Tailwind CSS vs Bootstrap: Which one is the best CSS framework?
What is Tailwind CSS?
Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework for creating custom user interfaces quickly. It is a slick approach to implement inline styling and create a beautiful interface without writing a single word of CSS.
When compared to standard UI kits, which typically contain numerous prebuilt components and make it more challenging to create a unique UI, Tailwind CSS offers developers a great deal of flexibility and control over how a component appears and feels. Its utility classes make it easy and quick to develop reusable components that blend in with the overall UI aesthetic.
What is Bootstrap?
For building responsive web applications, Twitter created Bootstrap, a free, open-source framework for HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
Bootstrap provides a mobile-first, responsive fluid grid framework that grows up to 12 columns as the device or viewport size increases. It includes predefined classes for easy layout options and powerful mixins for generating more semantic layouts.
As a component of their technology stack, several businesses employ Bootstrap. Professional web designers frequently use Bootstrap when creating apps and websites for companies in a variety of industries. Bootstrap has reportedly been used to create more than 500,000 websites in the US, according to SimilarTech.
Comparing Bootstrap and Tailwind CSS a) Major Differences
a) Key difference
The main difference between Tailwind CSS and Bootstrap is that the latter is a user interface kit while the former is not. Unlike UI kits like Bootstrap, Foundation, and Bulma.
There are no built-in UI elements or a default theme in Tailwind CSS. Instead, it comes with pre-made widgets that you can use to create your website from scratch. Bootstrap comes with responsive layouts, components, and utility classes.
Due to the required files, the file size of Bootstrap is greater than Tailwind. Whereas you can use PurgeCSS to remove unused classes in Tailwind CSS.
While Tailwind CSS proponents often favour the framework’s customizability, Bootstrap is well known for its responsiveness and faultless design. The best solution for you is determined by your priorities and project requirements.
b) Which one is more popular?
Tailwind CSS is a modern framework gaining a lot of popularity, displacing Bootstrap in comparison.
Well-known businesses like Spotify, Twitter, Lifebuoy, Forbes India, and Lyft utilise Bootstrap, while BlaBlaCar, Exyplis, and Bazzite employ Tailwind CSS.
c) Which is the wiser decision?
Because apps and websites are constructed of predesigned widgets, Tailwind CSS does not enforce hard-to-undo design choices. Using a set of utility classes when using Tailwind CSS lets you work with only the elements you need. This is a clever technique for making user interfaces that are more flexible for developers.
The sites usually always have the same appearance while using Bootstrap, which restricts our capacity to use originality in the development environment. Tailwind CSS has the advantage of making it simple to create complex user interfaces without encouraging sites to look alike.
Bootstrap has a greater level of adoption, according to StackShare, with 42906 organisations utilising it in tech stacks, including Spotify and Twitter and Udemy. In contrast, Tailwind CSS is reportedly used by 380 companies, including MAK IT, Superchat, and überdosis.
d) Which one is an easier framework?
Bootstrap is a broader concept than Tailwind and necessitates using multiple files to access its full functionality. As a result, utilising Bootstrap results in a much bigger file size than Tailwind.
Bootstrap is a component-based framework that offers prebuilt components and utilities for layering displays, spacing, and so on. It features pre-styled mobile-first, responsive components for swiftly developing faultless website pages.
CSS, on the other hand, is largely a utility framework. Tailwind CSS is identical to writing ordinary CSS. It does not have any pre-built components, unlike Bootstrap.
There is very little CSS to write with Bootstrap’s pre-built components. As a result, minor changes in the design could cause problems. Tailwind CSS allows you to style your elements from the ground up using Tailwind’s styling syntax. It makes changes easier because you only need to remove a few CSS classes.
Which should your business choose — Tailwind CSS or Bootstrap?
Tailwind and Bootstrap are used to aid in the creation of a project’s user interface to reduce development time and, ultimately, improve your user experience.
Writing and maintaining the code for your application is made simpler using Tailwind CSS. You don’t have to write custom CSS to style your application if you use this utility-first framework. Alternatively, you may utilise utility classes to control your application’s padding, margin, colour, font, shadow, and other attributes.
Bootstrap is much older and has evolved significantly over time. Comparatively speaking, Tailwind loads pages faster than Bootstrap because it is younger and smaller.
Research is the first step in deciding which Tailwind vs Bootstrap development framework is better because the subject is so broad. You can select the strategy that is most appropriate for your needs by learning more about each one and how to use it. There are different methods for performing research, and you can utilise them in little projects, watch videos, and become involved in the community.
Conclusion:
In light of this, which CSS framework should you use? Always consider your own circumstances. Bootstrap might be the superior framework if your project does not go too far from some of the more typical layouts or if you are a backend or full-stack developer. If your project requires a lot of front-end customisation, has a different layout, or you have greater CSS knowledge, Tailwind might be a better choice. Whichever choice you select, be sure it satisfies the project’s criteria.
