# Capacitor vs Electron

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Electron

| Attribute | Capacitor | Electron |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 59.6 (65% (medium)) | 66.3 (60% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 5 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 24,134 | 93,246 |
| adoption.github_stars | 16,852 | 123,412 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 5,395,282 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An open-source runtime that packages web applications built with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to run natively on iOS, Android, and as Progressive Web Apps, with access to platform-specific native APIs through a unified JavaScript interface. It is indexed under Mobile App Frameworks.","source":"https://capacitorjs.com","question":"What is Capacitor?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Capacitor is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://capacitorjs.com","question":"Is Capacitor free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Capacitor supports the web, iOS, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://capacitorjs.com","question":"What platforms does Capacitor support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Capacitor can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://capacitorjs.com","question":"Can Capacitor be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 24 integrations for Capacitor, including Action Sheet, App Launcher, App Browser, Camera, Clipboard, Device, Dialog and Filesystem, plus 16 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://capacitorjs.com","question":"What does Capacitor integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Capacitor is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor","question":"Is Capacitor open source?","confidence":0.99}]` | `[{"answer":"Electron is a framework for building desktop applications by embedding Chromium and Node.js into its binary, allowing developers to maintain a single JavaScript codebase and create cross-platform apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is indexed under Mobile App Frameworks.","source":"https://www.electronjs.org","question":"What is Electron?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Electron is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.electronjs.org","question":"Is Electron free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Electron supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.electronjs.org","question":"What platforms does Electron support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for Electron, including Mac App Store, Microsoft Store and Snap Store. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.electronjs.org","question":"What does Electron integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Electron is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/electron/electron","question":"Is Electron open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | - |
| description.long | Capacitor is a cross-platform native runtime that enables developers to build applications for iOS, Android, and web using a single JavaScript codebase. It provides web-standard APIs while allowing access to native device features through a plugin system. | Electron is a framework for building desktop applications by embedding Chromium and Node.js into its binary, allowing developers to maintain a single JavaScript codebase and create cross-platform apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. |
| features.capabilities | `{"targets":"iOS, Android, Progressive Web App","approach":"webview_hybrid","language":"JavaScript, HTML, CSS","hot_reload":true,"web_target":true,"native_widgets":false,"official_ui_kit":false,"single_codebase":true,"native_api_access":"full"}` | `{"targets":"macOS, Windows, and Linux","approach":"desktop_webview","language":"JavaScript, HTML, and CSS","web_target":false,"ota_updates":true,"native_widgets":false,"bundled_runtime":true,"desktop_support":true,"single_codebase":true,"native_api_access":"plugin_bridged","auto_update_builtin":true,"code_signing_support":true,"native_look_and_feel":false,"mobile_target_support":false,"app_store_distribution":true}` |
| integrations.count | 21 | 3 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Action Sheet"},{"name":"App Launcher"},{"name":"App Browser"},{"name":"Camera"},{"name":"Clipboard"},{"name":"Device"},{"name":"Dialog"},{"name":"Filesystem"},{"name":"Geolocation"},{"name":"Google Maps"},{"name":"Haptics"},{"name":"Keyboard"},{"name":"Local Notifications"},{"name":"Motion"},{"name":"Network"},{"name":"Push Notifications"},{"name":"Screen Reader"},{"name":"Share"},{"name":"Splash Screen"},{"name":"Status Bar"},{"name":"Storage"},{"name":"Text Zoom"},{"name":"Toast"},{"name":"Cordova plugins"}]` | `[{"name":"Mac App Store"},{"name":"Microsoft Store"},{"name":"Snap Store"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | C++ |
| license.spdx | MIT | MIT |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` | `{"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://capacitorjs.com","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:18:02.154Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://www.electronjs.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T16:49:04.595Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.8","date":"2026-10-07T14:29:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.5.3","date":"2026-10-07T14:17:42Z","type":"stable","version":"8.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.7","date":"2026-09-18T16:01:09Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.5.2","date":"2026-09-11T15:02:26Z","type":"stable","version":"8.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.5.1","date":"2026-08-31T21:54:55Z","type":"stable","version":"8.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.4.3","date":"2026-08-31T21:58:47Z","type":"stable","version":"8.4.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/7.6.9","date":"2026-08-31T22:03:32Z","type":"stable","version":"7.6.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/6.2.2","date":"2026-08-31T22:13:39Z","type":"stable","version":"6.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.5.0","date":"2026-07-31T15:46:27Z","type":"stable","version":"8.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.6","date":"2026-07-14T17:39:35Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.4.2","date":"2026-07-14T17:32:32Z","type":"stable","version":"8.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/7.6.8","date":"2026-07-14T17:36:20Z","type":"stable","version":"7.6.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.5","date":"2026-06-23T15:59:41Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.4","date":"2026-06-19T08:47:04Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.4.1","date":"2026-06-19T09:02:01Z","type":"stable","version":"8.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/7.6.7","date":"2026-06-19T08:43:00Z","type":"stable","version":"7.6.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.3","date":"2026-06-02T16:26:24Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/8.4.0","date":"2026-06-02T15:56:06Z","type":"stable","version":"8.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/7.6.6","date":"2026-06-02T16:09:17Z","type":"stable","version":"7.6.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor/releases/tag/9.0.0-alpha.2","date":"2026-05-12T21:10:28Z","type":"prerelease","version":"9.0.0-alpha.2"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v43.7.9","date":"2026-10-07T03:14:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v43.7.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v45.0.0-alpha.16","date":"2026-10-07T03:13:54Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v45.0.0-alpha.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v43.7.8","date":"2026-10-06T18:05:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v43.7.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v42.11.11","date":"2026-10-06T17:41:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v42.11.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v45.0.0-alpha.15","date":"2026-10-06T01:39:20Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v45.0.0-alpha.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v44.6.0","date":"2026-10-06T22:31:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v44.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v45.0.0-alpha.14","date":"2026-10-01T22:06:03Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v45.0.0-alpha.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v43.7.7","date":"2026-09-30T10:48:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v43.7.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v42.11.10","date":"2026-09-30T11:00:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v42.11.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v44.5.1","date":"2026-09-30T02:12:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v44.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v44.5.0","date":"2026-09-29T19:09:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v44.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v43.7.6","date":"2026-09-29T19:00:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v43.7.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v42.11.9","date":"2026-09-29T19:05:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v42.11.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v45.0.0-alpha.13","date":"2026-09-28T22:05:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v45.0.0-alpha.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v45.0.0-alpha.12","date":"2026-09-24T21:48:05Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v45.0.0-alpha.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v45.0.0-alpha.11","date":"2026-09-23T05:15:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v45.0.0-alpha.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v44.4.5","date":"2026-09-23T06:45:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v44.4.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v43.7.5","date":"2026-09-23T06:15:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v43.7.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v42.11.8","date":"2026-09-23T06:37:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v42.11.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/electron/electron/releases/tag/v44.4.4","date":"2026-09-22T18:38:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v44.4.4"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.1 | 6.8 |
| security.trust_center | https://capacitorjs.com/docs/v3/guides/security | https://electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/security |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40capacitor%2Fcore&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":64,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=electron&per_page=100","last_12m":36,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` |

## Capabilities (Mobile App Frameworks)

| Capability | Capacitor | Electron |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Target platforms | iOS, Android, Progressive Web App | macOS, Windows, and Linux |
| Approach | WebView hybrid | Desktop WebView |
| Primary language | JavaScript, HTML, CSS | JavaScript, HTML, and CSS |
| **Rendering** |  |  |
| Renders true native UI | ✗ | ✗ |
| **DX** |  |  |
| Hot reload | ✓ | - |
| TypeScript-first | - | - |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Over-the-air code push | - | ✓ |
| **Portability** |  |  |
| Single codebase, multiple platforms | ✓ | ✓ |
| Desktop support | - | ✓ |
| Builds for web | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Capability** |  |  |
| Native API access | Full native | Plugin / bridged |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Bundled UI component library | ✗ | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T18:59:08.000Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*