Foundation vs. Bulma
By SW Habitation
Foundation
Bulma
You know how building a website can feel like a lot, especially when you’re trying to style every little thing yourself? Buttons, forms, layouts… it adds up fast. That’s where UI frameworks really save the day. They give you a bunch of premade design elements that you can just drop in and go. It’s like having a design starter pack that helps your site look clean and professional, without spending forever tweaking the details.
What is Foundation?
Foundation by Zurb is a responsive front-end framework designed for creating responsive and accessible websites quickly. It is known for its mobile-first approach and powerful grid system, Foundation provides a set of prebuilt components and tools that help developers create professional websites, prototypes, and production-ready apps.
Foundation has been widely used by enterprises and is praised for its accessibility features that makes a solid choice for large-scale projects.
Key Features of Foundation
- Responsive Grid: Flexible 12-column grid with responsive breakpoints.
- UI Components: Includes buttons, forms, sliders, menus, modals, tooltips, and more.
- Accessibility: ARIA support and semantic markup built in.
- Sass Integration: Easy to customize with Sass variables and mixins.
- Motion UI: Built-in animation library for smooth transitions.
- Email Framework: Foundation for Emails to create responsive email templates.
Advantages of Foundation
- Theming : Sass variables, mixins, and functions allow deep but easy customization.
- Consistency : Provides a consistent design system for teams working on large projects.
- Accessibility : Built-in ARIA support and WCAG compliance for inclusive websites.
- Grid System : Responsive, flexible grid with custom breakpoints for any screen size.
- Mobile-First : Designed with a mobile-first approach, ensuring layouts work on small screens first.
- Components : Includes a wide range of prebuilt UI components like buttons, forms, menus, and modals.
- Professional Use : Trusted by enterprises and large projects where stability and accessibility matter.
- Integration : Plays well with modern build tools (Gulp, Webpack, npm) for scalable workflows.
- Responsive Emails : Comes with Foundation for Emails to create mobile-friendly email templates.
Disadvantages of Foundation
- Design Opinionated : Prebuilt components feel dated compared to newer UI frameworks.
- Support : Fewer active tutorials, blog posts, and YouTube guides compared to Bootstrap.
- Learning Curve : More advanced setup and Sass knowledge needed, unlike Bulma or Bootstrap.
- Weight : Bigger in size than minimal CSS frameworks, which can affect performance.
- Popularity : Less adoption in recent years compared to Bootstrap or Tailwind CSS.
- Community : Smaller user base and fewer third-party themes or extensions.
- Complexity : Might be overkill for small projects that don’t need advanced features.
- Documentation : Feels less beginner-friendly and not updated as frequently.
What is Bulma?
Bulma is a modern, open-source CSS framework based entirely on Flexbox. Unlike Bootstrap or Foundation, Bulma is a pure CSS framework, it doesn’t come with JavaScript components, which makes it lightweight, simple, and easy to use.
Bulma is especially loved by developers who want a minimalist yet responsive framework for quickly building prototypes, small projects, and clean modern websites.
Key Features of Bulma
- Lightweight: Small file size and fast performance.
- Clean Syntax: Readable, intuitive class naming convention.
- Customizable with Sass: Use Sass variables to easily adjust themes and styles.
- Flexbox-based Grid: Fully powered by Flexbox for responsive and modern layouts.
- Responsive Modifiers: Easy-to-use breakpoints for mobile, tablet, desktop, and widescreen.
- Pure CSS: No JavaScript dependencies — works with any JS framework or vanilla JS.
- Utility Classes: Includes helper classes for spacing, colors, display, typography, and more.
Advantages of Bulma
- Responsive by Default: Built-in responsive utilities.
- Fast Prototyping: Perfect for quick MVPs and small apps.
- Lightweight: No extra JavaScript, only CSS.
- Modern Layouts: Built entirely on Flexbox.
- Cross-Browser Consistency: Works well across modern browsers.
- Beginner-Friendly: Super easy to learn and use.
Disadvantages of Bulma
- Not Ideal for Enterprises: May not scale as well for very large applications.
- No JavaScript Plugins: Requires manual integration for modals, dropdowns, or carousels.
- Smaller Ecosystem: Fewer themes, templates, and community add-ons compared to Bootstrap.
- Limited Components: Doesn’t have as many prebuilt components as Bootstrap or Foundation.
Comparison Between Foundation vs Bulma
Use Cases of Foundation
- Websites needing advanced UI components with JS integration.
- Projects needing responsive emails + websites.
- Large-scale projects with complex layouts.
- Enterprise websites requiring accessibility.
Use Cases of Bulma
- Prototyping: Developers can spin up layouts rapidly.
- Projects with JS Frameworks: Works seamlessly with React, Vue, Angular, or vanilla JS since it’s pure CSS.
- Portfolios & Blogs: Great for personal projects with minimal setup.
- Startups & MVPs: Perfect for small projects that need quick, clean UI.
Other Resources
Conclusion
UI frameworks make building a polished website way easier. Whether you're working on something simple or a big project, they help you get things looking just right without having to stress over every little design decision. With ready-to-use components, responsive layouts, and modern styles, you can build faster and smarter.
So, pick one that works for you, and start creating a site that looks amazing from the get-go.
Frequently asked questions
What is Foundation CSS?
Foundation is a responsive front-end framework by Zurb, used to build mobile-first, accessible websites.
How is it different from Bootstrap?
Both are popular, but Foundation is more flexible, Sass-driven, and has stronger accessibility features.
Is Foundation mobile-first?
Yes, its grid and components are designed with mobile-first responsiveness.
Can I customize Foundation easily?
Yes, it’s built with Sass, so you can tweak variables, colors, and components.
Does Foundation support accessibility?
Definitely. It includes ARIA support and a11y-friendly components out of the box.
Is Bulma better than Bootstrap?
Bulma is simpler and lighter, great for small projects. Bootstrap is more feature-rich, with JavaScript plugins and a larger ecosystem, making it better for complex apps.
Does Bulma use Flexbox?
Yes, Bulma is 100% built with Flexbox, which makes it modern and responsive out of the box.
Can I use Bulma with React or Vue?
Absolutely! Since Bulma is pure CSS, it integrates easily with any JavaScript framework.
Does Bulma support dark mode?
Not natively, but you can customize Bulma with Sass or community add-ons to implement dark mode.
Is Bulma good for beginners?
Yes, Bulma is one of the most beginner-friendly CSS frameworks due to its clean syntax and simple utility classes.