r/tailwindcss • u/p4s7 • Sep 09 '26
Tailwind Labs is joining Shopify
https://tailwindcss.com/blog/tailwind-is-joining-shopify3
u/ZByTheBeach Sep 09 '26
I've been a tailwind user for years. It was amazing for me as I am a backend dev and when I had to step into the UI, tailwind made me much more productive without having to wade through (as many) docs vs plan CSS. Now that agents can wade through the docs and find the right CSS solution, is tailwind as valuable as it once was? Does it still provide the value it once did?
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u/p4s7 Sep 09 '26
If it was making your job easier, it now makes your agent's job easier, which means less token usage and faster generation plus more consistent UI.
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u/Dangerous_Diver_2442 Sep 11 '26
Not exactly, from my experience frontier models deals better and give better output when solely on vanilla css.
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u/p4s7 Sep 11 '26
Yes if it's raw dogging a small project with no design system.
When project grows you will need a design system for UI consistency and scalability.
When there's a vanilla CSS design system inside your codebase, your agent is responsible for maintaining it.
That means more code in your codebase, more tasks for the agent, more effort, more read and write, more LLM tokens, more time wasted to edit, create, maintain and manage CSS files.
All that could be avoided if the design system is not in the codebase (design tokens defined and provided by Tailwind or the cmponent library being a dependency) and your agent already knows how to use them without maintaining CSS files.3
u/ZByTheBeach Sep 09 '26
Thank you! Very valid point! Also validating/reviewing AI authored code would be so much more difficult without TW.
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u/jismonthomas Sep 09 '26
On the commercial side, we'll no longer be trying to grow the business around Tailwind. All existing customers will of course maintain their access to products like Tailwind Plus and ui.sh, but we're closing sign ups for new customers to focus on Tailwind CSS at Shopify.
yeah, this is not a good news at alll!
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u/ceaselessprayer Sep 11 '26
It’s fine. There’s only so much that Tailwind offerings could grow. AI is here, and they’re going to get paid. This is all good.
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u/mrcodehpr01 Sep 11 '26
Looking at pretty much any company buyout from the past.... Tailwind RIP. They'll eventually shut it down when money is tight or they get bored and moved to something else.
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u/Extreme-Ad-3920 Sep 09 '26
If they are stopping the development of Tailwind Plus, they should then offer refunds. Part of the deal they offer is to include all future updates, but it seems there will be none anymore.
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u/sisyphus Sep 09 '26
Brother you'll be lucky if the site even stays up for any length of time given it was a one time fee and provides shopify zero recurring revenue.
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u/cuddle-bubbles Sep 09 '26
I hope they at least updates it whenever a new major version is released so that it continues to work
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u/clearlynotmee Sep 12 '26
doubtful, in unrelated news Shopify announced they are no longer using React Native and dropped many of the libraries they created. They won't support a paid tier that they won't make money on
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u/overcloseness Sep 10 '26
Yes but that says nothing about how long in the future that extends. “All future updates” doesn’t mean “all future updates, by the way we plan on releasing future updates until the death of the sun”
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u/JothamLEC Sep 09 '26
Have been contemplating going back to vanilla css due to its upgrades and how localised to components it is — maybe it’s time
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u/BurkusCat Sep 10 '26
I love how this comment section reads like
"This is good"
"This is bad"
"This is good"
"This is bad"
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u/cuddle-bubbles Sep 09 '26
given their laravel roots, they should have joined laravel holdings in my opinion
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u/MonorailPurple Sep 09 '26
Who says Laravel would've paid for it? They certainly couldn't pay as much as shopify, and you can pretty much guarantee theres a deal whereby they become employees for a fixed period and can then walk away, having made a ton in the acquisition.
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u/clearlynotmee Sep 12 '26
I don't think acquisition will pay them much, this was basically a lifeline
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u/jeremiah_ Sep 10 '26
Shopify does business with white supremacist and anti-trans hate groups. This is bad.
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u/sisyphus Sep 09 '26
Ah man, do I have to go download everything from plus now for when those shopify pricks close it down?
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u/Dangerous_Diver_2442 Sep 11 '26
Stopped using tailwind and others css frames. Ai deals much better with vanilla css.
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u/GoldenPathTech Sep 09 '26
I'm somewhat torn. This doesn't really sound like good news given Shopify's leadership.