What is the difference between HTML and XHTML?

LowIntermediateHtml

By FrontendAtlas Team · Updated Jan 30, 2026

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Quick Answer

HTML and XHTML are both markup languages for creating web pages, but XHTML is a stricter and more XML-based version of HTML. It enforces well-formed syntax, case sensitivity, and proper closing of all tags. XHTML enforces stricter syntax, which can reduce ambiguity but adds complexity. For modern web apps, test parsing behavior across browsers.

Answer

Overview

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Markup Language) both describe webpage structure. However, XHTML follows the strict syntax rules of XML, while HTML is more forgiving with syntax errors.

Aspect	HTML	XHTML
Syntax rules	Lenient — browsers fix many mistakes automatically	Strict — must be well-formed and follow XML syntax
Tag case	Tag names are case-insensitive	Tag names must be lowercase
Tag closing	Some tags can remain open (e.g., `<li>`)	All tags must be properly closed (e.g., `</li>`)
Attribute quoting	Optional in some cases	Mandatory for all attributes
Doctype	HTML5 uses <!DOCTYPE html>	XHTML uses XML-based doctypes like <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC ... XHTML 1.0 Strict>

Key differences between HTML and XHTML

Example: HTML

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>HTML Example</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Welcome to my website
    <img src="photo.png">
  </body>
</html>

This HTML example works even though the <p>; tag isn’t closed — browsers automatically fix it.

Example: XHTML

HTML

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <title>XHTML Example</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>Welcome to my website.</p>
    <img src="photo.png" alt="Photo" />
  </body>
</html>

In XHTML, all tags are lowercase, properly closed, and attribute values are always quoted.

Compatibility Notes

XHTML documents must be served with the application/xhtml+xml MIME type to be treated as real XML.
Most modern browsers support HTML5 and have moved away from XHTML’s stricter syntax requirements.
HTML5 combines the flexibility of HTML with many of XHTML’s structure ideas.

Practical scenario
You migrate a legacy XHTML app to HTML5 and need to relax strict XML rules while keeping markup valid.

Common pitfalls

Self-closing tags or case sensitivity causing parse errors in XHTML.
Assuming all browsers enforce XML rules in HTML.
Mixing XHTML served as text/html and getting inconsistent behavior.

Trade-off or test tip
XHTML is strict but less forgiving; HTML5 is pragmatic. Test parsing with validators and multiple browsers.

Still so complicated?

Think of HTML as a relaxed teacher who lets small mistakes slide — while XHTML is a strict professor who demands perfect syntax every time.

Summary

HTML is forgiving and widely used (especially HTML5).
XHTML is XML-based and requires strict syntax.
All XHTML documents must be well-formed and properly closed.
Modern web development favors HTML5 for flexibility and compatibility.