Electron Development

WAYF is an Electron Development Agency

WAYF is an Electron Development Agency

Desktop applications, built by your web team. Cross-platform from day one.
Electron is a specialized tool. Not every project needs a desktop app, and not every desktop app needs Electron. When it's the right choice, we know how to build it well. When it's not, we'll tell you.

What We Build

Cross-platform desktop applications. Internal tools that need to run outside the browser. Developer utilities. Media applications. Enterprise software that has to work on Windows, Mac, and Linux without maintaining three codebases.

We've built applications used by small teams and applications deployed across thousands of machines. We've shipped greenfield Electron apps and modernized legacy desktop software by rebuilding it with web technologies. We've integrated with local filesystems, native APIs, and hardware peripherals.

What we build less of: games, anything that needs maximum CPU or GPU performance, simple utilities that would be better served by a native app or a CLI. Electron has overhead. If your application doesn't benefit from the tradeoffs Electron makes, we'll point you elsewhere.

Why Us

Same Team, Same Stack.

Our Electron engineers are our React engineers. The renderer process is a web application—same component architecture, same state management, same patterns. You're not hiring a separate desktop team; you're extending what your web team already knows.

Same Team, Same Stack.

Our Electron engineers are our React engineers. The renderer process is a web application—same component architecture, same state management, same patterns. You're not hiring a separate desktop team; you're extending what your web team
already knows.

Seniority as Default.

Our engineers average 10+ years in software. They've shipped Electron apps that users love and inherited ones that struggled with performance, packaging, or platform quirks. They know where Electron shines and where it requires careful handling.

Seniority as Default.

Our engineers average 10+ years in software. They've shipped Electron apps that users love and inherited ones that struggled with performance, packaging, or platform quirks. They know where Electron shines and where it requires careful handling.

Honest Assessment.

Electron is a tradeoff: web technology convenience in exchange for application size and baseline resource usage. We'll tell you upfront whether that tradeoff makes sense for your users, your use case, and your team. Some projects belong in Electron. Some belong in native development. Some don't need a desktop app
at all.

Honest Assessment.

Electron is a tradeoff: web technology convenience in exchange for application size and baseline resource usage. We'll tell you upfront whether that tradeoff makes sense for your users, your use case, and your team. Some projects belong in Electron. Some belong in native development. Some don't need a desktop app at all.

Range.

We've shipped for early-stage startups (Framer, Rye), global manufacturers (Ingersoll Rand), and international institutions (Council of Europe Development Bank). A developer tool and an enterprise desktop deployment require different approaches to distribution, updates, and IT compliance. We know how to navigate both.

Range.

We've shipped for early-stage startups (Framer, Rye), global manufacturers (Ingersoll Rand), and international institutions (Council of Europe Development Bank). A developer tool and an enterprise desktop deployment require different approaches to distribution, updates, and IT compliance. We know how to
navigate both.

How We Work

Sometimes you have a team, a process, and a rhythm—you need specialists who can plug in and elevate what's already working. We do that. Your tools, your ceremonies, your preferences. We adapt, and we'll point out where things could be sharper—but the mode is integration, not takeover.

But often, especially with new desktop initiatives, you need more than hands. You need someone to own the process end-to-end. Set the standard. Make the calls. Tell you what's working and what isn't.

When we lead, we actually lead. That means a clear rhythm: two-week sprints, weekly syncs, monthly reviews that look forward as much as back. Decisions documented in writing so you always know why something was built a certain way. We bring the tools—Linear for tracking, Slack for daily pulse, Notion or Confluence for documentation built to last—but more importantly, we bring the discipline to use them well.

What makes Electron projects different: the surface area is larger. You're building a web application plus dealing with native menus, system tray integration, file system access, auto-updates, code signing, and platform-specific packaging. We account for this complexity from the start, not as an afterthought.

What stays constant either way: direct communication, no surprises, and feedback that's honest even when it's uncomfortable. We'd rather have a hard conversation in week two than a broken release in month six.

What We See Go Wrong

The most common pattern: teams underestimate the non-renderer work. They build a React app, wrap it in Electron, and call it done—then spend months dealing with update mechanisms, platform-specific bugs, code signing headaches, and user complaints about memory usage.

We also see teams over-scope. They choose Electron because they want a desktop app, then try to build something that should be a web app, or something that genuinely needs native performance. Electron is for applications where web technology makes sense and cross-platform distribution matters. Not everything fits.

Another pattern: ignoring performance until it's a crisis. Electron apps can be fast and responsive, but they don't get there by accident. Teams that treat the renderer like a regular web app—without thinking about memory, startup time, or main process efficiency—end up with applications users complain about.

We're not here to judge how you got here. Sometimes the original decisions made sense. Sometimes requirements changed. We come in as partners—assess what exists, understand the constraints, and figure out the path forward. Sometimes that's optimization. Sometimes it's architectural changes. Occasionally it's an honest conversation about whether Electron is still the right foundation.

Technical Approach

Process Architecture Matters

Main process for system integration and coordination. Renderer process for UI. We maintain clear boundaries, handle IPC thoughtfully, and keep the main process lean. Blocking the main process means a frozen app; we design to prevent that.

Performance is Earned

We profile memory usage, optimize startup time, and lazy-load what we can. We understand that Electron's baseline isn't zero and build accordingly. When performance problems appear, we have the tooling and experience to diagnose and fix them.

Performance is Earned

We profile memory usage, optimize startup time, and lazy-load what we can. We understand that Electron's baseline isn't zero and build accordingly. When performance problems appear, we have the tooling and experience to diagnose and fix them.

Packaging and Distribution Across Platforms

Packaging and Distribution
Across Platforms.

Code signing for Mac and Windows. Installers that work. Auto-updates that don't break. We've dealt with notarization requirements, antivirus false positives, and enterprise deployment constraints. The unglamorous work that makes an application actually shippable.

Native Integration When You Need It

System tray, native menus, notifications, file system access, protocol handlers. Electron exposes a lot of native capability; we use what's needed and avoid what isn't. When Electron's APIs aren't enough, we know how to bridge to native code.

Native integration When You
Need It.

System tray, native menus, notifications, file system access, protocol handlers. Electron exposes a lot of native capability; we use what's needed and avoid what isn't. When Electron's APIs aren't enough, we know how to bridge to native code.

Security Model Understood

Electron apps have different security considerations than web apps—context isolation, node integration, preload scripts, sandboxing. We configure these deliberately, not by copying from Stack Overflow.

Updates without Pain

Auto-update infrastructure, differential updates when package size matters, staged rollouts when stability matters. Users shouldn't have to manually download new versions; the update experience is part of the product.

Updates without Pain

Auto-update infrastructure, differential updates when package size matters, staged rollouts when stability matters. Users shouldn't have to manually download new versions; the update experience is part of the product.

TypeScript—Non-Negotiable for Production Work

Strict mode. Proper typing across process boundaries. The complexity of Electron development makes type safety even more valuable than usual.

Who We Work Well With

Clients who need a desktop application and have a good reason for it. Not "desktop because it sounds more serious" but "desktop because our users need offline access, or file system integration, or a presence outside the browser."

Also: clients who already have a web application and want to extend it to desktop. Electron lets you leverage existing code, existing skills, and existing patterns. If your web team is strong, you don't need to build a separate desktop team.

What both types have in common: realistic expectations about what Electron is, direct communication, and treating our team as partners rather than vendors executing a spec.

Who We're Not For

If you're comparing agencies on hourly rate alone, we'll lose that spreadsheet every time. What we won't lose is six months to packaging nightmares, update mechanism failures, and performance problems that could have been avoided.

If you need native performance throughout—video editing, 3D rendering, low-latency audio—Electron probably isn't the right tool, and we'll tell you that. The web technology foundation has limits; some applications push past them.

If you want a desktop app because it seems more legitimate than a web app, but your users would actually be fine with a browser—we'll have that conversation. Electron solves real problems. If you don't have those problems, you don't need Electron.

Compounding Trust

Founders, CTOs, and Procurement Officers choose WAYF.
Hundreds of 0 → 1 launches · Fortune 500 partnerships · Global public institution contracts

Founders, CTOs, and Procurement Officers choose WAYF. Hundreds of 0 → 1 launches · Fortune 500 partnerships · Global public institution contracts

Client spotlight

Client spotlight

Client spotlight

Client spotlight

Client spotlight

Client spotlight

Council of Europe Development Bank

Billions of Euros in capital deployed each year to support social cohesion.

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Council of Europe Development Bank

Billions of Euros in capital deployed each year to support social cohesion.

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Fortune 500:
Ingersoll Rand

Worldwide manufacturer and distributor of unrivalled compressed air solutions.

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Fortune 500: Ingersoll Rand

Worldwide manufacturer and distributor of unrivalled compressed air solutions.

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Let's talk

Let's talk

Have an Electron project—new desktop app, existing application that needs work, or a question about whether Electron is right for what you're building?

Have an Electron project—new desktop app, existing application that needs work, or a question about whether Electron is right for what you're building?