tailwindcss-rails brings Tailwind CSS to Rails with zero Node tooling required, using a native integration that compiles and watches your styles through Rails-friendly commands. It streamlines modern utility-first styling without introducing a JavaScript build pipeline, which dramatically simplifies setup for teams that want fast iteration and predictable deploys.
Installation is straightforward: add the gem, run `rails tailwindcss:install`, and start composing styles in your application stylesheet and component partials.
It supports the latest versions of Rails on Ruby 3+, integrates well with Turbo/Stimulus and ViewComponent, and ships with sensible defaults like purge rules to keep CSS bundles lean.
It has minimal configuration, first-class Rails ergonomics, and excellent documentation maintained alongside Rails ecosystem tooling. Though issues surface if you need complex PostCSS plugins or a fully custom design system that relies on Node-based pipelines.
Actively maintained alternatives include cssbundling-rails with Tailwind via Node, Bootstrap via `bootstrap` and `cssbundling-rails`, or using Sass with the `sassc-rails` gem.
Installation is straightforward: add the gem, run `rails tailwindcss:install`, and start composing styles in your application stylesheet and component partials.
It supports the latest versions of Rails on Ruby 3+, integrates well with Turbo/Stimulus and ViewComponent, and ships with sensible defaults like purge rules to keep CSS bundles lean.
It has minimal configuration, first-class Rails ergonomics, and excellent documentation maintained alongside Rails ecosystem tooling. Though issues surface if you need complex PostCSS plugins or a fully custom design system that relies on Node-based pipelines.
Actively maintained alternatives include cssbundling-rails with Tailwind via Node, Bootstrap via `bootstrap` and `cssbundling-rails`, or using Sass with the `sassc-rails` gem.