# Tauri vs Electron
URL: https://wwadd.dev/compare/tauri-vs-electron
Last verified: 2026-09-28

Both turn a web frontend into a desktop app. Tauri renders in the operating system's own webview with a Rust backend; Electron ships its own Chromium and Node.js inside every app.

## Verdict
Default to Tauri for new, lightweight tools; choose Electron when rendering consistency or an all-JavaScript team outweighs the size cost. Many well-known desktop apps, including VS Code, run on Electron.

## Pick Tauri when
- Download size and memory use matter, especially for utilities
- You also want iOS and Android builds from the same project
- The team is comfortable writing some Rust

## Pick Electron when
- You need identical rendering everywhere or depend on Chromium-only APIs
- The team wants to stay in JavaScript end to end
- You're wrapping an existing web app or web game for desktop stores

## Related tools
- [Tauri](https://wwadd.dev/tools/tauri)
- [Electron](https://wwadd.dev/tools/electron)

## Related playbooks
- [Tauri + React + SQLite](https://wwadd.dev/stacks/tauri-react-sqlite)
- [Desktop app: Electron + React + Vite](https://wwadd.dev/stacks/electron-react-vite)

## What actually differs
- Rendering: Tauri — System webview: WebView2 (Windows), WKWebView (macOS), WebKitGTK (Linux); Electron — Bundled Chromium — the same engine on every OS
- Backend: Tauri — Rust, called from the frontend as commands; Electron — Node.js, with full npm access
- App size: Tauri — Small — no browser bundled; Electron — Large — every app ships Chromium
- Consistency: Tauri — Varies slightly per OS webview; test on each target; Electron — Pixel-identical across platforms
- Mobile: Tauri — iOS and Android since Tauri 2; Electron — Desktop only
- Permissions: Tauri — Capabilities explicitly allow what the frontend can call; Electron — Main process has full Node access; you lock it down yourself

## Sources
- [Tauri architecture](https://v2.tauri.app/concept/architecture/)
- [Tauri webview versions](https://v2.tauri.app/reference/webview-versions/)
- [Tauri capabilities](https://v2.tauri.app/security/capabilities/)
- [Electron docs](https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest)
- [Apps built on Electron](https://www.electronjs.org/apps)