Why I Ditched Tailwind for 'Boring' CSS on My New SaaS Project

Kicking off my new SaaS project, ait-one-changer.com, I faced that familiar, almost pleasant anxiety every developer knows: choosing the tech stack. In 2025, we have a dazzling toolbox. For front-end styling, one name seems to dominate every "modern stack" discussion: Tailwind CSS.

My first instinct, naturally, was to add it to my package.json. It represents speed, modernity, and community approval. Yet, within 48 hours of starting the project, I made a decision that might surprise some: I uninstalled it. And I replaced it with a solution many would consider "outdated" or even "boring." This choice ultimately saved me a massive amount of time and let me focus on what truly matters.

My System

In my "Genesis Document," there's a chapter I call "The Foundry: Our Engineering Principles." The very first rule is: Stability over everything. It's a simple principle, but it takes discipline to uphold when faced with the allure of new, shiny tech.

As I began configuring Tailwind, I found myself falling into a rabbit hole of plugin compatibility issues, PostCSS configuration tweaks, and the clunky workarounds needed to apply Tailwind classes to pre-existing MUI components. The time I was spending "making the tools work" was starting to exceed the time I was "working with the tools."

My internal "pragmatism alarm" went off. I stopped and asked myself: For a project whose goal is to ship an MVP in days, is what I'm doing right now adding value or adding complexity? The answer was clear.

The "What": The Insight

I realized that for an indie developer optimizing for speed and stability, the "best" technology isn't the "coolest"; it's the one you barely notice.

So, I went against the grain and made the following stack decision:

UI Component Library: MUI (Material-UI)
- Why? It's a "batteries-included" toolkit. It provides almost every component I need out of the box, from buttons to complex data grids. Its styling system is self-contained, meaning I don't need another CSS framework to fight with it.
Styling Solution: CSS Modules
- Why? It's the zero-config solution built right into Next.js. It solves the global scope problem—the primary pain point I wanted Tailwind for—by automatically generating unique class names. I just create a Component.module.css file and safely use styles in Component.tsx. It's simple, direct, and reliable.

This combination (MUI + CSS Modules) is undeniably "boring." It's not what's trending on Twitter. But it has one, unbeatable advantage: It just works.

I was no longer wrestling with config files. I could trust that a MUI <Button> would look and act consistently everywhere. When I needed custom styling, I just opened a .module.css file and wrote pure, clean CSS. My cognitive load energije (energy/mental load) was minimized.

The "So What?": The Takeaway

This story isn't really about CSS. It's about how we, as builders, can make smarter technical decisions.

Beware "Resume-Driven Development": It's easy to be seduced by tech that will look great on our GitHub profile. But as founders, our only job is to deliver value to users with the least amount of risk and the highest possible speed.
Distinguish "Essential" vs. "Accidental" Complexity: The "essential complexity" of a project is its core business logic (for ait-one-changer.com, it's writing great prompts). Problems caused by你的 toolchain and setup are "accidental complexity." Our job is to ruthlessly eliminate the latter.
Embrace "Boring" Technology: For the parts of your product that are not your core competitive advantage (like the styling system for my project), choosing the most stable, mature, and "boring" solution is often the most effective strategy. Save your innovation budget for the things that truly make your product unique.

Conclusion & Call to Action

In the end, choosing MUI and CSS Modules saved me at least a full day of configuration and debugging, allowing ait-one-changer.com to launch faster. It was a real-world lesson in "less is more."

This choice isn't for everyone, but I believe the thought process behind it is universal. In your own projects, have you ever battled with "accidental complexity"? How did you decide on your trade-offs?

I'd love to hear your own stories of choosing between the "boring" and the "trendy."