Pricing Table — Stack to Side-by-Side via Container Query

Pricing Tables That Live Anywhere

A pricing table embedded in a marketing landing page might span the full viewport, but the same table inside a pop-up or embedded help center needs to look right at 480px or 800px. Container queries solve this without duplicating markup.

The Markup

<section class="pricing-host">
  <div class="pricing">
    <article class="plan">…Free…</article>
    <article class="plan featured">…Pro…</article>
    <article class="plan">…Team…</article>
  </div>
</section>

The CSS

.pricing-host {
  container-type: inline-size;
  container-name: pricing;
}

.pricing {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  gap: 1rem;
}

@container pricing (min-width: 720px) {
  .pricing {
    flex-direction: row;
    align-items: stretch;
    gap: 1.25rem;
  }
  .plan {
    flex: 1;
  }
  .plan.featured {
    transform: scale(1.04);
    z-index: 1;
  }
}

Featured Plan Treatment

In stacked mode, the "Pro" plan sits in document order — no special positioning needed. In side-by-side mode, scaling it slightly creates the visual hierarchy users expect from pricing tables ("here's our recommendation").

Why 720px?

Three plans need ~220px each to display title, price, and 5-7 features without truncation. With 1.25rem (20px) gaps, that totals ~700px — round up to 720px for safety.

Ribbon Banners

.plan.featured::before {
  content: "Most popular";
  position: absolute;
  top: -10px;
  left: 50%;
  transform: translateX(-50%);
  background: var(--primary);
  color: white;
  padding: 0.2rem 0.75rem;
  border-radius: 999px;
  font-size: 0.75rem;
}

The ribbon works in both stacked and side-by-side modes because it's positioned relative to each plan card, not the table.