of your web applications. By analyzing your HTML and JavaScript files, PurgeCSS identifies styles that are not being used and eliminates them, resulting in cleaner and more efficient CSS. This can be particularly beneficial for large projects where CSS bloat can become a significant issue.
While PurgeCSS is a powerful solution for optimizing CSS, there are several alternatives that also focus on CSS optimization and minification. Here are a few notable options:
clean-css is a fast and efficient CSS minifier that can significantly reduce the size of your CSS files. It works by removing unnecessary whitespace, comments, and other non-essential elements from your stylesheets. Clean-CSS is highly configurable, allowing you to customize the minification process to suit your specific needs. If you are primarily looking to minify your CSS without removing unused styles, Clean-CSS is an excellent choice.
cssnano is another popular CSS minification tool that focuses on optimizing CSS for production. It uses a series of optimizations to reduce the size of your stylesheets while maintaining their functionality. Cssnano is built on top of PostCSS, which allows for a modular approach to CSS optimization. If you are already using PostCSS in your workflow, integrating Cssnano can provide a seamless way to enhance your CSS optimization process.
uncss is a tool that removes unused CSS by analyzing your HTML files. It works similarly to PurgeCSS, but it primarily focuses on static HTML files rather than JavaScript. Uncss scans your HTML and generates a new CSS file that includes only the styles that are actually used. If your project consists mainly of static HTML and you want a straightforward way to clean up your CSS, Uncss may be the right fit.
uncss is a tool designed to remove unused CSS from your stylesheets. By analyzing your HTML files, uncss identifies CSS rules that are not being used and eliminates them, resulting in smaller file sizes and improved performance for your web applications. This is particularly useful for projects that have grown over time and may contain a lot of redundant styles that are no longer applicable.
While uncss is a popular choice for removing unused CSS, there are several alternatives that also provide similar functionality. Here are a few noteworthy options:
purgecss is a powerful tool that removes unused CSS by scanning your HTML and JavaScript files. It is highly configurable and can be integrated into various build processes, including Webpack, Gulp, and more. PurgeCSS is particularly effective for modern web applications that use frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular, as it can intelligently determine which styles are actually in use based on the components being rendered. Its flexibility and effectiveness make it a popular choice for developers looking to optimize their CSS.
purify-css is another tool for removing unused CSS, focusing on simplicity and ease of use. It works by analyzing your HTML and JavaScript files to identify which CSS selectors are being used and then purges the unused styles. PurifyCSS is lightweight and can be easily integrated into existing workflows, making it a good option for projects that require a straightforward solution for cleaning up CSS without the complexity of additional configuration.
purify-css is a tool designed to remove unused CSS from your stylesheets, helping to optimize your web applications by reducing file size and improving load times. It analyzes your HTML and JavaScript files to determine which CSS selectors are actually being used and eliminates the rest. This process not only helps in minimizing the CSS footprint but also enhances the performance of your website, making it faster and more efficient for users.
While purify-css is a powerful option for CSS optimization, there are alternatives available that serve similar purposes. One notable alternative is:
uncss. This tool also focuses on removing unused CSS from stylesheets, but it works by loading your HTML files and simulating a browser environment to determine which CSS rules are not being used. uncss is particularly useful for projects where you want to ensure that your stylesheets are as lean as possible. It can be integrated into build processes using task runners like Grunt or Gulp, making it a flexible choice for developers looking to streamline their CSS.
When you are building a website, chances are that you are using a css framework like Bootstrap, Materializecss, Foundation, etc... But you will only use a small set of the framework and a lot of unused css styles will be included.
This is where PurgeCSS comes into play. PurgeCSS analyzes your content and your css files. Then it matches the selectors used in your files with the one in your content files. It removes unused selectors from your css, resulting in smaller css files.
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Documentation
You can find the PurgeCSS documentation on this website.
