Suggest an editImprove this articleRefine the answer for “What is PostCSS?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.Approval requiredContentWhat you’re changing🇺🇸EN🇺🇦UAPreviewTitle (EN)Short answer (EN)**PostCSS** is a postprocessor and, at the same time, a plugin platform that takes plain CSS as input and lets you modify it with a set of plugins before shipping it to production. **Key point:** it is a mechanism that extends and improves finished CSS through pluggable modules, not "yet another preprocessor".Shown above the full answer for quick recall.Answer (EN)ImagePostCSS is a postprocessor and, at the same time, a plugin platform that takes plain CSS as input and lets you modify it with a set of plugins before shipping it to production. Essentially, it is not "yet another preprocessor", but a **mechanism that extends and improves finished CSS through pluggable modules**. --- ### **The key idea** PostCSS by itself does almost nothing: it works like a construction kit. The result depends on which plugins are connected to it. That is why it is called a **"platform for processing CSS"**, similar to how Babel processes JavaScript. --- ### **What tasks it solves (via plugins)** - **Autoprefixer**: adds cross-browser prefixes - **cssnano**: minifies CSS - **postcss-preset-env**: lets you write future CSS, converting it for current browsers - **PurgeCSS / postcss-purgecss**: removes unused styles - **postcss-sort-media-queries**: merges and sorts media queries - **postcss-import**: lets you use imports and assemble CSS as modules --- ### **How PostCSS compares favorably with SASS/LESS** | Tool | Function | |---|---| | **SASS/LESS** | helps you write convenient extended syntax → generates CSS | | **PostCSS** | improves CSS that already exists → makes it optimal for browsers | They are **not competitors**; they are often used in the same build: **SASS → CSS → PostCSS → production** --- ### **Why PostCSS is popular** - flexibility (you connect only the plugins you need) - a huge ecosystem - fits any build: Webpack, Vite, Gulp, Parcel - meets production requirements: optimization, cross-browser support, cleanliness --- **In short:** PostCSS is a plugin-based tool for automatically processing CSS at build time. It is responsible for making the finished styles **compatible, lightweight, modern and optimized for browsers**.For the reviewerNote to the moderator (optional)Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.