State of Electron frameworks [May 2021]

There are a lot of templates, guides and boilerplates on how to make Electron apps, but many are out of date due to the rapid frequency of updates to the core Electron library (which is a very good thing!). I wanted to create an objective comparison to these templates in order to guide users for picking the template that makes sense for them.

For each boilerplate/template, public metrics such as the number of stars, commits, open/closed issues, repository create date and Electron version will be listed to you a good overview of the health and status of the template. The top contenders will be given further review later in this post. All of the specific Electron versions will be marked with a ✅ or ❌ based on the currently supported versions of the framework [as of this writing].

Electron templates/boilerplates - May 2021

Name	Author	Supported	Electron version	URL	License	Stars	Commits	Issues (open/closed)	Create date	About
secure-electron-template	reZach	✅	12.0.5	Github	MIT	687	184	7/49	2020-01-02	The best way to build Electron apps with security in mind
electron-boilerplate	sindresorhus	❌	7.1.1	Github	MIT	655	94	2/13	2015-04-23	Boilerplate to kickstart creating an app with Electron
generator-electron	sindresorhus	❌	7.1.1	Github	MIT	1.5k	58	5/12	2015-04-23	Scaffold out an Electron app boilerplate
electron-boilerplate	szwacz	✅	12.0.2	Github	MIT	3k	441	0/210	2015-04-25	Boilerplate application for Electron runtime
electron-react-boilerplate	electron-react-boilerplate	✅	11.0.1	Github	MIT	17.5k	986	104/1300	2015-05-18	A Foundation for Scalable Cross-Platform Apps
lein_template_descjop	karad	❌	1.6.6	Github	MIT	393	98	6/7	2015-04-17	A Leiningen template(Clojure/ClojureScript Project) for Web based desktop application with Electron (atom-shell)
electron-quick-start	electron	✅	12.0.5	Github	CC0-1.0	8.5k	290	11/210	2015-10-16	Clone to try a simple Electron app
bozon	railsware	✅	12.0.2	Github	MIT	693	523	6/53	2016-04-26	Command line tool for building, testing and publishing modern Electron applications
electron-vue	SimulatedGREG	❌	2.0.4	Github	MIT	13.9k	844	237/656	2016-05-12	An Electron & Vue.js quick start boilerplate with vue-cli scaffolding, common Vue plugins, electron-packager/electron-builder, unit/e2e testing, vue-devtools, and webpack
electron-next-skeleton	leo	❌	1.7.10	Github	MIT	169	129	3/3	2017-07-16	An example Electron app built with Next.js
electron-sandbox-boilerplate	kewde	❌	1.7.15	Github	MIT	71	83	9/4	2017-09-13	A simple example for a (more reasonably) secure electron application, by enabling the sandbox and forcing communication over IPC
angular-electron	maximegris	✅	12.0.2	Github	MIT	4.6k	449	12/477	2017-04-02	Ultra-fast bootstrapping with Angular and Electron (Typescript + SASS + Hot Reload)
photon	connors	❔	Unknown	Github	MIT	9.6k	261	66/37	2015-09-28	The fastest way to build beautiful Electron apps using simple HTML and CSS
basic-electron-react-boilerplate	pbarbiero	❌	7.1.2	Github	MIT	230	28	9/9	2017-02-22	Minimal and modern react+electron+webpack boilerplate
enhanced-electron-react-boilerplate	pbarbiero	❌	7.1.2	Github	MIT	61	30	7/2	2017-02-22	Modern and somewhat opinionated react+electron+webpack boilerplate
reactron	WilianZilv	❌	8.2.3	Github	MIT	76	11	1/0	2020-04-21	A tiny Electron + React boilerplate
electron-gatsby-boilerplate	zonayedpca	❌	9.4.0	Github	MIT	28	53	0/1	2020-04-10	Simple Minimal Electron Gatsby Boilerplate. Create new BrowserWindow easily and speed up your development experience. Also included Automatic Linting, Redux, TravisCI Configuration and GitHub Release
electron-react-redux-boilerplate	jschr	❌	8.2.2	Github	MIT	511	114	2/50	2020-04-10	A minimal boilerplate to get started with Electron, React and Redux
electron-react-redux-advanced-boilerplate	ganeshrvel	❌	4.0.1	Github	MIT	10	67	0/0	2018-09-20	Advanced and highly scalable boilerplate built using Electron v4, React v16, Redux v4, Webpack v4, Babel v7 {HMR, Loadables, Dynamic Reducer Injection, Selectors, Code splitting}

Current templates/boilerplates

Based on our initial review, we can see that only a few templates have current versions of Electron, let's focus on these projects as they are the most up-to-date.

For each of these templates, we will compare features each template provides, as well as what front-end js framework that is used.

Note - (library) is used if a library is used for this feature. (example) is used if the code is a raw implementation of that feature.

Name	Hello world	E2E tests	Bundler	Create distributable	JS framework	Page routing	Local data store	Custom context menu	i18n support	License key validation
secure-electron-template	✅	❌	Webpack	✅ (library)	React	✅ (library)	✅ (library)	✅ (library)	✅ (library)	✅ (library)
electron-boilerplate (szwacz)	✅	✅ (library)	Webpack	✅ (library)	JS	❌	✅ (example)	❌	❌	❌
electron-react-boilerplate	✅	✅ (library)	Webpack	✅ (library)	React (w/ Typescript)	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
electron-quick-start	✅	❌	❌	❌	JS	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
bozon	✅	✅ (library)	Webpack	✅ (library)	JS	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
angular-electron	✅	✅ (library)	Webpack	✅ (library)	Angular	✅ (library)	❌	❌	✅ (library)	❌

After this review, the up-to-date templates are placed into three camps: kitchen-sinks, hello worlds and bare minimum.

Kitchen sinks

These templates have more features than other templates. These templates may include features you may or may not desire for your application.

Hello worlds

These templates have just enough to get you started, but may not have all the components set up for a production-ready app.

Bare minimum

This template is likely best if you want to create your app with the least amount of pre-written code.

electron-quick-start

Security review

It has been the trend to move towards more secure way of building Electron applications. We will do a security review based on the checklist from the Electron team on the most up-to-date templates.

Note; out of all of the below security suggestions, disabling nodeIntegration and enabling contextIsolation are expected to require the most refactoring in a given Electron application if you'd like to secure your Electron application.

Name	Load secure content	Disable `nodeIntegration`	Enable `contextIsolation`	Use `setPermissionRequestHandler`	`webSecurity` enabled	CSP defined	`allowRunningInsecureContent` is false	Experimental features disabled	`enableBlinkFeatures` disabled	Do not use `allowpopups`	Verify `<webview>` options	Disable navigation	Disable creation of new windows	Do not use `openExternal`	Current version of Electron
secure-electron-template	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
electron-boilerplate	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
electron-react-boilerplate	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
electron-quick-start	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
bozon	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
angular-electron	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

Final verdict

Due to the fact that a number of repositories do not disable nodeIntegration or enable contextIsolation, which leave large gaps in security when loading or using remote content, I cannot recommend they be used for production-ready templates without updating these settings. Updating these settings may require substantial work if these features are heavily used within an Electron application.

Production-ready templates

These templates are ready and recommended to use when building an app you may use on your local machine or distribute/sell to others.

electron-quick-start

JS
Bare minimum template
Copyright rights are waived (CC0-1.0 license)
Requires changes for bundling/distribution
Recommend security enhancements

bozon

JS
Can distribute right away
Recommend security enhancements

secure-electron-template

React
Can distribute right away
Has additional features you may want
Secure by default

Local-resource only templates

These templates should only be used on your local machine and should not render or use remote resources due to security settings that are not set to the recommended secure practices set out by the Electron team. If security settings are updated, these templates can be valid to use for production apps.

electron-boilerplate