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Tailwind CSS VS TW Elements

Compare Tailwind CSS VS TW Elements and see what are their differences

Tailwind CSS logo Tailwind CSS

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

TW Elements logo TW Elements

Tailwind Elements is the most popular open-source library of UI for Tailwind. Download free templates, plugins & component examples.
  • Tailwind CSS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-13
  • TW Elements Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-24

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.

TW Elements features and specs

  • Modern Design
    TW Elements offers a sleek and contemporary design, which enhances the visual appeal and user experience of your web applications.
  • Customizability
    The framework provides extensive customization options allowing developers to tailor the components to fit specific project requirements easily.
  • Responsive Components
    Components are designed to be fully responsive, ensuring that web applications work seamlessly across different devices and screen sizes.
  • Ease of Integration
    TW Elements can be easily integrated into existing projects, simplifying the process of adding modern UI elements to older codebases.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The platform provides detailed documentation, making it easier for developers to understand and implement the various components and features.

Possible disadvantages of TW Elements

  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a steep learning curve if they are not already familiar with similar UI frameworks or design principles.
  • Limited Community Support
    Since TW Elements is a younger or less well-known framework compared to others, there might be less community support and resources available.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies and version changes can be challenging, potentially leading to compatibility issues with other libraries or frameworks.
  • Performance Overhead
    Depending on the size of the project and implementation, there may be some performance overhead due to additional features and resources included in the framework.
  • Flexibility Limitations
    While customizable, some developers may find that the pre-designed components limit their flexibility in creating unique UI designs.

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

TW Elements videos

Tailwind Elements tutorial - Tailwind CSS components library

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Tailwind CSS and TW Elements)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Design Tools
97 97%
3% 3
UI Design
0 0%
100% 100
CSS Framework
100 100%
0% 0

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 TW Elements

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

TW Elements Reviews

Tailwind CSS: 15 Component Libraries & UI Kits
I think Tailwind Elements strives for a fairly minimal look and feel. The documentation shows you how to get it going with npm, or you can use the CDN also to get a quick look at how the kit works in practice. Sadly, there don't seem to be any components pre-written for frameworks like React, but it can be installed as a separate library for your project.
Source: stackdiary.com
22 Best Sites for Free Tailwind Components
This is one of my favorite libraries. In addition to having a better design, these elements also have more functionality. Tailwind Elements includes over 700 UI Components, design blocks, templates, and more. It basically looks like an improved Bootstrap.
How to Choose a Tailwind Component Library (Plus the Top 6 Options)
Tailwind Elements takes one of the most successful component libraries of all time, Bootstrap, and gives it a breath of fresh air using TailwindCSS. They currently offer over 500 components for all your design needs and best of all, it’s completely free to use. They also offer more than your typical components; they also offer “design blocks” which are custom-designed,...
Source: prismic.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Tailwind CSS seems to be a lot more popular than TW Elements. While we know about 1013 links to Tailwind CSS, we've tracked only 12 mentions of TW Elements. 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 / 8 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 / 14 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 / 22 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 1 month ago
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TW Elements mentions (12)

  • Ultimate UI and Development Resource Guide for 2024 🚀
    3. Tailwind Elements A free collection of essential elements and components designed with Tailwind for modern websites. Tailwind Elements:. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • A list of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings that have free tiers of interest to devops and infradev
    TW Elements - Free Bootstrap components recreated with Tailwind CSS, but with better design and more functionalities. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • 500 open-source components for TailwindCSS
    I'd like to share my latest discovery with you. TW Elements is currently, the most popular 3rd party UI kit for TailwindCSS with over 10k Github stars. It's a huge collection of stunning components made with attention to the smallest detail. Forms, cards, buttons, and hundreds of others. All components have dark mode and very intuitive theming options. The project is... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • 🚨Big News! Renaming: TW Elements is the new name of the game, TWE for short! 🚨
    Domain changed to https://tw-elements.com. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • 10 best Tailwind CSS component libraries
    Tailwind Elements is a huge set of more than 500 UI components. These components range from very simple — like headings, images, and icons — to very complex, like charts and complete forms. They can be used for almost any kind of project, especially for complex ones. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

FlowBite - Build UI interfaces and simplify the process of integrating into live websites with Tailwind CSS

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.

DaisyUI - Free UI components plugin for Tailwind CSS

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

FlyonUI - FlyonUI is the easiest, free and open-source Tailwind CSS components library with semantic classes.