Electron vs Tauri: Desktop App Performance

Have you ever wondered why some desktop applications consume hundreds of megabytes of RAM even when they seem to do very little? 🤔
What if the 524MB Slack app installed on your computer is actually just a website running inside a disguised browser?
Even more surprising, many popular applications like Discord, Notion, and countless others may be doing exactly the same thing.
This is the fascinating discovery made by a Chinese developer known as tw93, and it sparked a conversation that continues to divide software developers around the world.

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Why Are Modern Desktop Apps So Large?​

One day, tw93 noticed something strange.
His laptop battery was draining much faster than expected. 🔋
To find the cause, he started monitoring memory usage.

The results were shocking:

• Slack consumed more than 524MB of memory.
• Discord used around 265MB.
• Notion consumed hundreds of megabytes before any real work was done.

After digging deeper, he discovered a common pattern.
Most modern desktop applications are built using Electron.

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What Is Electron?​

Electron is a popular framework that allows developers to build desktop applications using web technologies such as:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript

This approach makes development faster and easier because developers can reuse their web development skills.
However, there is a trade-off.
Every Electron application includes its own Chromium browser engine.
That means each app essentially carries a complete version of Chrome inside it. 🌐
When you open multiple Electron apps, you may actually be running several separate Chromium instances simultaneously.

This can lead to:

🔴 High RAM usage​

🔴 Faster battery drain​

🔴 Larger application sizes​

🔴 Reduced performance on older computers​

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The Developer Who Decided to Build a Better Solution​

Instead of simply complaining about the problem online, tw93 decided to create a solution.
In 2022, he launched an open-source project called Pake. 🚀

The idea was simple:
Convert any website into a lightweight desktop application using Rust and Tauri instead of Electron.
The results were incredible.

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Pake vs Electron: The Difference Is Huge​

Here are some examples of application sizes after being rebuilt with Pake:

Slack​

✅ Electron Version: 524MB​

✅ Pake Version: 8MB​

Discord​

✅ Electron Version: 265MB​

✅ Pake Version: 9MB​

ChatGPT Desktop​

✅ Electron Version: 260MB​

✅ Pake Version: 9MB​

​

In some cases, applications became 20 to 60 times smaller than their Electron counterparts. 🤯

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Why Tauri Is Getting So Much Attention​

Unlike Electron, Tauri does not package an entire Chromium browser with every application.
Instead, it uses the operating system's native web rendering engine.

This approach offers several advantages:

✅ Smaller application sizes​

✅ Lower memory consumption​

✅ Better battery life​

✅ Faster startup times​

✅ Improved performance on low-end devices​

For developers looking to create lightweight desktop software, Tauri has become one of the most exciting alternatives available today.

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Is Electron Really the Problem?​

The answer is more complicated than many people think.
Electron has helped thousands of startups and software companies launch products incredibly fast.

Some of the world's most popular applications rely on Electron because it provides:

✅ Faster development cycles​

✅ Cross-platform compatibility​

✅ Easier maintenance​

✅ A massive developer ecosystem​

Without Electron, many successful software products might have taken much longer to reach users.
So the real debate is not whether Electron is good or bad.

The question is:
Should developers prioritize development speed or application efficiency? 🤔

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Electron vs Tauri: Which Framework Is Better?​

The answer depends on your goals.
Choose Electron if:

• Development speed is critical.
• You need mature tooling.
• Your team already specializes in web technologies.

Choose Tauri if:

• Performance matters.
• You want smaller application sizes.
• Battery efficiency is important.
• You want to reduce memory consumption.

Both frameworks solve real problems, but they do so in very different ways.

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The Future of Desktop Application Development​

As computers become more powerful, many developers are willing to accept higher resource consumption in exchange for faster development.
At the same time, frameworks like Tauri are proving that modern desktop applications can be both efficient and easy to build.
Projects such as Pake demonstrate that there is growing demand for lightweight software that respects users' memory, storage, and battery life. ⚡
The competition between Electron and Tauri is far from over, and the next few years could reshape how desktop applications are developed.
What would you choose if you were building software for millions of users?
Would you prioritize development speed or maximum performance? 💻