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Materialize CSS VS Bourbon

Compare Materialize CSS VS Bourbon and see what are their differences

Materialize CSS

A modern responsive front-end framework based on Material Design

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Alternatives Is it good?
Bourbon

Bourbon - A simple and lightweight mixin library for Sass / CSS.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Alternatives Is it good?
DisplaySwitcher
Switch your monitor’s video input and seamlessly transfer text and files! A Linux/macOS/Windows Desktop Application. sponsored

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Materialize CSS seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 28 times since March 2021.

social mentions
28 vs 0
Design Tools popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 164

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Materialize CSS
Bourbon
Website materializecss.com bourbon.io
Pricing
Open source
Open source
Listed in
CSS Framework Design Tools Developer Tools Development Tools +1
Development Tools Javascript UI Libraries JavaScript Framework UI +1

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Materialize CSS 5 features
Bourbon 5 features
  • Responsive Design
    Materialize CSS provides a responsive grid system, making it easier to create layouts that work well on various screen sizes and devices.
  • Material Design
    Adheres to Google's Material Design principles, offering a modern and professional look that is consistent across web applications.
  • Component Variety
    Offers a wide range of pre-built components, including forms, buttons, cards, and navigation bars, which helps speed up development.
  • Customization
    Provides options to customize components using Sass, making it flexible for specific design needs.
  • Built-in JavaScript
    Includes built-in JavaScript components like modals, carousels, and tabs, which enhance functionality without requiring additional libraries.

Possible disadvantages

  • Learning Curve
    Although it follows Material Design guidelines, there is a learning curve associated with understanding and implementing its various components and classes.
  • File Size
    Including the full library can make your project heavier, affecting load times, especially for users on slower connections.
  • Customization Complexity
    While customizable, deeply customizing or overriding default styles can sometimes be complicated and time-consuming.
  • Dependency on jQuery
    Some components still rely on jQuery, adding to the library size and potentially conflicting with modern JavaScript practices.
  • Community Support
    Compared to larger frameworks like Bootstrap, Materialize CSS has a smaller community, which can result in fewer third-party resources and plugins.
  • Modular Architecture
    Bourbon's modular structure allows developers to include only the parts they need, reducing bloat and increasing efficiency.
  • Sass Compatibility
    Being built with Sass, Bourbon is highly compatible with Sass projects, making it easier to integrate into existing workflows.
  • Community Support
    Bourbon has a significant following and community support, offering ample resources, documentation, and third-party tutorials.
  • Lightweight
    Bourbon does not come bundled with pre-defined styles, which makes it lightweight and highly customizable.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, Bourbon is free to use and continuously improved by contributors from around the world.

Possible disadvantages

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its simplicity, Bourbon can still present a learning curve for developers who are new to Sass or modular CSS frameworks.
  • Limited Pre-made Components
    Unlike some other frameworks, Bourbon does not include a plethora of pre-made UI components, requiring developers to build most elements from scratch.
  • Maintenance Requirements
    Since it is highly customizable and not bundled with unnecessary parts, developers need to maintain and update their setup regularly.
  • Dependency on Sass
    Bourbon is built entirely with Sass; therefore, it requires knowledge of Sass and a compatible setup, which can be a constraint for projects not using Sass.
  • Less Suitable for Rapid Prototyping
    The lack of pre-defined styles and components makes Bourbon less ideal for rapid prototyping compared to more comprehensive frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Materialize CSS
Bourbon

Overall verdict

  • Materialize CSS is a good choice if you're looking for a framework that emphasizes Material Design and comes with a sleek, modern interface. It's particularly useful for developers who want to quickly integrate Google's design philosophy without delving into custom styling or layout creation.

Why this product is good

  • Materialize CSS is a front-end framework based on Material Design principles developed by Google. It provides a comprehensive set of UI components that help developers create visually appealing and responsive web applications quickly. The framework includes a variety of pre-styled components like buttons, forms, cards, and much more, which adhere to the Material Design guidelines. This consistency in design components helps ensure a cohesive and professional look across web applications. Additionally, it simplifies responsive design with a grid system that's easy to implement, and it comes with excellent documentation and a supportive community.

Recommended for

    Materialize CSS is recommended for teams and developers who prefer Google's Material Design aesthetic, are building applications with a focus on rapid UI development, and value consistency and ease of use. It's also great for projects where a pre-existing UI library speeds up the development process, such as prototypes, admin dashboards, or smaller web applications. However, for highly customized UI components or non-Material Design projects, other frameworks might be more suitable.

Overall verdict

  • Bourbon is a good tool for developers who want to extend their CSS capabilities without the overhead of larger frameworks. It is especially useful for those working within the Sass ecosystem and looking for a modular approach to styling.

Why this product is good

  • Bourbon (bourbon.io) is a lightweight, simple-to-use library for writing CSS using Sass. It provides common design patterns and utilities, which can simplify the development process and help maintain consistent styles across projects. By leveraging Sass mixins and functions, Bourbon allows developers to write clean, maintainable, and scalable CSS.

Recommended for

  • Developers familiar with Sass looking to enhance their CSS workflow
  • Projects that require modular and reusable CSS components
  • Teams that prefer a minimalistic approach to using style libraries without the bulk of full frameworks

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Materialize CSS 1 video + Add
Bourbon 3 videos + Add

Build A Travel Agency Theme With Materialize CSS 1.0.0

Top 10 Budget-ish Bourbons (according to whiskey lovers)

More videos

  • - Best Available Bourbons of 2021
  • - Top 5 BEST bourbons of 2021!

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Materialize CSS
Bourbon
100% 100%
Design Tools
0% 0%
0% 0%
Javascript UI Libraries
100% 100%
93% 93%
CSS Framework
7% 7%
45% 45%
Development Tools
55% 55%

User comments

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Materialize CSS no reviews yet
Bourbon no reviews yet

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We have no reviews of Bourbon yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Materialize CSS 28 mentions
Bourbon 0 mentions
  • JavaScript Awesome Package
    Materialize - Responsive front-end framework based on Material Design. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Mistakes Were Made
    Sure, why not use Blazor? It makes life easier for the developers who are primarily backend, to work on the frontend as well. Seems like the better choice. So what's next? The UI library. No shade to the long-time standing Bootstrap, but... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Top 5 Best CSS Frameworks for Responsive Web Design in 2024
    Materialize is a modern CSS framework based on Google’s Material Design. It was created and designed by Google to provide a unified and consistent user interface across all its products. Materialize is focused on user experience as it... - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago

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Tracking Bourbon since Mar 2021.

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