Posted by kevlened 1/7/2026
I think that the OP should update link to this comment
I do wonder though if the llms.txt could actually be used for their benefit? Why not literally recommend the paid upgrades within it?
Tailwind should not be free, its good.
It's well worth the money IMHO.
"Our website templates are built using Next.js, so all of the markup is written using React"
And the individual components that make up these templates don't seem to have pricing attached, nor non-React usage examples?
> 95% of the value I get is the components and things
If you want (and only want) a pre-built site that just needs populated with content and maybe minor tweaks to things, then yeah it's React world. However I've rarely found that any template site (Tailwind or otherwise) is close enough to where it doesn't need medium to major surgery to meet my needs, at which point it's usually faster to just copy together components to what I actually want
No, I want to be able to @import "tailwindcss" without feeling guilty.
> I've rarely found that any template site
Well, meet https://basecoatui.com -- and there's more where that came from.
So, ehhm, no, I'm not ignoring the salient part of your comment: you are ignoring the entire point of my post, which is that if Tailwind had a non-React monetization strategy, things maybe, possibly, might have worked out better.
tailwindcss is and always has been free, so I don't understand why there would be any guilt with using it. Tailwind UI/Tailwind Plus is essentially pre-built components built using tailwindcss, plus some pre-built site templates.
> Well, meet https://basecoatui.com -- and there's more where that came from.
Thanks, that looks great and will be useful to me! However, unless I'm missing something basecoatui is a component library much like what Tailwind UI/Tailwind Plus provides (though organized differently and useful in a different way IMHO). The template sites are essentially complete websites that you just git clone and it's ready to run. Quite different. basecoatui would be very useful to me, whereas template sites rarely ever have been.
> So, ehhm, no, I'm not ignoring the salient part of your comment: you are ignoring the entire point of my post, which is that if Tailwind had a non-React monetization strategy, things maybe, possibly, might have worked out better.
Apologies if that came off harsh, I didn't mean to ascribe any malice to your reply. However, it seems like there's some confusion here about what the Tailwind "templates" are. They aren't a component library, the component library is different and is not React only.
So to summarize, there are two major parts that are different:
1. Templates (pre-built sites that you git clone). React only
2. Pre-built pieces/components that you copy/paste and modify into your existing app.
The Tailwind UI blocks are a similar offering to Basecoat, and are available in non-React format.
The "Tailwind React Templates" are not really similar to Basecoat.
I did buy some of this books. Not the Tailwind UI though.
Adam, you gotta pay bills too. I understand that. And I respect that.
The day a product of mine starts making money, I'll come knocking your door.
Thank you.