Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups
Register | Login

Less VS node-sass

Compare Less VS node-sass and see what are their differences

Flagsmith
Flagsmith lets you manage feature flags and remote config across web, mobile and server side applications. Deliver true Continuous Integration. Get builds out faster. Control who has access to new features. We're Open Source. featured
Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Less logo Less

Less extends CSS with dynamic behavior such as variables, mixins, operations and functions. Less runs on both the server-side (with Node. js and Rhino) or client-side (modern browsers only).

node-sass logo node-sass

:rainbow: Node.js bindings to libsass. Contribute to sass/node-sass development by creating an account on GitHub.
  • Less Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-19
  • node-sass Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-27

Less features and specs

  • Simplifies CSS
    Less extends CSS with dynamic behavior like variables, mixins, operations, and functions, making stylesheets more maintainable and less repetitive.
  • Preprocessing
    Allows developers to write easier and cleaner code which then gets compiled into standard CSS, facilitating better performance and compatibility.
  • Variables and Mixins
    With the ability to use variables and mixins, code becomes modular and reusable, reducing the potential for errors and simplifying updates.
  • Nested Syntax
    Supports nested syntax which allows CSS to be structured in a manner that follows the same visual hierarchy, making it easier to read and understand.
  • Compatibility
    Compatible with all versions of CSS, making it easier to integrate with existing projects and frameworks without breaking them.

Possible disadvantages of Less

  • Learning Curve
    Requires developers to learn new syntax and concepts, which can be a barrier for those who are accustomed to traditional CSS.
  • Compilation Requirement
    Code written in Less needs to be compiled to CSS, adding an extra step in the development process.
  • Performance Overhead
    While not significant, the preprocessing step can add to development time and require additional configuration and tools.
  • Debugging
    Debugging Less can be more challenging compared to plain CSS because source maps need to be set up properly to map the compiled CSS back to the Less files.
  • Dependency
    Relies on Node.js or another JavaScript runtime for compiling the Less code, adding another dependency to the project.

node-sass features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Less videos

+ Add

'Less' author Andrew Sean Greer answers your questions

More videos:

  • Review - Book Review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer, reviewed by Smriti
  • Review - Book Review - Less by Andrew Sean Greer

node-sass videos

+ Add

SASS/SCSS dev env - detect changes & compile SCSS to CSS with node-sass NPM package (ep 1 of 2)

More videos:

  • Review - Easy Node-Sass Implementation - React Lists for Beginners 4: Node-Sass Implementation

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Less and node-sass)

Less

node-sass

Design Tools
71 71%
Design Tools
29% 29
Developer Tools
69 69%
Developer Tools
31% 31
CSS Framework
72 72%
CSS Framework
28% 28
iPhone
100 100%
iPhone
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Less and node-sass. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, node-sass seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 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.

Less mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Less yet. Tracking of Less recommendations started around Mar 2021.

node-sass mentions (3)

  • Use TailwindCSS prefixes for shared design system components
    For many years, Culture Amp took the second option, and distributed shared components without compiled CSS. This meant that every app that consumed shared components needed to include the necessary CSS build tooling – at that time CSS Modules and node-sass – with a compatible version and configuration. This was relatively easy to set up, but over time proved difficult to maintain. When node-sass was deprecated in... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Syncfusion Essential Studio 2022 Volume 2 Is Here!
    ES 2 component Sass files are compiled using dart Sass instead of node-sass. This change was made because node-sass has been deprecated. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Fetching Yelp API via Netlify Function with React.js
    I will deal with SCSS later, in separate blog entry. For here and now, just to make sure everything is working correctly, I need to apply some possibly simplest style to my boilerplate code. To transpile SCSS to CSS, I need to install node-sass package. Version 6.0.0 just came out a few days ago, but for a sake of any possible compatibility issues, I'll install previous version which is 5.0.0:. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Less and node-sass, you can also consider the following products

Sass - Syntatically Awesome Style Sheets

PostCSS - Increase code readability. Add vendor prefixes to CSS rules using values from Can I Use. Autoprefixer will use the data based on current browser popularity and property support to apply prefixes for you.

Stylus - EXPRESSIVE, DYNAMIC, ROBUST CSS

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

CSS Next - Use tomorrow’s CSS syntax, today.

Stylecow - CSS processor to fix your css code and make it compatible with all browsers

Loading...