# HTMX vs Tailwind CSS

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Tailwind CSS

| Attribute | HTMX | Tailwind CSS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 59.2 (56% (medium)) | 71.3 (76% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 30 | 23 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 348 | 1,049,673 |
| adoption.github_stars | 49,564 | 97,875 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 289,763 | 137,279,787 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"HTMX extends HTML to support modern interactive features like WebSocket connections and AJAX requests using simple HTML attributes, allowing developers to build responsive interfaces while remaining within the HTML/hypertext paradigm. It is indexed under Frontend UI Frameworks.","source":"https://htmx.org/","question":"What is HTMX?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"HTMX is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the 0BSD licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://htmx.org/","question":"Is HTMX free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to HTMX. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://htmx.org/","question":"What platforms does HTMX support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. HTMX is published under the 0BSD licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://www.npmjs.com/package/htmx.org","question":"Is HTMX open source?","confidence":0.85}]` | `[{"answer":"A CSS framework providing a library of styling utilities you can apply directly to your HTML elements. It scans your code and generates only the CSS you actually use, with built-in support for responsive layouts, dark mode, and theme customization. It is indexed under Frontend UI Frameworks.","source":"https://tailwindcss.com","question":"What is Tailwind CSS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Tailwind CSS is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://tailwindcss.com","question":"Is Tailwind CSS free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Tailwind CSS. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://tailwindcss.com","question":"What platforms does Tailwind CSS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for Tailwind CSS, including Laravel, SvelteKit, React Router, Nuxt, SolidJS, Vite and PostCSS. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://tailwindcss.com","question":"What does Tailwind CSS integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Tailwind CSS is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss","question":"Is Tailwind CSS open source?","confidence":0.99}]` |
| description.long | A lightweight, dependency-free JavaScript library that enables dynamic web interactions using HTML attributes instead of extensive JavaScript code, reducing development complexity. | Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework that enables rapid website development by applying pre-built CSS utility classes directly to HTML markup. It scans templates to generate only the styles actually used, producing minimal CSS bundles (often under 10kB) with zero runtime overhead. |
| features.capabilities | `{"paradigm":"Attribute-driven HTML extension","bundle_size":"small","virtual_dom":false,"state_management":false}` | `{"paradigm":"Utility-first CSS framework","bundle_size":"tiny","ssr_support":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 7 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Laravel"},{"name":"SvelteKit"},{"name":"React Router"},{"name":"Nuxt"},{"name":"SolidJS"},{"name":"Vite"},{"name":"PostCSS"}]` |
| language.primary | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | 0BSD | MIT |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://htmx.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T23:05:42.622Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://tailwindcss.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:24:55.725Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | - |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 35 | 17 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v4.0.0","date":"2026-08-28T13:00:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v4.0.0-beta6","date":"2026-07-23T17:19:16Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.0.0-beta6"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v4.0.0-beta5","date":"2026-06-26T18:17:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0-beta5"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v4.0.0-beta4","date":"2026-05-22T16:01:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0-beta4"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v4.0.0-beta3","date":"2026-05-08T19:31:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0-beta3"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.10","date":"2026-09-06T19:54:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.9","date":"2026-04-20T13:03:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.8","date":"2026-09-06T19:54:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.7","date":"2025-09-11T19:03:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.6","date":"2025-06-27T13:49:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.5","date":"2025-06-20T21:44:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.4","date":"2024-12-13T18:13:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.3","date":"2024-10-04T17:55:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.2","date":"2024-08-12T21:10:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.1","date":"2024-07-12T17:28:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v2.0.0","date":"2024-06-17T18:42:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v1.9.12","date":"2024-04-25T17:24:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v1.9.11","date":"2024-03-15T14:56:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v1.9.10","date":"2024-01-05T18:28:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/bigskysoftware/htmx/releases/tag/v1.9.9","date":"2023-11-30T22:39:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.9"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.3.3","date":"2026-07-16T11:55:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.3.2","date":"2026-06-29T14:21:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.3.1","date":"2026-06-12T17:50:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2026-05-08T20:17:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.2.4","date":"2026-04-21T13:09:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.2.3","date":"2026-04-20T20:46:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2026-03-18T16:06:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2026-02-23T12:51:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2026-02-18T14:58:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.18","date":"2025-12-11T16:31:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v3.4.19","date":"2025-12-10T18:39:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.19"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.17","date":"2025-11-06T15:34:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.16","date":"2025-10-23T10:55:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.15","date":"2025-10-20T13:17:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.14","date":"2025-10-01T16:00:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v3.4.18","date":"2025-10-01T15:29:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.13","date":"2025-09-04T17:29:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.12","date":"2025-08-14T12:48:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.11","date":"2025-06-26T10:52:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/releases/tag/v4.1.10","date":"2025-06-11T20:37:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.10"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 5.2 | 7 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=htmx.org&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=tailwindcss&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Frontend UI Frameworks)

| Capability | HTMX | Tailwind CSS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Paradigm | Attribute-driven HTML extension | Utility-first CSS framework |
| Reusable component model | - | - |
| **Rendering** |  |  |
| Virtual DOM | ✗ | - |
| Signals / fine-grained reactivity | - | - |
| SSR support | - | ✓ |
| **DX** |  |  |
| First-class TypeScript | - | - |
| **State** |  |  |
| Built-in state management | ✗ | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Official router | - | - |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Runtime size | Small (10–40kb) | Tiny (<10kb) |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:14:16.566Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*