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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Tauri Has a Free Desktop App Framework — Build Native Apps with Web Technologies (Not Electron)

#rust #desktop #webdev #opensource

An Electron app used 300MB of RAM to display a to-do list. It shipped Chromium, Node.js, and V8 with every install. The installer was 150MB.

Tauri builds desktop apps using web frontends (React, Svelte, Vue) with a Rust backend. 10x smaller than Electron. 5x less RAM.

What Tauri Offers for Free

  • Tiny Bundles - 600KB-3MB installers (vs Electron 150MB+)
  • Low Memory - Uses system webview, not bundled Chromium
  • Rust Backend - Fast, safe, native performance
  • Any Frontend - React, Vue, Svelte, Solid, vanilla JS
  • System Tray - Native system tray integration
  • Auto-Update - Built-in updater
  • IPC - Type-safe communication between frontend and Rust
  • Plugins - File system, HTTP, shell, notifications

Quick Start 

npm create tauri-app@latest
cd my-app && npm install && npm run tauri dev
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App Size Comparison

Framework Install Size RAM Usage
Electron 150-250MB 150-300MB
Tauri 1-3MB 30-80MB

GitHub: tauri-apps/tauri - 87K+ stars

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