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NW.js VS React Native Desktop

Compare NW.js VS React Native Desktop and see what are their differences

NW.js logo NW.js

nwjs

React Native Desktop logo React Native Desktop

Build OS X desktop apps using React Native
  • NW.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-02
  • React Native Desktop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30

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.

React Native Desktop features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Code Sharing
    React Native Desktop allows for code sharing between mobile and desktop platforms, reducing development time and effort. This promotes a unified codebase across iOS, Android, and macOS platforms.
  • React Ecosystem
    Developers can leverage the extensive ecosystem of React and React Native, including libraries, tools, and community support, thus simplifying development and benefiting from existing solutions.
  • Hot Reloading
    React Native Desktop supports hot reloading, which allows developers to see changes immediately without rebuilding the whole application. This greatly enhances development speed and productivity.
  • Native Performance
    React Native Desktop aims to deliver a performance close to native applications on macOS, allowing for smooth user experience and efficient utilization of the system's resources.

Possible disadvantages of React Native Desktop

  • Immature Project
    React Native Desktop is still a relatively young project compared to its mobile counterpart. It may lack some stability, advanced features, and support that are available in more mature frameworks.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers familiar with only web development might find it challenging to adapt to React Native's paradigms and native coding patterns required for desktop applications.
  • Limited macOS-Specific Components
    There might be fewer out-of-the-box components and libraries tailored for macOS when compared to those available for mobile, requiring more custom implementation work.
  • No Official Support
    As an open-source project, React Native Desktop doesn't have official support from Facebook or a large organization, which might lead to slower updates and a greater reliance on community contributions.

Analysis of React Native Desktop

Overall verdict

  • React Native Desktop can be a good choice if you are already invested in the React Native ecosystem and are looking for a way to expand your application's reach to desktop platforms without starting from scratch. It benefits from the familiar JavaScript and React syntax, as well as a large community of developers who contribute to its growth. However, depending on the project's specific needs and the level of maturity expected, it might lack some features or optimizations available in native desktop application frameworks.

Why this product is good

  • React Native Desktop is designed to allow developers to use React Native for creating desktop applications. It leverages the existing React Native ecosystem, which means that developers familiar with React Native can transition to desktop app development more easily. By allowing code sharing between mobile and desktop platforms, it can significantly reduce the development time and effort required to maintain consistency across platforms.

Recommended for

    This framework is recommended for JavaScript developers who are already comfortable with React Native and want to leverage their existing skills to develop cross-platform applications that include desktop environments. It is suitable for projects that require rapid prototyping and consistent user experiences across mobile and desktop devices.

NW.js videos

NW.js vs Electron. ะงั‚ะพ ะฒั‹ะฑั€ะฐั‚ัŒ ะดะปั ั€ะฐะฑะพั‚ั‹ NW ะธะปะธ Electron? JavaScript Desktop

React Native Desktop videos

No React Native Desktop videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NW.js and React Native Desktop)
Development Tools
56 56%
44% 44
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Rapid Application Development
Cross-Platform 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 React Native Desktop

NW.js Reviews

Electron Alternatives๏นฃ5 Best JavaScript Frameworks for Desktop Apps
Although itโ€™s the oldest Node.js-Chromium framework in the AppJS, Electron and NW.js trio, itโ€™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 โ€“ Best of
Cons: Some hard work features that are available in Electron, such as auto-updater and crash-reporting, donโ€™t comes built-in with NW.js. That said, building with NW.js requires more efforts and extra modules โ€“ unlike other solutions.

React Native Desktop Reviews

We have no reviews of React Native Desktop yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NW.js seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 33 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.

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 NWJSยน it shipped with and running it through a CIOPFSยฒ mount. 1: https://nwjs.io/ 2: https://www.brain-dump.org/projects/ciopfs/ / https://github.com/martanne/ciopfs. - Source: Hacker News / over 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: over 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: over 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: over 2 years ago
  • DuckieTV not launching
    Or browse the NWJS home page at https://nwjs.io/. Source: over 2 years ago
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React Native Desktop mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of React Native Desktop yet. Tracking of React Native Desktop recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing NW.js and React Native Desktop, you can also consider the following products

Electron - Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

NeutralinoJS - Neutralino is a lightweight application development framework.

Deco IDE - Best IDE for building React Native apps

DeskGap - Framework for building cross-platform desktop apps with web technologies (JavaScript, HTML and CSS).

NativeBase - Experience the awesomeness of React Native without the pain