Comparing MUI vs Tailwind Plus. Which one is better in 2026?

MUI Tailwind Plus

Looking for a MUI alternative? This page compares MUI and Tailwind Plus, two popular UI component libraries. We are comparing features, size, efficiency and usage data to help you choose which component library is better for your next project.

MUI	Tailwind Plus
MIT License Open source MIT License	Paid license License Closed source paid license
Only React Frameworks MUI only works with React	Only React and Vue* Frameworks Some components are only available for React and Vue only, some don't need JS and can be used with any framework
32 Unique components MUI has 51 components, 32 of them are unique – for example pagination and button group are considered as same.	31 Unique components Tailwind Plus has 93 Components, 31 of them are unique – for example pagination and button group are considered as same. However, Tailwind Plus has many variations of the same component, and has Templates which are not included in the component count.
2 Built-in Themes MUI has 2 themes	2 Built-in Themes Tailwind Plus has light and dark themes
No Supports more than two themes Does not support more than 2 themes at the same time	No Supports more than two themes Does not support more than 2 themes at the same time
575kB JavaScript size Imported JavaScript bundle size (minified)	143kB to 201KB JavaScript size Imported JavaScript bundle size (minified) for Headless UI which is required for Tailwind Plus
85 Dependencies MUI has 85 third-party dependencies. Using more third-party dependencies increases the risk of security vulnerabilities, compatibility problems, and long-term maintenance headaches from deprecated packages.	21 to 25 Dependencies Tailwind Plus requires Headless UI which has 21 third-party dependencies for Vue version and 25 third-party dependencies for React version. Using more third-party dependencies increases the risk of security vulnerabilities, compatibility problems, and long-term maintenance headaches from deprecated packages.
22.8MB Dependency size	11MB to 16MB Dependency size Tailwind Plus requires Headless UI which has 11MB to 16MB of dependencies for Vue version and React version respectively.
98500 GitHub stars	? GitHub stars Can't measure. Closed source project
1980000 Used by open source projects Based on GitHub's public repositories	? Used by open source projects Can't measure. Closed source project
7900000 NPM downloads Weekly downloads from NPM	? NPM downloads Can't measure.
No CDN MUI CSS file is not available on CDN	? CDN Can't measure.
No Semantic class names MUI does not use semantic CSS class names. Using semantic and descriptive CSS class names improves readability and maintainability of code independent of the current framework.	No Semantic class names Tailwind Plus does not use semantic CSS class names. Using semantic and descriptive CSS class names improves readability and maintainability of code independent of the current framework.
No Global customizations MUI requires changing JavaScript props one by one at build time to do design token customization	No Global customizations Tailwind Plus requires changing class names one by one at build time to do any customization
No works without Node.js MUI requires a Node.js environment	No works without Node.js Many components require React or Vue, which requires a Node.js environment
No No-build version MUI does not provide micro CSS files for each component	No No-build version Tailwind Plus does not provide micro CSS files for each component
No P3 colors MUI does not use wide-gamut P3 colors by default	Yes P3 colors Tailwind Plus uses wide-gamut P3 colors by default
Yes RTL support MUI supports right-to-left (RTL) layouts	No RTL support Tailwind Plus does not support right-to-left (RTL) layouts
No Runtime CSS customization MUI customizations requires changing styles at build time	No Runtime CSS customization Tailwind Plus customizations requires changing Tailwind CSS class names at build time
No Native CSS nesting MUI doesn not use native CSS nesting	No Native CSS nesting Tailwind Plus doesn not use native CSS nesting
1400 Open GitHub issues As of June 2026	? Open GitHub issues Can't measure. Closed source project
vs Compare MUI vs daisyUI	vs Compare daisyUI vs Tailwind Plus

Install daisyUI

1. Install daisyUI as a Node package:

NPM

npm i -D daisyui@latest

PNPM

pnpm add -D daisyui@latest

Yarn

yarn add -D daisyui@latest

Bun

bun add -D daisyui@latest

Deno

deno i -D npm:daisyui@latest

2. Add daisyUI to app.css:

@import "tailwindcss";
@plugin "daisyui";

install-btn

This comparison page is for informational purposes only and does not mean to criticize libraries or projects. Information is based on GitHub public data, NPM registry data and official documentation websites of the libraries. If you found any outdated information, please open a PR to update it. All trademarks, logos and brand names are the property of their respective owners.

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