Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Electron VS Uno Platform

Compare Electron VS Uno Platform and see what are their differences

Electron logo Electron

Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

Uno Platform logo Uno Platform

Build Mobile, Desktop and WebAssembly apps with C# and XAML.
  • Electron Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-01
  • Uno Platform Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-01

Electron features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Electron allows developers to create applications that run on Windows, macOS, and Linux using a single codebase, making it easier to reach a broader audience.
  • Web Technologies
    Developers can utilize HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (including popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue) to build Electron apps, enabling a more accessible development process for web developers.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    Electron benefits from the vast ecosystem of Node.js, granting access to a multitude of packages and modules, and simplifying the inclusion of various functionalities in applications.
  • Auto-Update Mechanism
    Electron has built-in support for auto-updating applications, which saves developers time and effort in managing updates and improves the user experience by keeping the application up-to-date seamlessly.
  • Active Community
    An active community and extensive documentation provide a wealth of resources for developers, from tutorials to plugins, making it easier to find support and improve productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Electron

  • Large File Size
    Because Electron packages both the application code and a version of Chromium, applications tend to be significantly larger in file size compared to native counterparts.
  • High Memory Consumption
    Electron apps can consume more memory because each window runs its instance of Chromium, which can lead to inefficient resource usage, especially on systems with limited memory.
  • Performance
    Due to its reliance on web technologies and Chromium, Electron applications may not perform as well as optimally coded native apps, particularly in resource-intensive scenarios.
  • Security Concerns
    Electron's use of web technologies and features like Node.js integration increases the attack surface, requiring careful handling of security practices to prevent vulnerabilities such as injection attacks.
  • Complexity in Debugging
    Debugging Electron applications can be more complex due to the blend of backend (Node.js) and frontend (browser-like) code, requiring developers to be proficient in multiple debugging tools and techniques.

Uno Platform features and specs

  • .NET IDEs
    Seamlessly integrate Uno Platform with Visual Studio, VS Code, and JetBrains Rider for a unified, cross-platform .NET development experience
  • Cross-Platform Development
    Uno Platform allows developers to build applications for multiple platforms (Windows, iOS, Android, WebAssembly, and macOS) using a single codebase, which can significantly reduce development time and effort.
  • Hot Reload
    Instantly see code changes across web, desktop, and mobile apps with Uno Platform's powerful Hot Reload feature
  • Native Performance
    Uno Platform applications leverage native controls and performances of each targeted platform, ensuring that apps run efficiently and provide a smooth user experience.
  • Integration with Visual Studio
    Uno Platform seamlessly integrates with Visual Studio, offering a familiar and powerful development environment for .NET developers with extensive debugging and design tools.
  • Support for XAML
    Uno Platform supports XAML for designing UI, making it easier for developers familiar with Microsoft's WPF, UWP, and Xamarin.Forms to transition their skills and projects to different platforms.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source framework, Uno Platform benefits from community contributions and transparency, allowing developers to examine the code, contribute, or customize the framework to suit their needs.
  • Frequent Updates
    The platform has a robust and active development team, which ensures regular updates, improvements, and new feature additions.

Possible disadvantages of Uno Platform

  • Learning Curve
    Developers who are not familiar with XAML or .NET may find it challenging to get up to speed with the Uno Platform, requiring an investment in learning the technologies involved.
  • Limited Third-Party Library Support
    While Uno Platform is growing, it currently has less extensive third-party library support compared to more established frameworks like React Native or Flutter, which may limit functionality.
  • Performance Overhead in WebAssembly
    While WebAssembly support is a powerful feature, it could introduce performance overhead compared to natively-built web applications, potentially affecting load times and responsiveness.
  • Complexity in Device-Specific Customizations
    Though Uno Platform aims for a unified codebase, implementing platform-specific features or customizations can add complexity and may require conditional compilation or additional code per platform.
  • Dependency on Microsoft Ecosystem
    Uno Platform heavily relies on the Microsoft ecosystem, including tools like Visual Studio, which may not be ideal for developers or teams preferring different development environments or toolchains.

Analysis of Electron

Overall verdict

  • Electron is generally considered a good choice for creating cross-platform desktop applications, especially when rapid development and leveraging web technologies are priorities. However, it may not be suitable for applications where performance and resource efficiency are critical, as Electron apps tend to be resource-heavy compared to native applications.

Why this product is good

  • Electron is a popular framework that allows developers to build cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. One of its main advantages is that it enables the use of existing web development skills to create apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Electron also benefits from a large community and a rich ecosystem of tools and libraries, making development quicker and more flexible.

Recommended for

    Electron is recommended for developers or teams that already have experience with web technologies and need to create desktop applications quickly across multiple platforms. It's especially useful for applications that require a high degree of flexibility and customization in the UI, or for products that benefit from sharing a codebase with a web application. Startups and small to medium-sized businesses that prioritize development speed and cost efficiency may find Electron particularly attractive.

Analysis of Uno Platform

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Uno Platform is a solid choice for developers who are familiar with .NET technologies and are looking to create cross-platform applications efficiently. It provides the flexibility to leverage existing UWP assets on a broader range of devices while maintaining high performance and native user experiences.

Why this product is good

  • Uno Platform is considered good because it allows developers to create cross-platform applications using a single codebase with C# and XAML. It extends the capabilities of UWP (Universal Windows Platform) to other platforms such as iOS, Android, macOS, and WebAssembly. This ability to reuse code across different platforms leads to faster development cycles and cost savings. The platform also supports modern technologies and development practices, such as hot reloads and native controls, which enhance the developer experience and application performance.

Recommended for

  • .NET developers looking to expand their reach across multiple platforms
  • Teams aiming to reduce development time and costs by using a single codebase
  • Projects that can benefit from Code Reuse of UWP assets on non-Windows platforms
  • Enterprises and individuals seeking to leverage existing UWP skills for cross-platform app development

Electron videos

💻 Why You Should Build Desktop Software With Electron

More videos:

  • Review - What is Electron: The Hard Parts Made Easy
  • Review - Electron Matrix Review Video

Uno Platform videos

Uno Platform Part 1

More videos:

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Electron and Uno Platform)
Development Tools
56 56%
44% 44
Rapid Application Development
Cross-Platform Development
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Electron and Uno Platform

Electron Reviews

Electron.js Alternatives For Cross-Platform Development
All of this changed when Electron.js came into the picture. The framework allowed developers to create a unique cross-platform desktop application without any hurdles. However, it uses up quite a bit of resource making it harder for developers to create lightweight applications. With this blog, we will look into suitable alternatives for Electron.js.
Source: www.atatus.com
12 Best Frameworks and Toolkits to Build Desktop Applications
If you are looking for an alternative to the Electronjs desktop application development framework, Neutralinojs is a viable option. A few applications may become bulky with Electron, but Neutralinojs can help avoid such problems.
Source: geekflare.com
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
Electron.js is compatible with a variety of frameworks, libraries, access to hardware-level APIs and chromium engine, and Node.js support. Electron Fiddle feature is great for experimentation as it allows developers to play around with concepts and templates. Simplification is at the center of Electron because developers don’t have to spend unnecessary time on the packaging,...
Electron Alternatives﹣5 Best JavaScript Frameworks for Desktop Apps
If you’re a JavaScript developer, you’re going to need to learn a few relatively simple things on how Electron works and it’s API. You will most probably be able to set up your first Electron desktop application in just a few days.
Source: brainhub.eu
Frameworks & Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps – Best of
Enyo is an open-source JavaScript framework, like Electron, that allows developers to create native-quality apps for desktop, mobile, and TV. Enyo can run across all the relatively modern and standard web-based environments. It’s battle-tested and comes with a beautiful cross-platform UI toolkit for creating rich user interfaces.

Uno Platform Reviews

We have no reviews of Uno Platform yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Uno Platform should be more popular than Electron. It has been mentiond 72 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Electron mentions (14)

  • Design Systems with Web Components
    So we talked a lot about the Atomic Design Principle, but you could just use that in any system and start creating. You could have Angular components, React Components, and Vue Components. But if you notice these don't easily work Everwhere. So the solution is to use Web Components because the modern browser can already understand these, and any Front-End framework can then utilize these components. You can use... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Building Apps with Tauri and Elixir
    For the longest time, building desktop apps was a daunting task to web developers. That is, until technologies like Electron made creating these apps more approachable to a wider audience. Today, we’ve got a wide array of native applications built with solutions like Electron, Tauri, Capacitor, and many more. While these are great solutions, sometimes configuration can be tricky and the applications we create can... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • SvelteKit + Electron: Create your desktop web app
    I make a new Adapter for SvelteKit apps that prerenders your entire site as a collection of static files for use with Electron. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Electron: Build Desktop Applications Using Plain Javascript
    Electron is a cross-platform shell — a user interface for accessing operating system services both via command line (CLI) and graphical user interface (GUI). - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Circuit To Turn On Desktop PC
    Electron (https://electronjs.org/) is a framework for developing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. This is the technology behind many popular apps like Slack, Discord and Visual Studio Code. Join for discussions around Electron! Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Uno Platform mentions (72)

  • Any devs actually getting a leg up using AI tools?
    As-is today, AI tools provide some productivity gains. However, they are not replacements for experienced developers. At Uno Platform we are investing in tools which make developers productive within their current environments, such as Hot Design. Also, we are keeping a close eye and thinking of these useful scenarios to apply AI to, as we don’t believe just adding a simple LLM to it will actually add value. So,... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Servo in 2024: stats, features and donations
    Https://platform.uno/ is an option for building web apps with xaml. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Should JavaScript be split into two languages? Google proposal divides opinion
    > And even if it were accomplished in a central open source library like Flutter, that adds a considerable amount to the package size of any application. The download really isn't much different to a typical website. That Flutter demo in wasm is 2 megabytes. Avalonia UI's WebAssembly uses canvas in C#: https://avaloniaui.net/ Uno Platform's WebAssembly implementation uses the DOM rather than drawing to... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Should JavaScript be split into two languages? Google proposal divides opinion
    > I'd rather we just move to native cross platform applications and stop using a document browser to build interactive applications Here you go. Do both native and wasm: https://avaloniaui.net/ https://platform.uno/ https://flutter.dev/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Why I'm skeptical of rewriting JavaScript tools in "faster" languages
    Ah, so what you want is Uno. It uses WebAssembly and the DOM: https://platform.uno/ > Why did I even bother replying to you, sigh. I think it's because you're overwrought. Don't fear WebAssembly. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Electron and Uno Platform, you can also consider the following products

Qt - Powerful, flexible and easy to use, Qt will help you not only meet your tight deadline, but also reduce the maintainable code by an astonishing percentage.

Avalonia - A multi-platform .NET UI framework

Flutter - Build beautiful native apps in record time 🚀

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

GTK - GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces.

Xamarin - Create iOS, Android and Mac apps in C#