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Comparison

css-tree vs lightningcss

Parsers and serialisersPackage data 25 Sept 2026
css-treev3.2.1, 5 Mar 2026

A tool set for CSS: fast detailed parser (CSS → AST), walker (AST traversal), generator (AST → CSS) and lexer (validation and matching) based on specs and browser implementations

$ npm install css-tree
lightningcssv1.33.0, 20 Jul 2026

A CSS parser, transformer, and minifier written in Rust

$ npm install lightningcss
Metriccss-treelightningcssDifference
Weekly downloads88,124,974113,864,306lightningcss +29%
12-month download growth+116%+1051%lightningcss +935 pts
Gzip size---
Minified size---
Dependencies21css-tree 1 more
Unpacked size1.3 MB502 kBlightningcss 2.7x smaller
Latest release3.2.1, 5 Mar 20261.33.0, 20 Jul 2026lightningcss 5 months more recent
Releases, last 12 months25lightningcss 3 more
First published12 Sept 201622 Aug 2022css-tree 5.9 years earlier
GitHub stars2,1227,688lightningcss 3.6x higher
Open issues53338lightningcss 285 more
Open pull requests2597lightningcss 72 more
Contributors3199lightningcss 3.2x higher
Commits, last 52 weeks1864lightningcss 3.6x higher
TypeScript typesNoneBundledDiffers
Module formatESM + CommonJSESM + CommonJSSame
Runtimes---
LicenseMITMPL-2.0Differs

Green marks the smaller size or the more recent release. Bold marks the higher count, with no judgement implied. Sizes are for the whole package per Bundlephobia. Growth compares the average of the last 4 weeks with the first 4 weeks of the 52-week series.

css-tree88.1m latest weeklightningcss113.9m latest week
Week of 23 Sept 2025Week of 15 Sept 2026
Weekly npm downloads, 52 weeks. Y axis starts at zero. Values are not smoothed.

css-tree

Major versions
  1. 1.0.027 Oct 2020
  2. 2.0.03 Dec 2021
  3. 3.0.011 Sept 2024
Last 5 releases
  1. 3.2.15 Mar 2026
  2. 3.2.05 Mar 2026
  3. 3.1.06 Dec 2024
  4. 3.0.12 Nov 2024
  5. 3.0.011 Sept 2024
21 releases in total, 2 in the last 12 months

lightningcss

Major versions
  1. 0.0.022 Aug 2022
  2. 1.14.08 Sept 2022
Last 5 releases
  1. 1.33.020 Jul 2026
  2. 1.32.09 Mar 2026
  3. 1.31.121 Jan 2026
  4. 1.31.020 Jan 2026
  5. 1.30.229 Sept 2025
43 releases in total, 5 in the last 12 months
css-tree

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lightningcss

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css-tree

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lightningcss

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  • Module formatBoth ESM + CommonJS
  • Need TypeScript types in the package itselflightningcss (css-tree: None; lightningcss: Bundled)
  • Node.js version requirementcss-tree: ^10 || ^12.20.0 || ^14.13.0 || >=15.0.0; lightningcss: >= 12.0.0 (engines field in package.json)
  • Need the more recent releaselightningcss (1.33.0 on 20 Jul 2026 vs 3.2.1 on 5 Mar 2026)
  • Higher weekly npm downloadslightningcss (113.9m vs 88.1m)
  • Licensecss-tree: MIT; lightningcss: MPL-2.0

Each line is generated from the data above.

css-tree: css-tree npm registry, css-tree npm downloads, css-tree GitHub. Data fetched 25 Sept 2026.

Indexability: Indexed: 0 US searches/month across both orderings ("css-tree vs lightningcss", "lightningcss vs css-tree").