Comparisons
Tynd sits in the same category as Tauri, Wails, and Electron — a framework for shipping desktop apps with a WebView front. Each makes different tradeoffs on language, binary size, and API surface.
TL;DR
| Binary size (empty app) | Language choice | Native surface | Mobile | TS-native? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tynd | ~6.5 MB (lite) / ~44 MB (full) | TypeScript only | 26 Rust-backed APIs | ❌ | ✅ |
| Tauri v2 | ~8-12 MB | Rust + JS | ~30 official plugins | ✅ | ⚠ via bridge |
| Wails v3 | ~9-14 MB | Go + JS | Go stdlib + bindings | ❌ | ⚠ via bridge |
| Electron | ~160-200 MB | Node.js + JS | Full Chromium + Node stdlib | ❌ | ⚠ via bridge |
Headline: Tynd is the only option where a TypeScript developer never writes Rust, Go, or Node glue. Same language end-to-end.
Pick Tynd when
- You want TypeScript end-to-end — no Rust, Go, or Node glue.
- You want a small binary (
liteships at ~6.5 MB). - You want zero-network IPC and zero-codegen typed RPC.
- You want runtime-swappable builds (lite for deployment, full for richer Node/Bun surface from the same source).
Pick Tauri when
- You want a capability-based ACL security model (per-command, per-path, per-URL permissions).
- You need mobile (iOS / Android) support.
- You need a specific Tauri plugin from the 30-plugin ecosystem (Stronghold, biometric, NFC, deep-link, …).
- You’re already a Rust developer who prefers writing Rust for the native layer.
Pick Wails when
- You’re a Go developer and want to reuse Go libraries on the native side.
- You need GTK4 / WebKitGTK 6.0 on Linux (experimental but Wails-first).
- You want custom IPC transports or server-mode (run without a GUI).
Pick Electron when
- You need bundled Chromium — consistent rendering across OSes, no WebView2 / WKWebView / WebKitGTK variance.
- You need full Node stdlib or the entire npm ecosystem in the main process.
- You need
desktopCapturer(screen capture),printToPDF, Chrome extensions, Touch Bar (macOS), or StoreKit IAP. - Binary size is not a concern.
Detailed comparisons
Shared stack (wry + tao); Tauri has plugins and mobile, Tynd keeps TS-only and zero-codegen.
Tynd’s native WebView vs Electron’s bundled Chromium — 25× binary size difference, different API surfaces.
Both target native WebView with a non-Rust backend language; different ecosystems, different IPC transports.
Full feature matrix
The Tynd monorepo ships a 500-row, 39-category matrix at COMPARISON.md comparing Tynd against Tauri v2, Wails v3, and Electron on every concrete feature (window ops, dialogs, tray, menu, clipboard, notifications, shortcuts, FS, IPC, HTTP, updater, single-instance, autolaunch, persistence, app-level APIs, OS info, path utilities, security, mobile, build, DX, IPC arch, print, screen capture, accessibility, spellcheck, extensions, in-app purchase, and concurrency).