Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CSSViewer VS Principle

Compare CSSViewer VS Principle and see what are their differences

CSSViewer logo CSSViewer

A simple CSS property viewer

Principle logo Principle

Principle makes it easy to create animated and interactive user interface designs.
  • CSSViewer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30
  • Principle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-19

CSSViewer features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    CSSViewer offers a simple and intuitive interface that allows users to easily inspect CSS properties of web elements by hovering over them.
  • Quick Access
    The extension provides quick access to CSS properties without the need to open the browser's developer tools, saving time for developers and designers.
  • Detailed Information
    CSSViewer displays detailed CSS information, such as font, color, and box properties, which can be useful for debugging or learning CSS.
  • Lightweight Tool
    The extension is lightweight and doesn't require significant system resources, making it a convenient tool for front-end developers.

Possible disadvantages of CSSViewer

  • Limited Functionality
    CSSViewer is limited to viewing CSS properties and does not allow users to edit them directly or offer any advanced features available in full-featured developer tools.
  • Browser Compatibility
    The extension is explicitly designed for Google Chrome, which means users of other browsers may need to look for alternatives.
  • No Updates or Support
    Users have reported that CSSViewer lacks regular updates, which may lead to compatibility issues with newer versions of Chrome or fails to support newer CSS features.
  • Potential Security Risks
    As with any third-party extension, users need to be cautious about permissions and potential security risks associated with installing and using such tools.

Principle features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Principle offers a highly intuitive and easy-to-use interface, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced designers.
  • Powerful Animation Features
    The tool supports complex animations and interactive designs, enabling designers to create rich and engaging prototypes.
  • Responsive Preview
    Principle provides real-time previews of your designs on actual devices, allowing designers to see exactly how their work will look and behave.
  • Import from Sketch and Figma
    Users can easily import designs from popular design tools like Sketch and Figma, streamlining the workflow.
  • High-Fidelity Prototyping
    Capable of producing high-fidelity prototypes that closely resemble the final product, making it ideal for user testing and presentations.

Possible disadvantages of Principle

  • Mac-Only
    Principle is exclusively available for macOS, which limits its accessibility for designers using Windows or other operating systems.
  • Cost
    The software comes with a significant price tag, potentially making it less accessible for freelancers or small teams with limited budgets.
  • Lack of Collaboration Features
    Unlike some other tools, Principle lacks advanced collaboration features, making it difficult for teams to work simultaneously on a project.
  • Limited Cloud Integration
    Principle does not offer extensive cloud integration options, which can hinder version control and file sharing across teams.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic interface is user-friendly, mastering its more advanced animation and interaction features can take time.

Analysis of Principle

Overall verdict

  • Principle is generally regarded as a good tool for designers, especially those who need to prototype interactive and animated designs. Its robust feature set and user-friendly design make it a preferred choice among many UI/UX professionals.

Why this product is good

  • Principle is a popular prototyping tool for Mac users, known for its intuitive interface and powerful features. It allows designers to create animated and interactive user interface designs efficiently. Users often praise it for its ease of use and the ability to quickly bring design concepts to life. Offering features such as timeline animations, multi-screen interactions, and the ability to import designs from Sketch, it makes the design workflow more streamlined.

Recommended for

  • UI/UX designers looking for a Mac-compatible prototyping tool
  • Designers familiar with Sketch who want to easily import their designs
  • Professionals needing to create high-fidelity animations and interactions
  • Teams looking to demonstrate design concepts through interactive prototypes

CSSViewer videos

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Principle videos

The Talos Principle (Review)

More videos:

  • Review - American Scandi Gerber Principle Knife
  • Review - The Talos Principle (Zero Punctuation)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CSSViewer and Principle)
Design Tools
42 42%
58% 58
Prototyping
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Development
73 73%
27% 27

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare CSSViewer and Principle

CSSViewer Reviews

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Principle Reviews

11 Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers — How To Choose The Right One?
Principle is built for OS X and comes with an iOS app to mirror live prototypes. Whether you’re designing the flow of a multi-screen app, or new interactions and animations, Principle lets you create designs that look and feel amazing. The app appears very much like the UI of Sketch including other familiar aspects of alignment, art board creation, and screen connections,...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Principle should be more popular than CSSViewer. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. 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.

CSSViewer mentions (5)

  • 7 Must Have Chrome Extensions for JavaScript Developers
    The "CSS Viewer" Chrome extension is a handy tool for JavaScript developers seeking to inspect and analyze CSS styles on web pages. With a simple click on the extension's icon in the Chrome toolbar, it provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to hover over any element on a webpage and instantly view its corresponding CSS properties and values. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • 20 Top Best Chrome Extensions for Web Developers in 2022
    CSS Viewer is a simple but very effective Chrome extension for web developers. As its name implies, this addon shows you the CSS properties of a given page wherever you hover your mouse. A small popup window appears showing you the CSS data that makes up the element you’re pointing at. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Top 10 Chrome Extensions for Web Developers in 2022
    1 - CSSViewer : It allows to show the CSS properties of element on any webpage, you just hover your mouse on it . A small window appears showing you the CSS data . - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • 21 Chrome Extension for web developer and designer
    CSSViewer helps us to view CSS properties of an object in a web page in the most general way such as color, font, size, position... You just need to select this utility and hover your mouse over the object that they want. If you want, the CSS information will automatically appear. CSSViewer. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Awesome Tools and Technologies I Use as a Developer!
    CSSViewer - For viewing and inspecting CSS on a page. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

Principle mentions (8)

  • What app was used to design this animated image?
    Seeing how principle is on the list. I'm going to say principle. It's like after effect but for interface design. Source: over 2 years ago
  • A mobile shopping app we just finished
    However, I did manage to make a very simple animation with my very limited skills for another project using Principle. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How to use animations to increase conversion
    Your visitors will scan your hero image or graphic first. Take advantage of that. Create subtle animations that explain better your product or offer. How will the interface be used? How simple it is? Keep it simple. I use Principle or Figma smart animate feature. If it's too complicated for you it might be very easy for a designer. Hire one for a small gig. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • New prototype: What if Tesla had an App Store?
    I use Figma & Principle to design & prototype, usually. I show a bit of the process on my YouTube channel, if you're interested. Source: over 3 years ago
  • I made an eyes-free gesture prototype — thoughts?
    No engineering here, just smoke & mirrors! This is a set of mockups stitched together with Principle into a prototype that runs on my iPad. It uses simple keyframing for most animations and is configured to react to different touch targets. Not a single line of code was harmed in the making of this prototype ;). Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing CSSViewer and Principle, you can also consider the following products

CSS Peeper - Smart CSS viewer tailored for Designers.

ProtoPie - ProtoPie is the easiest tool used to turn your UI/UX design ideas into highly interactive prototypes for mobile, desktop, web, all the way to IoT.

Unused CSS finder - Crawl your website and find unused CSS

Adobe XD - Adobe XD is an all-in-one UX/UI solution for designing websites, mobile apps and more. 

CSS Dig - CSS Dig is a Cascading Style Sheet viewer extension that allows you to collect and style the website element properties.

UXpin - Design is really about solving problems. UXPin is the UX Design Platform that gets that right.