Despite Tailwind CSS usage continuing to grow, the company recently revealed a sharp revenue decline tied to the rise of AI coding tools. Founder Adam Wathan explained how tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT reduced documentation traffic, cutting off Tailwind’s primary revenue funnel. In this edition of Web News, Matt and Mike explore what this means for Tailwind, the broader open-source ecosystem, and how open-source projects actually make money in 2026.
Despite Tailwind CSS usage growing and downloads rising, the company’s revenue dropped sharply (around 80 %). Tailwind’s business model depended on developers visiting its documentation site (where they would discover paid products like UI components). According to founder and CEO Adam Wathan, AI coding tools (like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and similar assistants) generate Tailwind code for users without them visiting the documentation, which reduced site traffic by roughly 40 % and cut off the main revenue funnel. Wathan called it the “brutal impact AI has had on our business.” (Business Insider)
