18 Best CSS Frameworks & Libraries

Why Do You Need a CSS Framework?

A CSS framework is a set of predefined rules and guidelines for structuring and styling web pages. It provides a foundation for developers to build upon, making it easier to create consistent, well-structured websites. CSS frameworks are designed to help developers quickly create responsive websites that look great on any device.

They provide a grid system that allows developers to easily create layouts with columns and rows, as well as other components such as buttons, forms, navigation bars, and more. This makes it easier to design pages that look good on both desktop and mobile devices.

CSS frameworks also provide a set of predefined classes that can be used to quickly style elements without having to write custom CSS code. This makes it much faster and easier for developers to get the desired look without having to spend time writing custom code from scratch.

In addition, many CSS frameworks come with built-in support for popular libraries such as jQuery or Bootstrap that can be used in conjunction with the framework’s classes for even more powerful styling options.

Finally, using a CSS framework helps ensure consistency across different pages of your website by providing predefined styles that can be applied throughout the site. This helps maintain visual consistency between different sections of your website while still allowing you the flexibility to customize individual elements if needed.

In this article, we will be discussing the top CSS frameworks from 2022. We will look at what makes each framework unique and why they are important for businesses looking to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to web development. We will also discuss how these frameworks can help companies save time and money while still providing a high-quality product that meets their needs. Finally, we will provide some tips on how companies can choose the right framework for their project.

Top CSS Frameworks in 2022

#1 Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces. It is a highly customizable, low-level CSS framework that gives developers the power to build completely unique designs without having to worry about the underlying styles of the elements they are working with. With Tailwind, you can create complex and unique designs by simply adding classes to your HTML elements. This makes it a popular choice among front-end developers who want to build custom, responsive websites quickly and efficiently.

Advantages

1. Easy to customize: Tailwind CSS provides a wide range of utility classes that make it easy to customize the look and feel of your website without writing any custom CSS.
2. Responsive design: Tailwind CSS is built with mobile-first design in mind, making it easy to create responsive designs that look great on any device.
3. Lightweight: Tailwind CSS is very lightweight, which makes it fast to load and easy to use.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: Tailwind CSS is a utility-first framework, which means that it provides a lot of pre-built classes and components, but it doesn’t offer much in terms of customizing the look and feel of your website.
2. Poor browser compatibility: Tailwind CSS is not compatible with all browsers, so you may need to use additional libraries or frameworks to ensure that your website looks good across all browsers.
3. High learning curve: Tailwind CSS has a steep learning curve due to its utility-first approach and the large number of classes available for styling elements. It can take some time to get used to the syntax and understand how everything works together.

#2 Semantic UI

Semantic UI is a development framework that helps developers create beautiful, responsive layouts using human-friendly HTML. It is a front-end framework designed to help developers quickly and easily create user interfaces that are both aesthetically pleasing and functionally sound.

Semantic UI provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating web applications with an intuitive, consistent design language. At its core, Semantic UI is built on the principles of semantic markup. This means that instead of writing code to define the structure and appearance of elements on a page, developers can use HTML tags to describe their content in terms of its meaning.

For example, instead of writing code to define how an element should look or behave, they can simply use the <header> tag to indicate that it contains important information at the top of the page. This makes it easier for developers to quickly create user interfaces without having to worry about styling or layout details.

Advantages

1. Easy to use: Semantic UI is designed to be intuitive and easy to learn, making it a great choice for developers of all skill levels.
2. Responsive design: Semantic UI is built with responsive design in mind, so your web pages will look great on any device.
3. Cross-browser compatibility: Semantic UI works across all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Disadvantages

1. Limited browser support: Semantic UI is only supported by modern browsers, so users with older browsers may not be able to use the framework.
2. Poor documentation: The documentation for Semantic UI is not as comprehensive as other frameworks, making it difficult for developers to find answers to their questions.
3. Lack of customization options: Semantic UI does not offer many customization options, which can make it difficult to create a unique design for your website or application.

#3 Bulma

Bulma is an open-source CSS framework based on Flexbox and built with Sass. It is a modern, responsive, and lightweight framework that allows developers to quickly create beautiful websites. It is designed to be easy to use and customize, making it a great choice for both experienced developers and beginners alike.

Advantages

1. Easy to learn: Bulma has a simple syntax that makes it easy for developers of all levels to get up and running quickly.
2. Responsive design: Bulma’s responsive design makes it easy to create websites that look great on any device or screen size.
3. Lightweight: Bulma’s small file size makes it fast loading, which helps improve user experience and SEO rankings.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While there are some customization options available in Bulma, they are limited compared to other frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation, which offer more flexibility when customizing your website’s look and feel.
2. Lack of support for older browsers: As with most modern frameworks, some features may not be supported in older browsers such as Internet Explorer 8.
3. Limited documentation: While there is some documentation available, it can be difficult for beginners who are just getting started with web development.

#4 Materialize

Materialize is a modern front-end framework based on Google’s Material Design language. It provides a comprehensive set of components and tools for creating responsive web applications with a consistent look and feel. It is built with Sass, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3. Materialize offers an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to create beautiful and functional websites quickly.

Advantages

1. Easy to use: The intuitive user interface makes it easy for developers to quickly create beautiful websites without having to learn complex coding languages.
2. Responsive design: The framework is designed with mobile-first principles in mind, making it easier for developers to create responsive websites that look great on any device or screen size.
3. Cross-browser compatibility: Materialize supports all major browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer 11+.

Disadvantages

1. Limited support for older browsers: While the framework does support most modern browsers, some features may not be available in older versions such as Internet Explorer 8 or 9 due to lack of support from these browsers themselves rather than from the framework itself.
2. Limited customization options: While there are some customization options available in Materialize, they are more limited than those offered by other frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation.
3. Not suitable for large projects: Due to its limited feature set, Materialize may not be suitable for larger projects that require more complex functionality.

#5 Foundation

Foundation is a responsive front-end framework created by ZURB, a product design company. It is an open-source project that helps developers create websites and web applications that are responsive, accessible, and future-friendly. Foundation provides a comprehensive set of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript tools to help developers quickly build websites and applications that look great on any device.

Advantages

1. Responsive design: Foundation makes it easy to create responsive designs that look great on any device or screen size.
2. Flexible grid system: Foundation’s grid system allows for easy customization of layouts with just a few lines of code.
3. Easy to use: Foundation is designed to be easy to use for both experienced developers and beginners alike.

Disadvantages

1. Limited documentation and support: While there are plenty of tutorials available online for using the framework, there isn’t much official documentation or support from the creators of the framework itself, which can make it difficult for new users who need help getting started with the framework or troubleshooting issues they may encounter while using it.
2. Not suitable for complex projects: While Foundation can be used for more complex projects such as e-commerce sites or web applications with lots of features and functionality, its limited feature set means it may not be suitable for these types of projects, as other frameworks may offer more robust features that are better suited to the task.
3. Limited customization options: The flexibility offered by the grid system means you can customize your layout, but there aren’t many options when it comes to customizing other aspects such as typography or colors, which can limit your ability to create unique designs.

#6 Pure

Pure is an open-source, lightweight, and modular front-end framework for developing responsive web applications. It is designed to provide developers with a consistent and flexible development environment that can be used to create high-quality web applications. Pure is built on top of the popular HTML5 Boilerplate project and provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating responsive websites.

Advantages

1. Lightweight: Pure has a small footprint, making it ideal for developing lightweight web applications.
2. Modular: The framework is highly modular, allowing developers to easily customize their projects by adding or removing components as needed.
3. Responsive design: Pure provides an easy way to create responsive designs that look great on any device or screen size.

Disadvantages

1. Limited documentation: While the documentation provided by the Pure team is comprehensive, it may not be enough for some developers who are looking for more detailed information about how the framework works or how certain features can be implemented in their projects.
2. Lack of plugins and add-ons: While there are some plugins available for the framework, they are limited in number compared to other frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation, which have more extensive libraries of plugins available.
3. Limited support: As an open-source project, there may not be as much support available from the community compared with commercial frameworks that have dedicated teams providing support.

#6 Ulkit

Ulkit is a modern, lightweight front-end framework for developing responsive websites and web applications. It is built on top of the popular jQuery library and provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating interactive user interfaces. Ulkit offers an intuitive and easy-to-use API that makes it simple to create complex layouts with minimal effort. It also provides powerful features such as custom components, animation support, and a wide range of UI elements.

Advantages

1. Easy to learn: Ulkit has an intuitive API that makes it easy to learn even for beginners.
2. Responsive design: Ulkit supports responsive design out of the box, allowing developers to create websites that look great on any device or screen size.
3. Cross-browser compatibility: Ulkit is compatible with all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer 11+.

Disadvantages

1. Limited documentation: While there are some tutorials available online for getting started with Ulkit, the official documentation is still quite limited compared to other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation, which have extensive documentation available online as well as offline resources such as books and video tutorials available from third-parties vendors like Udemy or Lynda.
2. No grid system: Unlike other frameworks such as Bootstrap that come with their own grid system built in,Ulkit does not have its own grid system, so developers will need to use either Flexbox or CSS Grid if they want a robust grid system for their projects.

#7 Primer CSS

Primer CSS is a lightweight and modern CSS framework developed by GitHub. It is designed to help developers quickly build responsive, accessible, and maintainable web applications. Primer CSS provides a set of base styles, components, and utilities that make it easy to create consistent designs across projects.

Advantages

1. Lightweight: Primer CSS is designed to be lightweight and fast-loading, making it ideal for web applications.
2. Responsive design: Primer CSS includes responsive design features such as media queries and Flexbox support that make it easy to create responsive layouts for any device or screen size.
3. Accessibility: Primer CSS includes accessibility features, such as ARIA attributes and color-contrast checks, which make it easier to create accessible websites that are compliant with WCAG standards.

Disadvantages

1. Limited browser support: While Primer CSS supports most modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer 11+, some older browsers may not be supported due to its use of newer technologies, such as Flexbox or media queries, that are not supported in older versions of these browsers (e.g. IE10).
2. Limited components and utilities: While Primer CSS does provide some basic components (e.g. buttons) and utilities (e.g. spacing classes), its library is relatively small compared with other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation, which offer more extensive libraries of components and utilities out of the box.
3. Lack of customization options: While you can customize the look and feel of your project using custom classes and overrides, there are limited options available when compared with other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation, which offer more extensive customization options.

#8 Tachyons

Tachyons is a CSS framework that provides a set of tools to help developers create responsive, mobile-first websites quickly and easily. It uses functional CSS, which allows developers to create custom designs without writing any additional code.

Advantages

1. Easy to use: Tachyons makes it easy for developers to quickly build responsive websites with minimal effort.
2. Lightweight: Tachyons is lightweight and fast, making it ideal for creating high-performance websites.
3. Customizable: With its functional CSS approach, developers can customize their designs without having to write additional code.

Disadvantages

1. Limited browser support: Tachyons only supports modern browsers such as Chrome and Firefox, so older browsers may not be able to render the website correctly.
2. Limited design options: While Tachyons offers some customization options, it does not provide the same level of flexibility as other frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation.
3. Difficult learning curve: Due to its functional CSS approach, learning how to use Tachyons can be difficult for beginners who are unfamiliar with this type of coding language.

#9 Spectre

Spectre CSS Framework is a lightweight, responsive and modern CSS framework for creating beautiful websites. It is designed to be easy to use and customize with minimal code and no opinionated design. Spectre provides basic styles for typography, forms, buttons, tables, grids, navigation, and more.

Advantages

1. Lightweight: Spectre has a small footprint of only 10kb minified and gzipped.
2. Responsive: Spectre is built with a mobile-first approach in mind, so it works well on all devices from desktop to mobile phones.
3. Easy to use: Spectre has an intuitive structure that makes it easy to get started quickly without having to learn complex concepts or write lots of code.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While Spectre does provide some customization options such as color schemes and font sizes, it does not offer the same level of customization as other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation do.
2. No JavaScript components: While Spectre does provide some basic styling for forms and buttons, it does not include any JavaScript components, such as modals or carousels, that are often needed in modern web applications.
3. Limited browser support: While Spectre supports most modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, it does not support Internet Explorer 11 or earlier versions, which can limit its usability in certain cases where IE11 compatibility is required.

#10 Milligram

Milligram is a minimalist CSS framework that provides a clean and lightweight foundation for any web project. It is designed to be fast, small, and easy to use. Milligram offers an array of features that make it an ideal choice for developers looking to quickly create modern websites.

Advantages

1. Lightweight: Milligram only weighs 2KB, making it one of the lightest frameworks available.
2. Responsive: Milligram has built-in responsive design capabilities, allowing you to easily create mobile-friendly websites.
3. Easy to use: Milligram’s simple syntax makes it easy for developers of all skill levels to quickly get up and running with the framework.

Disadvantages

1. Limited features: While Milligram does offer some basic features, it lacks more advanced options such as custom components or plugins that are available in other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation.
2. Limited browser support: While most modern browsers are supported by Milligram, some older versions may not be compatible with the framework’s codebase due to its minimalistic approach and lack of polyfills or fallbacks for certain features.
3. Lack of documentation: While there is some documentation available on the official website, there is still room for improvement in terms of comprehensive tutorials and guides on how best to use the framework.

#11 Water.css

Water.css is a lightweight CSS framework designed to help developers quickly create beautiful, responsive websites. It is built on top of the popular CSS preprocessor Sass and uses modern web technologies such as Flexbox and CSS Grid. Water.css provides a set of basic styles for typography, forms, buttons, tables, grids, and more that can be easily customized to fit your project’s needs.

Advantages

1. Lightweight: Water.css is very lightweight compared to other frameworks, which makes it easy to use and fast to load on any website or application.
2. Responsive design: Water.css provides responsive design capabilities so that your website looks great on any device or screen size without having to write extra code for each device type or screen size individually.
3. Easy customization: With its simple syntax and customizable variables, you can easily customize the look of your website with just a few lines of code without having to write complex CSS rules from scratch every time you want to make a change in the design of your website or application.

Disadvantages

1. Limited features: While Water.css does provide some basic features such as typography, forms, buttons and grids, it does not offer more advanced features such as animations or transitions, which may be needed for more complex websites or applications requiring more sophisticated styling options than what Water.css offers.
2. Limited browser support: As with most frameworks, Water.css only supports modern browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Older browsers may not be able to render certain elements correctly when using this framework.
3. Lack of documentation: While there are some tutorials available online, there is still a lack of comprehensive documentation available for this framework, which makes it difficult for new users who are just starting out with this framework.

#12 Sanitize.css

Sanitize.css is a modern CSS framework designed to help developers write clean, maintainable, and secure code. It provides a set of rules for writing consistent and secure CSS that can be used across multiple projects.

Advantages

1. Improved readability: Sanitize.css helps to make code more readable by providing consistent formatting and styling rules that are easy to follow.
2. Increased security: Sanitize.css helps to reduce the risk of cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks by ensuring that all user-generated content is properly sanitized before being rendered in the browser.
3. Reduced development time: By providing a set of predefined rules, Sanitize.css can help developers save time when writing CSS code as they don’t have to worry about manually setting up each rule every time they start a new project or page layout design task.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While Sanitize.css provides some flexibility in terms of customizing the ruleset, it does not offer as much freedom as other frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation, which allow for more extensive customization options when it comes to styling elements on the page or creating complex layouts with ease.
2. Lack of support for older browsers: As Sanitize.css is built on modern web standards such as HTML5 and CSS3, it may not be compatible with older browsers that do not yet fully support these technologies.
3. Not suitable for all projects: While Sanitize is great for creating simple websites or applications with minimal styling requirements, it may not be suitable for larger projects that require more complex styling solutions or customizations beyond what the framework offers out of the box.

#13 Picnic CSS

Picnic CSS is a lightweight, responsive, and modern CSS framework designed to help developers quickly create beautiful websites. It offers a wide range of features that make it easy to customize and build websites with minimal effort.

Advantages

1. Easy to use: Picnic CSS is designed with simplicity in mind, making it easy for developers of all skill levels to get up and running quickly.
2. Responsive design: Picnic CSS is built on a mobile-first approach, ensuring that your website looks great on any device or screen size.
3. Lightweight: Picnic CSS is incredibly lightweight, meaning your website will load faster than ever before!

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While Picnic CSS offers some basic customization options, more advanced users may find the lack of flexibility limiting when creating complex designs or layouts.
2. Limited browser support: Currently, Picnic CSS only supports the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge browsers; older versions are not supported at this time.
3. Lack of documentation: While there are some helpful tutorials available online for getting started with Picnic CSS, there is still a lack of comprehensive documentation available for more advanced users who want to take full advantage of the framework’s features and capabilities.

#14 Bootstrap

Bootstrap is a popular CSS framework that provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating responsive web designs. It is an open-source project developed by Twitter and released in 2011. Bootstrap makes it easy to create websites that are mobile-friendly, modern, and visually appealing.

Advantages

1. Easy to use: Bootstrap has a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for developers to quickly create websites without having to write complex code.
2. Responsive design: Bootstrap enables developers to create responsive designs that look great on any device or screen size.
3. Cross-browser compatibility: Bootstrap ensures that your website looks the same across all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While Bootstrap offers many features and components, it does not provide as much flexibility as other frameworks when it comes to customizing the look of your website.
2. Poor documentation: The official documentation for Bootstrap can be difficult to understand at times due to its lack of clarity and organization.
3. Not suitable for large projects: While Bootstrap is great for small projects, it may not be suitable for larger ones due to its limited customization options and lack of scalability.

#15 Tacit

Tacit is a lightweight, minimalistic CSS framework for creating responsive websites. It provides a set of basic styles and components to help developers quickly create modern, responsive websites.

Advantages

1. Lightweight and minimalistic: Tacit is designed to be lightweight and minimalistic, making it easy to use and fast to load.
2. Responsive design: Tacit provides a set of components that are designed to be responsive across all devices and screen sizes.
3. Easy customization: The framework allows developers to easily customize the look and feel of their website with just a few lines of code.

Disadvantages

1. Limited features: While Tacit provides some basic features, it does not offer as many features as other frameworks such as Bootstrap or Foundation.
2. Limited documentation: Documentation for the framework is limited, making it difficult for new users to get started quickly with the framework.
3. No support for older browsers: The framework does not support older browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 or earlier versions, which may limit its use in certain projects or environments.

#16 Basscss

Basscss  Framework is a lightweight, open-source framework designed to help developers quickly and easily create responsive websites. It provides a basic set of styles for typography, forms, buttons, tables, grids, and navigation that can be extended with custom CSS.

Advantages

1. Easy to learn and use: Basscss  Framework has a simple syntax that makes it easy to learn and use.
2. Lightweight:Basscss  Framework is lightweight and fast-loading, which makes it ideal for creating responsive websites.
3. Cross-browser compatibility: Basscss  Framework is compatible with all major browsers, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues when developing your website.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While Basscss  Framework provides some basic styling options, it does not offer much in terms of customization or advanced features like animation or transitions.
2. Limited support: As an open-source project, there is limited support available for the framework, which can make troubleshooting difficult if you run into any issues while using it.
3. Not suitable for complex projects: Due to its simplicity, Basscss  Framework may not be suitable for more complex projects that require more advanced features or customization options than what the framework offers out of the box.

#17 Dead Simple Grid

Dead Simple Grid is a lightweight, responsive grid system that helps developers create beautiful and functional websites quickly and easily. It is designed to be simple to use, with minimal code required to get started.

Advantages

1. Easy to learn and use: Dead Simple Grid requires minimal coding knowledge, making it ideal for beginners.
2. Responsive design: The framework automatically adjusts the layout of your website based on the size of the user’s device or browser window.
3. Lightweight: The framework is lightweight and fast-loading, ensuring your website won’t be bogged down by unnecessary code or bloatware.

Disadvantages

1. Limited customization options: While Dead Simple Grid offers some basic customization options, more advanced users may find it too limiting for their needs.
2. No support for older browsers: Due to its reliance on modern web technologies such as Flexbox and CSS Grid, Dead Simple Grid does not support older browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 or earlier versions of Safari or Firefox.
3. Limited documentation: While there are some helpful tutorials available online, there is limited official documentation available from the creators of Dead Simple Grid, which can make it difficult for new users to get started with the framework quickly and easily.

#18 Blaze CSS

Blaze CSS is a lightweight, open-source CSS framework designed to help developers quickly and easily create responsive websites. It is built on top of the popular Bootstrap framework and provides a wide range of features that make it easy to customize and extend.

Advantages

1. Easy to use: Blaze CSS has an intuitive interface that makes it easy for developers to get up and running quickly.
2. Lightweight: Blaze CSS is much lighter than other frameworks, making it ideal for creating fast-loading websites.
3. Flexible: Blaze CSS allows developers to customize their designs with ease, making it perfect for creating unique websites.

Disadvantages

1. Limited documentation: While there are some helpful tutorials available online, the official documentation for Blaze CSS is limited compared to other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation.
2. Limited browser support: Blaze CSS only supports modern browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, so older browsers may not be able to render your website correctly if you use this framework exclusively.
3. Lack of plugins and add-ons: While there are some third-party plugins available for Blaze CSS, the selection is much smaller than what’s available for other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation, which can limit your options when customizing your website design.

Which Is the Best CSS Framework?

The answer to this question really depends on the individual needs of the project. There is no single “best” CSS framework, as each one has its own strengths and weaknesses.

For example, Bootstrap is a popular choice for many developers due to its wide range of features and ease of use. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating responsive websites with minimal effort. It also includes components such as grids, typography, forms, buttons, navigation bars, and more. However, it can be difficult to customize Bootstrap’s default styles without writing additional code or using third-party plugins.

Foundation is another popular CSS framework that offers a wide range of features and customization options. It includes components such as grids, typography, forms, and buttons that are easy to customize with Sass variables and mix-ins. Foundation also provides support for responsive design out of the box with its mobile-first approach. However, it can be difficult to learn if you’re new to web development, since it requires knowledge of Sass or other preprocessors in order to make full use of its features.

Bulma is a modern CSS framework based on Flexbox that makes it easy to create responsive layouts quickly without having to write any custom code or use third-party plugins. It also includes components such as grids, typography, forms, and buttons that are easy to customize with simple classes instead of Sass variables or mix-ins like in other frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation. However, Bulma does not provide support for JavaScript plugins, so if you need those, you will have to look elsewhere.

Ultimately the best CSS framework will depend on your individual needs and preferences when it comes to creating websites or applications quickly and efficiently while still providing flexibility in terms of customization options available through preprocessors like Sass or Less.