Private and open-source alternatives to Electron
15 cross-platform app frameworks rated against the same public privacy criteria as Electron, with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The electronjs.org website loads Google Analytics; the framework itself has no built-in telemetry.
- Independent audit: no. No independent audit is published.
The alternatives
Tauri Grade B Our pick
Framework for building desktop and mobile applications with a web frontend and a Rust backend, using the operating system's webview.
Why it is our pick: Small, fast apps for desktop and mobile from one web codebase, using the system web view instead of a bundled browser. A Rust core with a permission system, no telemetry, and a public independent audit. Pairs well with Svelte and TypeScript, as in the Forward Email apps (github.com/forwardemail/mail.forwardemail.net), which ship to Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS from one Tauri, Svelte and TypeScript codebase.
Based in the Netherlands (Nine Eyes). Tauri scores 85 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales and independent audit.
Apache Cordova Grade B
Apache Software Foundation framework for building mobile apps with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, packaged in a native webview with plugins for device APIs.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Apache Cordova scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
BeeWare Grade B
Collection of Python tools for building native apps, including the Toga GUI toolkit that uses each platform's native widgets and the Briefcase packaging tool.
BeeWare scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
GTK Grade B
Toolkit for building graphical user interfaces, written in C with bindings for many languages. It is developed by the GNOME project.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). GTK scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Iced Grade B
Cross-platform GUI library for Rust based on the Elm architecture, focused on simplicity and type safety.
Iced scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Kivy Grade B
Python framework for cross-platform apps with multi-touch support, drawing its own GPU-accelerated widgets and using the KV design language.
Kivy scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
NativeScript Grade B
Framework for building native Android and iOS apps with JavaScript or TypeScript, giving direct access to native platform APIs, usable with Angular, Vue, React, Svelte or Solid.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). NativeScript scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Wails Grade B
Framework for building desktop apps with Go and web technologies, using the operating system's native webview for the frontend.
Wails scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.
Slint Grade C
UI toolkit for building native user interfaces with a declarative markup language, with APIs for Rust, C++, JavaScript and Python, for desktop, mobile and embedded devices.
Based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes). Slint scores 65 out of 100 (grade C) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
.NET MAUI Grade D
Microsoft's cross-platform UI framework for building native Android, iOS, macOS and Windows apps from a single C# and XAML codebase.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). .NET MAUI scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
Avalonia UI Grade D
Cross-platform UI framework for .NET that draws its own controls with XAML and C#, targeting Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and WebAssembly.
Based in Estonia. Avalonia UI scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
Capacitor Grade D
Cross-platform native runtime for running web apps on Android and iOS and as progressive web apps, with a plugin API for native device features.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Capacitor scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
Electrobun Grade D
Framework for building desktop apps in TypeScript, with a native layer written in Zig, Objective-C and C++, compact bundles and built-in differential updates.
Electrobun scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
Expo Grade D
Framework and tooling built on React Native for building Android, iOS and web apps, with a CLI, SDK modules, file-based routing and optional cloud build services.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Expo scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.
Flutter Grade D
Google's UI toolkit for building natively compiled mobile, web and desktop apps from one Dart codebase, drawing its own widgets with its rendering engine.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Flutter scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the cross-platform app frameworks criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.