A lightweight .NET framework for building cross-platform HTML desktop apps using native GUI and embedded Chromium.
Chromely is a .NET framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. It embeds Chromium to render web content while using native GUI APIs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, providing a lightweight alternative to Electron for .NET developers. It solves the need for creating modern desktop apps with web technologies without the overhead of heavier frameworks.
.NET developers who want to build desktop applications using web technologies like Blazor, Angular, React, or Vue, and need a cross-platform solution without relying on WinForms or WPF.
Developers choose Chromely because it offers a lightweight, performant alternative to Electron, with native GUI integration and support for popular frontend frameworks. Its flexibility in IPC communication and minimal dependency on specific UI frameworks makes it ideal for building modern desktop apps.
Build Cross Platform HTML Desktop Apps on .NET using native GUI, HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, Owin, AspNetCore (MVC, RazorPages, Blazor)
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Uses Windows, Linux, and macOS native APIs as thin Chromium hosts, enabling true cross-platform desktop apps without WinForms or WPF, as specified in the README.
Integrates seamlessly with Blazor, Angular, React, Vue, or any JavaScript framework, allowing developers to leverage familiar web technologies for frontend development, as shown in the demo projects.
Focuses on minimal overhead by embedding Chromium without the full Electron stack, offering a performant option for .NET-centric projects, as stated in the philosophy.
Includes support for Linux ARM devices like Raspberry Pi, enabling deployment on embedded systems, with notes on manual CEF builds for older versions.
Officially no longer maintained, as announced in the README, meaning no future updates, bug fixes, or security patches, posing risks for production use.
Relies on managing CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework) builds per platform, which adds setup complexity and potential dependency issues compared to more integrated solutions.
With the project deprecated, documentation may be outdated, and community support is minimal, making troubleshooting and adoption challenging for new developers.
Chromely is an open-source alternative to the following products:
Electron.NET is a wrapper around Electron that enables building cross-platform desktop apps with .NET and web technologies, providing .NET APIs for Electron functionality.
Electron is an open-source framework for building cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.