gesso vs Tailwind Shades
gesso is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Gesso. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). Tailwind Shades is an MCP server published by bourhaouta. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, npm registry (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-24. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |   Tailwind Shades | |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace gesso-build/skills | Listed Version: 0.4.3 Forks (GitHub): 5 Stars (GitHub): 91 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.6.0 Downloads/month (npm): 1 265 Downloads/week (npm): 453 Forks (GitHub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 78 Not marked · First seen |
| npm registry (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.6.0 Downloads/month (npm): 1 265 Downloads/week (npm): 453 Forks (GitHub): 7 Stars (GitHub): 78 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | gesso | Tailwind Shades |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 91 (better) | 78 (worse) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 5 (worse) | 7 (better) |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-14 |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | Remote server or your machine |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for | Not published | Not published |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 2 | Not a bundle |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/gesso-build/skills | github.com/bourhaouta/vscode-tailwindshades |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 0 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | Responded 6 days ago |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
gesso
73 deterministic slop guards + /gesso:critique second-opinion reviews for HTML/CSS.
Tailwind Shades
Tailwind CSS palettes (50-950) from any color, the closest Tailwind color, and Tailwind's defaults
How to run each
gesso As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add gesso-build/skills
/plugin install gesso@gessoTailwind Shades As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http tailwindshades https://tailwindshades.bourhaouta.com/mcpCommands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only Tailwind Shades has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Neither the marketplaces of gesso nor its endpoint list any tools, so we do not compare tools.
Settings each asks for
Neither one's marketplaces publish the settings it asks for.
What it can do: gesso · What it can do: Tailwind Shades · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Package data comes from the public npm registry (registry.npmjs.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.