CSS vs SCSS for React and Next.js: Which Should You Choose?

If you’re starting a new React or Next.js project, one of the first decisions you’ll make is how to handle styling. Plain CSS and SCSS (Sass) are both popular choices, and each has genuine strengths. There’s no single “best” answer — it depends on your project size, team, and workflow. Let’s break it down.

Quick Answer

• Choose CSS (with CSS Modules) if you want zero build config, smaller bundles, and you’re comfortable with modern CSS features (variables, nesting, @layer).
• Choose SCSS if you want mixins, functions, loops, and a more programmatic way to organize large, complex stylesheets — and you don’t mind an extra dependency.

Both work great with React and Next.js out of the box.

What is CSS (in this context)?

Modern “plain CSS” isn’t the CSS of 2015. Native CSS now supports:

• CSS variables (--custom-properties)
• Nesting (& selectors, supported natively in most modern browsers)
• @layer for cascade control
• @container queries
• Color functions like color-mix()

Next.js supports CSS Modules natively (.module.css), which scope class names to the component automatically, avoiding global collisions — no extra setup needed.

/* Button.module.css */
.button {
  background…