Electron bundles Chromium and Node.js into a single package, letting web developers ship desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux without learning native SDKs. VS Code, Slack, Figma, Discord, and 1Password all use Electron. Its main trade-offs — large bundle size (~100MB+) and higher memory usage than native apps — led to Tauri as a lighter alternative using the OS webview instead of bundled Chromium.

Quick start

npm init electron-app@latest my-app -- --template=webpack
cd my-app
npm start

// src/main.js — Main process (Node.js)
const { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain } = require('electron')
const path = require('path')

function createWindow() {
  const win = new BrowserWindow({
    width: 800,
    height: 600,
    webPreferences: {
      preload: path.join(__dirname, 'preload.js'),
      contextIsolation: true,
    },
  })
  win.loadFile('src/index.html')
}

app.whenReady().then(createWindow)
app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
  if (process.platform !== 'darwin') app.quit()
})

// src/preload.js — Bridge between main and renderer
const { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } = require('electron')

contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electronAPI', {
  readFile: (path) => ipcRenderer.invoke('read-file', path),
})

<!-- src/index.html — Renderer process (browser) -->
<button id="readBtn">Read File</button>
<script>
  document.getElementById('readBtn').addEventListener('click', async () => {
    const contents = await window.electronAPI.readFile('/etc/hosts')
    console.log(contents)
  })
</script>

When to use

Electron is the right choice when you want to ship a desktop app quickly using your existing web development skills and have access to full Node.js APIs. The large install size (~150MB) is acceptable for developer tools and enterprise apps. For a lighter desktop app with better performance and smaller bundle, Tauri (Rust backend, OS webview) is the modern alternative. For apps that don’t need native OS access, a PWA might be sufficient.

Electron

Quick start

When to use

// features

// installation

// tags