{"slug": "sciter", "name": "Sciter", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 3.753, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2025-12-07", "latest": "2026-08-28", "why": "it gives me the performance and speed while also being multiplatform", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "it gives me the performance and speed while also being multiplatform", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "sciter.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://sciter.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Sciter"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 791723312, "item_id": 49482707, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482707", "by": "pull_my_finger", "date": "2026-08-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sciter[1] has been around for a while and ships much smaller executables.", "excerpt": "Sciter[1] has been around for a while and ships much smaller executables. [1]: https://sciter.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop app UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Any true alternatives to electron JavaScript?"}, {"id": 786468033, "item_id": 49154252, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49154252", "by": "mathverse", "date": "2026-08-03", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it gives me the performance and speed while also being multiplatform", "excerpt": "For small apps I use exclusively SwiftUI for anything more complicated I use a combo of Sciter and Swift (courtesy of https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=c-smile). There are still a lot of rough edges when it comes to look and feel on Apple platforms but it gives me the performance and speed while also being multiplatform.", "context": "", "use_case": "complex multiplatform apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "SwiftUI After 7 Years: A Story of Mediocrity"}, {"id": 778108144, "item_id": 48631759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48631759", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-06-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's Sciter (https://sciter.com)", "excerpt": "> for mhtml to be embedded with light weight renderer so it does'nt have to rely on other browser That's Sciter (https://sciter.com) and Sciter.Quark (https://quark.sciter.com) in particular, no?", "context": "", "use_case": "embedded HTML rendering", "switched_from": "", "story": "Deno Desktop"}, {"id": 751233680, "item_id": 46952105, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46952105", "by": "thisislife2", "date": "2026-02-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's what Sciter does", "excerpt": "That's what Sciter does - https://sciter.com/ - it just gives you a lightweight HTML / CSS / Javascript \"webview\" engine for layout and rendering. Like you pointed out, that should be enough. But corporates want a \"webview\" that is an OS so that they can do everything with Javascript on it (hence why embedded Chrome with NodeJS is so popular).", "context": "", "use_case": "lightweight HTML/CSS webview engine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tauri"}, {"id": 748336304, "item_id": 46771019, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46771019", "by": "jazzyjackson", "date": "2026-01-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like the premise of an electron alternative that compiles to a 5MB binary", "excerpt": "If I was to spend a trillion tokens on a barely working browser I would have started with the source code of Sciter [0] instead. I really like the premise of an electron alternative that compiles to a 5MB binary, with a custom data store based on DyBASE [1] built into the front end javascript so you can just persist any object you create. I was ready to build software on top of it but couldn't get the basic windows t", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop app UI framework", "switched_from": "", "story": "When AI 'builds a browser,' check the repo before believing the hype"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["desktop app ui", "complex multiplatform apps", "embedded html rendering", "lightweight html/css webview engine", "desktop app ui framework"], "compared": [{"slug": "electron", "name": "Electron", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "swiftui", "name": "SwiftUI", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 792628112, "item_id": 49539257, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539257", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "In Sciter I have three editing behaviors", "excerpt": "Just in case... In Sciter I have three editing behaviors (element controllers) associated with these elements by defualt: * <textarea> - plain text editor working with single text node. * <htmlarea> - WYSIWYG editor working with a DOM tree. * <plaintext> - editor working with a list of <text> elements. Each <text> element is allowed to have only inline and inline-block subelements and text nodes [1]. <plaintext> is o", "context": "", "use_case": "Text editor widgets", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fine, I'll build my own text editor"}, {"id": 778106656, "item_id": 48631666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48631666", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-06-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've added native D support to Sciter", "excerpt": "It is better to be D language then - natively compiled and has superb meta programming features. Especially if to consider that I've added native D support to Sciter [1]. [1] https://terrainformatica.com/2026/06/05/ai-assisted-development-with-d-language-creating-sciter-sdk/", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop UI SDK", "switched_from": "", "story": "Deno Desktop"}, {"id": 778097792, "item_id": 48631112, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48631112", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-06-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I think that my Sciter is better option when you need HTML/CSS/JS native application", "excerpt": "I think that my Sciter is better option when you need HTML/CSS/JS native application running on Windows (XP and beyond), MacOS and Linuxes. Sciter SDK [1] contains scapp[.exe] - standalone Sciter engine that can be attached to HTML/CSS/JS bundle making standalone (single exe file) and portable executable. https://quark.sciter.com/ tool allows to compile such apps. Size of \"hello world\" is a size of scapp.exe binary +", "context": "", "use_case": "HTML/CSS/JS desktop apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Deno Desktop"}, {"id": 772393296, "item_id": 48274581, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48274581", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-05-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "1...4 is how it is implemented in my Sciter as the Reactor thing", "excerpt": "What if: 1. JS supports JSX literals so let elDef = <div id=\"some\">Text</div>; will be compiled into let elDef = [\"div\", {id:\"some\"}, [\"Text\"]]; 2. We extend DOM API to accept such constructs: element.append(elDef); // same thing as element.append(\"<div id=some>Text</div>\"); element.prepend(elDef); // ditto element.patch(elDef); // patch element's DOM by elDef 3. Add appropriate events: componentDidMount, componentWi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Does Anybody Actually Like React?"}, {"id": 770754800, "item_id": 48172175, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48172175", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-05-17", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "Essentially there is no so significant difference with any other SwiftUI/TextKit solution.", "excerpt": "> There is no real alternative. Not sure if my Sciter qualifies as a native solution. Check this chat alike virtual list with MD items: https://sciter.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/virtual-list-md.png Yes, MD gets translated to DOM tree. But virtual list implementation in Sciter is a native thing. Load whole chat is not an option usually. Yes, JS is used in process but mostly as a configuration option: take output o", "context": "", "use_case": "Native UI rendering", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native all the way, until you need text"}, {"id": 761065728, "item_id": 47566608, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47566608", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-03-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's why I've added Graphics.Text (https://docs.sciter.com/docs/Graphics/Text) in Sciter.", "excerpt": "Yeah, that's definitely needed. That's why I've added Graphics.Text (https://docs.sciter.com/docs/Graphics/Text) in Sciter. Graphics.Text is basically a detached <p> element that can be rendered on canvas with all CSS bells and whistles.", "context": "", "use_case": "UI rendering engine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pretext"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626137", "title": "Deno Desktop", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49524863", "title": "Fine, I'll build my own text editor", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49478014", "title": "Ask HN: Any true alternatives to electron JavaScript?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49147263", "title": "SwiftUI After 7 Years: A Story of Mediocrity", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48274077", "title": "Does Anybody Actually Like React?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168058", "title": "Native all the way, until you need text", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"compare": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 791723312, "item_id": 49482707, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482707", "by": "pull_my_finger", "date": "2026-08-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sciter[1] has been around for a while and ships much smaller executables.", "excerpt": "Sciter[1] has been around for a while and ships much smaller executables. [1]: https://sciter.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop app UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Any true alternatives to electron JavaScript?"}, {"id": 786468033, "item_id": 49154252, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49154252", "by": "mathverse", "date": "2026-08-03", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it gives me the performance and speed while also being multiplatform", "excerpt": "For small apps I use exclusively SwiftUI for anything more complicated I use a combo of Sciter and Swift (courtesy of https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=c-smile). There are still a lot of rough edges when it comes to look and feel on Apple platforms but it gives me the performance and speed while also being multiplatform.", "context": "", "use_case": "complex multiplatform apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "SwiftUI After 7 Years: A Story of Mediocrity"}, {"id": 778108144, "item_id": 48631759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48631759", "by": "c-smile", "date": "2026-06-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's Sciter (https://sciter.com)", "excerpt": "> for mhtml to be embedded with light weight renderer so it does'nt have to rely on other browser That's Sciter (https://sciter.com) and Sciter.Quark (https://quark.sciter.com) in particular, no?", "context": "", "use_case": "embedded HTML rendering", "switched_from": "", "story": "Deno Desktop"}, {"id": 751233680, "item_id": 46952105, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46952105", "by": "thisislife2", "date": "2026-02-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That's what Sciter does", "excerpt": "That's what Sciter does - https://sciter.com/ - it just gives you a lightweight HTML / CSS / Javascript \"webview\" engine for layout and rendering. Like you pointed out, that should be enough. But corporates want a \"webview\" that is an OS so that they can do everything with Javascript on it (hence why embedded Chrome with NodeJS is so popular).", "context": "", "use_case": "lightweight HTML/CSS webview engine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tauri"}, {"id": 748336304, "item_id": 46771019, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46771019", "by": "jazzyjackson", "date": "2026-01-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really like the premise of an electron alternative that compiles to a 5MB binary", "excerpt": "If I was to spend a trillion tokens on a barely working browser I would have started with the source code of Sciter [0] instead. I really like the premise of an electron alternative that compiles to a 5MB binary, with a custom data store based on DyBASE [1] built into the front end javascript so you can just persist any object you create. I was ready to build software on top of it but couldn't get the basic windows t", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop app UI framework", "switched_from": "", "story": "When AI 'builds a browser,' check the repo before believing the hype"}, {"id": 738914194, "item_id": 46182137, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46182137", "by": "niutech", "date": "2025-12-07", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "There are even more lightweight alternatives for Electron than Tauri: NodeGui, Neutralino.js, Sciter, DeskGap and more", "excerpt": "There are even more lightweight alternatives for Electron than Tauri: NodeGui, Neutralino.js, Sciter, DeskGap and more: https://github.com/sudhakar3697/awesome-electron-alternatives", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Electron vs. Tauri"}]}