Hey folks! 👋
I recently built and open-sourced a Wails + React starter template to make it easier for developers to build native-feeling desktop apps using Go on the backend and React on the frontend.
🔗 GitHub Repo: https://github.com/AlexSKuznetsov/wails-template-react
Why Wails?
If you haven’t heard of Wails, think of it like Electron — but for Go developers. It lets you write your backend in Go and your UI in any modern JS framework (React, Svelte, Vue, etc.), then bundle everything into a desktop app.
But unlike Electron, Wails doesn’t ship a full Chromium instance, making your app:
⚡️ Smaller
🚀 Faster to load
🧩 Fully native-looking
Why Desktop Apps?
Cloud is great, but in my opinion, we’re overusing it for things that could easily live locally — especially for small internal tools or simple automation projects.
Here’s what most small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) don’t need:
❌ A hosted frontend
❌ A scalable backend
❌ A managed cloud database
❌ Complex infrastructure
Instead, most desktop apps can run just fine with:
🧱 A single .exe binary
🗃️ A local SQLite DB
⚙️ A config file
That’s it.
About the Template
This template includes:
✅ A working Wails v2 setup
⚛️ React (with Vite)
🧪 Basic routing and file structure
It’s meant to get you productive quickly — especially if you’re already comfortable with Go and React.
Give It a Try
If you’re curious about building desktop apps with Go, check it out:
👉 https://github.com/AlexSKuznetsov/wails-template-react
Would love feedback, suggestions, or contributions. And if you’re using Wails in production or hobby projects, I’d love to hear about it!
Let’s bring desktop apps back — powered by Go. 🐹🖥️
Top comments (1)
💬 Follow-up:
If you give the template a try, I’d love to hear:
What you’re building with it
What features or improvements you’d like to see
Any roadblocks you hit while setting it up
Also curious — are you using Wails for personal tools, internal business apps, or something else entirely?
Feel free to drop a link or comment below! Let’s share some inspiration. 🚀🛠️