Tailwind Didn’t Convince Me Before… Now I Use It Everywhere

I’m going to be honest: Tailwind used to bother me a bit.
Long class names? Writing CSS in the HTML? Memorizing utilities?
It felt like a passing trend — a framework that complicates things more than it helps.

But after giving it a real chance… man, I never went back.

And now with Tailwind 4, I straight-up use it everywhere.

This article isn’t meant to convert you or to say “if you’re not using Tailwind you don’t know CSS.”
No, not at all.
It’s simply my real experience after using it on large projects, internal libraries, and work-related stuff.

Let’s break it down.

Why is Tailwind so hated?

Because it’s different.
Because it breaks the classic way of writing CSS.
And because yeah, it does have some annoying things.

Haters usually say stuff like:

• “It’s unusable without autocomplete.”
• “It looks horrible having all the classes in the HTML.”
• “Writing CSS there is disgusting.”
• “Having to memorize classes sucks.”
• “I prefer my handcrafted, artisanal CSS.”

And honestly, some of those criticisms make sense.
But a lot of them also come from not using it long enough — or testing an old version.

And what are they right about?

Yes, the HTML looks messier.
Yes, you have to memorize some classes (although you really don’t — the entire official docs are right there, dude).
Yes, if you’re not using a good editor, it’s hell.
Yes, if you come from the “modular SCSS” world, it pulls you out of your comfort zone.

But hold on…
Now comes the good part.

Tailwind 4 changed everything (for real)

Tailwind 4 wasn’t just another update.
It was a complete rewrite of the engine, and it’s a massive leap in performance and simplicity.

And this isn’t marketing — these are the actual numbers:

Performance (they went crazy here)

• 3.7x faster on full builds
• 8.8x faster on incremental builds when you add CSS
• 182x faster when nothing changed (which is most of the time)

We’re talking microseconds in those cases.
Literally: you edit a file, switch back to the browser, and it’s already done.
While other frameworks are still compiling, Tailwind is finished and has already made you a coffee.

So if you hated Tailwind because large projects got slow…
Well, that’s dead.

Simplified installation (finally)

Before, Tailwind had a kinda heavy setup:

• Configure content
• Add tailwind.config.js
• Add base / components / utilities
• Manual plugins
• Etc.

Now with Tailwind 4 it’s literally:

1. You install it:

1npm i tailwindcss @tailwindcss/postcss

2. You add the plugin in PostCSS:

1export default {
2  plugins: ["@tailwindcss/postcss"],
3};

3. You import it in your CSS:

1@import "tailwindcss";

That’s it.
Zero configuration.

No content, no extra files, no thousand steps.
And on top of that, it comes with:

• Integrated Autoprefixer (Lightning CSS)
• Import rules included
• Works out-of-the-box

If you’re someone who builds side-projects every weekend, this changes your life.

What Tailwind actually does well (and now even better)

Well-designed atomic classes

Tailwind doesn’t invent random classes.
They’re design tokens.
That fixes your mindset — it organizes everything without forcing you to dig through 300 CSS files.

The new preflight is lighter

• Less interference.
• Fewer weird styles being applied accidentally.
• Cleaner base CSS.

Less configuration, less pain

Tailwind 4 configures itself.
Literally.

If before it already had almost no config, now it’s like:

“Bro, don’t even touch the config, I’ve got this.”

Fewer files.
Less clutter.
Fewer things breaking.

REAL scalability for large interfaces

When you have:

• 300 components
• 40 pages
• Variants, dark mode, breakpoints, states…

Writing CSS “by hand” stops being romantic.
It becomes a mess.

Tailwind gives you structure without you having to invent it.
You organize everything from the markup, keep consistency, and forget the whole
“Which file was I supposed to edit?” nightmare.

What I still don’t like (because nothing is perfect)

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows.

The HTML looks ugly sometimes

If you use poorly thought-out classes, it becomes unreadable.

For complex animations, you’ll still use pure CSS

Tailwind won’t save you there.

If you don’t have a solid design base, things can turn into a Frankenstein

Utility classes don’t magically fix bad design.

But honestly…
the benefits win by a landslide.

So… do I recommend it?

Of course.

If you build modern UI, yes.
No doubt.

If you’re making a portfolio, a SaaS, a dashboard, a component library (like I am), a corporate website…
Tailwind speeds everything up.

If you want to learn CSS from scratch, I probably wouldn’t touch it yet.
But once you do know CSS, Tailwind feels like a mental power-up.

I’ll close with this

Tailwind didn’t fully convince me at first.
But after actually using it — and now with version 4 — I use it everywhere:

• It’s fast
• It’s simple
• It scales
• It maintains itself
• And it doesn’t break your mental model

Is it perfect? No.
Is it the enemy of CSS? Not at all.
Is it an amazing tool when you use it right? Absolutely.

And at this point… if Tailwind keeps going like this, I’m not dropping it ever again.