How Tailwind CSS Can Speed Up Your Development Process

What if we told you there’s a way to speed up your development by 20% or more while keeping full control over your designs? Tailwind CSS can help you do just that. It cuts down on repetitive tasks, helps you prototype quickly, and makes it easier to scale your designs.

In this article, we will explain how Tailwind CSS works and show you how to use it to speed up your development process.

What is Tailwind CSS?

Let’s start with the basics. Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework, which means it provides you with a set of small, reusable classes (called utility classes) to style elements. Instead of writing custom CSS for each element, you apply these classes directly in your HTML.

For example:

The result? Less time jumping between your HTML and CSS files and more time building things that look and function exactly how you want them to. But that’s not all — Tailwind is designed to be customizable and scalable, making it a great tool for projects of any size.

The Usage and Popularity of Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS was created by Adam Wathan and released in 2017. Since then, it has experienced remarkable growth in popularity among web developers. According to BuiltWith, there are currently 281,378 live websites using Tailwind CSS. This demonstrates its adoption in both small projects and large-scale corporate solutions.

Why Tailwind CSS Stands Out

Tailwind CSS has a lot of fans for a reason. Let’s break down the benefits that make it so popular.

Utility-First Approach

The utility-first approach is Tailwind’s core philosophy. Each utility class is designed to accomplish a specific task, such as setting a margin, padding, or background color. These small, reusable classes can be combined to create complex designs directly in your HTML.

Why It’s Great:

• No More Custom CSS: You no longer need to write long style sheets for every project. Tailwind takes care of most of the repetitive tasks for you.
• Faster Prototyping: You can quickly try out different styles and layouts without changing a CSS file. This flexibility is very helpful during the prototyping phase.

Customization and Flexibility

Tailwind CSS is great because you’re not stuck with the default styles — you can easily customize it to fit your project. It uses a file called tailwind.config.js, where you can set your own colors, fonts, spacing, and more. For example, if your project has specific brand colors, you can add them once and use simple class names like bg-brand across your site.

If you need to change something later, like adding a new color or font, you only have to update it in one place, and it automatically updates everywhere. This helps keep your design consistent without extra effort. Tailwind also lets you add or adjust utilities to match your needs, making it flexible for anything from small projects to complex applications. It’s a huge time-saver and keeps your design looking clean and polished.

A great example of this in action was a project where we paired a Tailwind-styled table with the React Infinite Scroll Component library. This let us build a table with infinite scrolling instead of traditional pagination (like those “1, 2, 3” buttons at the bottom of a page). It made the app feel smoother and more modern, and setting it up with Tailwind was quite straightforward.

Ready-to-Use Components

For those who need to save even more time, there are also third-party component libraries that work well with Tailwind СSS. Libraries like Tailwind UI and DaisyUI offer pre-designed, customizable components such as buttons, modals, and navigation menus.

You can start with a basic design and adjust it to match your project’s branding. For example, instead of building a modal from scratch, you can use a pre-made modal from Tailwind UI, drop it in, and easily customize it to fit your style. This method helps you work faster and be creative, which is perfect for tight deadlines.

Performance Optimizations

No one likes bloated CSS files. Tailwind CSS solves this problem with tools like PurgeCSS, which automatically removes unused styles when you build your project. This keeps your final CSS file lean and fast. The benefits of this optimization are significant:

• Smaller File Sizes: Only the CSS you actually use ends up in your project.
• Faster Page Loads: A smaller CSS file means your site loads faster, which is great for users and SEO.

Scalability for Large Projects

Tailwind is easy to scale as your project gets bigger. Its reusable utility classes help keep components consistent, which is perfect for teams handling large or complex projects. Need to update a design element? Simply change it in the configuration file, and the update will apply throughout your project.

In a project with hundreds of pages,  keeping consistent spacing, colors, and typography can be quite a challenge. However, Tailwind’s global configuration and utility classes simplify these updates, helping you streamline your design.

Where We Use Tailwind CSS

From our experience, there are three main ways to use Tailwind CSS in projects. It is flexible enough to adapt to different workflows based on the project requirements. Here’s how we usually approach it:

1. Building Entirely with Tailwind

Sometimes, you just want to start fresh and build everything using Tailwind’s utilities or with the help of libraries like Tailwind UI or DaisyUI. These libraries provide ready-made components so you can quickly assemble a full design without much extra work. This is great when you need to move fast, like for prototypes, MVPs, or simple projects where you don’t need a completely unique design.

2. Adapting an Existing Design

There are also cases where you’re working with a design that’s already created, like something from a designer or an older version of the site. Tailwind is really handy here because you can adjust its settings to match the existing colors, fonts, and styles. This makes it easy to bring the design to life while keeping everything consistent. We’ve used this approach a lot when updating older projects or building new features into an existing design.

3. Creating Everything Custom

For projects that need a unique, from scratch design, Tailwind is also a great option. By using its utilities and customizing the configuration file, you can create something completely original while still keeping the process smooth and organized. This is what we usually do for bigger projects or ones where the branding needs to stand out, like custom apps or high-visibility websites.

Our Experience with Tailwind CSS

We’ve been using Tailwind CSS on various projects, and the results speak for themselves. It’s one of those tools that makes things easier without taking away the flexibility you need for custom designs. Let us share a real example where Tailwind really helped us out — a project in the real estate industry.

With this project, we managed to finish everything two weeks ahead of schedule — a massive win for us and the client. A big reason for this was how we used Tailwind’s reusable components. For example:

• Sidebars: We started with a basic sidebar layout design that was easy to adjust. Later, when we needed to add new menu items or change the colors to match a branding update, it only took a few small changes. The structure stayed the same, which saved us loads of time. The sidebar component we used from Tailwind was also mobile-friendly from the start, so we did not have to create extra logic for smaller screens.
• Tables: We created a flexible table layout with Tailwind that covered all the essentials — headers, rows, and even spacing. It turned out to be very easy to level up with custom logic for scrolling and pagination, additional components for handling table data filtering (also pulled out from Tailwind components, like Comboboxes and Selects), adding some rich content to the table cells with no limitations.
• Forms: Tailwind offers almost ready-to-use form layouts, which we easily upgraded with our reusable Tailwind-based field components (Tailwind has plenty of pre-styled input fields and buttons), so our forms looked great with minimal effort. When we needed custom validation or new input types, it was as simple as adding a class or two. When we needed a warning popup, it was also there, ready to use from Tailwind. The project was growing in no time.

All of this made the project not only faster to complete but also easier to maintain. Even though Tailwind might feel a bit overwhelming when you first start using it, it quickly becomes one of the most efficient tools in your development workflow.  

The Challenges of Tailwind CSS (and How to Overcome Them)

No tool is perfect, and Tailwind CSS is no exception. While it provides many impressive benefits, developers often encounter a few challenges. Fortunately, each of these has practical solutions that make the transition to using Tailwind smoother and more enjoyable.

Cluttered HTML

A common complaint about Tailwind CSS is that its utility-first approach can make HTML look cluttered. Since styles are applied directly in the markup through multiple utility classes, the code can quickly become difficult to read, especially for complex components. Developers who like clean and simple HTML may find this frustrating.

How to Overcome It: To solve this problem, Tailwind has a @apply directive. This allows you to move frequently used utility classes into your CSS file. By grouping related styles into reusable classes, your HTML becomes much cleaner and easier to manage while still maintaining the flexibility of Tailwind utilities.

Learning Curve

For developers used to traditional frameworks like Bootstrap, Tailwind's utility-first approach can feel overwhelming at first. The sheer number of utility classes can be intimidating, and it takes time to learn which classes are most useful and how to combine them.

How to Overcome It: The key is to start small and gradually explore what Tailwind can do. Focus on the basics, such as spacing, colors, and layout classes, and build from there. Tailwind's documentation is a great resource, with clear examples that help you understand its system. Taking on a simple project with Tailwind, such as a landing page, can also be a great way to practice and build confidence without feeling overwhelmed.

No Pre-Built Components

Unlike frameworks like Bootstrap, Tailwind doesn’t come with pre-designed components that are ready to use out of the box. This means you have the creative freedom to design custom layouts, but you might need to spend extra time building components from scratch, which can be a drawback if you’re working under tight deadlines.

How to Overcome It: To save time, you can use third-party libraries that offer ready-made components for Tailwind. Libraries like Tailwind UI, DaisyUI, and Flowbite provide various elements, such as buttons and navigation menus. You can customize these to match your project. These tools help you enjoy the flexibility of Tailwind while having the ease of using pre-designed options.  

While Tailwind CSS does come with its own set of challenges, each one is manageable with a little effort and the right tools.

Comparing Tailwind CSS to Other Frameworks

Now let’s see how Tailwind stacks up against two popular alternatives: Bootstrap and traditional CSS.

Tailwind vs. Bootstrap

Bootstrap is one of the most popular CSS frameworks, and for a good reason — it’s easy to use and comes with prebuilt components. But Tailwind offers a different kind of flexibility:

• Bootstrap: Ideal for quickly creating standard layouts. You use pre-designed components like buttons or modals.
• Tailwind: Gives you more control, letting you create unique designs without being limited by predefined styles.

Tailwind vs. Traditional CSS

Using plain CSS gives you total freedom, but it can also lead to bloated stylesheets that are hard to maintain. Tailwind combines the best of both worlds:

• It’s as flexible as custom CSS.
• It’s faster and easier to manage, thanks to its utility-first approach.

Here’s a simple comparison:

With Tailwind, you skip writing CSS and style directly in the HTML.

How Tailwind Speeds Up Development

So, let’s sum up why Tailwind CSS is such a great tool for development. It’s designed to save time at every step, and here’s how it helps:

1. Predefined Classes for Common Styles

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Tailwind gives you hundreds of utility classes for everything from fonts and colors to spacing and layout. There’s no need to write new CSS for common styles — you just use what’s already there.

2. Rapid Prototyping

With Tailwind, you can quickly build and test designs without creating a full CSS file. The utility-first approach makes it easy to try out different styles and layouts directly in your HTML.

3. Improved Workflow

Because you don’t need to switch between files or write custom CSS, Tailwind keeps you focused on the task at hand. This reduces context switching and helps you stay productive.

4. Scalability for Large Projects

When working on large projects, maintaining consistency can be a challenge. Tailwind ensures that your styles are reusable and consistent across components. By updating one configuration file, you can apply changes throughout your project. This saves time and reduces mistakes.

5. Great for Teams

Tailwind’s utility classes make it easier for teams to collaborate. Developers don’t have to decipher lengthy CSS files or wonder which styles apply to which components. Instead, they can see all styles directly in the HTML.

Is Tailwind CSS Right for Your Project?

Tailwind CSS is a great choice for projects that require speed, flexibility, and scalability. Whether you are building something completely custom, adapting an existing design, or working on a large application, Tailwind can save you time and help maintain a consistent look.

If you’re considering Tailwind CSS but aren’t sure how to get started or need expert help, our team is here to assist. We’ve successfully implemented Tailwind in numerous projects and can help you do the same.