HTML5 Boilerplate vs Skeleton
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 starter template of HTML, CSS and JavaScript files for building fast, robust websites.
Open source · MIT
A small, plain CSS starting point for responsive, mobile-friendly web pages.
The short answer
Choose HTML5 Boilerplate if you need…
- Developers starting a new static website who want a tested baseline
- Front-end developers who want placeholder meta tags and CSS helpers already in place
- Teams that want to avoid choosing a framework up front
- Developers who prefer to strip out unused parts of a starter
Choose Skeleton if you need…
- Developers who want a simple responsive grid without a build tool
- Prototypes and small landing pages
- People who prefer writing plain CSS and HTML
- Projects that need a light starting stylesheet to customize
Side-by-side
| HTML5 Boilerplate | Skeleton | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Other | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 57.7k | 19.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Download the app |
| Main language | JavaScript | CSS |
| Last code update | 5 days ago | 3 years ago |
What each one is
HTML5 Boilerplate
HTML5 Boilerplate is a front-end starter template: a set of ready-made HTML, CSS and JavaScript files that give a new website a sensible foundation. It includes things like placeholder meta and Open Graph tags, CSS helper classes, media query placeholders and print styles. It does not force a specific framework, so people can build on it in whatever way they prefer.
Skeleton
Skeleton is a small CSS boilerplate that gives you a responsive grid and basic styling for raw HTML elements, so pages look reasonable on phones and desktops. The download includes its CSS, Normalize CSS as a reset, a favicon, and a starter index.html. It is described as a starting point rather than a full UI framework, and needs no build step.
Best for
HTML5 Boilerplate
- Developers starting a new static website who want a tested baseline
- Front-end developers who want placeholder meta tags and CSS helpers already in place
- Teams that want to avoid choosing a framework up front
- Developers who prefer to strip out unused parts of a starter
Skeleton
- Developers who want a simple responsive grid without a build tool
- Prototypes and small landing pages
- People who prefer writing plain CSS and HTML
- Projects that need a light starting stylesheet to customize
Strengths
HTML5 Boilerplate
- Built on years of iterative development and community contributions, according to the README
- Designed with progressive enhancement in mind
- Easy to remove parts you do not need, as the README describes it as delete-key friendly
Skeleton
- Small, about 400 lines of commented CSS according to the README
- No compiling or installing; plain vanilla CSS
- Available under the MIT license
Not ideal for
HTML5 Boilerplate
- People who want a complete framework with components and routing, since the README says it does not impose a framework or philosophy
- Beginners looking for a visual website builder, since it is a set of code files
- Projects that need a specific build tool, as the bundled webpack setup is only an example
Skeleton
- Teams that need a large set of prebuilt components, since the README says it is not a UI framework
- Projects that rely on the latest CSS features, since it targets broad browser support rather than modern-only browsers
- Anyone needing long-term stability from the main branch, since the README says the repo is under active development and recommends the zip for stable use
Trade-offs
HTML5 Boilerplate
- Only a starter template, so you still need to build the site and decide on your own tools
- The README does not specify exact browser versions beyond pointing to Browserslist defaults
- Some files in the repository are for maintaining the project and are not needed by users
Skeleton
- Styles only raw HTML elements plus a grid, so you will write most components yourself
- Main branch is under active development; the zip release is the stable option per the README
- Last push in the metadata is from November 2023, and the README does not describe recent updates
Getting started
HTML5 Boilerplate
Create a new site with the create-html5-boilerplate script
npx create-html5-boilerplate new-siteInstall dependencies in the new site
npm installSkeleton
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dhg/Skeleton.gitFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between HTML5 Boilerplate and Skeleton?
HTML5 Boilerplate: A starter template of HTML, CSS and JavaScript files for building fast, robust websites. Skeleton: A small, plain CSS starting point for responsive, mobile-friendly web pages. HTML5 Boilerplate suits developers starting a new static website who want a tested baseline, while Skeleton suits developers who want a simple responsive grid without a build tool.
Are HTML5 Boilerplate and Skeleton free?
HTML5 Boilerplate: Free and open source. Skeleton: Free and open source.
Is HTML5 Boilerplate or Skeleton more popular?
HTML5 Boilerplate has more GitHub stars (57.7k) than Skeleton (19.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to HTML5 Boilerplate and Skeleton?
Other options people compare them with include Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, Milligram, Pure.
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.