Tauri

Tauri lets you wrap a web frontend (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) in a native desktop shell. Same idea as Electron (which VS Code uses), but Tauri apps are dramatically smaller because they use the OS's built-in web renderer instead of shipping a copy of Chrome.

Apache 2.0 and MIT dual-licensed, Rust backend. A basic Tauri app is 3MB where the Electron equivalent is 150MB+. Backend logic runs in Rust for native performance and system access. Tauri v2 added mobile support (iOS and Android), making it cross-platform for desktop AND mobile.

Completely free. CrabNebula (the company behind Tauri) offers paid cloud build and distribution services, but the framework itself costs nothing. Solo: perfect for shipping a desktop app with web tech. Small teams: great for internal tools. Growing teams: evaluate whether Rust is a skill your team has. Large: consider CrabNebula for build infrastructure at scale.

The catch: you need Rust for the backend. If your team is pure JavaScript, that's a real barrier. The ecosystem is younger than Electron's: fewer plugins, fewer examples, and debugging the Rust-JS bridge gets tricky. And because each OS uses its own web renderer, you'll hit cross-platform rendering inconsistencies that Electron avoids by shipping its own browser.