Less
Backwards-compatible language extension for CSS that compiles Less stylesheets to plain CSS with Node.js or in the browser.
Less is a backwards-compatible language extension for CSS. Its official page installs the npm package less, which provides the lessc command for Node.js, and it also shows loading Less in the browser through a stylesheet link and a script from jsDelivr. The project is a monorepo on GitHub maintained by Alexis Sellier and The Core Less Team.
Worth knowing
A next major version is in alpha prereleases, and the record lists the stable release.
Identity
Rendering and deploy
- Runs as
- Dev only, In the browser1
- Install with
- npm1
Releases
Adoption
Sources
- 2026-10-28: links, Categories, Runtime, Runs as, Install with
lesscss.org/ - 2026-10-28: links, Written in, License, GitHub stars
api.github.com/repos/less/less.js - 2026-10-28: Minimum runtime
github.com/less/less.js/blob/v4.9.1/packages/less/package.json - 2026-10-28: License model, Maintainer
github.com/less/less.js/blob/master/README.md - 2026-10-28: Current major version, Last release
github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.9.1 - 2026-10-28: First release
registry.npmjs.org/less - 2026-10-28: Contributors
api.github.com/repos/less/less.js/contributors?per_page=1 - 2026-10-28: npm downloads a week
api.npmjs.org/downloads/range/2026-09-28:2026-10-04/less - 2026-10-28: Dependent packages, Dependent repositories
packages.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/registries/npmjs.org/packages/less