Tailwind CSS changed how many of us build interfaces. Instead of fighting custom CSS files that grow chaotic over time, you compose designs directly in HTML using utility classes. The speed is addictive, but more importantly, the consistency across projects becomes almost automatic.
Still, one area where developers frequently waste time is creating those first visual elements that actually get users to click: blog post previews, article cards, summary blocks.
You know the pattern — image on one side (or top), title, excerpt, reading time, author avatar, maybe a category badge. Every blog needs them, yet almost nobody enjoys building them from scratch more than once.
That’s why I put together this collection of 6 free, production-ready post summary components built entirely with Tailwind CSS (v3.0+).
6 Modern Free Tailwind CSS Blog Preview Cards – Zero Cost, Pro Vibes
They focus on real-world use cases:
- clean responsive behavior across mobile and desktop
- good contrast and typographic hierarchy
- subtle hover states that feel premium without being heavy
- easy customization (most need only color variable changes)
- no external dependencies beyond Tailwind itself
Whether you’re launching a personal blog, a documentation site, a SaaS marketing page or a content-heavy dashboard, these cards should save you several hours of fiddling with margins, shadows and media queries.
Free Tailwind CSS: 6 Beautiful Post Summary Components Ready to Copy-Paste
1 – Simply Card post resume with background image (+2 Variations)
If you’re looking for a simple and responsive design, here it’s 3 variations for you:
Post Title Example
A resume of your post here…
Post Title Example
A resume of your post here…
Post Title Example
A resume of your post here…
Here are the codes:
<div class="grid grid-cols-3 sm:grid-cols-3 lg:grid-cols-3 gap-6 ">
<article class="group relative h-72 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-2xl shadow-lg cursor-pointer">
<!-- background image -->
<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1500530855697-b586d89ba3ee" alt="Post image"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-all duration-500 group-hover:scale-115" />
<!-- Gradient -->
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-t from-black/90 via-black/30 to-transparent"></div>
<!-- Content -->
<div class="absolute bottom-0 z-10 p-5 text-white">
<h3 class="text-lg font-semibold leading-tight">
Post Title Example
</h3>
<p class="mt-2 text-sm text-gray-200 line-clamp-3">
A resume of your post here...
</p>
</div>
</article>
<article class="group relative h-72 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-2xl shadow-lg cursor-pointer bg-black">
<!-- background image -->
<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1500530855697-b586d89ba3ee" alt="Post image"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-all duration-500 group-hover:blur-sm group-hover:scale-115 group-hover:opacity-40" />
<!-- Gradient -->
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-t from-black/90 via-black/30 to-transparent"></div>
<!-- Content -->
<div class="absolute bottom-0 z-10 p-5 text-white">
<h3 class="text-lg font-semibold leading-tight">
Post Title Example
</h3>
<p class="mt-2 text-sm text-gray-200 line-clamp-3">
A resume of your post here...
</p>
</div>
</article>
<article class="group relative h-72 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-2xl shadow-lg cursor-pointer">
<!-- background image -->
<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1500530855697-b586d89ba3ee" alt="Post image"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-all duration-500 group-hover:blur-sm group-hover:scale-115 group-hover:grayscale" />
<!-- Gradient -->
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-t from-black/90 via-black/30 to-transparent"></div>
<!-- Content -->
<div class="absolute bottom-0 z-10 p-5 text-white">
<h3 class="text-lg font-semibold leading-tight">
Post Title Example
</h3>
<p class="mt-2 text-sm text-gray-200 line-clamp-3">
A resume of your post here...
</p>
</div>
</article>
</div>2 – Post Card Glas (glassmorphism)
Post Glass
Modern, light and elegant design, widely used in dashboards.
<article class="relative h-72 overflow-hidden rounded-2xl shadow-lg group cursor-pointer">
<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1498050108023-c5249f4df085"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-all duration-500 group-hover:scale-105 group-hover:blur-sm" />
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-black/30"></div>
<div class="absolute bottom-4 left-4 right-4 rounded-xl bg-white/10 backdrop-blur-md p-4 text-white">
<h3 class="text-lg font-semibold">Post Glass</h3>
<p class="mt-1 text-sm text-white/80 line-clamp-2">
Modern, light and elegant design, widely used in dashboards.
</p>
</div>
</article>3 – Card with colored side stripe (visual category)
Technical Post
Category Badge
<article class="group relative h-64 overflow-hidden rounded-xl bg-gray-900 cursor-pointer">
<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518770660439-4636190af475"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover opacity-80 transition-all duration-500 group-hover:blur-sm" />
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-black/40"></div>
<div class="absolute bottom-0 flex w-full">
<div class="w-2 bg-indigo-500"></div>
<div class="p-4 text-white">
<h3 class="font-semibold">Technical Post</h3>
<p class="inline-flex items-center rounded-md bg-indigo-500 px-2 py-1 text-xs font-medium text-white inset-ring inset-ring-purple-700/10">
Category Badge
</p>
</div>
</div>
</article>4 – Card with radial zoom and strong gradient.
Great for landing pages and featured content.
Impactful Post
Great for landing pages and featured content.
<article class="group relative h-72 overflow-hidden rounded-2xl cursor-pointer">
<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1500530855697-b586d89ba3ee"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-transform duration-700 group-hover:scale-110" />
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-t from-purple-900/90 via-purple-600/30 to-transparent"></div>
<div class="absolute bottom-5 p-5 text-white">
<h3 class="text-xl font-semibold">Impactful Post</h3>
<p class="mt-2 text-sm text-purple-100 line-clamp-2">
Great for landing pages and featured content.
</p>
</div>
</article>5 – Card with blurred image and focus on the text.
Design
How modern interfaces guide decisions without you even realizing it.
A deep dive into UX, cognitive psychology, and micro-interactions.
Admin
6 min reading
<article class="group relative h-96 overflow-hidden rounded-3xl shadow-2xl cursor-pointer">
<!-- Image -->
<img
src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1500530855697-b586d89ba3ee"
class="absolute inset-0 h-full w-full object-cover transition-all duration-700
group-hover:scale-110 group-hover:blur-sm group-hover:grayscale"
/>
<!-- Overlay -->
<div class="absolute inset-0 bg-gradient-to-t from-black/90 via-black/40 to-transparent"></div>
<!-- Badge -->
<span class="absolute top-5 left-5 z-10 rounded-full bg-white/90 px-4 py-1 text-xs font-semibold text-gray-900">
Design
</span>
<!-- Content -->
<div class="absolute bottom-0 z-10 p-6 text-white">
<h2 class="text-2xl font-bold leading-tight max-w-md">
How modern interfaces guide decisions without you even realizing it.
</h2>
<p class="mt-3 text-sm text-gray-300 line-clamp-2 max-w-md">
A deep dive into UX, cognitive psychology, and micro-interactions.
</p>
<!-- Author -->
<div class="mt-5 flex items-center gap-3">
<img
src="https://i.pravatar.cc/40"
class="h-9 w-9 rounded-full border border-white/30"
/>
<div class="text-xs">
<p class="font-medium">Admin</p>
<p class="text-gray-400">6 min de leitura</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</article>6 – Post Card Split Focus
Simple architectures scale better than you think.
Why removing complexity creates more resilient systems.
<article class="group relative flex h-72 overflow-hidden rounded-2xl bg-gray-900 shadow-xl cursor-pointer">
<!-- Imagem lateral -->
<div class="relative w-1/2 overflow-hidden">
<img
src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1518770660439-4636190af475"
class="h-full w-full object-cover transition-all duration-700
group-hover:scale-110 group-hover:grayscale"
/>
</div>
<!-- Content -->
<div class="relative flex w-1/2 flex-col justify-between p-6 text-white">
<div>
<span class="inline-block rounded bg-indigo-500/20 px-3 py-1 text-xs font-semibold text-indigo-300">
Engineering
</span>
<h3 class="mt-4 text-xl font-semibold leading-snug">
Simple architectures scale better than you think.
</h3>
<p class="mt-3 text-sm text-gray-400 line-clamp-3">
Why removing complexity creates more resilient systems.
</p>
</div>
<!-- Author -->
<div class="flex items-center justify-between text-xs text-gray-400">
<span>by Admin</span>
<span>Published 2 days ago</span>
</div>
</div>
</article>How to arrange post cards in a grid
Once you have your individual post summary cards ready, the next practical step is placing them in a clean, responsive grid. Tailwind makes this straightforward with its built-in grid utilities, and the result usually looks professional with minimal effort.
The most common and reliable pattern for blog post previews is a responsive multi-column grid that starts stacked on mobile and spreads out on larger screens. Here’s a solid starting point that works well for most content sites.
Wrap your cards in a container like this:
<div class="grid grid-cols-1 gap-6 sm:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 xl:grid-cols-4">
<!-- Your post cards go here -->
<article class="...">First card</article>
<article class="...">Second card</article>
<!-- etc. -->
</div>This setup gives you:
- 1 column on small screens (mobile-first default)
- 2 columns from ~640px (sm:)
- 3 columns from ~1024px (lg:)
- 4 columns from ~1280px (xl:) if you have enough content
The gap-6 provides comfortable spacing between cards without feeling cramped. Adjust to gap-8 if your cards have heavier shadows or more breathing room.
Here are a few real-world variations I’ve used across projects:
Fixed aspect ratio cards with auto-fill (great for uneven content lengths):
<div class="grid grid-cols-1 gap-6 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3">
<!-- Cards with consistent height, e.g. via aspect ratio on images -->
</div>Masonry-style feel (if cards have varying heights): Many developers still reach for libraries like Masonry because native CSS masonry support is patchy in 2026, but you can fake a pleasant staggered look with grid + auto-rows + dense flow. For true masonry, consider a small JS library or wait for broader browser adoption.
For comparison, here’s a classic regular grid next to a masonry attempt (images show the visual difference in packing):
Here are some clean examples of responsive card grids in action:
These layouts keep everything aligned and prevent awkward gaps while staying fully responsive.
A few quick tips from production experience:
- Always use gap-x- and gap-y- separately if horizontal/vertical spacing needs to differ (e.g. gap-x-6 gap-y-8)
- Add px-4 md:px-0 to the container on mobile for edge padding without affecting desktop
- If cards overflow or misalign on certain viewports, wrap each in w-full and avoid hard-coded widths—let the grid handle sizing
- Test with real content: lorem ipsum looks perfect, but varying title lengths and excerpt sizes reveal issues fast
This approach scales from personal blogs to larger content sites without needing extra CSS files. Just drop in your six components and tweak the column breakpoints to match your audience’s typical devices.