Tachyons vs. Headless UI
By SW Habitation
Tachyons
Headless UI
You know how building a website can feel like a lot, especially when you’re trying to style every little thing yourself? Buttons, forms, layouts… it adds up fast. That’s where UI frameworks really save the day. They give you a bunch of premade design elements that you can just drop in and go. It’s like having a design starter pack that helps your site look clean and professional, without spending forever tweaking the details.
What isTachyons?
Tachyons is a functional/atomic CSS framework that uses small, reusable utility classes. Instead of big UI components or deeply nested CSS, Tachyons encourages developers to style elements using many tiny, single-purpose classes.
Let's check by the example,
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<button class="f6 link dim br3 ph3 pv2 mb2 dib white bg-dark-blue">
Click Me!
</button>Here, each class f6, br3, ph3 controls a specific CSS property like font size, border radius, padding, etc. This modular approach makes styling predictable and reusable.
Tachyons was one of the innovator of the utility-first CSS movement—it influenced modern frameworks like Tailwind.
Key Features of Tachyons
- Atomic CSS Classes: Every class does one thing (e.g., pa3 = padding).
- Responsive Utilities: Classes adapt to multiple screen sizes.
- Small Bundle Size: Around 14KB minified & gzipped.
- Performance-Oriented: Encourages minimal CSS output.
- Accessible Defaults: Typography and spacing built for readability.
- Framework-Free: Works with plain HTML, React, Vue, or any frontend.
- Rapid Prototyping: Compose UIs quickly with utility classes.
Advantages of Tachyons
- Stable: Mature and widely battle-tested since 2015.
- Highly Composable: Mix classes freely to achieve complex designs.
- Consistent: Predictable, reusable naming system.
- Fast & Lightweight: Tiny CSS footprint.
- Great for Prototypes: Quickly test ideas without writing custom CSS.
- Utility-First Approach: No deep CSS overrides needed.
Disadvantages of Tachyons
- Smaller Community: Fewer themes, templates, and ecosystem resources.
- Messy HTML: Can lead to class-heavy markup that’s harder to read.
- No Components: You must build everything (buttons, navbars, modals) manually.
- Learning Curve: Class names (pa3, f5) are shorthand and non-intuitive for beginners.
- Not Actively Maintained: Less frequent updates compared to newer frameworks.
What is Headless UI?
Headless UI is an unstyled component library built by the creators of Tailwind CSS. It provides completely unstyled, accessible components for React and Vue.
It’s a perfect fit if you use Tailwind CSS and want flexible UI primitives without being locked into a pre-designed style.
Key Features of Headless UI
- UI Primitives for React: Includes Dialog, Menu, Listbox, Disclosure, Combobox, Tabs, etc.
- Works with Tailwind: Designed to be styled easily with Tailwind CSS.
- Fully Accessible: Handles keyboard interactions, focus states, ARIA roles.
- Transition Support: Built-in transitions using the <Transition> component.
- React + Vue Support: Available for both major frameworks.
- Simple API: Easy-to-use component structure for common UI patterns.
Advantages of Headless UI
- Easy to integrate with Tailwind CSS.
- Extremely lightweight and focused API.
- Comes with transition utilities for easy animations.
- Provides both React and Vue versions.
- Ideal for Tailwind-first projects needing flexibility.
Disadvantages of Headless UI
- Limited component set fewer primitives than others.
- Strongly tied to Tailwind ecosystem in examples and community.
- Transition component only supports basic animations not Framer Motion.
- Not suitable if you want full control outside Tailwind workflow.
- No TypeScript-first approach less complete typings than others.
Comparison Between Tachyons vs Headless UI
Use Cases of Tachyons
- Rapid prototyping and MVPs.
- Building custom UIs without depending on pre-styled components.
- Designers who want total control over design instead of prebuilt themes.
- Developers who like atomic/functional CSS.
- Lightweight projects where performance is critical.
Use Cases of Headless UI
- Projects using Tailwind CSS (especially with React/Vue)
- Lightweight React or Vue apps needing basic headless components
- MVPs or quick prototypes with Tailwind
- Simpler UIs where you don’t need deep customization
- Beginners or solo developers familiar with Tailwind CSS
Other Resources
Conclusion
UI frameworks make building a polished website way easier. Whether you're working on something simple or a big project, they help you get things looking just right without having to stress over every little design decision. With ready-to-use components, responsive layouts, and modern styles, you can build faster and smarter.
So, pick one that works for you, and start creating a site that looks amazing from the get-go.
Frequently asked questions
How do I start using Tachyons?
Include via CDN, install with npm, or build a custom version with PostCSS.
What makes Tachyons different?
Tachyons is utility-first and functional using small, single-purpose classes combined directly in HTML.
How big is Tachyons?
Very lightweight, under 14 KB gzipped, and you can slim it down further by removing unused modules.
Can I customize Tachyons?
Yes, through custom builds, CSS variables, or tools like Components AI for theming.
Is Tachyons enough for UI development?
Yes, many developers build full, responsive, and accessible UIs using only Tachyons plus basic CSS knowledge.
What is Headless UI used for?
It provides unstyled, accessible components like dialogs, lists, and menus — perfect for Tailwind-based UIs.
Does Headless UI support Vue?
Yes, it supports both React and Vue.
Is Headless UI styled by default?
No. It gives full control over design; you provide all styling (often with Tailwind CSS).
Does Headless UI handle accessibility?
Yes, it handles keyboard nav, focus traps, ARIA roles, and screen reader compatibility.
Can I animate Headless UI components?
Yes, using the built-in <Transition> component — though it's basic compared to animation libraries.