# shadcn/ui vs Tailwind CSS

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Tailwind CSS

| Attribute | shadcn/ui | Tailwind CSS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 54.7 (39% (low)) | 71.3 (76% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 99 | 23 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 1,049,673 |
| adoption.github_stars | 125,486 | 97,875 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 137,279,787 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An open-source React component library that provides ready-made UI components built on Radix UI and styled with Tailwind CSS. You copy components directly into your codebase and customize them to match your design requirements. It is indexed under Frontend UI Frameworks.","source":"https://ui.shadcn.com/","question":"What is shadcn/ui?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"shadcn/ui 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://ui.shadcn.com/","question":"Is shadcn/ui free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"shadcn/ui supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://ui.shadcn.com/","question":"What platforms does shadcn/ui support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. shadcn/ui can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://ui.shadcn.com/","question":"Can shadcn/ui be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for shadcn/ui, including Radix UI, React, Tailwind CSS, Next.js and Vite. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://ui.shadcn.com/","question":"What does shadcn/ui integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. shadcn/ui 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/shadcn-ui/ui","question":"Is shadcn/ui open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"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}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | - |
| description.long | An open-source React component library that provides ready-made UI components built on Radix UI and styled with Tailwind CSS. You copy components directly into your codebase and customize them to match your design requirements. | 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":"Component library and design system toolkit","bundle_size":"small","ssr_support":true,"virtual_dom":true,"component_model":true,"router_official":false,"state_management":true,"typescript_first":true,"signals_reactivity":false}` | `{"paradigm":"Utility-first CSS framework","bundle_size":"tiny","ssr_support":true}` |
| integrations.count | 6 | 7 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Radix UI"},{"name":"React"},{"name":"React Aria"},{"name":"Tailwind CSS"},{"name":"Next.js"},{"name":"Vite"}]` | `[{"name":"Laravel"},{"name":"SvelteKit"},{"name":"React Router"},{"name":"Nuxt"},{"name":"SolidJS"},{"name":"Vite"},{"name":"PostCSS"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | MIT | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://ui.shadcn.com/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:34:38.943Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://tailwindcss.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:24:55.725Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | - |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 1 | 17 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.21.4","date":"2026-10-07T11:11:31Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.21.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/registry%400.1.3","date":"2026-10-07T11:11:28Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/registry@0.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.21.3","date":"2026-10-06T06:17:47Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.21.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/registry%400.1.2","date":"2026-10-06T06:17:45Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/registry@0.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.21.2","date":"2026-10-05T14:38:22Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.21.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/registry%400.1.1","date":"2026-10-05T14:38:19Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/registry@0.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.21.1","date":"2026-10-01T10:30:53Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/registry%400.1.0","date":"2026-10-01T10:30:50Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/registry@0.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.21.0","date":"2026-09-04T05:32:33Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.20.1","date":"2026-09-02T16:34:13Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.20.0","date":"2026-09-02T12:02:03Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.19.1","date":"2026-08-31T09:55:48Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.19.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/react%400.3.1","date":"2026-08-31T09:55:45Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/react@0.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.19.0","date":"2026-08-21T17:28:23Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.18.0","date":"2026-08-13T18:44:31Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.17.0","date":"2026-08-11T20:39:12Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/helpers%400.2.0","date":"2026-08-11T20:49:34Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/helpers@0.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.16.2","date":"2026-08-06T11:37:08Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.16.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/%40shadcn/react%400.3.0","date":"2026-08-05T19:13:18Z","type":"stable","version":"@shadcn/react@0.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/shadcn-ui/ui/releases/tag/shadcn%404.16.1","date":"2026-07-31T13:58:43Z","type":"stable","version":"shadcn@4.16.1"}]` | `[{"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.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=org.mvnpm.at.shadcn%3Aregistry&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 | shadcn/ui | Tailwind CSS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Paradigm | Component library and design system toolkit | 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 2026-10-16T21:51:22.933Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*