Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

NW.js VS NodeGUI

Compare NW.js VS NodeGUI and see what are their differences

NW.js logo NW.js

nwjs

NodeGUI logo NodeGUI

Build cross-platform desktop applications with JavaScript🚀
  • NW.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-02
  • NodeGUI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-16

NW.js features and specs

  • Cross-Platform
    NW.js supports building applications that run on Windows, macOS, and Linux, enabling developers to write code once and deploy across multiple platforms.
  • Node.js Integration
    Provides deep integration with Node.js, allowing developers to leverage the vast Node.js ecosystem and modules within their applications.
  • Chromium Embedded
    Utilizes the Chromium engine to render the user interface, ensuring modern web standards compliance and high performance.
  • Full Access to Native APIs
    Offers access to all native system calls through Node.js, enabling developers to create rich desktop applications with full OS-level capabilities.
  • Single Process Model
    Allows developers to start with a simple single process model which is easy to debug and manage.

Possible disadvantages of NW.js

  • Large Application Size
    The bundling of Chromium with the application often results in larger file sizes compared to native applications.
  • Memory Consumption
    Applications may use more memory as they run instances of both Node.js and Chromium, potentially taxing system resources.
  • Performance Overhead
    There might be additional performance overhead compared to native applications due to the abstraction layers of Node.js and Chromium.
  • Limited Native UI Components
    Relies on web technologies for UI, which might not have the same look and feel as platform-native components.
  • Frequent Updates
    Keeping up with frequent updates from Chromium and Node.js can be challenging, requiring continuous maintenance to ensure compatibility and security.

NodeGUI features and specs

  • Cross-Platform compatibility
    NodeGUI allows developers to create applications that can run on multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, without changing the codebase.
  • Native Performance
    It provides a native-like performance for applications since it uses the Qt framework, offering smooth and responsive user interfaces.
  • React Integration
    React NodeGUI integrates React, allowing developers familiar with React's component-based architecture to build user interfaces efficiently.
  • Memory Efficient
    NodeGUI applications consume less memory compared to Electron-based apps because it doesn't bundle an entire Chromium engine.
  • Community and Documentation
    Being an open-source project since 2019, it has a growing community and evolving documentation, assisting newcomers in getting up to speed.

Possible disadvantages of NodeGUI

  • Smaller Ecosystem
    NodeGUI has a smaller ecosystem than Electron, meaning fewer third-party libraries and tools might be available for specific needs.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers new to Qt might face a learning curve, as it requires understanding the Qt Widgets and its event systems.
  • Limited UI Components
    The library may not have as wide a variety of pre-built UI components out of the box compared to more mature solutions.
  • Less Community Support
    Although the community is growing, it is not as large or active as other frameworks like Electron, which may impact finding support quickly.
  • Complex Debugging
    Debugging native NodeGUI applications can sometimes be more complex due to the need to deal with native components and issues.

NW.js videos

NW.js vs Electron. Что выбрать для работы NW или Electron? JavaScript Desktop

NodeGUI videos

NodeGUI - первое приложение используя React NodeGUI starter

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NW.js and NodeGUI)
Development Tools
77 77%
23% 23
Rapid Application Development
Cross-Platform Development
Cross-Platform Desktop Development

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare NW.js and NodeGUI

NW.js Reviews

Electron Alternatives﹣5 Best JavaScript Frameworks for Desktop Apps
Although it’s the oldest Node.js-Chromium framework in the AppJS, Electron and NW.js trio, it’s not nearly as mature as its competition. Because it has lost its momentum, it may not be the best choice for new projects.
Source: brainhub.eu
Frameworks & Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps – Best of
Cons: Some hard work features that are available in Electron, such as auto-updater and crash-reporting, don’t comes built-in with NW.js. That said, building with NW.js requires more efforts and extra modules – unlike other solutions.

NodeGUI Reviews

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

Based on our record, NW.js seems to be a lot more popular than NodeGUI. While we know about 33 links to NW.js, we've tracked only 3 mentions of NodeGUI. 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.

NW.js mentions (33)

  • Linux 6.9 Set to Drop the Old NTFS File-System Driver
    > FUSE drivers are slow, but "wildly slow" is an overstatement. I can confirm this, I've played RPGMaker M{V,Z} games natively by swapping out the copy of NWJS¹ it shipped with and running it through a CIOPFS² mount. 1: https://nwjs.io/ 2: https://www.brain-dump.org/projects/ciopfs/ / https://github.com/martanne/ciopfs. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • How to play this on a Chromebook through Linux Itch.io
    Go to this page to download NW.js https://nwjs.io/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • What would be the current recommended way to publishing an html5 game on steam?
    In addition to the other options here you could look at nw.js. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Console Commands, Kill Count And Saving System
    I don't think you can access it by default, but crosscode runs on [nw.js](https://nwjs.io). I know there is a way to get the chromium devtools to open, but I haven't been able to. Source: about 2 years ago
  • DuckieTV not launching
    Or browse the NWJS home page at https://nwjs.io/. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

NodeGUI mentions (3)

  • Ask HN: Why aren't there any real alternatives to Electron?
    I have to use Discord and Element on a regular basis (which both use Electron). They both use an unreasonable amount of RAM, and I feel this even more as my laptop is quite old and has 4GB of RAM. I keep looking for alternatives to Electron, which wouldn't require such heavy resources to run, but my searches always seem to come up short. There are a number of solutions that are either dead or are not ready for... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Qt Vs react native for desktop apps?
    Also, for React desktop apps, have a look on React NodeGUI, you will notice Qt 😉. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Announcing Svelte NodeGUI, a lightweight Electron alternative with native UI, based on Node.js!
    On the React and Vue github repos the README contains this disclaimer:. Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing NW.js and NodeGUI, you can also consider the following products

Electron - Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

Proton Native - A React environment for cross platform native desktop app

NeutralinoJS - Neutralino is a lightweight application development framework.

React Native Desktop - Build OS X desktop apps using React Native

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.

React Desktop - React Desktop is a JavaScript library built on top of Facebook's React library, which aims to bring a native desktop experience to the web.