Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Tailwind CSS VS Kendo UI

Compare Tailwind CSS VS Kendo UI and see what are their differences

Tailwind CSS logo Tailwind CSS

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

Kendo UI logo Kendo UI

Fast, light, complete: 70+ jQuery-based UI widgets in one powerful toolset
  • Tailwind CSS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-13
  • Kendo UI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24

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.

Kendo UI features and specs

  • Comprehensive Component Library
    Kendo UI offers a wide range of built-in widgets and components such as grids, charts, schedulers, and more. This extensive collection allows developers to build complex and feature-rich applications with ease.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Kendo UI provides support for various frameworks and libraries including jQuery, Angular, React, and Vue. This ensures flexibility and allows developers to integrate Kendo UI components seamlessly into their existing projects.
  • Performance Optimization
    The library is optimized for performance, ensuring that components load quickly and are responsive. This is particularly beneficial for enterprise applications that demand high performance.
  • Comprehensive Documentation and Support
    Telerik offers detailed documentation, tutorials, and a strong support system for Kendo UI, helping developers to quickly resolve issues and understand component usage.
  • Customization and Theming
    Kendo UI provides extensive customization options and themes that allow developers to tailor the appearance and behavior of components to fit the specific needs of their applications.

Possible disadvantages of Kendo UI

  • Cost
    Kendo UI is a commercial product and requires purchasing a license. The cost can be a barrier for small businesses or individual developers with limited budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to the extensive range of features and components, there can be a steep learning curve, especially for developers who are new to the library or front-end development in general.
  • Bundle Size
    Kendo UI's vast array of components can contribute to larger bundle sizes, which can impact the initial load time of the application.
  • Dependency on Third-Party Libraries
    While Kendo UI supports multiple frameworks, it often requires additional dependencies, which can complicate the setup and add to the project’s overall complexity.
  • Potential Overhead
    For applications that do not require extensive UI components, using Kendo UI might introduce unnecessary overhead, both in terms of performance and development complexity.

Analysis of Kendo UI

Overall verdict

  • Kendo UI is a robust and reliable UI component library that is well-suited for developers looking to expedite the development process with pre-built, high-quality components, while still retaining the ability to customize and scale their applications. Its wide range of features and strong community support make it a worthwhile investment for both small and large projects.

Why this product is good

  • Kendo UI, developed by Telerik (now part of Progress Software), is considered a good choice for building modern web applications due to its comprehensive suite of UI components. It offers seamless integration with popular frameworks such as Angular, React, and Vue, which makes it versatile for various project requirements. Additionally, it provides extensive documentation, professional support, and frequent updates, ensuring developers have the resources they need to maintain and enhance their applications. The components are designed to be highly customizable, which allows developers to tailor them to their specific design and functionality needs.

Recommended for

  • Developers who need a comprehensive set of UI components for building web applications.
  • Teams using popular frameworks like Angular, React, or Vue who require seamless integration.
  • Organizations looking for professional support and detailed documentation to supplement their development efforts.
  • Projects that require highly customizable UI components to meet specific design and functionality requirements.

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

Kendo UI videos

Kendo UI R3 2019 Release Webinar

More videos:

  • Review - Kendo UI R3 2017 Release Webinar
  • Review - What are the Kendo UI Vue Components? (1/5)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Tailwind CSS and Kendo UI)
Developer Tools
94 94%
6% 6
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Web Frameworks
78 78%
22% 22
CSS Framework
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Tailwind CSS and Kendo UI. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

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

Kendo UI Reviews

We have no reviews of Kendo UI yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Tailwind CSS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1015 times since March 2021. 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 (1015)

  • How to add markdown to a Next.js project
    This article assumes the reader is a developer that knows their way around Markdown, TypeScript, React.js, and [Next.js] https://nextjs.org/). Familiarity with Tailwind-css would also be useful. - Source: dev.to / 6 days ago
  • SonicScan - A Music Fingerprinting and Identification App
    Then I learned Tauri and used my favourite frontend framework SolidJS with TailwindCSS and DaisyUI to build the UI with MotionOne to add animations and Tauri to build the desktop/web/android/ios app. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • 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 / 29 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 / about 1 month 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 / about 1 month ago
View more

Kendo UI mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Kendo UI yet. Tracking of Kendo UI recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

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

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

Ruby on Rails - Ruby on Rails is an open source full-stack web application framework for the Ruby programming...

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.

Node.js - Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines