How It Compares

React Native Tailwind takes a fundamentally different approach from other Tailwind-for-RN solutions. Here’s why it stands out:

⚡ Zero runtime overhead for static styles
📦 Zero dependencies — Minimal supply chain risk
🛠️ Simplest setup — just a Babel plugin

⚡ At a Glance

Aspect	React Native Tailwind	NativeWind	Uniwind
Runtime dependencies	0 ✅	1	4
Runtime overhead (static)	None ✅	Minimal	Some
Setup complexity	Babel only ✅	Tailwind + runtime	Metro + CSS
Tailwind peer required	No ✅	Yes (v4)	Yes (v4)
Platform modifiers	✅	✅	✅
Color scheme support	✅	✅	✅
State modifiers	✅	✅	✅

🚀 The Compile-Time Advantage

React Native Tailwind transforms your className props at build time, not at runtime. Even dynamic expressions are intelligently optimized:

What you write:

<View className={`rounded-lg p-4 ${isSelected ? "bg-blue-500 border-blue-700" : "bg-gray-200"}`} />

What ships to your app:

<View
  style={[
    _twStyles._rounded_lg,
    _twStyles._p_4,
    isSelected ? _twStyles._bg_blue_500_border_blue_700 : _twStyles._bg_gray_200,
  ]}
/>;

const _twStyles = StyleSheet.create({
  _rounded_lg: { borderRadius: 8 },
  _p_4: { padding: 16 },
  _bg_blue_500_border_blue_700: { backgroundColor: "#3B82F6", borderColor: "#1D4ED8" },
  _bg_gray_200: { backgroundColor: "#E5E7EB" },
});

🧠 Smart compilation: Every string literal is parsed at build time — only the conditional logic (isSelected ? ... : ...) remains at runtime. No parser shipped. No class resolution. Just pre-computed StyleSheet.create calls that React Native loves.

🏆 Why React Native Tailwind Wins

📦 Zero Dependencies

Library	Deps	Peer Deps	Total npm Packages
React Native Tailwind	0 ✅	0 ✅	0 ✅
NativeWind	1	2	~600
Uniwind	4	1	~780

Deps and peer deps from package.json. Total npm packages includes all transitive dependencies (deps + peer deps) via npm ls --prod --all.

Why this matters:

🎯 Fewer breaking changes — No upstream runtime packages to break your builds
🔄 Simpler upgrades — Only dev dependencies to manage
📉 Reduced complexity — Less code running in production

⚡ Zero Runtime Overhead

For static className strings, React Native Tailwind adds literally zero runtime cost:

✅ All parsing happens during build
✅ Styles are pre-computed to StyleSheet.create
✅ No class string resolution at app startup
✅ No style caching or memoization needed

Other solutions include runtime components that must parse and resolve class strings when your app runs, adding overhead to every render.

🛠️ Simplest Setup

React Native Tailwind:

module.exports = {
  plugins: ["@mgcrea/react-native-tailwind/babel"],
};

That’s it. No additional config files, no CSS entry points, no Metro transformer setup.

Compare to alternatives:

NativeWind requires tailwindcss peer dependency + react-native-css runtime
Uniwind requires Metro transformer config + CSS entry file + multiple runtime packages

🔒 Supply Chain Security

With zero runtime dependencies, React Native Tailwind has the smallest attack surface:

✅ No runtime code from third parties — Only your compiled styles run in production
✅ Compile-time only — The Babel plugin runs in your build environment, not in user devices
✅ No binary toolchain — Unlike solutions using native binaries (lightningcss, @tailwindcss/oxide)
✅ Minimal transitive dependencies — Fewer packages = fewer potential vulnerabilities

In an era of supply chain attacks, less is more.

🎨 Smart Color Scheme Support

React Native Tailwind is all about developer experience — making things as smooth as possible. The unique scheme: modifier is a perfect example:

One className, both themes — automatically:

<View className="scheme:bg-surface p-4 rounded-lg">
  <Text className="scheme:text-label">Adapts to any theme!</Text>
</View>

With colors defined in your config:

export default {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        surface: { light: "#ffffff", dark: "#1f2937" },
        label: { light: "#111827", dark: "#f9fafb" },
      },
    },
  },
};

The compiler expands scheme: to both variants:

// scheme:bg-surface automatically becomes:
<View className="light:bg-surface-light dark:bg-surface-dark p-4 rounded-lg">
  <Text className="light:text-label-light dark:text-label-dark">Adapts to any theme!</Text>
</View>

🪄 Magic happens automatically:

✅ scheme: expands to both light: and dark: variants
✅ useColorScheme() hook injected only when needed
✅ Define semantic colors once, use everywhere
✅ Perfect for iOS system colors or brand themes
✅ No manual theme context setup required

Your app responds to system theme changes instantly — zero boilerplate, zero configuration.

📊 Feature Comparison

Feature	React Native Tailwind	NativeWind	Uniwind
Core Approach	Babel transform	Tailwind v4 + runtime	Metro transform + runtime
Platform modifiers (`ios:`, `android:`)	✅	✅	✅
Color scheme (`dark:`, `light:`)	✅	✅	✅
State modifiers (`active:`, `focus:`)	✅	✅	✅
Dynamic classNames	✅	✅	✅
Custom colors	✅	✅	✅
Arbitrary values (`p-[17px]`)	✅	✅	✅
RTL support	✅	✅	✅
Responsive breakpoints	❌	✅	✅

🎯 Summary

Choose React Native Tailwind if you want:

⚡ Maximum performance — Zero runtime overhead for static styles
📦 Minimal dependencies — Zero runtime deps means zero runtime surprises
🛠️ Simple setup — One Babel plugin, no configuration maze
💾 Small footprint — Fastest installs, smallest node_modules
🔒 Security-conscious — Minimal attack surface, compile-time only