Two tools, not competitors
CSS Grid and Flexbox often get framed as a choose-one decision. They aren't. They're complementary. Most good layouts use both, each where it fits.
Flexbox: one-dimensional layout
Flexbox lays out items along a single axis, either a row or a column. It's good at distributing space and aligning items inside a container.
Use Flexbox for
- Navigation bars - Spacing links evenly or pushing items to opposite ends
- Card content - Aligning title, description, and CTA vertically within a card
- Inline elements - Centring an icon next to text
- Simple responsive rows - Items that wrap when there isn't enough space
- Vertical centring - Finally, a clean way to centre things vertically
Flexbox strengths
- Simple, predictable syntax
- Handles unknown numbers of items well
- Suits component-level layout
- Strong browser support
CSS Grid: two-dimensional layout
CSS Grid handles rows and columns at the same time. It's built for page-level layout and any situation where you need precise control over both axes.
Use CSS Grid for
- Page layouts - Defining header, sidebar, main content, and footer regions
- Card grids - Consistent columns with items that align across rows
- Magazine-style layouts - Items that span multiple rows or columns
- Form layouts - Aligning labels and inputs across rows
- Dashboard layouts - Arranging widgets and panels
CSS Grid strengths
- True two-dimensional control
- Named grid areas for readable layout code
- Useful auto-placement algorithm
- Subgrid for nested grid alignment
The practical approach
In our responsive web design work, we follow a simple rule of thumb:
- Page-level layout? Start with CSS Grid
- Component-level layout? Start with Flexbox
- Need both dimensions? CSS Grid
- Need flexible wrapping? Flexbox
The page structure tends to be CSS Grid while individual components use Flexbox. They nest together cleanly.
A real-world example
Consider a blog listing page (like this one). The overall grid of article cards uses CSS Grid to create consistent columns. Inside each card, Flexbox handles the vertical arrangement of title, excerpt, and "Read more" link.
This combination gives precise control over the grid while letting each card manage its own internal layout.
Browser support
Both CSS Grid and Flexbox have excellent browser support. There's no practical reason to avoid either in modern web development. The IE11 era of worrying about Grid support is well behind us.
