Modern Web Development with Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS [ Skip to content ](#main-content) [ ~/ bastiaan.dev ](/) [ Home ](/) [ Blog ](/blog) [ Contact ](/contact) [ Home ](/) [ Blog ](/blog) [ Contact ](/contact) Modern Web Development with Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS ======================================================== Bastiaan — March 20, 2025 [ Back to blog ](https://bastiaan.dev/blog) ![Modern Web Development with Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS](https://bastiaan.dev/images/developer-laptop-nyc.jpg "Modern Web Development with Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS") Modern Web Development with Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS ========================================================== Written on March 20, 2025 @ 21:00 by Bastiaan Last updated on March 20, 2025 @ 21:00 [ development ](https://bastiaan.dev/blog/tag/development) [ react ](https://bastiaan.dev/blog/tag/react) [ bun ](https://bastiaan.dev/blog/tag/bun) [ tailwind ](https://bastiaan.dev/blog/tag/tailwind) Introduction ------------ Web development is constantly evolving, with new tools and frameworks emerging to improve performance, ease of use, and developer experience. As modern applications demand faster load times and better scalability, developers need a stack that meets these requirements efficiently. This blog post introduces a powerful combination: Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS. This stack offers a streamlined development process, improved speed, and a great developer experience. Let's explore why this combination is worth considering. What is This Modern Stack? -------------------------- ### Bun – A New JavaScript Runtime Bun is a new JavaScript runtime that aims to be faster and easier to use than Node.js. It comes with built-in tools like bundling and transpiling, which means you can start a project with less setup. In the example project I've created, [bun-react-tailwind](https://github.com/basst85/bun-react-tailwind), Bun works well with other modern tools to create smooth development experiences. ### React – A Popular Library for User Interfaces React is a well-known library for building user interfaces. Its component-based approach lets you create reusable parts of your website. When used with Bun, React apps can load and run more quickly. ### Tailwind CSS – Fast and Consistent Styling Tailwind CSS is a utility-first CSS framework. Instead of writing a lot of custom CSS, you use pre-made classes to style your website. This makes it quick and easy to create a consistent look. ### Other Helpful Tools The stack can also include tools like Shadcn UI for ready-made components, React Router for navigating between pages, and data-fetching libraries like TanStack Query or SWR. Together, these tools help you build powerful web applications with less hassle. Why Choose Bun Over Node.js? ---------------------------- ### Faster Performance One of the biggest benefits of using Bun is its speed. Bun is designed to work faster than Node.js, which can mean shorter loading times and a quicker development process. This speed boost is very useful, especially in larger projects or when handling many tasks at once. ### Built-in Features for Simplicity Bun comes with many built-in features that you normally get from separate tools in Node.js. It has its own bundler and transpiler, so you don't need to set up extra configurations. This makes it easier to start a new project and keep it running smoothly. ### Better Developer Experience With fewer configuration steps and faster performance, Bun offers a better experience for developers. You spend less time setting up and more time coding. This improved workflow can make your project development more enjoyable and efficient. ### Future-Proof Technology Bun is growing in popularity as more developers look for modern and fast solutions. By choosing Bun, you invest in a technology that is built for the future. Its active community means that new features and updates are coming regularly, keeping your project up-to-date with the latest trends. Conclusion ---------- Using Bun, React, and Tailwind CSS together creates a strong and modern stack for web development. Bun offers faster performance and built-in features that make it a great alternative to Node.js, while React and Tailwind CSS help you build beautiful and interactive websites quickly. Whether you're just starting out or you're an experienced developer, this stack is a great choice for building the next generation of web applications. Check out my example project, [bun-react-tailwind](https://github.com/basst85/bun-react-tailwind), to see how these tools work together in a real project. Frequently asked questions Why choose Bun over Node.js? Bun's runtime is faster in specific ways, such as sub-10ms cold starts and much faster package installs, and its built-in bundler and transpiler remove the need for separate tools like webpack or ts-node. The speed gain is workload-dependent though: for I/O-heavy apps with a database in the loop, HTTP throughput differences between Bun and Node are often marginal, since network and database latency dominate over runtime overhead. Does using Bun mean giving up the existing Node.js and npm ecosystem? Mostly no, but not entirely without caveats. Bun implements the Node-API interface, so most packages that stick to standard APIs, such as Express, Zod, or typical database clients, run unmodified. Packages with native C++ addons that bind directly against V8 internals rather than through Node-API don't work, because Bun runs on JavaScriptCore, not V8. Examples include sharp, native bcrypt builds, and canvas. Check compatibility before assuming a drop-in swap if your project depends on native binary modules. What role does Tailwind CSS play in this stack? Tailwind provides utility classes so you can style components directly in your markup, which keeps styling fast and consistent without maintaining large separate CSS files. Which extra tools pair well with Bun, React, and Tailwind? Shadcn UI for ready-made accessible components, React Router for navigation, and a data-fetching library like TanStack Query or SWR for handling API state. Is this stack suitable for large, complex applications? It works for both, but Bun's performance edge doesn't scale simply with project size. It shows up most clearly in cold-start-heavy and highly concurrent I/O workloads, such as serverless functions or request-heavy APIs with light per-request work. For large applications where a database or external API dominates response time, the runtime difference matters less, so also weigh Bun's relative youth and native-addon compatibility gaps before committing a large, long-lived codebase to it. 1 Quick links - [ Home ](/) - [ Blog ](/blog) - [ Contact ](/contact) - [ Source code ](https://github.com/basst85/bastiaan-dev) Socials - [ GitHub ](https://github.com/basst85) - [ LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bastiaan-steinmeier-6391a328/) - [ Discord ](https://discordapp.com/users/837649040316825622) © 2026 — Bastiaan Steinmeier Built with using Laravel and Tailwind