Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PostCSS VS Dark Reader

Compare PostCSS VS Dark Reader and see what are their differences

PostCSS logo 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.

Dark Reader logo Dark Reader

Reduce eye strain in your browser with this extension that provides a dark theme for browsing.
  • PostCSS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19
  • Dark Reader Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-27

PostCSS features and specs

  • Modularity
    PostCSS is built around plugins, which means you can choose the exact features you need and avoid bloat. This modularity offers high customizability.
  • Performance
    PostCSS is known for its fast performance owing to its efficient processing and the ability to use only required plugins.
  • Large ecosystem
    With a vast set of available plugins, PostCSS can achieve a wide range of functionality, from linting and vendor prefixing to advanced CSS transformations.
  • Active community
    An active open-source community continuously maintains and updates PostCSS and its plugins, ensuring long-term support and innovation.
  • Integration
    PostCSS can be easily integrated into various build systems such as Webpack, Gulp, and Grunt, making it highly versatile in different development environments.

Possible disadvantages of PostCSS

  • Learning curve
    Given its flexibility and the need to configure and choose among many plugins, PostCSS can have a steeper learning curve for beginners.
  • Plugin dependencies
    Relying on multiple plugins can lead to dependency management issues, and possible conflicts between plugins if not carefully handled.
  • Configuration overhead
    Setting up PostCSS might require more initial configuration effort compared to some integrated solutions which provide out-of-the-box functionality.
  • Plugin quality variance
    The quality and maintenance of available plugins can vary, with some plugins being outdated or less reliable than others.
  • Lack of opinionation
    PostCSS's unopinionated nature means it requires developers to have a clear understanding of their needs, potentially leading to inconsistencies in plugin choices if used across different projects.

Dark Reader features and specs

  • Eye Strain Reduction
    Dark Reader converts bright websites to dark mode, which reduces eye strain and improves visual comfort, especially in low-light environments.
  • Customizable Settings
    The extension offers various customization options like brightness, contrast, and sepia filters, allowing users to adjust the appearance to their liking.
  • Improved Battery Life
    Using dark themes on OLED screens can help save battery life because pixels consume less power when displaying black.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Dark Reader allows for community contributions and transparency, ensuring better security and continuous improvements.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Dark Reader is available for multiple browser platforms such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, ensuring a consistent experience across different devices.

Possible disadvantages of Dark Reader

  • Performance Impact
    The extension can sometimes slow down browser performance, particularly on resource-intensive websites or less powerful devices.
  • Inconsistent Behavior
    Not all websites are fully compatible with Dark Reader, leading to occasional rendering issues or incomplete dark mode implementations.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the range of settings and customization options overwhelming and might need some time to adjust the extension to suit their needs.
  • Limited Support for Dynamic Content
    Websites with dynamic content or frequent updates may not immediately reflect changes in dark mode, requiring manual adjustments or refreshes.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any browser extension, there are potential privacy concerns if the extension collects browsing data, though Dark Reader's open-source nature mitigates this risk to some extent.

PostCSS videos

UnCSS your CSS! Removing Unused CSS with PostCSS & Parcel

More videos:

  • Review - Terry Smith – Keep your CSS simple with postcss and tailwind
  • Review - #1 PostCSS Обзор

Dark Reader videos

Dark Mode for Google Chrome — Dark Reader

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PostCSS and Dark Reader)
Developer Tools
64 64%
36% 36
Browser Extension
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Dark Mode
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PostCSS and Dark Reader

PostCSS Reviews

We have no reviews of PostCSS yet.
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Dark Reader Reviews

7 Best Dark Mode Extensions For Chrome
Using an on-demand dark styles theme generator, this eye-care extensions for google chrome turns on night mode for web pages. Bright color are turned into high contrast, easy-to-read hues at night thanks to Dark Reader.
Source: thedroidguy.com
The 10 best dark mode extensions for Google Chrome in 2022
Dark Reader also provides you with other controls that let you tweak your display however you want. They allow you to change any website’s brightness, contrast, font, and other display elements. You can also store the settings for a particular URL so that you do not have to make these adjustments every time. The most notable feature of Dark Reader is its toggle switch that...
Source: chromeready.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Dark Reader should be more popular than PostCSS. It has been mentiond 191 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.

PostCSS mentions (45)

  • Desktop apps for Windows XP in 2025
    Fortunately we have tools like PostCSS and Babel, that let you target your specific Browser version, and they'll do their best to transpile and polyfill your code to work with that version. This alone will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you if you are working with a lot of code. However, if you are just writing out a few HTML, CSS, and JS files, then that would be overkill and you can just figure out what code... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Improving Code Quality with Linting
    For example, linting CSS can be beneficial in cases where you need to support legacy browsers. Downgrading JavaScript is pretty common, but it's not always as simple for CSS. Using a linter allows you to be honest with yourself by flagging problematic lines that won't work in older environments, ensuring your pages look as good as possible for everyone. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • 30+ CSS libraries and frameworks help you style your applications efficiently.
    PostCSS PostCSS is a tool for transforming CSS with JavaScript plugins. These plugins can lint your CSS, support variables and mixins, transpile future CSS syntax, inline images, and more. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Webpack Performance Tuning: Minimizing Build Times for Large Projects
    PostCSS is essential to the frontend ecosystem, with 69,473,603 downloads per week, it is bigger than all the above libraries mentioned, and has many features other than polyfilling, it is used by all the frameworks like Next.js, Svelte, Vue, and Tailwind under the hood. LightningCSS, created by the maintainer of another bundler Parcel, and written in Rust, is an excellent alternative. It provides all the... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • CSS Variable Naming: Best Practices and Approaches
    Stylelint: A modern, flexible linter for CSS that can be configured to check variable consistency. PostCSS: A tool that transforms CSS with plugins, including variable checks. CSS Linter: A specific tool to ensure correct and consistent use of CSS variables. Conclusion 🔗. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
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Dark Reader mentions (191)

  • Claim for a Missing Tooth
    I suppose they’re using https://darkreader.org/ or something like that! If you implement dark mode yourself, you can add `` to prevent Dark Reader from triggering. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Please Don't Force Dark Mode on Users
    Instead of writing this shitty article, just do like those of us who can't take light mode, and install Dark Reader (that also does light mode). https://darkreader.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Ask HN: Will HN ever have a dark mode?
    I prefer sites not to implement a custom dark mode and instead to make sure their styles invert well, less work for devs, more consistency for me. https://darkreader.org/ https://www.howtogeek.com/446198/how-to-force-dark-mode-on-every-website-in-google-chrome/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Ask HN: Why did you decide to make the background a bright white color?
    DarkReader will save your eyes, I'm not fond of extensions, but this one is worth it: https://darkreader.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Control iPhone with the movement of your eyes Support (SG)
    DarkReader works pretty well for my needs. It has an iOS Safari Extension. [1] https://darkreader.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PostCSS and Dark Reader, you can also consider the following products

Sass - Syntatically Awesome Style Sheets

Stylebot - Change the appearance of websites instantly. Preview and install styles created by other users on stylebot.me

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

Night Eye - Night Eye is a browser extension that enables dark mode on any website you visit. It does not ruin your browsing experience by simply inverting images.

Bootstrap - Simple and flexible HTML, CSS, and JS for popular UI components and interactions

Stylus - EXPRESSIVE, DYNAMIC, ROBUST CSS