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PySimpleGUI VS NativeScript

Compare PySimpleGUI VS NativeScript and see what are their differences

PySimpleGUI logo PySimpleGUI

A simple to use GUI that can create custom GUIs

NativeScript logo NativeScript

Build truly native apps with JavaScript
  • PySimpleGUI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18
  • NativeScript Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

PySimpleGUI features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    PySimpleGUI is designed to be easy to use for beginners, with a simpler API compared to other GUI frameworks like Tkinter or PyQt. This reduces the learning curve for new users.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    The library runs on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing developers to write code that works across different environments.
  • Simplified Codebase
    PySimpleGUI abstracts the complexity of GUI programming, allowing developers to create graphical interfaces with less code, which can improve readability and reduce development time.
  • Integration with Other Frameworks
    PySimpleGUI can work on top of tkinter, Qt, WxPython, and Remi, thus giving users the flexibility to switch between underlying frameworks with minimal code changes.
  • Community Support
    The project is open source with active community support and frequent updates, which helps in getting assistance and improvements consistently.

Possible disadvantages of PySimpleGUI

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While PySimpleGUI is excellent for simple applications, it may lack advanced features required for complex GUI applications compared to more comprehensive frameworks like PyQt.
  • Performance
    PySimpleGUI might not be as optimized for performance as lower-level GUI frameworks, which can be a drawback for applications with intensive graphical requirements.
  • Dependency on Underlying Libraries
    PySimpleGUI's functionality is dependent on the underlying GUI frameworks it wraps, such as Tkinter or Qt, which may limit its capability to innovate beyond what those frameworks offer.
  • Lack of Native Look and Feel
    The GUI created with PySimpleGUI might not always match the native look and feel of the underlying operating system, which can affect user experience.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to more established GUI frameworks like PyQt or Tkinter, PySimpleGUI has a smaller ecosystem, which might limit the availability of third-party extensions or plugins.

NativeScript features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    NativeScript allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android, which saves time and resources.
  • Native Performance
    Since NativeScript directly uses native components, it delivers high performance comparable to native applications, unlike some other cross-platform solutions.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    NativeScript offers a rich ecosystem of plugins and modules, making it easy to extend functionalities and integrate with various services.
  • Single Codebase
    Maintaining a single codebase for both iOS and Android reduces development and debugging efforts.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, NativeScript has strong community support and continuous improvements driven by developers around the world.
  • Access to Native APIs
    NativeScript allows direct access to native APIs, giving developers more flexibility and control over platform-specific features.

Possible disadvantages of NativeScript

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The framework requires an understanding of native development concepts, which can be complex for new developers or those not familiar with mobile development.
  • Lack of Third-Party Components
    Compared to more mature frameworks, NativeScript has a limited number of third-party libraries and UI components available.
  • Performance Overhead
    Despite high performance, there is still some overhead compared to fully native applications due to the abstraction layer.
  • Limited Community Support
    Although the community is growing, it is still smaller compared to mainstream frameworks like React Native or Flutter, which might result in slower issue resolution and fewer resources.
  • Maintenance and Updates
    Keeping the framework and its plugins up to date with the latest iOS and Android releases can be challenging and resource-intensive.

PySimpleGUI videos

Real Python Podcast – Episode 17 – Linear Programming, PySimpleGUI, and More

NativeScript videos

NativeScript VS React Native 2019 | performance | community | plugins

More videos:

  • Review - Which one is best for you? Flutter, React Native, Ionic or NativeScript?
  • Review - 7 Things to Know When Learning NativeScript

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PySimpleGUI and NativeScript)
Rapid Application Development
Development Tools
19 19%
81% 81
JavaScript Framework
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
23 23%
77% 77

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PySimpleGUI and NativeScript

PySimpleGUI Reviews

25 Python Frameworks to Master
It’s a great option for creating simple and easy-to-use graphical user interfaces in Python and allows you to add a GUI to your already working scripts pretty easily. PySimpleGUI wraps the power of 4 different GUI libraries, PySide, Tkinter, wxPython, and Remi.
Source: kinsta.com
Which Python GUI library should you use? Comparing the Python GUI libraries available in 2023
PySimpleGUI aims to simplify GUI application development for Python. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but provides a wrapper around other existing frameworks such as Tkinter, Qt (PySide 2), WxPython and Remi. By doing so, it not only lowers the barrier to creating a GUI but also allows you to easily migrate from one GUI framework to another by simply changing the import...
10 Best Python Libraries for GUI
PySimpleGUI was developed back in 2018 to make it easier for Python beginners to get started with GUI development. A lot of the other frameworks require more complicated work, but PySimpleGUI enables you to begin right away without worrying about the advanced intricacies of other libraries.
Source: www.unite.ai
Top 10 Python GUI Frameworks for Developers
Isn’t the name of this framework a dead giveaway of what it is meant to do? Getting back to the topic, those starting fresh with Python application development may find a lot of Python GUI frameworks daunting at first. Mike B. created PySimpleGUI in 2018 to make it easier for Python newbies to get into GUI development without spending too much time getting into the...

NativeScript Reviews

Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
With the framework, developers get the option to craft a completely native experience even without interfering with the user interface. Those who are familiar with JavaScript can leverage NativeScript to its fullest.
Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development
NativeScript is a powerful framework that empowers developers to build Web, iOS, Android, and Vision Pro apps on a single codebase. If you’re comfortable with web development, especially Angular or VueJS, you’ll find NativeScript accessible.
Source: www.miquido.com
10 Best Open Source Firebase Alternatives
The native apps you develop use the richness of the mobile platform and offer the performance you need for mobile devices. NativeScript uses native APIs and controls to render, allowing you to create more sophisticated apps compared to using a hybrid approach.
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
NativeScript doesn’t require Angular or Vue.js but works better when used together for cross-platform app development. This runtime framework implements JavaScript, its superset TypeScript and Angular Native, and can render a variety of apps, be they gaming, streaming, geolocation, or chat apps. The user interface is in XML and CSS. A single, reusable codebase can be applied...
Top JavaScript Frameworks For Mobile App Development
NativeScript is an open-source, cross-platform, free mobile framework that assists in the creation of a truly native Android and iOS mobile apps. These apps can be built with JavaScript, Angular, Vue.js or TypeScript. Programming using NativeScript reduces the development time and lines of code, to a large extent. Many organizations globally have been implementing it because...
Source: medium.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NativeScript seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 20 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.

PySimpleGUI mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of PySimpleGUI yet. Tracking of PySimpleGUI recommendations started around Mar 2021.

NativeScript mentions (20)

  • What are JavaScript Engines?
    NativeScript is a good example of a runtime built specifically for cross-platform native mobile application development built using JavaScript. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Gio UI – Cross-Platform GUI for Go
    A long time ago, nativescript[1] seemed to be a strong alternative to reactnative. Is that still the case? [1] https://nativescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: Flutter or React Native?
    I'm curious about this topic as well. I would also add NativeScript[1] in the comparison. [1] https://nativescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Svelte Native: The Svelte Mobile Development Experience
    This is not so much the Svelte equivalent of React Native as it is just NativeScript (https://nativescript.org). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Mobile App Development for both iOS and Andriod
    There is also https://nativescript.org/ which would allow you to use Vue (or several other frameworks) to build a mobile app. Used it myself a while back for an iPad app using Vue 2 and it was pretty straightforward. It seems like there have been quite a few improvements since then so might be worth a look. Source: about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PySimpleGUI and NativeScript, you can also consider the following products

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

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Tkinter - Tkinter is a Python wrapper for Tcl/Tk that offers classes to create various graphical user interfaces.

Ionic - Ionic is a cross-platform mobile development stack for building performant apps on all platforms with open web technologies.

Dear PyGui - Dear PyGui is a simple to use (but powerful) Python GUI framework. Dear PyGui provides a wrapping of Dear ImGui which simulates a traditional retained mode GUI (as opposed to Dear ImGui's immediate mode paradigm).

Apache Cordova - Platform for building native mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript