# Bower vs Less

| Attribute | Bower | Less |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 58 (24% (low)) | 60.3 (21% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 4 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 16,911 | 951,165 |
| adoption.github_stars | 14,911 | 17,029 |
| deployment.options | - | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A package manager for web development that handles frameworks, libraries, and assets, using a flat dependency model to avoid duplication and optimize page load performance. | Less is a dynamic stylesheet language that extends CSS with variables, mixins, functions, nesting, and mathematical operations, compiling to standard CSS for web projects. |
| integrations.count | 20 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Grunt"},{"name":"RequireJS"},{"name":"Yeoman"},{"name":"Gulp"},{"name":"Rails"},{"name":"CodeKit"},{"name":"Telerik AppBuilder"},{"name":"WebStorm"},{"name":"NetBeans"},{"name":"Visual Studio"},{"name":"Alfred"},{"name":"Brackets"},{"name":"Pyramid"},{"name":"CakePHP"},{"name":"Symfony"},{"name":"Django"},{"name":"Flask"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Java"},{"name":"Less"}]` | - |
| language.primary | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://bower.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-22T22:28:18.033Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://lesscss.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-22T22:28:25.279Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | 9 | 41 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.12","date":"2021-01-19T09:39:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.10","date":"2021-01-14T19:28:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.8","date":"2019-01-23T21:32:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.7","date":"2019-01-17T22:42:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.6","date":"2019-01-17T13:49:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.4","date":"2018-03-28T19:08:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.3","date":"2018-03-28T18:21:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.2","date":"2017-09-13T17:02:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.8.0","date":"2016-11-07T10:20:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.9","date":"2016-04-05T12:39:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.8","date":"2016-04-04T17:19:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.6","date":"2016-01-27T11:07:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.5","date":"2016-01-26T21:44:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.3","date":"2016-01-20T17:44:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.2","date":"2015-12-31T02:11:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.1","date":"2015-12-11T20:52:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.7.0","date":"2015-12-07T13:00:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.6.8","date":"2015-11-27T15:04:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.6.4","date":"2015-10-24T10:09:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/bower/bower/releases/tag/v1.6.3","date":"2015-10-16T10:01:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.3"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v5.0.0-alpha.1","date":"2026-08-13T22:18:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.9.0","date":"2026-08-13T21:33:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.8.1","date":"2026-07-27T17:11:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.8.0","date":"2026-07-22T17:20:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.7.0","date":"2026-07-18T17:41:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.6.7","date":"2026-06-22T21:32:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.6.6","date":"2026-06-14T00:18:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.6.5","date":"2026-06-13T22:30:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.6.3","date":"2026-03-11T18:12:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.6.0","date":"2026-03-10T19:12:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.5.1","date":"2026-01-11T21:34:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.4.2","date":"2025-10-06T22:26:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.4.1","date":"2025-08-25T23:33:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.4.0","date":"2025-07-16T22:36:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2025-04-08T21:14:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2025-01-30T23:32:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2024-12-08T09:33:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2023-09-07T02:34:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.1.3","date":"2022-06-09T03:59:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/less/less.js/releases/tag/v4.1.2","date":"2021-10-14T06:00:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.2"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 3.9 | 5.4 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=bower-config&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=less&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:32:15.132Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*