Tools

Know what's in the toolbox

What each tool is, how it's licensed, and when a dev would actually reach for it.

Desktop app shells

Package web interfaces as desktop applications and connect them to native capabilities.

Tauri

Cross-platform desktop framework

Builds desktop (and mobile) apps from a web frontend plus a Rust backend. It uses the operating system's own webview instead of bundling Chromium, so installers are far smaller than Electron's.

Electron

Open source

Desktop apps from web tech

Bundles Chromium and Node.js so a web app runs as a desktop app with full system access. Rendering is identical on every OS because the browser ships with the app.