Looking for a shadcn/ui alternative? This page compares shadcn/ui and Tailwind UI, 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.
shadcn/ui | Tailwind UI |
|---|---|
MIT License Open source MIT License | Paid license License Closed source paid license |
Only React Frameworks shadcn 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 |
43 Unique components shadcn has 50 components, 43 of them are unique – for example pagination and button group are considered as same. | 31 Unique components Tailwind UI has 93 Components, 31 of them are unique – for example pagination and button group are considered as same. However, Tailwind UI has many variations of the same component, and has Templates which are not included in the component count. |
2 Built-in Themes shadcn has 2 themes | 2 Built-in Themes Tailwind UI 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 |
2000kB JavaScript size Imported JavaScript bundle size (minified) of dependencies installed by shadcn CLI | 143kB to 201KB JavaScript size Imported JavaScript bundle size (minified) for Headless UI which is required for Tailwind UI |
159 Dependencies shadcn CLI installs 159 third-party dependencies (Not including React and Tailwind CSS). 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 UI 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. |
91MB Dependency size | 11MB to 16MB Dependency size Tailwind UI requires Headless UI which has 11MB to 16MB of dependencies for Vue version and React version respectively. |
84900 GitHub stars | ? GitHub stars Can't measure. Closed source project |
22600 Used by open source projects Based on GitHub's public repositories | ? Used by open source projects Can't measure. Closed source project |
173000 NPM downloads Weekly downloads from NPM | ? NPM downloads Can't measure. |
No CDN shadcn CSS file is not available on CDN | ? CDN Can't measure. |
No Semantic class names shadcn 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 UI 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 shadcn requires changing JavaScript props one by one at build time to do design token customization | No Global customizations Tailwind UI requires changing class names one by one at build time to do any customization |
No works without Node.js shadcn 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 shadcn does not provide micro CSS files for each component | No No-build version Tailwind UI does not provide micro CSS files for each component |
No P3 colors shadcn does not use wide-gamut P3 colors by default | Yes P3 colors Tailwind UI uses wide-gamut P3 colors by default |
No RTL support shadcn does not supports right-to-left (RTL) layouts by default | No RTL support Tailwind UI does not support right-to-left (RTL) layouts |
No Runtime CSS customization shadcn customizations requires changing JavaScript props at build time | No Runtime CSS customization Tailwind UI customizations requires changing Tailwind CSS class names at build time |
No Native CSS nesting shadcn doesn not use native CSS nesting | No Native CSS nesting Tailwind UI doesn not use native CSS nesting |
No Automatic install and update Components are installed individually via the CLI tool rather than as a package. This requires installing more dependencies for each component. | |
Yes Requires maintenance shadcn components exist in your codebase meaning you should manually maintain, debug and develop them. They will not receive updates and bug fixes automatically .Updating them manually according to shadcn changes means resetting all your customizations on each update. | |
No Semantic versioning for components shadcn works as a registry of components, rather than a library. The CLI tool generates component files in your project. After that, there's no versioning, no updates, and no compatibility guarantees between components. | |
895 Open GitHub issues As of April 2025 | ? Open GitHub issues Can't measure. Closed source project |
1. Install daisyUI as a Node package:
npm i -D daisyui@latestpnpm add -D daisyui@latestyarn add -D daisyui@latestbun add -D daisyui@latestdeno i -D npm:daisyui@latest2. Add daisyUI to app.css:
@import "tailwindcss";
@plugin "daisyui";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.