Frontend
Best Tailwind Plus Alternatives in 2026: 7 Component Kits Compared
Tailwind Plus is closed to new buyers. Seven free and paid Tailwind component kits compared by license, component count, React or HTML output and price.
You can no longer buy Tailwind Plus, the kit formerly called Tailwind UI: Tailwind Labs closed sign-ups for new customers when it joined Shopify on 9 September 2026. For free plain-Tailwind components, use daisyUI, HyperUI or Flowbite's MIT core. For React, use shadcn/ui blocks or Headless UI. For a paid one-time kit closest to what Plus sold, look at Flowbite Pro or Preline Pro.
Seven kits are compared below by license, what you get, the code they ship (HTML or React) and price. Every figure was checked against each vendor's own page or GitHub repository on 11 November 2026.
What happened to Tailwind Plus
Tailwind UI was renamed Tailwind Plus in March 2025. It stayed a one-time purchase with lifetime access, covering the component examples, the templates and the Catalyst React UI kit. In July 2025 the plain HTML blocks got working JavaScript for dialogs, dropdowns and the like, so they no longer needed React or Vue.
In the Shopify announcement,
Tailwind Labs says existing customers keep their access but sign-ups for new customers are
closed. The open-source projects (Tailwind CSS, Headless UI, Heroicons) stay MIT-licensed
and maintained. Today every page under tailwindcss.com/plus redirects to a login screen,
and the price is no longer published.
Side by side
| Kit | License | What you get | Code | Price | Tailwind v4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| daisyUI | MIT | 68 components, themes | CSS classes, any framework | Free | Yes (daisyUI 5) |
| HyperUI | MIT | Copy-paste sections | HTML | Free | Yes |
| Meraki UI | MIT | Components with RTL and dark mode | HTML | Free; templates $49 | Listed on site |
| shadcn/ui blocks | MIT | Dashboards, sidebars, login pages | React | Free | Not stated on blocks page |
| Headless UI | MIT | Unstyled accessible primitives | React, Vue | Free | n/a (unstyled) |
| Flowbite Pro | MIT core; paid Pro license | 400+ sections, 100+ pages, Figma | HTML, React | $299 one-time | Yes |
| Preline Pro | MIT + Fair Use; paid Pro license | 780+ blocks, 21 templates | HTML + JS | $249 one-time | v4-style setup |
Prices exclude tax. "Tailwind v4" means the vendor's own page or repo says so, or shows a v4-style CSS setup where noted.
Free kits
daisyUI — component classes on top of Tailwind
Best for: projects that want short class names (btn, card) and themes, in any
framework.
daisyUI is a Tailwind plugin, not a set of snippets. The homepage
lists 68 components, says it has no JS dependency, and says it works across frameworks such
as React, Vue, Svelte and Laravel. The daisyUI 5 notes say
it works with Tailwind CSS 4. Per the install docs it
is npm i -D daisyui@latest, then @plugin "daisyui"; under @import "tailwindcss";.
The repository is MIT.
The trade-off: you write daisyUI classes rather than raw utilities, so the markup looks different from Tailwind Plus code. Interactive behaviour (dropdown state, focus handling) is left to you or your framework.
HyperUI — free HTML sections to copy
Best for: marketing pages and simple app screens where you want plain Tailwind markup.
HyperUI is the closest free match to the HTML side of Tailwind Plus: you copy the markup and paste it. The repository README says there is no package to install, the repo description says the components target Tailwind CSS v4, and it is MIT. The site groups components into Application, Marketing and Neobrutalism. It has no paid tier.
Meraki UI — RTL and dark mode built in
Best for: sites that need right-to-left layouts (Arabic, Hebrew) as well as dark mode.
Meraki UI lists RTL support and dark mode as core features, and its site shows Tailwind CSS v4.1.0 as the latest version. The GitHub repository is MIT, but its last push was in July 2025, so check that the components you need still match your Tailwind setup. Two paid templates are sold on the site at $49 each.
shadcn/ui blocks — React sections you own
Best for: React apps that need dashboards, sidebars and auth screens.
shadcn/ui blocks are larger sections built from shadcn/ui
components: a dashboard with charts and a data table, collapsible sidebars, login and
signup pages. You add one with the CLI, for example npx shadcn add dashboard-01, and the
code is copied into your repo. The page calls them open source and free; the
repository is MIT. Their focus is product UI rather
than landing pages, which is where they overlap least with
Magic UI and
Aceternity UI.
Headless UI — the free part of Tailwind Labs' own stack
Best for: React or Vue projects that want accessible behaviour and their own styling.
Headless UI is the unstyled component library from Tailwind Labs: menu, popover, dialog, tabs, combobox, listbox, switch and other form controls, for React (v2.1) and Vue. It ships no styles; you add Tailwind classes. The repository is MIT, and the Shopify announcement says the open-source projects stay maintained. It gives you behaviour, not finished page sections, so pair it with one of the HTML kits above if you need layouts.
Paid kits closest to Tailwind Plus
Flowbite Pro — HTML, React and Figma in one license
Best for: teams that want a one-time kit with a Figma file that matches the code.
The Flowbite core is MIT, installs with
npm install flowbite, and its README says the setup works with Tailwind v4. There are
separate libraries for React, Vue, Svelte, Angular and Qwik.
Flowbite Pro adds over 400 premium sections across marketing, application and e-commerce UI, 62 application pages and 53 marketing pages, available in HTML and in React with TypeScript. The Developer edition is $299 excluding tax; the Designer edition (Figma only) is $169. The page's FAQ says lifetime access covers future roadmap updates, while support runs for one renewable year. The license allows unlimited projects, including client and SaaS work, as long as you don't build a competing UI kit, theme or template.
Preline Pro — the largest block count, HTML only
Best for: HTML or server-rendered sites (Laravel, Rails, Django) that want many blocks.
Preline's pricing page lists 189 free blocks and 5 templates in the open-source edition. Pro adds 780+ blocks and all 21 templates (207 pages): $249 for one developer, $459 for a team of up to 15, with lifetime access to downloads and updates. Pro ships HTML, Tailwind and JavaScript patterns, not React or Vue source. Interactive parts need Preline's script, per the install docs.
Read the license before you buy. The free library is dual-licensed MIT plus a Fair Use License that bars building a competing product. The Pro license allows client and e-commerce projects but not redistribution, open-source projects, or selling themes and UI kits. Preline's MCP server is free to Pro and Team buyers until 1 January 2027, then needs a subscription.
How to choose
- License first. daisyUI, HyperUI, Meraki UI, shadcn/ui and Headless UI are plain MIT. Preline's free tier adds a Fair Use License; both paid kits forbid building a rival kit.
- Need React code: shadcn/ui blocks for sections, Headless UI for primitives, or Flowbite Pro if you want paid React pages.
- Need plain HTML: HyperUI or Meraki UI for free; Preline Pro or Flowbite Pro if you want hundreds of blocks and full templates.
- Building an open-source project: stay with the MIT kits. Preline's Pro license excludes open-source projects.
- Want design files too: Flowbite has a Figma file that tracks the code.
For one-off animated pieces rather than page sections, see the Magic UI alternatives.
FAQ
Can I still buy Tailwind Plus?
No. Since 9 September 2026 Tailwind Labs is not taking new customers. Existing buyers keep their access, and Tailwind CSS and Headless UI stay free and MIT-licensed.
Is there a free alternative to Tailwind UI?
Yes. HyperUI and Meraki UI give you free, MIT-licensed HTML sections to copy. daisyUI adds 68 components as Tailwind classes, and shadcn/ui blocks cover React app screens.
daisyUI vs Flowbite vs Preline?
daisyUI is a CSS plugin with its own class names and themes and no JavaScript. Flowbite and Preline use raw Tailwind utilities and ship JavaScript for interactive parts. Both also sell paid kits: Flowbite Pro from $299, Preline Pro from $249.
Do these kits work with Tailwind CSS v4?
daisyUI 5, HyperUI and Flowbite say so on their own pages, and Preline's install guide uses the v4 CSS setup. Meraki UI lists v4.1.0 on its site, but its repo has not been updated since July 2025, so test before you commit to it.
More component libraries, from shadcn/ui to animated kits, are in the frontend directory, including shadcn/ui. For motion-heavy React components, compare the Aceternity UI alternatives and the Magic UI alternatives.