Electrobun vs Wails
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Framework for building small, fast desktop apps in TypeScript, with updates and a native CLI.
Open source · MIT
A Go framework for building desktop apps with a web-based user interface.
The short answer
Choose Electrobun if you need…
- Developers who already write TypeScript and want to build a desktop app without learning a new UI language
- Teams that want a single workflow covering building, updating, and distributing a desktop app
- Developers interested in small app bundles and small update patches
- Developers who want to use Bun for the main process of a desktop app
Choose Wails if you need…
- Go programmers who want a desktop app with a web-style interface
- Developers who want to add a frontend to an existing Go program
- Teams wanting a lighter alternative to Electron for Go-based apps
- Developers who already know React, Vue, Svelte, or Angular
Side-by-side
| Electrobun | Wails | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Framework | Framework |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 13k | 36.9k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Zig | Go |
| Last code update | 7 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Electrobun
Electrobun is a framework for building cross-platform desktop applications, where the app logic is written in TypeScript. It aims to provide the pieces needed to build, update, and ship a desktop app in one workflow, using Bun as the default JavaScript runtime and a native CLI called Hutch. The README says it produces self-extracting bundles and binary-patch updates to keep downloads small.
Wails
Wails lets Go programmers build desktop applications using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS for the interface, with Go handling the backend logic. It packages both into a single binary and handles project creation, compilation, and bundling. The README says it uses native rendering engines rather than an embedded browser, and offers native dialogs and menus.
Best for
Electrobun
- Developers who already write TypeScript and want to build a desktop app without learning a new UI language
- Teams that want a single workflow covering building, updating, and distributing a desktop app
- Developers interested in small app bundles and small update patches
- Developers who want to use Bun for the main process of a desktop app
Wails
- Go programmers who want a desktop app with a web-style interface
- Developers who want to add a frontend to an existing Go program
- Teams wanting a lighter alternative to Electron for Go-based apps
- Developers who already know React, Vue, Svelte, or Angular
Strengths
Electrobun
- Lets you write the main process and webviews in TypeScript, with typed RPC between processes according to the README
- Focuses on small bundles and small updates using compression and binary patching
- Offers a single CLI (Hutch) for project setup, toolchains, and version management
Wails
- Lets Go developers reuse familiar web frontend tools
- Produces a single binary combining Go code and the web UI
- Supports macOS, Windows, and Linux per the project topics and features list
Not ideal for
Electrobun
- People who need a mature, long-established desktop framework with years of production history, since the README does not document that track record
- Projects that require a fixed, pinned Chromium on every platform without considering the bundle size trade-off, since bundling Chromium increases file size
- Users who only want to run an existing app rather than build one
Wails
- People who do not know Go, since the backend is written in Go (reason: the framework assumes Go programming skills)
- Projects needing a browser-based web server rather than a desktop app (reason: Wails targets packaged desktop binaries)
- Anyone needing a mature v3 ecosystem, since the README lists v2 as the stable line and v3.0.0 with no release binaries (reason: version status is still settling)
Trade-offs
Electrobun
- Some features, such as the Cottontail runtime, are described as experimental
- The README says Electrobun's platform layer uses Zig, Objective-C, and C++, so contributors may need familiarity with those languages to debug deeper issues
- Its documentation lives on an external site; the README itself is truncated and gives limited detail on setup beyond the first steps
Wails
- Requires Go knowledge and familiarity with web frontend tooling
- Version 3 is newly released and the latest release lists no binaries, so you may need to build it yourself
- The README is truncated here, so detailed platform and setup requirements are not fully confirmed
Getting started
Electrobun
Install Hutch on macOS or Linux
curl -fsSL https://hutch.blackboard.sh/hutch/install.sh | shInstall Hutch on Windows PowerShell
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://hutch.blackboard.sh/hutch/install.ps1)))Wails
Install Wails v2 CLI
go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latestInstall Wails v3.0.0 CLI
go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/cmd/wails3@v3.0.0Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Electrobun and Wails?
Electrobun: Framework for building small, fast desktop apps in TypeScript, with updates and a native CLI. Wails: A Go framework for building desktop apps with a web-based user interface. Electrobun suits developers who already write typescript and want to build a desktop app without learning a new ui language, while Wails suits go programmers who want a desktop app with a web-style interface.
Are Electrobun and Wails free?
Electrobun: Free and open source. Wails: Free and open source.
Is Electrobun or Wails more popular?
Wails has more GitHub stars (36.9k) than Electrobun (13k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Electrobun and Wails?
Other options people compare them with include Electron, NativeScript, Clean Architecture Solution Template.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.