Of course, the best choices depend on circumstances, but if we were to pick one as a general go-to-solution, which one would it be in 2026?
I have been developing desktop apps with Electron -just because it was easy to start with since I'm familiar with Javascript/Typescript.
With the effectiveness of the latest agentic coding tools, I've reached the point where I considered jumping into a new paradigm if the benefits outweighs the learning challenges.
So, I had Gemini do deep research on the subject and write some reports.
Looking at the reports, I decided to stick with Electron for a bit further because my top criteria is which framework has the least amount of red flags until I catch up in the Flutter world.
Let me explain.
I can live with the bloated binary size, slower launch, and a bit more memory consumption.
As Gemini pointed out:
Successful enterprise applications—VS Code, Postman, Slack—are cited as evidence that if an app provides enough value, users will tolerate its resource footprint.
On the other hand, seeing "Fragile" for Tauri and Wails was an instant deal breaker for me.
Limited UI eliminates Go Fyne for many scenarios although I may consider it for small use cases.
That leaves me with Flutter. It was already on my roadmap for mobile development and now I have another reason.
Here's the comparison matrix I had Gemini generate after deep research:
| Feature / Metric | Electron | Tauri (v2.11+) | Wails (v3 Alpha) | Flutter (v3.41+) | Go Fyne (v2.7+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backend Language | Node.js (V8) | Rust | Go | Dart | Go |
| Frontend Renderer | Bundled Chromium | System WebView | System WebView | Custom Canvas | Native OpenGL |
| Binary Size (Base) | ~80 MB | ~3 MB | ~10 MB | ~20 MB | ~6 MB |
| RAM Usage (Idle) | 200–400 MB | 30–50 MB | 40–80 MB | 100–200 MB | ~52 MB |
| Startup Speed | Slow (2–5s) | Instant (<0.2s) | Fast (0.5s) | Moderate (1s) | Instant (0.3s) |
| Security Model | Hardened Node | Capability System | Bound Bridge | Platform Channels | Process-level |
| Mobile Support | No | Yes | Experimental | Excellent | Yes |
| Linux Performance | Excellent | Fragile (WebKit) | Fragile (WebKit) | Good | Good |
| Code Signing/CI | Very Mature | Mature | Developing | Mature | Simple |
| Ecosystem Stars | 121k | 106k | 34k | 176k | 28k |
| Primary Advantage | Consistency | Efficiency | Go DX | UI Aesthetics | Simplicity |
| Primary Drawback | Bloat | Rust Curve | Maturity | Dart Logic | Limited UI Flex |
What do you think?
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