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Tailwind CSS VS CSS Reference

Compare Tailwind CSS VS CSS Reference and see what are their differences

Tailwind CSS logo Tailwind CSS

A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

CSS Reference logo CSS Reference

Sleek and comprehensive online reference for CSS
  • Tailwind CSS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-13
  • CSS Reference Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-09-01

Tailwind CSS features and specs

  • Utility-First Approach
    Tailwind CSS uses a utility-first approach, promoting the use of small, reusable utility classes to style elements directly in your markup. This can lead to more readable and maintainable HTML.
  • Customization
    The framework is highly customizable. You can easily configure its default theme, add your extensions, and create custom utilities. Tailwind’s config file allows for deep customization of all aspects of the framework.
  • Consistent Design
    Using utility classes ensures design consistency because the same classes will apply the same styles globally.
  • Responsive Design
    Tailwind CSS has excellent built-in support for responsive design. You can easily apply different styles for different screen sizes using responsive utility variants.
  • Performance
    Tailwind purges unused CSS in production, resulting in smaller final output files and improved performance.
  • Integrates Well with Frameworks
    Tailwind CSS integrates smoothly with modern JavaScript frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular.
  • JIT Compiler
    The Just-in-Time (JIT) mode in Tailwind CSS generates styles on-demand, reducing the development build sizes and speeding up the development process.

Possible disadvantages of Tailwind CSS

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For developers coming from traditional CSS or other CSS frameworks, getting used to Tailwind's utility-first approach may take some time.
  • HTML Congestion
    Due to the utility-first approach, HTML files can get filled with numerous utility classes, making it look cluttered and harder to read.
  • Initial Setup
    Setting up Tailwind CSS initially can be complex, especially for beginners. Configuration settings and integrations with build tools can be confusing.
  • Verbosity
    Some developers find the inline utility classes verbose, particularly when complex styles are required, which can lead to bloated template files.
  • Limited Abstractions
    Tailwind doesn't provide higher-level abstractions such as components out of the box, like other frameworks (e.g., Bootstrap) do. Developers need to build and maintain these abstractions themselves.
  • Dependency Tailoring
    While Tailwind aims to be minimalistic, it may enforce some dependencies or build tool integrations that could be unnecessary for very simple projects.

CSS Reference features and specs

  • Comprehensive Coverage
    CSS Reference provides a detailed and comprehensive guide to CSS properties, including descriptions, examples, and practical use cases, making it a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced developers.
  • Interactive Examples
    The resource includes interactive code examples that allow users to see the effects of CSS properties in real-time, enhancing the learning experience and understanding of CSS application.
  • Visual Focus
    CSS Reference emphasizes visual representation, providing clear and illustrative examples of how CSS properties affect elements, which is beneficial for visual learners.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The website is designed with a clean and intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate and find specific information quickly without being overwhelmed.

Possible disadvantages of CSS Reference

  • Basic Level Content
    CSS Reference may lack depth in advanced topics and techniques, which might not be as beneficial for more experienced developers seeking in-depth knowledge or complex use cases.
  • Limited Flexibility
    The examples provided, while useful, may not cover every possible use case or variation, potentially limiting users who need more comprehensive examples.
  • Update Frequency
    The frequency of updates to the website might not keep pace with the latest CSS developments or practices, potentially leading to outdated information over time.
  • Internet Dependency
    Access to the resource requires an internet connection, which could be a limitation for users needing offline access to reference materials.

Tailwind CSS videos

Why I Don't Like Tailwind CSS

More videos:

  • Review - Vanilla CSS vs Bootstrap vs Tailwind CSS - Which one should you choose?
  • Review - Get Started with Tailwind CSS in 15 Minutes

CSS Reference videos

No CSS Reference videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Tailwind CSS and CSS Reference)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
CSS Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
99 99%
1% 1
CSS Tutorials
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Tailwind CSS and CSS Reference

Tailwind CSS Reviews

  1. Awesome framework

    I use it in all my current projects. It's easy to start and very customisable. Love it so much! I improved the speed of development 2x times by using Tailwind.


22 Best Bootstrap Alternatives & What Each Is Best For
Tailwind CSS comes with features such as responsive design, customizability, hover, focus, and active states out of the box. These enable developers to build sophisticated, interactive interfaces with ease. When it comes to integrations, Tailwind CSS can be integrated with popular front-end frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, enhancing its utility across different...
Source: thectoclub.com
15 Top Bootstrap Alternatives For Frontend Developers in 2024
If you want to learn the valuable skill of Tailwind CSS, we highly recommend taking the "Tailwind CSS From Scratch" course by Brad Traversy on Udemy. In this introductory course, you will build great-looking layouts quickly and efficiently using Tailwind CSS utility classes.
Source: coursesity.com
10 Best Free React UI Libraries in 2023
TailwindCSS is a utility-first CSS framework designed to build modern and beautiful websites in no time. Here, utility class names define what to do. Each utility class comes with pre-defined CSS properties.
11 Best Material UI Alternatives
Tailwind CSS promotes a modular approach to styling, where devs can combine classes to create unique and responsive designs. It offers utilities for layout, typography, colors, spacing, and more, allowing developers to create consistent and visually appealing interfaces with minimal effort.
Source: www.uxpin.com
Top 10 Best CSS Frameworks for Front-End Developers in 2022
Tailwind enables faster development of the front-end. Instead of a default theme or built-in UI components, you’d get pre-designed widget menus and utility classes to build your website. Tailwind has modular components, and if you make changes in one place, other parts of your code won’t get impacted. Tailwind requires the least amount of learning and is easy to use. You can...
Source: hackr.io

CSS Reference Reviews

We have no reviews of CSS Reference yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Tailwind CSS seems to be a lot more popular than CSS Reference. While we know about 1013 links to Tailwind CSS, we've tracked only 7 mentions of CSS Reference. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Tailwind CSS mentions (1013)

  • Top 5 Free React UI Libraries to Use in 2025
    Shadcn/ui contains a set of beautifully designed and accessible components, and it works seamlessly with major React frameworks. It’s open-source and has amassed 85.5k (and counting) GitHub stars. It’s built on the shoulders of giants — Radix UI and Tailwind CSS, making it one of the best to work with. Unlike many other UI libraries, the components are not just installed as npm modules, they’re downloaded into... - Source: dev.to / 16 days ago
  • Tailwind vs Linaria: Performance Investigation
    We're going to investigate the difference in performance between Tailwind and Linaria. Tailwind, you already know. And Linaria has been getting quite a lot of traction since styled components went into maintenance mode recently. We'll cover why Linaria is a good choice for this comparison a bit further. - Source: dev.to / 22 days ago
  • How to Integrate Tailwind with 11ty – With Code Examples
    It is a well-known fact that Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework. It lets you style elements directly within your HTML, thanks to pre-defined classes. Unlike other CSS frameworks that offer pre-built components, Tailwind offers these low-level utility classes that let you create your own design system. Thus, this makes crafting unique responsive designs effortless as there is not much to do with custom CSS. - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • 🎨 Smooth UI Transitions in HTML with Grains.js, TailwindCSS and g-class directive
    Note: It's best to utilize TailwindCSS to use ready-made styles via their classes. g-class directive has nothing to do with TailwindCSS, however. It only switches class names based on state. After that, you can use whatever you want. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • ## Vibe Coding Adventures: Day 1 — HealthLens AI
    By having the AI building the skeleton of the project, I learn few things. First, this tool is fantastic for building impressive frontend applications with clean, well-structured Tailwind CSS styling. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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CSS Reference mentions (7)

  • 21 Resources to Learn And Practice Your CSS Skills
    CSS Reference provides an easy-to-navigate reference guide for CSS properties. It’s a handy tool for quick lookups and learning. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • A Quality Alternative to Bootstrap - W3.CSS is Smaller, Faster and Easier to Use.
    I disagree, if it comes to CSS refference that's more readable https://cssreference.io/ Also their site is outdated by years sane as their "bootstrap alternative". Source: over 2 years ago
  • How to approach CSS as a backend guy?
    And a few others for your leisure browsing - https://cssreference.io/ - https://learncssgrid.com/ - https://flexboxfroggy.com/ - https://blog.webdevsimplified.com/2021-12/box-model/ - https://blog.webdevsimplified.com/2021-11/flexbox/ - https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/a-guide-to-flexbox/ - https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/complete-guide-grid/. Source: about 3 years ago
  • 📚🏆 Top 20 Web Development Learning Resources: From Beginner to Advanced
    9. htmlreference.​io and cssreference.​io. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Lots of questions…
    Take a look at this site, they have examples for all css properties and settings: https://cssreference.io/. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Tailwind CSS and CSS Reference, you can also consider the following products

Bootstrap - Simple and flexible HTML, CSS, and JS for popular UI components and interactions

CSS-Tricks - CSS-Tricks is a website about websites.

Bulma - Bulma is an open source CSS framework based on Flexbox and built with Sass. It's 100% responsive, fully modular, and available for free.

htmlreference.io - Learn by example with this free web-based guide to HTML.

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Web4College - Web4College is a unique website that includes the web development tutorials and takes the design of a website to the next level. In this website, every topic is dealt with the basic concepts, detailed study, examples, and implementations.