Tauri Has a Free API: Build Desktop Apps 10x Smaller Than Electron

#tauri #rust #desktop #electron

Tauri lets you build desktop apps using web technologies (HTML, CSS, JS) with a Rust backend. Unlike Electron, it uses the OS webview — so your app binary is 600KB instead of 150MB.

Why Tauri?

Tiny bundles — 600KB vs Electron's 150MB
Low memory — uses OS webview, not bundled Chromium
Rust backend — secure, fast, native system access
Any frontend — React, Vue, Svelte, plain HTML
Cross-platform — Windows, macOS, Linux from one codebase

Quick Start

# Prerequisites: Rust + Node.js
cargo install create-tauri-app
cargo create-tauri-app my-app
cd my-app

# Dev mode
cargo tauri dev

# Build distributable
cargo tauri build

IPC API (Frontend ↔ Rust)

Rust Commands (Backend)

// src-tauri/src/lib.rs
use tauri::command;

#[command]
fn greet(name: &str) -> String {
    format!("Hello, {}! You've been greeted from Rust!", name)
}

#[command]
async fn read_file(path: String) -> Result<String, String> {
    std::fs::read_to_string(&path)
        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
}

#[command]
async fn save_data(key: String, value: String) -> Result<(), String> {
    // Access database, file system, OS APIs...
    Ok(())
}

#[cfg_attr(mobile, tauri::mobile_entry_point)]
pub fn run() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![greet, read_file, save_data])
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
}

JavaScript (Frontend)

import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core';

// Call Rust from JavaScript
const greeting = await invoke('greet', { name: 'World' });
console.log(greeting); // "Hello, World! You've been greeted from Rust!"

// Read file from filesystem (via Rust)
const content = await invoke('read_file', { path: '/tmp/data.txt' });

// Save data
await invoke('save_data', { key: 'theme', value: 'dark' });

Tauri Plugins (Built-in APIs)

import { open, save } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog';
import { readTextFile, writeTextFile } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-fs';
import { sendNotification } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-notification';

// File dialog
const file = await open({ filters: [{ name: 'Text', extensions: ['txt', 'md'] }] });
const content = await readTextFile(file);

// Save dialog
const savePath = await save({ defaultPath: 'output.txt' });
await writeTextFile(savePath, 'Hello from Tauri!');

// System notification
sendNotification({ title: 'Tauri App', body: 'Task completed!' });

Event System

// Rust: emit event to frontend
#[command]
async fn start_process(app: tauri::AppHandle) -> Result<(), String> {
    for i in 0..100 {
        app.emit("progress", i).unwrap();
        tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(50)).await;
    }
    Ok(())
}

import { listen } from '@tauri-apps/api/event';

// Frontend: listen for events from Rust
const unlisten = await listen('progress', (event) => {
  console.log(`Progress: ${event.payload}%`);
});

Size Comparison

	Tauri	Electron	Flutter
Hello World	600 KB	150 MB	20 MB
RAM usage	30 MB	150 MB	80 MB
Startup	0.2s	1.5s	0.5s
Renderer	OS WebView	Chromium	Skia

Resources

Building desktop or web apps? I create custom tools and data solutions. Check my Apify actors or email spinov001@gmail.com.

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