clean-css

What it is

Clean-CSS is a CSS minifier that reduces the size of your CSS files by removing unnecessary characters, whitespace, and comments. This tool helps in optimizing web performance by decreasing load time.

Clean-CSS stands out as a highly configurable and widely used tool for CSS minification, offering both command-line and programmatic integration options.

When it fits — and when it doesn’t

Known weaknesses

Each one links to the public issue, changelog or docs page it came from, where we have one.

1. 01

   Limited advanced optimization options may not cover all edge cases

   Some complex CSS features might not be optimized fully, leading to suboptimal performance.

2. 02

   Command line interface can be cumbersome for complex configurations

   Setting up multiple optimization levels and conditions via CLI requires detailed command-line arguments which can be error-prone.

3. 03

   Performance degradation with very large CSS files

   Processing extremely large CSS files can lead to increased CPU usage and longer processing times, impacting build performance.

What it does well

• Reduces CSS file size by removing unnecessary characters and whitespace.

• Supports advanced optimization options for more aggressive minification.

• Can be integrated into build processes via command line or programmatically.

Pricing

Free tier

YesOpen source — free to use

Paid from

$0

Model

Flat rate

Enterprise plan

No

Pricing not independently confirmed — check the vendor’s page.