Desktop Frameworks

6 open source tools compared. Sorted by stars — scroll down for our analysis.

Tool	Stars	Velocity	Language	License	Score
Electron Build cross-platform desktop apps with JS/HTML/CSS	120.6k	—	C++	MIT License	82
Tauri Build desktop and mobile apps with web frontend	104.6k	—	Rust	Apache License 2.0	82
Wails Create beautiful applications using Go	33.4k	+103/wk	Go	MIT License	79
CodenameOne	1.8k	—	Java	—	47
Fabulous	1.3k	—	F#	—	47
stac	825	—	Dart	—	42

Our Analysis

Electron120.6k★

Electron packages a Chromium browser and Node.js runtime so you can ship web apps as desktop applications. VS Code, Discord, Slack, Figma, Notion — the apps you use daily are probably Electron under the hood. Love it or hate it, it won. Tauri is the lean alternative using system webviews instead of bundling Chromium — 10x smaller binaries, less RAM. Flutter for desktop exists but the ecosystem is thin. Qt is the native C++ option for maximum performance. NW.js is Electron's less popular twin. Use Electron if you have a web app and need a desktop version yesterday. The ecosystem is massive, the documentation is thorough, and your web team can ship desktop without learning native APIs. MIT licensed. The catch: the RAM usage is genuinely bad. Each Electron app runs its own Chromium instance — 200-400MB minimum per app. Your users will notice. If you're starting a new desktop project in 2026, Tauri is the better default. Electron is the pragmatic choice when you have an existing web app and need to ship fast.

Tauri104.6k★

Tauri is Electron done right. Build desktop (and now mobile) apps with web tech, but instead of bundling Chromium, Tauri uses the system's native webview. The result: 10x smaller binaries, 5x less RAM, and Rust-powered backend for security and performance. Electron is the incumbent with the massive ecosystem — VS Code, Discord, Slack all use it. Flutter for desktop is the cross-platform alternative using Dart. Qt is the native C++ option for maximum performance. Wails is a similar Go-based approach. If you're starting a new desktop app in 2026, Tauri should be your default. The v2 release added mobile support (iOS/Android), making it a true cross-platform framework. The Rust backend handles system APIs, file access, and heavy computation while your web frontend handles UI. The catch: the system webview means inconsistent rendering across platforms — your app looks slightly different on macOS (WebKit) vs Windows (WebView2) vs Linux (WebKitGTK). Debugging cross-platform issues is harder than Electron where everyone gets the same Chromium. And the Rust learning curve is real if you need custom backend plugins.

Wails33.4k★

Electron for Go developers, minus the 200MB bloat. Wails lets you build desktop apps with a Go backend and any JS frontend framework, using the OS native webview instead of bundling Chromium. The result: tiny binaries, low memory usage, and native-feeling performance. Tauri is the closest competitor — same webview approach but with Rust. Electron is the incumbent with the largest ecosystem but infamous resource consumption. Neutralinojs is another lightweight option with less community traction. Where Wails wins is developer experience for Go teams. You bind Go structs directly to the frontend — no JSON marshaling, no IPC boilerplate. The auto-generated TypeScript bindings mean type safety across the stack. Build times are fast, and the resulting app feels native. The catch: Wails has a smaller ecosystem than both Electron and Tauri. Fewer plugins, fewer templates, fewer Stack Overflow answers. If you're not already a Go developer, Tauri gives you the same lightweight benefits with a much larger community. Cross-platform consistency can also be spotty — webview behavior varies between OS versions.