Electron 20,509 (https://github.com/electron/electron 123,289 ) bundles Chromium 4,389 and Node.js 2,131 into one runtime, so a web app runs as a native window on Windows, macOS and Linux; Visual Studio Code 550 is built on it. It ships a new major version every eight weeks and supports only the latest three. That schedule exposes the weak point of cordova-electron: version 4.0.0 depends on electron ^29.0.0, so a BookNest build in September 2026 got Electron 29.4.6 with Chromium 122, fifteen majors behind Electron 44.
| Route | Engine | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| cordova-electron | Electron 29 | One project and config, but an unsupported Chromium |
| Plain Electron | Current Electron | Load www yourself, no Cordova 129 plugins |
| Tauri 126,184 (https://github.com/tauri-apps/tauri 111,434 ) | The system WebView | Small installers; a Rust backend |
For an internal tool, cordova-electron is the quickest path; for a public desktop app, copy www into a current Electron or Tauri project and keep the browser-side code shared.