Catppuccin vs Solarized
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 set of soothing pastel color palettes for coding, design, and other tools.
Open source · MIT
A 16-color palette for terminals and code editors, with matched dark and light modes.
The short answer
Choose Catppuccin if you need…
- Developers who want a readable, colorful dark or light theme for their editor or terminal
- Designers who want a consistent pastel palette across projects
- Maintainers looking to add Catppuccin colors to their own tools, using the style guide
- People who prefer a warm, soft color scheme over high-contrast themes
Choose Solarized if you need…
- Developers who spend long hours in a terminal or code editor and want a low-glare color scheme
- People who switch between dark and light backgrounds and want them to look consistent
- Users of Vim, Emacs, IntelliJ, Visual Studio or a supported terminal emulator who want a ready-made theme
- Designers who want a palette of five or more colors with matched tones
Side-by-side
| Catppuccin | Solarized | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Other | Other |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 19.9k | 16k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | See the README | See the README |
| Main language | TypeScript | Vim Script |
| Last code update | 3 months ago | 2 years ago |
What each one is
Catppuccin
Catppuccin is a community-driven pastel color palette with four named flavors, each containing 26 colors. It is meant to sit between low-contrast and high-contrast themes, and the README describes it as useful for coding and design. This repository holds the palette definition, its documentation, and shared assets, while the README points to separate projects for framework and tool integrations.
Solarized
Solarized is a color scheme: a fixed set of 16 colors (eight neutral tones and eight accent colors) that you apply to terminals, text editors and other apps so text and code are easier to read. It is built around CIELAB lightness relationships and color-wheel hue relationships, and it is designed so the dark and light versions feel like one scheme. Ports exist for many editors and terminal emulators, with the Vim version being the most prominent.
Best for
Catppuccin
- Developers who want a readable, colorful dark or light theme for their editor or terminal
- Designers who want a consistent pastel palette across projects
- Maintainers looking to add Catppuccin colors to their own tools, using the style guide
- People who prefer a warm, soft color scheme over high-contrast themes
Solarized
- Developers who spend long hours in a terminal or code editor and want a low-glare color scheme
- People who switch between dark and light backgrounds and want them to look consistent
- Users of Vim, Emacs, IntelliJ, Visual Studio or a supported terminal emulator who want a ready-made theme
- Designers who want a palette of five or more colors with matched tones
Strengths
Catppuccin
- Four flavors with 26 colors each give a consistent set of options across light and dark styles
- Includes a documented style guide and palette values in multiple formats (hex, RGB, HSL)
- MIT licensed, so the palette can be used in other projects under those terms
Solarized
- The README describes a deliberate, documented design based on CIELAB lightness and color-wheel hues
- Covers many applications, including Vim, Emacs, IntelliJ, Visual Studio and several terminal emulators
- Dark and light modes are designed to match each other
Not ideal for
Catppuccin
- Anyone who needs a ready-to-install app: this repository is the palette source, and the README does not describe a standalone program
- Users who need high-contrast colors for accessibility requirements, since the README describes it as a middle ground rather than a high-contrast option
- Teams needing official ports for a specific tool: the README points to separate ports, which this repository does not itself provide
Solarized
- People who want a high-contrast scheme; the README says Solarized deliberately reduces brightness contrast
- Users of editors or terminals with no listed port, unless they are willing to build one from the published values
- Anyone looking for a software application or library; this is a set of color values and themes
Trade-offs
Catppuccin
- This repository is a palette and documentation source, not a finished app, so you need a separate port or integration to use it in a tool
- The README is truncated in the provided text, so details on individual ports and integrations are not fully visible here
- The latest release, v0.2.0, has no binaries, so there is nothing to download directly from the releases page
Solarized
- The README says the TextMate dark theme is a work in progress and Xcode ports are not yet merged
- The README's release information is dated; the current release is listed as v1.0.0beta2 and the file header shows 2011 dates
- Its low brightness contrast may not suit users who need strong readability or accessibility contrast
Getting started
Catppuccin
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/catppuccin/catppuccinSolarized
Clone the full repository
git clone git://github.com/altercation/solarized.gitFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Catppuccin and Solarized?
Catppuccin: A set of soothing pastel color palettes for coding, design, and other tools. Solarized: A 16-color palette for terminals and code editors, with matched dark and light modes. Catppuccin suits developers who want a readable, colorful dark or light theme for their editor or terminal, while Solarized suits developers who spend long hours in a terminal or code editor and want a low-glare color scheme.
Are Catppuccin and Solarized free?
Catppuccin: Free and open source. Solarized: Free and open source.
Is Catppuccin or Solarized more popular?
Catppuccin has more GitHub stars (19.9k) than Solarized (16k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Catppuccin and Solarized?
Other options people compare them with include Dracula.
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.