Tauri vs Electrobun vs Deno Desktop: One Clear Winner

Summary

The video compares Tauri, Electrobun, Deno Desktop, and Electron by building the same cross-platform screen-recording app in each framework. The app records a screen, lets users trim the recording on a timeline, and exports an MP4. The comparison covers bundle size, startup time, memory use, recording performance, and developer experience.

Measured Results

Framework App bundle size Median startup time Memory after launch Electron 323 MB 273 ms 128 MB Tauri 57 MB 311 ms 109 MB Electrobun 418 MB 773 ms 208 MB Deno Desktop 111 MB 242 ms 98 MB

Startup times were measured across 10 launches. All builds included FFmpeg for MP4 export, adding about 45 MB.

Key Technical Findings

• Tauri produced the smallest build. It records using macOS’s native ScreenCaptureKit rather than capturing video in the web view and passing frames across a bridge. The presenter observed better recording performance and recommends Tauri for smoother, higher-frame-rate recordings. Its web view is used only for the UI.
• Deno Desktop had the fastest startup and lowest measured memory use. Its screen-recording implementation used browser screen-capture APIs without bundling Chromium.
• Electrobun was the largest and slowest in this test. Its native web view lacked the required screen-capture API, so Chromium had to be bundled, adding roughly 200 MB. The presenter also noted unexpected dependencies on Three.js and Babylon.js.
• Electron served as the baseline and was relatively straightforward to implement, though its bundle was much larger than Tauri’s.

The video cautions that Tauri’s small on-disk size does not translate into a tenfold reduction in memory use. macOS runs its system web-view processes separately, so Activity Monitor can undercount Tauri’s actual footprint unless those processes are included.

Developer Experience and Verdict

Electron and Tauri were the easiest frameworks to implement for this app. Deno had an issue where hiding the app during recording caused it to close; the workaround was to hide the view off-screen. Electrobun presented screen-capture and bundling challenges, and the presenter found it the least appealing option in this test.

The presenter’s overall choice was Tauri, particularly for its native recording performance and compact builds. Electron remains a mature option for TypeScript developers who would rather avoid Rust. Deno showed promising performance but was considered less mature, while Electrobun ranked last for this project.

Guide or Tutorial

The video demonstrates the screen-recording workflow and explains how each framework handles capture and export. It is a comparative review rather than a step-by-step implementation tutorial. The presenter also mentions a separate video focused entirely on Deno Desktop.

Main speaker/source: Warren from Better Stack.