Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GTK VS QuickJS

Compare GTK VS QuickJS and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

GTK logo GTK

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

QuickJS logo QuickJS

Application and Data, Build, Test, Deploy, and JavaScript Compilers
  • GTK Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17
  • QuickJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-20

GTK features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    GTK supports multiple platforms including Linux, Windows, and macOS, making it versatile for developing applications across different operating systems.
  • Rich Widget Set
    GTK provides a comprehensive set of widgets for GUIs, allowing developers to create complex and highly functional user interfaces.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, GTK offers developers the ability to inspect, modify, and distribute their modifications, fostering a community of collaboration and innovation.
  • Language Bindings
    GTK supports multiple programming languages through various bindings, including C, Python, and JavaScript, thereby offering flexibility to developers.
  • Consistent Look and Feel
    GTK strives to maintain a consistent look and feel across applications and platforms, providing a unified user experience.

Possible disadvantages of GTK

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, GTK can present a steep learning curve due to its comprehensive nature and the depth of its APIs.
  • Performance Overhead
    GTK applications can sometimes exhibit performance issues, especially on less powerful hardware, due to the extensive features and capabilities it includes.
  • Limited Native Support on macOS
    Although GTK is cross-platform, native support and integration on macOS can be limited compared to its support on Linux and Windows.
  • Heavy Dependencies
    GTK applications often require a significant amount of dependencies, which can lead to larger application sizes and more complex installation processes.
  • Documentation Quality
    While GTK has extensive documentation, the quality and depth can sometimes be inconsistent, which may hinder learning and troubleshooting for developers.

QuickJS features and specs

  • Lightweight
    QuickJS is designed to be lightweight with a small footprint, making it easy to embed in applications and suitable for resource-constrained environments.
  • Fast Startup Time
    QuickJS offers very fast startup times, which can be beneficial for applications that require quick script execution without a long initialization period.
  • Full ES2020 Support
    QuickJS supports the full ES2020 specification, providing modern JavaScript features and syntax, which is advantageous for developers who want to use the latest JavaScript features.
  • Embeddability
    Being easy to integrate into other applications or systems, QuickJS provides a simple C API, which facilitates embedding it in various software and platforms.
  • Single File Distribution
    QuickJS can be distributed as a single file, simplifying packaging and distribution without needing external dependencies.
  • Memory Efficiency
    Its memory efficient design allows QuickJS to run scripts in environments with limited memory resources, making it suitable for IoT devices and embedded systems.

Possible disadvantages of QuickJS

  • Limited Ecosystem
    QuickJS, being a relatively new and niche project, has a smaller ecosystem compared to more established JavaScript engines like V8, which means fewer libraries and community resources are available.
  • Performance
    While QuickJS is efficient, it may not deliver the same high-performance execution as more mature engines like V8, especially in applications requiring intensive computational processing.
  • Lack of Long-term Support
    QuickJS may not have the same level of long-term support and ongoing development as larger projects maintained by large companies or communities.
  • Single-threaded
    QuickJS runs in a single thread, which can be a limitation for applications that require multithreading support for parallel processing.
  • Limited Debugging Tools
    Compared to more popular JavaScript engines, QuickJS has fewer debugging tools and integrations, which might make development and troubleshooting more challenging.

Analysis of GTK

Overall verdict

  • Yes, GTK is a good choice for developers looking to create cross-platform desktop applications. It is especially beneficial for those who prioritize open-source software and appreciate a well-documented, community-supported framework.

Why this product is good

  • GTK, which stands for GIMP Toolkit, is a highly versatile and widely-used open-source library for creating graphical user interfaces. It is praised for its ease of use, comprehensive documentation, and ability to produce visually appealing, native-looking interfaces across different operating systems. With a large community and a wealth of resources, GTK is continuously updated, ensuring it remains relevant for modern application development. Developers also appreciate its integration capabilities with various programming languages like C, C++, Python, and more.

Recommended for

  • Developers creating cross-platform desktop applications
  • Open-source software enthusiasts
  • Projects requiring consistent look and feel across different operating systems
  • Those seeking integration with programming languages like C, C++, and Python

GTK videos

GTK4 Is Here: Why You Should Even Care

QuickJS videos

QuickJS - IO, axios, redaxios, fetch

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GTK and QuickJS)
Development Tools
81 81%
19% 19
Application And Data
0 0%
100% 100
Rapid Application 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 GTK and QuickJS

GTK Reviews

Best GUI frameworks for Go
The go-gtk package is a Go binding for the GTK toolkit. The package enables Go developers to use the GTK library in Go with similar features as the GTK library. The package is performant, well-documented, and actively maintained. The go-gtk package depends on the GTK library to function, and youโ€™ll need to have GTK installed on your machine to build GUI applications in Go....

QuickJS Reviews

We have no reviews of QuickJS yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, QuickJS should be more popular than GTK. It has been mentiond 46 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.

GTK mentions (6)

  • What GNOME needs to progress faster? (More contributors, money, better docs etc.)
    Wha? An example of a barebones GTK JavaScript app is right there on the front page. One click on the bindings link, will send you to the official GNOME-hosted GitLab repo for gjs, which in-turn, has links to official API documentation. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • GTK 4 & JavaScript - how to start?
    I think what is lacking is a kind of introduction similar to what you have written in your post now. Myself, I am totally new to GTK. I come as a user of Gnome. All I knew until today was that to develop applications for Gnome, preferably I should use something called GTK. And I heard so much about the recent version that came out - GTK 4. So I started to look for a Getting Started tutorial for GTK 4, to build... Source: about 4 years ago
  • GTK 4 & JavaScript - how to start?
    BTW, I think the GTK team should really step up their game in terms of how to encourage new people into their ecosystem. Seeing that windows screenshot in the official tutorial makes me think I'm dealing with some old technology. Also, the official gtk.org has two separate tutorials that show very similar applications being built. Source: about 4 years ago
  • CTA: We need Web Developers to Contribute to GNOME!
    Faces of GNOME Faces of GNOME is an initiative to create something similar to People of Mozilla / Mozillians which is a directory of active, current or past GNOME Contributors. Faces of GNOME (Current Demo HERE) aims to give a space for every GNOME Contributor, GNOME Foundation Member and more. It is being designed to showcase the list of current Maintainers, People that spoke at GNOME Conferences/Events, GNOME... Source: over 4 years ago
  • Software Engineering student looking to get started developing apps on the pinephone
    My advice is to basically learn how to write GTK apps using Python. Source: almost 5 years ago
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QuickJS mentions (46)

  • Vim 9.2 Released
    You don't need V8 for running JS for scripting, you have quickjs[1] or mquickjs[2] for example. You might have problems importing npm packages, but as we can see from lua plugins you don't even need support for package managers. Performance is not as good as luajit, but it is good enough [1]: https://bellard.org/quickjs/ [2]: https://github.com/bellard/mquickjs. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Fabrice Bellard Releases MicroQuickJS
    - QuickJS: https://bellard.org/quickjs/ Legendary. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Building a JavaScript Runtime from Scratch using C
    For those who would like a true "from scratch" implementation of JavaScript, Fabrice Bellard's QuickJS [1] is clean, readable and approachable. It's a full implementation of modern JavaScript in a straightforward project, not nearly as complex or difficult as V8. [1] https://bellard.org/quickjs/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • The many, many, many JavaScript runtimes of the last decade
    I see a few mentions of QuickJS, but they all refer to the fork of Bellard's QuickJS https://bellard.org/quickjs/, which I think deserves a mention. It seems to be still active (last release 2025-04-26, GitHub mirror at https://github.com/bellard/quickjs shows some activity). - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • SQLite JavaScript: Extend your database with JavaScript
    This is a fantastic approach. BTW, it looks like the js engine is "QuickJS" [0]. (I'm not familiar with it myself.) I like it because sqlite by itself lacks a host language. (e.g., Oracle's plsql, Postgreses pgplsql, Sqlserver's t-sql, etc). That is: code that runs on compute that is local to your storage. That's a nice flexible design -- you can choose whatever language you want. But quite typically you... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing GTK and QuickJS, you can also consider the following products

wxWidgets - wxWidgets: Cross-Platform GUI Library

Sciter - Embeddable HTML/CSS/script engine

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.

nuitka - Nuitka is a Python compiler.

PyQt - Riverbank | Software | PyQt | What is PyQt?

DaisyUI - Free UI components plugin for Tailwind CSS