Web Dev · by Sara Ahmed · 2026-10-16

Is CSS finally good enough that you can drop your utility framework?

Container queries, nesting, :has() and layers are all stable now. Are you still reaching for Tailwind or going plain CSS?

27 sparks · 13 comments

Comments

Browser support checks still needed for older enterprise users.

Nesting made Sass mostly unnecessary for us.

We dropped it last quarter, no regrets.

My designer still sends spacing in weird numbers so nothing helps me.

haha design tokens or bust

Mateo Cruz · 1 likes

Plain CSS with layers works for me on small projects, bigger teams need the constraints of utilities.

Noah Miller · 13 likes

Constraints are the real feature yes.

Still Tailwind for speed, but I write more plain CSS for complex components now.

Hybrid approach here too.

Ananya Rao · 0 likes

:has() changed my life, no more JS for parent styling.

Parent selector, only took 20 years.

Class soup in html still hurts my eyes, sorry.

You get used to it, then you stop seeing it.