Tachyons vs. Tailwind CSS
By SW Habitation
Tachyons
Tailwind CSS
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 Tailwind CSS?
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that allows developers to design user interfaces by applying atomic utility classes directly in markup. Rather than offering prebuilt UI components, it empowers developers with building blocks to create fully customized and performance-optimized designs.
Key features of Tailwind CSS
- JIT Engine: Builds only the styles you use, resulting in small and fast CSS bundles.
- Utility-First Classes: Apply styling via single-purpose classes like p-4, text-sm, or bg-red-500.
- Design Tokens: Consistent spacing, sizing, and color scales across your design.
- Framework-Agnostic: Compatible with React, Vue, Svelte, Angular, and plain HTML.
- Plugin Ecosystem: Extend with official and community plugins for forms, typography, etc.
- Responsive Design: Built-in mobile-first breakpoints using prefixes like sm:, md: etc.
- Dark Mode Support: Easily implement dark mode using dark: variants or media strategies.
- No Custom Class Naming: Skip naming headaches now you can directly compose your layout visually with utility classes.
Advantages of Tailwind CSS
- No CSS Context Switching: All styling lives right in the markup — no need to jump between HTML and CSS.
- Framework Independence: Works with any modern frontend stack without restrictions.
- Design Control: Gives developers full control over the UI without being locked into component styling.
- Highly Customizable: Themes, spacing, fonts, and colors can be tailored to any brand or project.
- Consistent Design Language: Utility classes encourage consistency across the app.
- Great Ecosystem: Strong community support, tons of plugins, UI kits, and templates available.
- Performance Optimized: Small CSS bundles with tree-shaking and JIT mean faster load times.
Disadvantages of Tailwind CSS
- Verbose HTML: HTML/JSX can become cluttered with many class names.
- Initial Setup Time: Customizing themes and config files may be overkill for small projects.
- Steep Learning Curve: Takes time to get used to utility classes, especially for those used to traditional CSS.
- No Built-in Components: Unlike Bootstrap or Chakra UI, you need to build components from scratch.
- Harder for Designers: Designers unfamiliar with utility-first might find it harder to collaborate.
Comparison Between Tachyons vs Tailwind CSS
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 Tailwind CSS
- High-performance marketing pages
- Web apps that need full control over UX and design
- Custom-designed SaaS dashboards
- Design systems with strict branding guidelines
- Mobile-first responsive web apps
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.
Is Tailwind a CSS framework like Bootstrap?
It's more of a utility-based toolkit. While Bootstrap gives you components, Tailwind gives you building blocks.
Can I use Tailwind with React?
Yes, Tailwind works seamlessly with React, Vue, Svelte, and even plain HTML.
How is Tailwind different from inline styles?
Tailwind uses a design system with responsive variants and consistent scaling — unlike random inline styles.
Does it support dark mode out of the box?
Yes. You can use dark: variants or configure custom strategies.