rinf
A framework for building cross-platform apps with Rust business logic and Flutter UI, using native FFI for efficient communication.
What is rinf?
Rinf is a framework for building cross-platform applications that combines Rust for native business logic with Flutter for the user interface. It solves the problem of Flutter's performance limitations in demanding scenarios by offloading intensive computations to Rust, while maintaining a beautiful and flexible UI layer. The framework uses native FFI for efficient communication between the two languages without performance overhead.
Developers building cross-platform applications who need high-performance native logic alongside a polished UI, particularly those already familiar with Rust and Flutter or looking to leverage Rust's speed and Flutter's UI capabilities.
Developers choose Rinf because it provides a minimal, efficient bridge between Rust and Flutter using native FFI, avoiding webviews and memory copying. It offers type-safe code generation, event-driven concurrency, and supports all Flutter platforms with a simple setup, making it scalable for complex applications.
Overview
Rust for native business logic, Flutter for flexible and beautiful GUI
Use Cases
Best For
- Building cross-platform desktop applications with Rust backend logic
- Developing mobile apps that require high-performance native computations
- Creating applications that need type-safe communication between UI and business logic layers
- Leveraging existing Rust crates in a Flutter-based GUI application
- Projects requiring efficient async messaging and concurrency across language boundaries
- Teams wanting to combine Rust's memory safety with Flutter's UI flexibility
Not Ideal For
- Projects that are purely UI-focused with no performance-critical backend logic, making Rust integration unnecessary overhead
- Teams with expertise only in JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystems looking for a web-first solution without native code
- Applications requiring rapid prototyping with pre-built, drag-and-drop GUI components and minimal setup complexity
- Environments where long-term maintenance of dual-language codebases is a concern due to limited Rust or Flutter expertise
Pros & Cons
Pros
Communication between Dart and Rust occurs solely through native FFI without web servers or memory copying, ensuring maximum performance as highlighted in the README's benefits section.
Dart classes are automatically generated from Rust message definitions using derivable traits, maintaining type safety across language boundaries and reducing errors.
Supports advanced async patterns, task cancellation, and non-blocking business logic through an event-driven architecture, enabling scalable application design.
Works on all Flutter platforms including Linux, Android, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Web with automated build handling, as tested in GitHub workflows.
Cons
Requires developers to be proficient in both Rust and Flutter, increasing the learning curve, debugging complexity, and cognitive load for integration issues.
Combining Cargo and Flutter build systems can introduce challenges, such as cross-compilation hiccups or dependency conflicts, despite the minimal setup claim.
Relies on the stability of both Rust and Flutter ecosystems; breaking changes in either could affect Rinf's compatibility, as it's a thin wrapper around them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
TauriBuild smaller, faster, and more secure desktop and mobile applications with a web frontend.
DioxusFullstack app framework for web, desktop, and mobile.
icedA cross-platform GUI library for Rust, inspired by Elm
eguiegui: an easy-to-use immediate mode GUI in Rust that runs on both web and native
Found a gem we're missing?
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.