Bulma vs Spectre.css
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A CSS framework built on Flexbox that gives you styled layout and UI classes.
Open source · MIT
A small CSS framework with ready-made styles, a flexbox grid, and components for web pages.
The short answer
Choose Bulma if you need…
- Developers who want a quick, consistent styling baseline for a web page
- Projects that already have their own JavaScript and only need a style layer
- Teams that want to customize styles through Sass variables
- Developers working with Vue, React, or other frameworks who want Bulma-based component libraries
Choose Spectre.css if you need…
- Developers who want a small, ready-made base for a simple website or web app
- Teams that prefer plain CSS classes over a heavier JavaScript-driven UI library
- Projects that need a flexbox grid and common components without a large dependency
- People who want to customize a framework by compiling their own Sass build
Side-by-side
| Bulma | Spectre.css | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 50k | 11.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | CSS | CSS |
| Last code update | 46 days ago | 3 years ago |
What each one is
Bulma
Bulma is a CSS framework based on Flexbox. It ships as a single CSS file with ready-made classes for layout and common interface elements, so you can style a web page without writing much custom CSS. It contains no JavaScript, so you add your own scripts for any interactive behavior.
Spectre.css
Spectre.css is a CSS framework: a set of pre-written stylesheets that give web pages a consistent look and a responsive, flexbox-based layout system. It includes base styles, form and button elements, and components such as cards, modals, tabs, and navbars. The README describes it as lightweight, at roughly 10KB gzipped, and it can be customized with a Sass/Scss compiler.
Best for
Bulma
- Developers who want a quick, consistent styling baseline for a web page
- Projects that already have their own JavaScript and only need a style layer
- Teams that want to customize styles through Sass variables
- Developers working with Vue, React, or other frameworks who want Bulma-based component libraries
Spectre.css
- Developers who want a small, ready-made base for a simple website or web app
- Teams that prefer plain CSS classes over a heavier JavaScript-driven UI library
- Projects that need a flexbox grid and common components without a large dependency
- People who want to customize a framework by compiling their own Sass build
Strengths
Bulma
- Based on Flexbox, with a single CSS file as its output
- No JavaScript included, so it does not force a particular JS environment
- Customizable through Sass source files and variables
Spectre.css
- Small footprint, described in the README as about 10KB gzipped
- Covers base styles, flexbox grid, components, and utilities in one stylesheet
- Can be installed manually, via CDN, or through NPM, Yarn, or Bower
Not ideal for
Bulma
- People who need interactive components like modals or dropdowns out of the box, since Bulma has no JavaScript and you must supply it
- Projects that must support Internet Explorer fully, since the README says IE 10+ is only partially supported
- Teams that want a heavily opinionated design system with a fixed look, since much of the appearance is meant to be customized
Spectre.css
- Projects that need a large ecosystem of JavaScript-driven components, since the README focuses on CSS and does not describe JS widgets beyond CSS-only effects
- Projects that must support older browsers well, since the README says Spectre is designed for modern browsers and only partially supports Internet Explorer 10+
- Teams wanting a maintained, actively developed project, since the last push shown is April 2024 and the latest release is v0.5.9
Trade-offs
Bulma
- Browser support is limited to recent versions of major browsers, with only partial support for IE 10+
- Interactive behavior must be written or added separately
- The README notes the project is in constant development, so details may change between releases
Spectre.css
- The README says the project is a side project, and the last push shown is April 2024, so future updates are uncertain
- Some HTML5 and CSS3 features are not perfectly supported in Internet Explorer 10+
- Requires some CSS and HTML knowledge to use the components well
Getting started
Bulma
Install with npm
npm install bulmaInstall with Yarn
yarn add bulmaSpectre.css
Install with NPM
$ npm install spectre.css --saveInstall with Yarn
$ yarn add spectre.cssFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Bulma and Spectre.css?
Bulma: A CSS framework built on Flexbox that gives you styled layout and UI classes. Spectre.css: A small CSS framework with ready-made styles, a flexbox grid, and components for web pages. Bulma suits developers who want a quick, consistent styling baseline for a web page, while Spectre.css suits developers who want a small, ready-made base for a simple website or web app.
Are Bulma and Spectre.css free?
Bulma: Free and open source. Spectre.css: Free and open source.
Is Bulma or Spectre.css more popular?
Bulma has more GitHub stars (50k) than Spectre.css (11.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Bulma and Spectre.css?
Other options people compare them with include Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, Milligram, Materialize, Tachyons.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.