Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Sciter VS Microsoft Edge WebView2

Compare Sciter VS Microsoft Edge WebView2 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.

Sciter logo Sciter

Embeddable HTML/CSS/script engine

Microsoft Edge WebView2 logo Microsoft Edge WebView2

The Microsoft Edge WebView2 control allows you to embed web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) in your native Windows apps.
  • Sciter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-11
  • Microsoft Edge WebView2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03

Sciter features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Sciter's runtime is very small compared to other frameworks, making applications fast and efficient with low memory consumption.
  • Self-contained
    Sciter is a single DLL with no dependencies required. This simplifies deployment and reduces potential conflicts with other libraries.
  • Good performance
    The framework provides a balance between modern web technologies and high performance by utilizing native C++ code.
  • Cross-platform
    Sciter works on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, allowing developers to write applications that run on multiple platforms without additional effort.
  • Rich UI capabilities
    The framework allows the creation of complex and responsive user interfaces using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Offline applications
    Sciter does not require a web server as it can run entirely offline, which is beneficial for certain application types.
  • Active development and support
    Sciter is actively maintained and supported, with regular updates and a responsive support system available.

Possible disadvantages of Sciter

  • Limited community
    Sciter has a smaller community compared to more popular frameworks like Electron or Qt, making it harder to find resources or peer support.
  • Proprietary technology
    Sciter is not open-source, which might be a drawback for developers who prefer or require open-source solutions.
  • Documentation
    While improving, some developers may find Sciter's documentation less comprehensive compared to more established frameworks.
  • Learning curve
    Developers familiar with web development will have to adapt to Sciter's specific quirks and methods, which may have a learning curve.
  • Limited integration tools
    Sciter does not have as extensive a range of third-party tools and plugins as more popular frameworks, affecting integration with other systems.

Microsoft Edge WebView2 features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis of Sciter

Overall verdict

  • Sciter is generally considered a good option for developers who are looking for a lightweight and efficient way to build desktop applications with web technologies.

Why this product is good

  • Sciter offers several advantages including a small footprint, easy integration, and the ability to create cross-platform desktop applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It does not require a separate run-time installation, which simplifies deployment. Additionally, it supports modern web standards, ensuring that developers can utilize the latest web technologies in their applications. Its focus on performance makes it suitable for resource-constrained environments.

Recommended for

    Sciter is recommended for developers who need to build GUI applications that are cross-platform and want to leverage their web development skills. It's especially useful for those looking to create lightweight applications without the overhead of more extensive frameworks like Electron. It is also suitable for developers interested in rapid prototyping and creating custom UI/UX solutions.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sciter and Microsoft Edge WebView2)
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
.Net
0 0%
100% 100
Rapid Application Development
Design Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sciter should be more popular than Microsoft Edge WebView2. It has been mentiond 71 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.

Sciter mentions (71)

  • Show HN: Vaev – A browser engine built from scratch (It renders google.com)
    There is also https://sciter.com/ that the author tried to find finance to make it opensource but couldn't find enough supporters. - Source: Hacker News / 18 days ago
  • Servo in 2024: stats, features and donations
    > I'm convinced that using an embedded browser engine to render app UI is the future. Sciter exists: https://sciter.com/ And it indeed is great for UI. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Blitz: A lightweight, modular, extensible web renderer
    I think Sciter is probably the better comparison: https://sciter.com/ It is a ground-up implementation of HTML and CSS rendering. IIRC it used to have its own programming language but now uses JS. I’ve long been interested in this kind of thing but haven’t actually played with Sciter in depth. Used to be that the licensing was a concern but looking at the site now it seems the terms have changed to be much more... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • So You Want to Build a Browser Engine
    Seems a good place to mention https://sciter.com/ It's been on HN loads of times. A "browser" engine but very narrow scope. Works a treat for LOB type apps. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Show HN: Dropflow, a CSS layout engine for node or <canvas>
    > wondering if css and svg could be used as abstraction over graphics and UI libraries There's another project called Sciter that uses CSS to target native graphics libraries: https://sciter.com > I wonder how hard it was to implement css. I've heard it can be pretty complex. It was hard, but the biggest barrier is the obscurity of the knowledge. Text layout is the hardest, because working with glyphs and... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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Microsoft Edge WebView2 mentions (16)

  • Zasper: A Modern and Efficient Alternative to JupyterLab, Built in Go
    Edge does, https://developer.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-edge/webview2/?cs=578062562&form=MA13LH https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Web Apps Are Better Than No Apps
    Microsoft has this on Windows: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/ Teams 2 is supposed to use it (and there's a couple smaller system apps that use it). - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • .NET desktop development, Desktop development with C++ or Universal Windows Platform development?
    I'd like to make my own Web Browser using the Microsoft Edge WebView2 that can also run on Windows 11 for Arm64. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Perspective 2.0, Open Source WebAssembly-Powered BI
    Electron is going to kill the good performance gains of Perspective. Even if you have a fully beefed-up workstation, Electron is going to trigger the CPU fans. Electron is discouraged nowadays in favor of lightweight solutions like Sciter[0], Tauri[1] or even WebView2[2]. -- [0]: https://sciter.com/ [1]: https://tauri.app/ [2]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Why the New Microsoft Teams is the Ultimate Communication Tool for the Modern Workplace
    The above user is technically correct it is not Electron. It is a MS supported Chromium-baesd WebView program based on their Edge browser: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/. Source: about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sciter and Microsoft Edge WebView2, you can also consider the following products

Flutter - Build beautiful native apps in record time 🚀

ZedGraph - A class library, user control, and web control for .NET for drawing 2D Line, Bar, and Pie Charts.Also available on GitHub.

Electron - Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

Bun.sh - Bun is an all-in-one JavaScript runtime & toolkit designed for speed, complete with a bundler, test runner, and Node.js-compatible package manager.

Ultralight - Fast, light HTML UI solution for C++ apps

FLATHUB - Apps for Linux, right here