Best Electron Boilerplates for Desktop Apps in 2026

Electron: Still the Desktop Web Standard

Electron powers the most-used developer tools in existence: VS Code (100M+ users), Slack, Discord, Figma, Notion, and 1Password all run on Electron. Despite its reputation for memory usage, Electron remains the most practical way to ship cross-platform desktop apps with web technologies.

In 2026, the Electron ecosystem has matured significantly. Vite replaced Webpack. TypeScript is default. Native module handling is well-understood. The boilerplate landscape has consolidated around a few excellent options.

Quick Comparison

Starter	Price	Bundler	Framework	TypeScript	Auto-Update	Best For
electron-vite	Free	Vite	Any	✅	electron-updater	Modern Electron apps
electron-react-boilerplate	Free	Webpack→Vite	React	✅	electron-updater	React desktop apps
electron-forge	Free	Various	Any	✅	Squirrel	Official toolchain
Quasar Desktop	Free	Vite	Vue	✅	electron-updater	Vue cross-platform

The Starters

electron-vite — Best Modern Starter

Price: Free (MIT) | Creator: Alex Wei

The modern Electron development toolkit. Vite-based build system, hot module replacement for both main and renderer processes, TypeScript, source code protection, and support for any UI framework (React, Vue, Svelte, Vanilla).

npm create @quick-start/electron@latest my-app
# Choose: React / Vue / Svelte / Vanilla + TypeScript

Project structure:

├── src/
│   ├── main/           # Main process (Node.js)
│   │   ├── index.ts    # App entry
│   ├── preload/        # Preload scripts (IPC bridge)
│   │   ├── index.ts
│   └── renderer/       # Renderer process (web app)
│       ├── src/        # Your UI framework code
└── electron.vite.config.ts

Choose if: You want the fastest modern Electron development experience with Vite HMR.

electron-react-boilerplate — Best React Desktop

Price: Free (MIT) | Creator: Community (7k+ stars)

Long-running, production-proven React + Electron boilerplate. Recently migrated to Vite from Webpack. React Router, TypeScript, Jest + React Testing Library, ESLint, electron-updater for automatic updates, and GitHub Actions releases.

Choose if: React is your UI of choice and you want a mature, community-maintained boilerplate.

Electron Forge — Best Official Toolchain

Price: Free | Creator: OpenJS Foundation

The official Electron build/test/package toolchain. Framework-agnostic — use with React, Vue, Angular, or vanilla JavaScript. Handles code signing, notarization, auto-updates, and distribution. The recommended approach from the Electron documentation.

npm init electron-app@latest my-app --template=webpack
# or
npm init electron-app@latest my-app --template=vite

Choose if: You want the officially recommended toolchain and maximum flexibility.

Electron Architecture Essentials

Main vs Renderer Process

Electron's two-process architecture is the most important concept to understand:

// main/index.ts — Node.js process, full OS access
import { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain } from 'electron';

ipcMain.handle('read-file', async (event, path) => {
  return fs.readFile(path, 'utf8'); // Full Node.js access
});

// preload/index.ts — Bridge between main and renderer
import { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } from 'electron';

contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('api', {
  readFile: (path: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke('read-file', path)
});

// renderer/src/App.tsx — Sandboxed web app
function App() {
  const readFile = async () => {
    const content = await window.api.readFile('/path/to/file');
    // Access Node.js capabilities safely
  };
}

Good boilerplates set up this IPC pattern for you. Bad boilerplates nodeIntegration: true everywhere (security risk).

Auto-Updates

Every production Electron app needs automatic updates:

// main/index.ts
import { autoUpdater } from 'electron-updater';

autoUpdater.on('update-available', () => {
  // Notify user
});
autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', () => {
  autoUpdater.quitAndInstall();
});
autoUpdater.checkForUpdatesAndNotify();

electron-vite and electron-react-boilerplate both include this configured correctly.

Electron vs Tauri

The key decision for desktop apps in 2026:

	Electron	Tauri
Bundle size	50-200MB	3-30MB
Memory	100-500MB	10-50MB
Language	JavaScript	Rust + JavaScript
Webview	Bundled Chromium	System webview
Maturity	2013, very mature	2022, growing fast
Consistency	✅ Same renderer everywhere	⚠️ System webview varies

Tauri wins on size and memory. Electron wins on consistency and ecosystem maturity.

Compare all Electron boilerplates on StarterPick — find the right desktop app starter.

Comments