It’s been a while since the last official release of StyleXui, and I thought it was time to tell the full story. Not just about what StyleXui is, but why I built it.
A lot has happened since my last post. Life has been a rollercoaster for me personally and for the team at Xnyder. We’ve bounced between figuring out revenue models for Xnyder, managing a tool we initially built for fun (shoutout to our anonymous feedback app), and developing what we believe could revolutionize how e-commerce works in my beautiful country, Nigeria.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, I kept going back to one tool consistently: StyleXui.
And no, not just because I built it. Okay, maybe a little bit because of that 😂
But really, let me take you back to the beginning.
The First Draft
The very first version of StyleXui was hacked together around four years ago. I didn’t even think to push it to GitHub at the time. I wasn’t sure it was a big deal. It was just… something I made. But now, looking back, I realize that tiny side project laid the foundation for something much bigger.
At first, I just wanted to challenge myself:
“Can I build my own CSS framework?”
I mean, how hard could it be?
Turns out to be very hard.
Growing Pains
Every time I used StyleXui on a project, I ran into missing styles. It felt like I was in a constant loop of fixing and adding. For over a year, I kept telling myself:
“This thing won’t go anywhere.”
I even shelved it more than once. But something kept pulling me back.
Then came the CORS issue.
I was still new to it all and had no clue what was wrong. After days of searching, debugging, and trial-and-error, I finally cracked it. That experience alone could have been its own mini project 😩
Next up: optimization.
Fonts, spacing, sizing, none of it was quite right. I had to figure out how to fix that too. Shoutout to gwfh.mranftl.com for helping me self-host Google Fonts easily. Also, Toptal’s JS and CSS minifiers became my best friends during this phase.
Who’s Using It?
That was another question: Who’s actually going to use this?
I didn’t do much promotion. I just didn’t feel it was “there” yet. But one of my guys, Nnaemeka, has been using StyleXui for two years straight. I think he even knows how to use it better than I do 😂😂
Tailwind? Bootstrap? StyleXui?
Before we launched, I had doubts.
Was this just another Tailwind copy?
If that’s how you see it, I get it. The syntax is familiar.
But that’s the whole point.
I’ve used Tailwind CSS, I’ve used Bootstrap, they both have strengths and weaknesses. With StyleXui, we’re trying to bring the best of both worlds:
- Utility-first like Tailwind
- Easy to get started with like Bootstrap
- No configs or heavy setups—just plug and go
Where We Are Now
We finally launched 🎉
We’re still a small name in the space, but the recognition we’ve received, no matter how little, means the world to us. We’re not perfect, but we’re building something.
And that something is StyleXui.
A modern CSS framework made for real-world devs.
Whether you’re a Tailwind fan or a Bootstrap loyalist, StyleXui doesn’t force you to choose. It blends both approaches and simplifies getting started. And it’s open source, so your feedback, ideas, and pull requests are always welcome.
Try It Out
👉 Visit the official site: https://stylexui.com
📬 Want to reach out? DM me on social media or message us on X (formerly Twitter) @StyleXui
💬 We’re always open to contributions and feedback.
We haven’t released our official docs yet, but they’re coming soon. In the meantime, just start building and let us know what you think.
If this article resonates with you, or you’re curious to try something different in your next project, give StyleXui a spin.
Thanks for reading 🙌
🚀 Richard Gigi, Co-Founder @ Xnyder