Difference between <iframe> and <embed>?
<iframe> vs <embed>
Both <iframe> and <embed> are used to include external content in a webpage, but they serve different purposes and behave differently.
Key Differences
<iframe> (Inline Frame):
- Embeds another HTML document inside the current page.
- Loads a full web page, including HTML, CSS, and scripts.
- Supports attributes like
src,width,height,sandbox,allowfullscreen, andloading.
- Supports attributes like
- Can be sandboxed for security, limiting what the embedded content can do.
<embed>:
- Embeds external content such as PDFs, audio, video, or Flash (legacy).
- Does not load a full HTML page; generally used for media or plugins.
- Void element (no closing tag) and has attributes like
src,type,width, andheight.
- Void element (no closing tag) and has attributes like
- Less flexible than
<iframe>and does not support fallback content inside the tag.
- Less flexible than
Example Usage
In short: Use <iframe> to embed full web pages with interaction and sandboxing options. Use <embed> to include specific external media files or plugins with minimal interaction.