Electron vs .NET MAUI vs GTK for desktop engineering tools

In 2025, choosing the framework for developing cross-platform desktop applications represents a strategic decision for many companies and software engineering professionals. The convergence between traditionally distinct worlds — desktop, web and mobile — has led to the birth of increasingly versatile tools. Among the most relevant frameworks stand out Electron, .NET MAUI And GTK, each with different technical characteristics and design philosophies. Analyzing the differences between these ecosystems is essential to understand which solution is most suitable depending on the operational context, available resources and project objectives.

Desktop software evolution in 2025

2025 marks a point of maturity in the cross-platform desktop development landscape. After a decade dominated by web and mobile applications, the desktop is once again central to areas such as industrial automation, edge computing, embedded systems, design tools And local control applications. The current trend is to combine modern, updateable and responsive user interfaces with the stability and power of native execution. In this scenario, frameworks such as Electron, .NET MAUI and GTK have taken on complementary roles: the first pushes on the universality of the web, the second on productivity and integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, the third on the lightness and efficiency typical of the Linux world.

Electron: power of the web for desktop applications

Electron is an open-source framework that combines Chromium and Node.js, allowing you to develop desktop applications with standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. This “write once, run everywhere” paradigm allows you to deploy the same code on Windows, macOS and Linux with reduced development times and a relatively low learning curve for those coming from the web world.

Electron adoption has grown thanks to iconic products like Visual Studio Code, Slack and Discord, demonstrating its robustness and versatility. However, in 2025, the focus has also shifted to issues of performance and footprint. The main limitation of Electron remains the intensive use of memory and CPU, due to the inclusion of the Chromium engine within each application. Although recent versions have introduced significant optimizations, Electron remains heavier than native frameworks.

From a technical perspective, Electron easily integrates with local APIs, REST backends, WebSockets and cloud environments, making it ideal for monitoring applications, industrial dashboards and IoT configuration panels. However, for embedded or industrial contexts where resource availability is limited, its hardware requirements may represent an obstacle.

.NET MAUI: The unified platform for cross-platform native applications

.NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI) it is the direct evolution of Xamarin.Forms and represents Microsoft's response to the growing need for cross-platform development while maintaining native performance. Based on C# and XAML, MAUI allows you to create a single codebase for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, natively integrating the operating system's APIs.

In 2025, .NET MAUI has consolidated itself as a reference tool for enterprise and industrial development, where productivity and integration with Microsoft services (Azure, Active Directory, MSAL, SQL, etc.) are crucial. Compared to Electron, MAUI offers more direct access to hardware and a smaller footprint, making it a more efficient choice in terms of performance and power consumption.

However, support for macOS and Linux is still evolving. The learning curve is steeper for those who do not come from the Microsoft ecosystem, but the integration with Visual Studio and compatibility with frameworks like Blazor open up hybrid scenarios of great interest.

GTK: The native, lightweight choice for Linux and embedded environments

The GTK (GIMP Toolkit) is one of the longest-running and optimized graphical toolkits for creating native graphical interfaces. Born in the Linux context but also compatible with Windows and macOS, GTK continues to be the basis of desktop environments such as GNOME and numerous industrial projects.

In 2025, GTK 4 consolidates its position as a lightweight and modular solution, suitable for Linux embedded systems, industrial HMIs and local dashboards. Its GPU rendering-oriented architecture via Vulkan and OpenGL, compatibility with modern languages such as Rust and Python, and the extremely small footprint make it an excellent choice for applications that require efficiency and stability.

Unlike Electron and .NET MAUI, GTK does not attempt to completely abstract the platform, but offers a consistent native experience with each operating system. This philosophy makes it ideal for professional, technical and scientific software.

Performance, footprint and maintenance

In the technical comparison between Electron, .NET MAUI and GTK, the issue of performance remains central. Electron offers the most flexibility but the most resource consumption; .NET MAUI balances efficiency and productivity; GTK favors lightness and control.

Electron applications can easily exceed 200 MB in initial size, while an equivalent GTK app rarely exceeds 20 MB. In terms of runtime performance, MAUI and GTK guarantee faster startup times and less RAM usage, a relevant aspect for applications that must coexist with low-level services.

From a maintenance perspective, Electron requires frequent updates to maintain compatibility with Chromium, while .NET MAUI benefits from Microsoft's update pipeline, which is more stable but tied to its releases. GTK maintains an integrated lifecycle into the Linux ecosystem, with predictable and continuous updates.

Ecosystem and adoption in the industrial world

In the embedded and industrial sector, where operating system stability and control are essential, GTK continues to be the go-to choice. However, the 2025 landscape shows growing interest in .NET MAUI thanks to its integration with production systems, Azure cloud services and support for ARM64 architectures. Electron, while less efficient, remains popular for creating diagnostic tools, IoT control panels, and WebView-based user interfaces.

The industrial adoption of the three frameworks reflects their technical nature: Electron favors flexibility, MAUI corporate integration, GTK stability and efficiency.

Future trends and development directions

In the medium term, the future of cross-platform desktop frameworks will be influenced by three main factors: energy optimization, cloud-edge integration and local artificial intelligence. Electron will continue to evolve to reduce the overhead of Chromium, while Microsoft is already integrating machine learning and assisted AI tools into MAUI via ML.NET. GTK, for its part, aims for complete integration with Wayland and an even more powerful graphics pipeline, confirming itself as the ideal solution for embedded systems and industrial devices.

Conclusion

The choice between Electron, .NET MAUI and GTK in 2025 does not depend on a single technical parameter, but on the balance between portability, performance, ecosystem maturity and compatibility with project requirements. Electron remains the fastest solution for web-oriented and multi-OS projects, .NET MAUI excels in enterprise and cloud-connected contexts, GTK stands out in embedded systems and applications that require efficiency and native control.

In the world of modern development, flexibility has become as important an asset as the power of code. Thoroughly understanding the implications of each framework allows you to design sustainable, high-performance and future-oriented software.