Spectre CSS vs. Bulma
By SW Habitation
Spectre CSS
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 Spectre CSS ?
Spectre.css is a lightweight (~10 KB gzipped), responsive, and modern CSS framework crafted by Yan Zhu. It offers a solid foundation for building clean UIs with minimal overhead, utilizing Flexbox-based layouts, pure CSS components, and utility classes—all designed with elegance and efficiency in mind.
Key Features of Spectre CSS
- Lightweight Starter Kit: Only about 10 KB gzipped, keeping your project snappy.
- Responsive Flexbox Layout: Mobile-friendly, modern layout system using Flexbox.
- Clean Design Language: Comes with thoughtfully designed elements and a consistent UI approach.
- Pure CSS Components & Utilities: Includes buttons, forms, typography, icons, cards, toasts, modals, navbars, and more.
- Experimentals for Advanced Features: CSS-only components like carousels, parallax scrolling, comparison sliders, calendars, and off-canvas menus.
- Minimal Dependency on JavaScript: Leverages CSS pseudo-classes (:checked, :target, :hover) for interactivity, JavaScript can be added for enhanced behavior.
Advantages of Spectre CSS
- Free and Open Source (MIT License): No cost, great for personal and commercial use.
- Lightweight & Fast: Excellent for performance-focused applications.
- Responsive and Mobile-Ready: Built with modern Flexbox grid system.
- Rich Collection of Pure CSS Components: Modals, tooltips, badges, cards, and more without JS.
- Easily Customizable: Clean, modular CSS ready for styling tweaks.
Disadvantages of Spectre CSS
- Limited Documentation for Experimentals: Advanced CSS-only components may require extra exploration and understanding.
- CSS-Only Interactivity Has Limitations: Some interactive components may need JavaScript for full functionality.
- IE10+ Support Only (and Partial): Some older browser features may not be fully supported.
- Still Relatively Lightweight Ecosystem: Not as popular or widely used as Bootstrap, Tailwind, etc.
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 Spectre CSS vs Bulma
Use Cases of Spectre CSS
- Prototyping & Wireframing: Perfect for quickly creating functional UI mockups without heavy dependencies.
- Lightweight Websites: Ideal for landing pages, documentation sites, or blogs where performance is critical.
- Dashboards & Admin Panels: Comes with grids, forms, and utilities that fit well for minimal dashboards.
- Static Sites & JAMstack Projects: Works great with static site generators like Jekyll, Hugo, or Next.js (SSG).
- Fallback for Custom Designs: Can be used as a solid base layer if you’re planning to add custom CSS on top.
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
Is Spectre.css free to use?
Yes, it’s completely free and open-source under the MIT license.
How do I include Spectre.css in my project?
You can install via npm, Yarn, Bower, CDN, or download the minified CSS directly from the docs.
Can Spectre handle interactivity without JavaScript?
Yes, Many components like modals, accordions, and carousels are built with pure CSS using pseudo-classes. JavaScript is optional and used only for enhanced behavior.
Which browsers does Spectre support?
Optimized for modern browsers; supports IE10+ with partial compatibility. Uses Normalize.css and Autoprefixer for broader coverage.
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.