What is the difference between an inline-block and an inline element?

An inline element only takes up as much width as necessary, does not create a new line, and does not allow setting width, height, margin-top, margin-bottom.

An inline-block element behaves like an inline element in terms of flow (does not create a new line, flows inline), but like a block element in terms of size and external margins (can set width, height, margin-top, margin-bottom).

Property	Inline element	Inline-block element
Width occupied	By content	By content or set width
New line	No	No
width	Ignored	Applied
height	Ignored	Applied
margin-top	Ignored	Applied
margin-bottom	Ignored	Applied
padding-top	Applied (does not affect neighboring elements)	Applied
padding-bottom	Applied (does not affect neighboring elements)	Applied

<!-- inline element (e.g., <span>) -->
<span>This is inline</span> <span>Also inline</span>

<!-- inline-block element -->
<div style="display: inline-block; width: 100px; height: 50px; margin: 10px; background-color: lightblue;">Inline-block</div>
<div style="display: inline-block; width: 100px; height: 50px; margin: 10px; background-color: lightgreen;">Also inline-block</div>