Can we stop arguing about Tailwind vs Webflow vs Pure HTML/CSS

So many methods, so little time

I’ve noticed a lot of, let’s call it impassioned, debate from designers and developers about which methods and approaches are “best” when it comes to designing and developing websites.

What often surprises me is the argument that one tool is the best and someone is a fool for using anything else. Some are all about no-code (mostly designers), others are purists for vanilla handwritten code and some embrace the convenience and power of libraries & frameworks.

What isn’t typically argued is “use the tools that are best for you and/or your team.” Our trade tools vary from freelancer to product team member to developer to designer and all roles in-between. It’s a bit silly when folks get overly heated about someone preferring Tailwind over vanilla CSS or no-code Webflow over coding it yourself.

I’m going to mention just a few pros & cons of using Tailwind, Webflow and Pure HTML/CSS. While SCSS is of course preferred over vanilla CSS, for simplicity sake, I’m going to stick with the term CSS. This list is not exhaustive and there are a lot more pros & cons which could be added.

It can be a little tricky to compare these three items because they aren’t exactly 1:1 methods. Tailwind is a…