Wails
Overview
Wails is an open-source framework for building desktop applications with Go and web technologies. It takes the same system-webview idea as Tauri but trades Rust for Go: your backend logic is written in Go and compiled to a native binary, while the UI is ordinary HTML, CSS, and JavaScript running in the operating system’s native webview.
Go’s simplicity and fast compile times make Wails attractive to developers who find Rust’s learning curve steep. Like the other webview-based frameworks, it produces a comparatively small compiled executable with low runtime overhead, and it gives Go developers a natural way to reuse existing Go libraries for the parts of an app that touch the system.
Key Features
- Go backend: Write system logic in Go and compile to a small native binary.
- System webview: UI runs in the OS-native webview with no bundled browser.
- Fast builds: Go’s quick compile times speed up iteration.
- Web front-end: Use any HTML, CSS, and JavaScript stack for the UI.
- Reuse libraries: Leverage the extensive Go ecosystem for backend logic.
- MIT licence: Free and open source.
Use Cases
- Go developers who want a lightweight desktop shell around a web front-end.
- Rewriting Electron apps with a smaller footprint and a Go backend.
- Internal tools and utilities that need native OS access from Go.
Platforms
Windows, macOS, Linux
Licence
MIT