Best 5 CSS framework

Before we begin, it’s essential to know why CSS frameworks are an integral part of web development. Following are the main benefits of using CSS frameworks.

Using a CSS framework, we can enhance our development process by using the predefined classes and ids for forms, breadcrumbs, navbar, buttons etc.
CSS frameworks help to build cross browser compatible websites that render seamlessly across every browser and browser versions.
By incorporating a good CSS framework, you can boost your productivity and optimise your development workflow.
You can even create clean symmetrical layouts.

Image Source: State of CSS 2020

With several CSS frameworks available, it can be hard to find good CSS frameworks. Therefore, I’ve curated this list of the best CSS Frameworks for 2021 based on the satisfaction ratio ranking presented by the State of CSS report for 2020.

1. Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that is different from other best CSS frameworks like Bulma, Bootstrap where you get pre-designed components, which you can use as a base for further development. It does not come with a predefined template but allows you to incorporate your unique style quickly.

Advantages Of Tailwind CSS Framework

It operates on a lower level by providing a developer with a set of CSS helper classes.
It is not firmly opinionated and gives the flexibility to create unique designs.
Tailwind CSS precise documentation for separate classes helps users to understand them quickly as per their requirement.
The utility first design paradigm gives a lot of freedom, and one can create complex designs by using essential building utilities.
Tailwind has less cognitive load as it is designed to be component friendly and encourages breaking down into smaller reusable components.
You can use libraries like Purge CSS to reduce the CSS build size drastically with Tailwind CSS.
Tailwind’s syntax is fundamental and thus gives more incredible development speed to the developer. You don’t need to switch continuously between the CSS and HTML code, reducing the context switches and improving the development speed a lot. For example, for using ‘display: flex’ in your design, you just need to add ‘flex’ in your class in the HTML element. Disadvantages Of Tailwind CSS Framework

There are some drawbacks too for the Tailwind CSS framework.

Readability can be an issue for some developers as so many classes can be there for styling.
Complex animations are hard to achieve with Tailwind alone.
Tailwind CSS has a steep learning curve and is not intended for novice developers.

Who Is Using The Tailwind CSS Framework?

Companies like BlaBlaCar, OnlineDoctor, Hubblr, Superchat use Tailwind CSS in their tech stack.

2. Pure CSS

Pure CSS is considered to be one of the best CSS frameworks. Pure CSS is built on Normalize.css and developed by Yahoo. It comprises a set of small, responsive CSS modules that you can use in every web project. Websites that are intuitive, faster, and visually appealing can be quickly built.

Advantages Of Pure CSS Framework

It is a minimalist framework that uses Normalize.css as its base and is made with the mobile first design in mind. It is highly responsive out of the box.
It is customisable as it gives the freedom to overwrite the existing rules for design and thus is less opinionated.
It has a minimal memory footprint and reduces further if a developer decides to use a subset of the available modules in Pure CSS.
There is no out-of-the-box Javascript plugin in Pure CSS. Disadvantages Of Pure CSS Framework

There are some drawbacks to this framework.

There is not a significant development community for Pure CSS.
Only a limited number of design templates are available under Pure CSS.

Who Is Using The Pure CSS Framework?

Companies like Flickr.com, Synology.com, Wizters use the Pure CSS framework.

3. Bulma CSS

Bulma is another best CSS Framework based on flexbox. It is a 100% responsive open-source CSS library and includes a variety of predefined components. Bulma utilizes a system known as tiles to build grids, which makes the page sleek and smooth. It has a lightweight structure that allows you to import only the elements you want to use in your modern web design.

Advantages Of Bulma CSS Framework

It follows a modular design approach and is highly customisable. It has predefined responsive templates, which helps the developer focus more on content than the presentation layer. It comes with many components like dropdown menus, nav bars, panels, tables, etc.
The syntax of Bulma is quite simple and easy to use.
Bulma is CSS only, i.e. the only output is one CSS file (bulma.css) and is very well documented.
It is an environment agnostic framework and sits on top of the logic layer. Disadvantages Of Bulma CSS Framework

There are some disadvantages to the Bulma framework.

It runs a bit slow on the IE web browser.
It does not have a huge development community.

Who Is Using The Bulma CSS Framework?

Companies like Django, Tipoff, Rubrik use Bulma.

4. Ant Design

Ant Design is regarded as one of the best CSS frameworks. It is used in JavaScript and ReactJS libraries. Since the Ant Design framework has 24 columns, you can now tailor the visible areas. With its various filled and outline icons, it fulfils many app requirements.

Advantages Of Ant Design Framework

It is a set of high-quality React components, enterprise-class UI design language.
It has graceful UI components out of the box, which is based on React Component. The main reason for Ant design usage is its polished and enterprise-level look and feel.
It provides great breadth and depth of components. For example, the low-level components which are generally required in almost every frontend design are already present in the Ant design library.
It has consistency in updates, and antd.package upgrades rarely cause any breakage in the functionality.
It has good documentation and typescript support. Disadvantages Of Ant Design Framework

Ant Design has many more useful components, but the main challenge is its accessibility to the keyboard.

Who Is Using The Ant Design Framework?

It is used by companies like QR Point, Binance, Evooq, and more.

5. Materialize CSS

Materialize CSS also comes under the category of best CSS frameworks. It is a CSS UI component library developed by Google with CSS, Javascript and HTML. It is also known as Material Design. It has several interactive components that help accelerate development and provide a good user experience. Animations offer visual input for users and make the development team work more manageable.

Advantages Of Materialize CSS Framework

It is responsive out of the box and has a minimal footprint.
It is free to use and requires jQuery Javascript library to function correctly.
It is easily extensible; it is easier to write new rules than to overwrite the existing ones. It is flat and minimal by design.
Great ease of use, as due to the brilliant documentation, anyone with basic knowledge of HTML and CSS can get started with this framework in no time.
It is cross browser compatible and can be used to create reusable components.
Material is the only design language (on which Materialize is based) that adds motion and depth to elements. - In material design, everything should have a certain z-depth that determines how far raised or close to the page the element is.
Materialize CSS is mobile-friendly and helps to build progressive web applications.

Disadvantages Of Materialize CSS Framework

The only drawback of Materialize CSS is that you need to have basic knowledge of HTML, Javascript, and CSS to make good use of it.

Who Is Using The Materialize CSS Framework?

Companies using Materialize CSS are proprofs.com, guru99.com, GameRaven, etc.

Wrapping Up!