Bootstrap vs tailwind CSS. Which is better?
We are going to know about the best front-end framework that best suits for you. Let’s go with a small introduction on both Bootstrap and Tailwind CSS before the comparison. If you are well known in front-end you can directly skip to comparison or to conclusion of the post.
What is Bootstrap?
Bootstrap is one of the most popular front-end framework. It is used by more than 40,000 top companies. With bootstrap once can build responsive, mobile-first sites, jsDelivr and a template start page.
It is a large collection of reusable and simple to use codes written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Bootstrap is originally released on August 19, 2011. By using bootstrap, developers save lots of time in building web pages and mobile friendly development.
It is open source toolkit featuring Sass variables and mixins, tables, grids, extensive prebuilt components and powerful JavaScript plugins.
It is Free to use.
The latest release of bootstrap is version 5.1.3 as of March 15, 2022 which is available on their official website and also on GitHub.
What is Tailwind?
Tailwind is utility-first CSS framework for developing tailor made custom user interfaces. Their official documentation states that tailwind is fast, flexible, and reliable — with zero-runtime.
Instead of writing a lot of CSS you will be writing a lot classes for the HTML elements.
Tailwind is introduced since November 01, 2017.
It supports almost all kinds of classes for margins, padding, backgrounds, fonts, colours, borders, positions and so on. Tailwind also gave support for dark mode which is very specific than bootstrap.
A common problem with tailwind is it has lots of classes which makes difficult for an entry level user.
The latest version of tailwind is 3.0 which is available in their official website.
Comparison of Bootstrap vs Tailwind
We are going to see some list of points for both bootstrap and tailwind. The comparison is based on Bootstrap 5 and Tailwind 3.
| Comparison | Bootstrap | Tailwind |
|---|---|---|
| Development | Bootstrap uses Object Oriented CSS Methodology(OOCSS) | Tailwind is a utility-first CSS framework. |
| Installation | It supports, NPM, CDN and direct source code. | It can be installed through NPM, CDN and direct file. With CDN installation tailwind does not support many features. |
| Components | There are 40+ pre-defined components in bootstrap. Eg: Navigation, Header, Footer, Forms, Models and so on. | It is not having more components when compared to bootstrap. |
| Customization | It consists of lots of HTML elements like tables, forms, navigation, etc., If one know CSS then bootstrap can be customised to achieve design requirement | It is highly customisation. You can make micro-interactions that can help developers to make unique design fast and reliable. |
| Preprocessor | It uses SASS | Tailwind supports most common preprocessors like SASS, LESS and Stylus |
| Language Support | It supports both Angular and React and also other JS based languages | It supports same as bootstrap |
| Browser support | Supports all latest browsers | It support latest version of browsers except IE |
| Dark mode | Bootstrap does not support dark mode | Tailwind supports dark mode |
| Size | 308.25kb | 27kb |
| Community | Bootstrap has large community support | Tailwind is growing day to day |
Conclusion
Bootstrap and Tailwind CSS both are popular and leading CSS framework in the market. Bootstrap is good because of its simplicity, contributors and support. Tailwind is better when developer need to make a modern design in a shorter time.