Stop Waiting for a CSS4 Release
If you have been holding out for the next major version of CSS, you may be waiting forever. For years, developers and industry veterans have pointed out a simple fact: there is no CSS4, and there never will be. As Tab Atkins put it back in 2012, "There has never been a CSS4. There will never be a CSS4. CSS4 is not a thing that exists."
The reason is structural. CSS specifications intentionally fragmented after CSS3. Instead of one monolithic spec, the CSS Working Group split things into smaller pieces that each carry their own level number. Selectors, for example, matured to Level 3 and became a Recommendation; work then continued on a separate Selectors Level 4 spec. As Rachel Andrew explained, that is "not CSS4, but Level 4 of a single specification. One small part of CSS."
Calling everything "CSS3" worked for a brief period, but the underlying reality never matched the marketing. The version numbers now describe the maturity level of individual modules, not the state of the language as a whole.
The Branding Success That Was Never Meant to Repeat
The original CSS3 label was a deliberate, one-time move. Instead of waiting for one giant spec to finish, the community adopted a model where each module started at Level 3 and evolved independently. That architecture was designed to let the platform move faster.
It worked almost too well. CSS3 — and to a greater degree, HTML5 — became widely recognised names. The success had real benefits: browser makers pushed long-stale features forward, site owners were encouraged to modernise, and educators revamped their curriculums. It was good for the web, and lucrative for those who built courses and conferences around it.
The problem is that we want the same lever again. In 2020, Peter-Paul Koch openly proposed declaring "CSS4 is here" regardless of technical accuracy, purely for the marketing effect. He noted that "CSS4 has no technical meaning whatsoever" and that current specs have "their own specific versions ranging from 1 to 4," while "CSS as a whole does not have a version." His point: the announcement would not describe reality, but it might recreate the positive push that caught the industry's attention before.
What a Marketing Campaign for CSS4 Would Look Like
If the industry is going to pull that lever again, it would need a concise set of standout features — something like what border-radius, gradients, animations and transforms once represented under the CSS3 banner. Back then the list was clear enough to rally around, even if the specifics became harder to recall with time.
What might a credible list look like today?- Flexbox
- Grid
- Advanced color features
- Independent transforms
- Variable fonts
- Offset paths
- Native CSS nesting
Some items are debatable. Flexbox may already feel dated. Houdini still needs to mature, and Shadow DOM selectors are a niche concern. But the list would need to be exciting, broad and easy to package — not a full catalog of every module in development.
A Rallying Point, Backed by Technical Work
No container queries project has signed up to lead the charge yet, but a credible CSS4 narrative needs one easily understood headline feature to anchor it. The real work is in the individual specs, and shipping those is what will make any future label more than an empty slogan. A clear, marketing-friendly banner might energise the community. What is printed on it, though, shouldn't matter as much as the fact that the underlying work is finally reaching browsers.
