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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Frameworks
  4. Cross Platform Desktop Development
  5. Eel vs Electron vs Hazel

Eel vs Electron vs Hazel

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Electron
Electron
Stacks11.6K
Followers10.0K
Votes148
Hazel
Hazel
Stacks18
Followers23
Votes0
Eel
Eel
Stacks6
Followers83
Votes0

Eel vs Electron vs Hazel: What are the differences?

### Introduction
  1. User Interface Development: Eel mainly focuses on creating Python-based graphical user interfaces, while Electron is used for developing cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Hazel, on the other hand, is a modern, open-source framework utilizing Python for building interactive and responsive web applications.

  2. Deployment: With Eel, you can easily deploy Python applications with a graphical interface as standalone executables for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Electron allows you to package web applications into standalone executables as well, but primarily targets desktop applications. Hazel, in contrast, is tailored for web app development and can be deployed as web services on servers.

  3. Framework Size: While Electron may have a larger file size due to including full Chromium and Node.js runtime, Eel is lightweight and mainly uses a Python library to interact with browser windows. Hazel, being a Python-based framework, provides a balance between size and functionality, offering a streamlined web development experience.

  4. Ecosystem: Electron has a rich ecosystem of libraries, plugins, and tools for building efficient desktop applications, leveraging the power of web technologies. Eel, on the other hand, relies on Python libraries for backend operations and simple integration with front-end interfaces. Hazel provides a comprehensive Python ecosystem along with web development features for rapid application development.

  5. Community Support: Electron has a large and active community contributing to its development and providing support for users, making it suitable for robust desktop application development. Eel, while not as extensive in terms of community, offers a straightforward approach for Python developers looking to create GUI applications. Hazel, being a newer framework, is building its community around Python enthusiasts and web developers alike.

  6. Project Scope: Eel is ideal for small to medium-sized projects that require a simple and quick way to create graphical interfaces using Python. Electron is suited for larger, complex desktop applications that demand advanced features and capabilities. Hazel, with its focus on responsive web applications, caters to a wide range of projects requiring interactive interfaces and real-time communication.

In Summary, Eel is primarily for Python GUI development, Electron targets cross-platform desktop apps, and Hazel offers Python-driven web app development solutions.

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Advice on Electron, Hazel, Eel

Semih
Semih

Software Engineering Manager

Oct 1, 2020

Needs adviceonJavaScriptJavaScriptHTML5HTML5.NET.NET

Hi,

We are planning to develop a brand new UX for an already existing desktop software. The previous version is developed on C#.NET with Winforms & WPF. Our plan is to use JavaScript/HTML5 based frontend technologies for the new software. For some components, we are highly dependent on .NET/ .NET Core because the JS-based versions are not mature enough.

What would you choose for a desktop-based Engineering Software that supports multi-OS and has rich UI capabilities considering the .NET dependencies?

Thanks in advance,

Semih

57.9k views57.9k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Electron
Electron
Hazel
Hazel
Eel
Eel

With Electron, creating a desktop application for your company or idea is easy. Initially developed for GitHub's Atom editor, Electron has since been used to create applications by companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Slack, and Docker. The Electron framework lets you write cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. It is based on io.js and Chromium and is used in the Atom editor.

This project lets you deploy an update server for Electron apps with ease: You only need to run a single command and fill out two text fields.

Python3 library for making simple Electron-like offline HTML/JS GUI apps, with full access to Python capabilities and libraries. It hosts a local webserver, then lets you annotate functions in Python so that they can be called from Javascript, and vice versa.

Use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with Chromium and Node.js to build your app.;Electron is open source; maintained by GitHub and an active community.;Electron apps build and run on Mac, Windows, and Linux.;Automatic updates;Crash reporting;Windows installers;Debugging & profiling;Native menus & notifications
--
Statistics
Stacks
11.6K
Stacks
18
Stacks
6
Followers
10.0K
Followers
23
Followers
83
Votes
148
Votes
0
Votes
0
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 69
    Easy to make rich cross platform desktop applications
  • 53
    Open source
  • 14
    Great looking apps such as Slack and Visual Studio Code
  • 8
    Because it's cross platform
  • 4
    Use Node.js in the Main Process
Cons
  • 19
    Uses a lot of memory
  • 8
    User experience never as good as a native app
  • 4
    No proper documentation
  • 4
    Does not native
  • 1
    Wrong reference for dom inspection
No community feedback yet
No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations availableNo integrations available
Python
Python

What are some alternatives to Electron, Hazel, Eel?

Sciter

Sciter

It brings a stack of web technologies to desktop UI development. Web designers, and developers, can reuse their experience and expertise in creating modern looking desktop applications.

wxWidgets

wxWidgets

It is a C++ library that lets developers create applications for Windows, macOS, Linux and other platforms with a single code base. It has popular language bindings for Python, Perl, Ruby and many other languages, and unlike other cross-platform toolkits, it gives applications a truly native look and feel because it uses the platform's native API rather than emulating the GUI. It's also extensive, free, open-source and mature.

Qt5

Qt5

It is a full development framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications and user interfaces for desktop, embedded, and mobile platforms.

JavaFX

JavaFX

It is a set of graphics and media packages that enables developers to design, create, test, debug, and deploy rich client applications that operate consistently across diverse platforms.

React Native Desktop

React Native Desktop

Build OS X desktop apps using React Native.

JUCE

JUCE

It is a C++ framework for low-latency applications, with cross-platform GUI libraries to get your apps running on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

Proton Native

Proton Native

Create native desktop applications through a React syntax, on all platforms.

NodeGUI

NodeGUI

It is an open source library for building cross-platform native desktop applications with JavaScript and CSS like styling. It is based on Qt5 and NOT chromium, hence it is memory and cpu efficient.

pygame

pygame

It is a cross-platform set of Python modules designed for writing video games. It includes computer graphics and sound libraries designed to be used with the Python programming language.

SDL

SDL

It is a cross-platform development library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, and graphics hardware via OpenGL and Direct3D.

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