Linaria vs styled-components
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-in-JS library that extracts styles to plain CSS files at build time, so no styling code runs in the brow
Open source · MIT
A library for styling React components with CSS written inside your JavaScript.
The short answer
Choose Linaria if you need…
- React or other JavaScript teams who want CSS-in-JS without a runtime styling cost
- Projects that already use a supported bundler and can add a build-time plugin
- Developers who like CSS syntax with nesting and want JavaScript variables inside styles
- Teams that want source maps and stylelint support for styles written in JS
Choose styled-components if you need…
- React developers who prefer writing styles alongside components in JavaScript
- Teams building apps that use server-side rendering or React Server Components
- Projects that also target React Native and want one styling approach
Side-by-side
| Linaria | styled-components | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 12.4k | 41.1k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 8 days ago |
What each one is
Linaria
Linaria lets you write CSS inside JavaScript files, such as with a css tag or a styled helper for React. During the build step, those styles are pulled out into ordinary CSS files, so the browser does not need extra JavaScript to apply them. It is built on the wyw-in-js build tooling and works with bundlers like webpack, Vite, Rollup, and esbuild.
styled-components
styled-components is a TypeScript library for React that lets you attach CSS styles directly to React components. Per its description, it supports server components, client components, streaming server-side rendering, and React Native through one API. Developers use it to keep styles close to the components they belong to.
Best for
Linaria
- React or other JavaScript teams who want CSS-in-JS without a runtime styling cost
- Projects that already use a supported bundler and can add a build-time plugin
- Developers who like CSS syntax with nesting and want JavaScript variables inside styles
- Teams that want source maps and stylelint support for styles written in JS
styled-components
- React developers who prefer writing styles alongside components in JavaScript
- Teams building apps that use server-side rendering or React Server Components
- Projects that also target React Native and want one styling approach
Strengths
Linaria
- Styles are extracted to CSS files at build time, so there is no styling runtime in the browser according to the README
- Supports nesting, sourcemaps, and optional preprocessors such as Sass or PostCSS
- Has a documented setup for common bundlers and an MIT license
styled-components
- MIT licensed and open source, with a large community (about 41,000 GitHub stars at time of listing)
- Covers client, server, and React Native rendering under one API, per the project description
- Written in TypeScript, which helps with type-checked props and styles
Not ideal for
Linaria
- Projects that need dynamic styles inside the css tag, since the README says those are not supported there
- Apps that must support IE11, because dynamic styled components rely on CSS custom properties
- Teams whose build setup cannot run Node.js 22.12.0 or newer, which Linaria 8 requires
- Codebases with shared style helper modules that have side effects, since the README says modules used in CSS rules cannot have side effects
styled-components
- People who only need plain CSS or a utility-class system; the README describes a CSS-in-JS approach, so a different tool may fit better
- Non-React projects, since the library is built for React and React Native
- Beginners new to React, who should learn React basics first
Trade-offs
Linaria
- Build-time evaluation can cause slow builds or unexpected behavior if modules have side effects, per the Stability and Trade-offs sections
- Some features are limited, such as no IE11 support for dynamic styled components and no dynamic values in the css tag
- Setup is split across the wyw-in-js.dev site, so configuration requires reading external docs
styled-components
- Adds a runtime styling layer to your app, so trade-offs in bundle size and performance depend on setup; the README excerpt provided does not give measurements
- Because the README was truncated, detailed setup and configuration specifics could not be confirmed here
Getting started
Linaria
Install with npm
npm install @linaria/core @linaria/react @wyw-in-js/babel-presetInstall with yarn
yarn add @linaria/core @linaria/react @wyw-in-js/babel-presetstyled-components
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/styled-components/styled-componentsFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Linaria and styled-components?
Linaria: A CSS-in-JS library that extracts styles to plain CSS files at build time, so no styling code runs in the brow. styled-components: A library for styling React components with CSS written inside your JavaScript. Linaria suits react or other javascript teams who want css-in-js without a runtime styling cost, while styled-components suits react developers who prefer writing styles alongside components in javascript.
Are Linaria and styled-components free?
Linaria: Free and open source. styled-components: Free and open source.
Is Linaria or styled-components more popular?
styled-components has more GitHub stars (41.1k) than Linaria (12.4k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Linaria and styled-components?
Other options people compare them with include Emotion, vanilla-extract, React Native for Web, Tamagui, Tailwind CSS.
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.