Difference Between px % & em Units in CSS

Last Updated : 02 Apr, 2024

CSS units can be confusing to deal with as they are used in width, height, fonts and various other properties. You may have thought about which is the appropriate unit to use in a particular situation. we will discuss about the difference between px, %, and em units in CSS.

Pixels-px

An absolute unit representing a single pixel on the user’s device screen.

Example: The below CSS properties change a button width to 100 pixels and height to 40 pixels.

button { 
    width: 100px; 
    height: 40px;
 }

Usages

Pixel-perfect layouts: When precise control over size is required, especially for aligning elements with images or designing for specific screen resolutions.
Button sizes and icons: Maintaining consistent size across devices.

Percentage-%

A relative unit representing a percentage of the containing elements’ size.

Example: Sets the container to 80% width of its parent and adds 10% margin on all sides

.container { 
   width: 80%; 
   margin: 10%; 
}

Usages

Responsive design: Defining element sizes relative to their container for flexible layouts that adapt to different screen sizes.
Margins and padding: Setting margins and padding as a percentage of the element’s width or height for consistent spacing.

EM

A relative unit based on the font size of the element’s parent element. 1em equals the parent’s font size.

Example: (Sets the h1 heading to twice the size of the parent element’s font size)

h1 { 
    font-size: 2em; 
}

Usages

Font sizes: Defining font sizes relative to the parent’s font size for easier scaling and creating typographic hierarchies.
Responsive typography: Allows font sizes to adjust proportionally with the base font size.

Example: The example showcases the units responsive behavior.

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" 
        content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Unit Comparison</title>
  <style>
    body {
      font-family: sans-serif;
      margin: 0;
      padding: 0;
      background-color: rgb(100, 248, 100);
      display: flex;
      flex-direction: column;
      align-items: center;
    }

    h1 {
      margin-top: 50px;
      color: white;
    }

    .container {
      /* Fixed size of the container */
      width: 800px;

      /* Font size of the container changes with 
         respect to 2% of viewport width */
      font-size: 2vw;

      text-align: center;

      padding: 20px;

      margin-top: 50px;

      outline: 2px solid white;
    }

    .heading-px {
      /* px is fixed size and is not 
         related to parent(.container) */
      font-size: 50px;

      color: blue;

      margin-bottom: 10px;
    }

    .heading-em {
      /* em is relative to parent(.container) font size */
      font-size: 2em;

      color: red;

      margin-bottom: 10px;
    }

    .heading-perc {
      /* % is relative to parent(.container) 
         font size 100% is same as 1em */
      font-size: 100%;

      color: darkcyan;
    }
  </style>
</head>

<body>
  <h1>Difference between px, %, and em units in CSS</h1>
  <div class="container">
    <h1 class="heading-px">This is a heading (px)</h1>
    <h2 class="heading-em">This is another heading (em)</h2>
    <h3 class="heading-perc">This is a smaller heading (%)</h3>
  </div>
</body>

</html>