Milligram 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 small CSS stylesheet framework for clean, simple page styling, around 2kb gzipped.
Open source · MIT
A small, plain CSS starting point for responsive, mobile-friendly web pages.
The short answer
Choose Milligram if you need…
- Developers who want a light starting point for a simple website or prototype
- People who prefer writing their own HTML with minimal framework styling
- Projects where small file size matters
- Developers who want fewer CSS resets to override
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
| Milligram | Skeleton | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 10.2k | 19.3k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Download the app |
| Main language | HTML | CSS |
| Last code update | 2 months ago | 3 years ago |
What each one is
Milligram
Milligram is a minimal CSS framework: a ready-made set of styles you add to a web page so headings, buttons, forms, tables and grids look reasonable without writing much CSS yourself. The README says it is only about 2kb gzipped and is intentionally not a full UI component kit. It is installed through npm, Yarn or Bower.
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
Milligram
- Developers who want a light starting point for a simple website or prototype
- People who prefer writing their own HTML with minimal framework styling
- Projects where small file size matters
- Developers who want fewer CSS resets to override
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
Milligram
- Very small footprint, stated as about 2kb gzipped
- Covers common basics like typography, forms, tables and grids
- MIT licensed and free to use
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
Milligram
- People who need a large set of ready-made components like dropdowns or modals, since the README says it is not a UI framework
- Non-developers who want a no-code site builder, since it requires editing HTML and CSS
- Teams that need active, frequently updated tooling, since the latest release shown is v1.4.1 and the README does not describe a maintenance schedule
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
Milligram
- Limited scope: the README says it is not a full UI component library
- The README is brief and documentation mostly lives on the external website
- Maintenance pace is not stated in the README, so check recent activity before relying on it long term
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
Milligram
Install with npm
npm install milligramInstall with Yarn
yarn add milligramSkeleton
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dhg/Skeleton.gitFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Milligram and Skeleton?
Milligram: A small CSS stylesheet framework for clean, simple page styling, around 2kb gzipped. Skeleton: A small, plain CSS starting point for responsive, mobile-friendly web pages. Milligram suits developers who want a light starting point for a simple website or prototype, while Skeleton suits developers who want a simple responsive grid without a build tool.
Are Milligram and Skeleton free?
Milligram: Free and open source. Skeleton: Free and open source.
Is Milligram or Skeleton more popular?
Skeleton has more GitHub stars (19.3k) than Milligram (10.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Milligram and Skeleton?
Other options people compare them with include Bootstrap, Bulma, Pure, Materialize, Spectre.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.