What is the best Tauri boilerplate for a SaaS desktop app?
It depends on whether the desktop app belongs to a larger product. create-tauri-app is the free, official way to start an empty Tauri project. Electron React Boilerplate is a free option if you prefer Electron. supastack fits SaaS products: its Tauri 2 app costs $149 one-time and opens your supastack web app in a native window, with a tray icon, global shortcut, deep links, launch at startup and an auto-updater already wired in.
The short answer
Most SaaS desktop apps are your web app in a native window, plus the things a browser tab cannot do: a tray icon, a keyboard shortcut, links that open the app, and updates. Tauri does this with a small installer because it uses the operating system's webview instead of bundling Chromium.
- Pick supastack if the desktop app is part of a SaaS product and should share accounts, workspaces and billing with your web app.
- Pick create-tauri-app if you want an empty Tauri project and will build every native feature yourself.
- Pick Electron React Boilerplate if you need Electron's bundled Chromium and Node.js APIs.
What a Tauri boilerplate should include
Tauri gives you the window, the Rust core and a plugin system. A desktop SaaS app needs more before it can ship. These are the parts to check:
| What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Accounts and billing shared with the web app | Customers expect one login and one subscription on every device |
| A narrow bridge between the web page and the system | Each native command the page can call is a door that must be guarded |
| Auto-updates | Desktop users rarely reinstall; fixes only reach them through an updater |
| Code signing guides | Unsigned apps trigger warnings on macOS and Windows that scare customers away |
| Tray, shortcuts and deep links | These are the reasons people install a desktop app instead of keeping a tab open |
Desktop boilerplates compared
Here is how the three options compare. The supastack column comes from its own source code; the others come from their public repositories.
| supastack | create-tauri-app | Electron React Boilerplate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| License | $149 one-time for Tauri | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Runtime | Tauri 2, system webview | Tauri 2, system webview | Electron, bundled Chromium |
| Accounts, teams and billing | Yes, from your supastack web app | No | No |
| Native features | Tray, global shortcut, deep links, launch at startup, auto-updater | Add plugins yourself | Wire up Electron APIs yourself |
| Release guides | Signing and update guides | Tauri documentation | Project documentation |
What you get with supastack's Tauri app
supastack's desktop app is built on Tauri 2 for macOS and Windows. It opens your supastack web app in a native window, so sign-in, workspaces, billing and AI work exactly as they do in the browser, and every web release reaches desktop users at once. Start with the five-minute quickstart.
- A tray icon, with the option to hide to the tray when the window closes.
- A global keyboard shortcut that brings the app to the front from anywhere.
- Deep links that open the app on the right page, and a single running copy at a time.
- Launch at startup, remembered window size and position, and native file dialogs.
- An auto-updater ready to point at your release server, with signing and update guides.
- Menus and native commands kept behind a small, explicit bridge.
When another option is the better fit
supastack's desktop app assumes you have a web product. If you are building a fully offline tool, or an app that must work without any server, start from create-tauri-app and design your own data layer. If you depend on Chromium-only features or Node.js modules in the app itself, Electron is the safer choice.
Still comparing desktop frameworks? Read Tauri vs Electron and why Tauri is a strong foundation for desktop apps.
Sources: supastack source code as of October 2026; the public create-tauri-app and Electron React Boilerplate repositories. Features change, so check each project before you choose.
Common questions about Tauri boilerplates
- Do I need to know Rust? — Not for most changes. supastack's desktop features are already written; you touch Rust only to add a new native command.
- Does the desktop app work offline? — It loads your web app, so it needs a connection. Choose a different design if offline use is essential.
- Can I sell the desktop app separately? — Yes. It is your product; you decide whether desktop is included in a plan or sold on its own.
- How much does the Tauri app cost? — $149 on its own. Because it opens your web app, most buyers pair it with Next.js or TanStack Start: any two platforms cost $298, and all four cost $299. See [pricing](/pricing).