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Tailwind + DaisyUI: The Hidden Superpower

Stop reinventing buttons. Start shipping features.

csstailwinddaisyui

Every time I mention DaisyUI, someone asks “but isn’t Tailwind supposed to be utility-first?”

Yes. And that’s exactly why DaisyUI is genius.

The Problem With Pure Tailwind

Don’t get me wrong, Tailwind is amazing. But have you seen a pure Tailwind button?

<button class="inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-md text-sm font-medium ring-offset-background transition-colors focus-visible:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring focus-visible:ring-offset-2 disabled:pointer-events-none disabled:opacity-50 bg-primary text-primary-foreground hover:bg-primary/90 h-10 px-4 py-2">
  Click Me
</button>

Now look at the same thing with DaisyUI:

<button class="btn btn-primary">Click Me</button>

Same result. 90% less code.

Why This Isn’t Cheating

“But you’re just hiding the complexity!”

Exactly. That’s called abstraction. It’s what we do in programming.

DaisyUI doesn’t replace Tailwind - it builds on top of it. You still have all your utilities. You just don’t have to use 15 of them for a basic button.

The Real Superpower: Themes

DaisyUI’s theme system is ridiculously simple:

@plugin "daisyui" {
  themes: garden --default;
}

Your entire app now has consistent:

  • Colors
  • Shadows
  • Border radiuses
  • Component styles

Switch themes by changing one word. Switch to dark mode by adding a class. That’s it.

My Workflow Now

  1. Use DaisyUI components for basics (buttons, cards, modals, etc.)
  2. Customize with Tailwind utilities when needed
  3. Build app-specific components combining both

I spend way less time on CSS and way more time on features. That’s the goal, right?

The Catch

There isn’t really one. DaisyUI adds like 20KB to your bundle. If that’s a dealbreaker, you probably have bigger optimization problems to solve first.

Try it on your next project. You’ll wonder why you were hand-crafting buttons for so long.

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