Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CSS Scan VS styled-components

Compare CSS Scan VS styled-components and see what are their differences

CSS Scan logo CSS Scan

Instantly check or copy computed CSS from any element for only ~95$

styled-components logo styled-components

styled-components is a visual primitive for the component age that also helps the user to use the ES6 and CSS to style apps.
  • CSS Scan Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-14
  • styled-components Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

CSS Scan features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    CSS Scan offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy for developers of all skill levels to inspect and copy CSS styles directly from the browser.
  • Time-Saving
    It significantly reduces the time needed to debug and replicate styles by allowing quick copying of well-structured CSS rules from any element on the page.
  • Accuracy
    The tool ensures that the copied CSS maintains the exact styling, including computed styles and vendor prefixes, providing high accuracy in replication.
  • Live Edits
    CSS Scan enables live editing of styles, allowing developers to make real-time changes and see the results instantly, which is beneficial for testing and adjustments.
  • Visual Representation
    The extension visually displays how CSS rules are applied, making it easier to understand complex styling hierarchies and cascades.

Possible disadvantages of CSS Scan

  • Cost
    CSS Scan is a paid tool, so there is a financial investment required, which might not be feasible for all developers, especially those working on personal or non-commercial projects.
  • Browser Compatibility
    As a browser extension, its functionality may be limited to supported browsers, potentially excluding users of less common or unsupported browsers.
  • Limited Scope
    While CSS Scan is powerful for copying and analyzing CSS, it does not offer features for editing or managing CSS files directly, requiring another tool or manual intervention for those tasks.
  • Dependency
    Relying on a third-party tool can be a downside if the tool experiences downtime, changes its pricing, or ceases development, leaving users in a difficult position.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Using browser extensions can raise privacy concerns, as they typically have access to the pages you visit; ensuring the trustworthiness of the extension is crucial.

styled-components features and specs

  • Component-Scoped Styling
    Styles are encapsulated within components, ensuring that styles do not leak or conflict with other parts of the application.
  • Dynamic Styling
    Enables dynamic styling with the help of JavaScript variables and props, allowing for highly customizable components.
  • CSS Syntax
    Allows developers to write actual CSS code within JavaScript, making it easier for those familiar with CSS to adapt.
  • Automatic Vendor Prefixing
    Automatically adds vendor prefixes to CSS properties, ensuring cross-browser compatibility without additional configuration.
  • Theming Support
    Provides a built-in theming solution, making it easier to implement and switch between different themes in the application.
  • Server-Side Rendering
    Supports server-side rendering, improving initial page load times and SEO.

Possible disadvantages of styled-components

  • Bundle Size
    Styled-components can add to the overall bundle size, potentially affecting performance, especially in large projects.
  • Learning Curve
    Requires developers to learn the styled-components library and its API, which can be a hurdle for new team members or those unfamiliar with CSS-in-JS.
  • Performance Overhead
    The runtime cost of parsing and injecting styles can impact performance, particularly in larger applications or with frequent style changes.
  • Tooling and Ecosystem
    While improving, the ecosystem around styled-components (e.g., linting, debugging) is not as mature as traditional CSS or CSS preprocessor tools.
  • CSS-in-JS Limitations
    Some CSS features, like advanced selectors or cascading, may be more cumbersome or less intuitive to implement compared to traditional CSS approaches.

CSS Scan videos

Chrome CSS Viewer CSS Scan 2.0 - All Your CSS Secrets Revealed

More videos:

  • Review - CSS Scan and Microthemer are buddies

styled-components videos

No styled-components videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CSS Scan and styled-components)
Developer Tools
51 51%
49% 49
Design Tools
55 55%
45% 45
CSS Framework
46 46%
54% 54
Javascript UI Libraries
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using CSS Scan and styled-components. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, styled-components seems to be a lot more popular than CSS Scan. While we know about 169 links to styled-components, we've tracked only 13 mentions of CSS Scan. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CSS Scan mentions (13)

View more

styled-components mentions (169)

  • 11 Interview Questions You Should Know as a React Native Developer in 2025 📈🚀
    Using the same CSS-in-JS approach as React, you can use libraries like Styled Components to style your components. This allows you to write CSS directly in your JavaScript files (personally not a fan of using these). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • CSS-in-JS: Pros and cons
    The 2016 release of styled-components popularized the approach, offering a clean syntax and React integration. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Woovi monorepos best practices
    This detail implies if any dependencies can be resolved correctly and if not have a version conflict. As the example we have the styled-components lib, it can have a problem with type Symbol reference where the library doesn´t find your properties of themes because, in your internal code, it uses the symbolObject which is a unique object that refers your set configs. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Top 20 Modern React Libraries To Supercharge Your Next Big Project
    Resource: Styled Components Documentation. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • How to Use Styled-Components for Elegant React UI Design
    Styled-Components is a library that allows you to write CSS directly within your JavaScript files (CSS-in-JS), ensuring that your styles are scoped to individual components. Rather than managing separate CSS files, you define your styles alongside your component logic. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CSS Scan and styled-components, you can also consider the following products

CSS Scan Pro - The easiest way to get and edit the CSS of any website, live

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

Hoverify - All-in-one browser extension to improve your web dev experience.

Ant Design - An enterprise-class UI design language and React implementation with a set of high-quality React components, one of best React UI library for enterprises

CSS Peeper - Smart CSS viewer tailored for Designers.

Storybook - Storybook is an open source tool for developing UI components in isolation for React, Vue, and Angular. It makes building stunning UIs organized and efficient.