The best GUI frameworks, according to hackers
45 GUI frameworks were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 16 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended GUI frameworks with the badge. Each figure is 5 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Fast to build simple GUIs
Free Microsoft framework for building Windows desktop apps, prized for quick GUI builds and long-lasting stability. Main caveat: weak high-DPI and resizing support, and it is Windows-only.
Quick GUIs for small tools
Free, small cross-platform GUI toolkit people use to build quick tools and frontends for scripts. Critics say its look is dated and it lacks modern widgets.
Cross-platform on Windows, Mac, Linux
Open-source .NET UI framework that runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and the web, often called a spiritual successor to WPF. Critics say its messaging is unclear.
All 45 GUI frameworks, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qt | 191 | 133 | 59% | 12 | 15 yrs7 owners | — |
| 2 | GTK | 85 | 118 | 42% | 12 | — | — |
| 3 | Windows Forms | 76 | 33 | 70% | 12 | 15 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| 4 | SwiftUI | 75 | 121 | 38% | 11 | 4 yrs8 owners | — |
| 5 | Tcl/Tk | 61 | 21 | 74% | 12 | 15 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| 6 | Avalonia UI | 51 | 14 | 78% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 7 | egui | 49 | 18 | 73% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Tied 8 | GPUI | 45 | 24 | 65% | 12 | — | — |
| Tied 8 | Dear ImGui | 45 | 12 | 79% | 11 | — | Approved |
| 10 | WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) | 43 | 34 | 56% | 12 | — | — |
| Tied 11 | Slint | 36 | 8 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Tied 11 | Iced | 36 | 9 | 80% | 11 | — | Approved |
| 13 | wxWidgets | 32 | 16 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 14 | Dioxus | 29 | 11 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Tied 15 | AppKit | 24 | 8 | 75% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Tied 15 | WinUI | 24 | 59 | 29% | 9 | — | — |
| 17 | Jetpack Compose | 22 | 12 | 65% | 9 | — | — |
| Tied 18 | UIKit | 21 | 3 | 88% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Tied 18 | QML | 21 | 16 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| 20 | Java Swing | 20 | 17 | 54% | 10 | — | — |
| Tied 21 | Qt Widgets | 18 | 4 | 82% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Tied 21 | LiftKit | 18 | 27 | 40% | 1 | — | — |
| 23 | Motif | 17 | 17 | 50% | 8 | — | — |
| 24 | JavaFX | 16 | 11 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Tied 25 | Compose Multiplatform | 15 | 5 | 75% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Tied 25 | tkinter | 15 | 4 | 79% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Tied 25 | gpui-component by Longbridge | 15 | 3 | 83% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 28 | FLTK | 13 | 9 | 59% | 7 | — | — |
| 29 | MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes) | 11 | 25 | 31% | 9 | — | — |
| 30 | Fyne | 10 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Tied 31 | Xilem | 9 | 8 | 53% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 31 | Bonsplit | 9 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 33 | PySide6 | 8 | 2 | 80% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 33 | Flet | 8 | 7 | 53% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | Qt Quick | 6 | 2 | 75% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | Windows Presentation Foundation | 6 | 13 | 32% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | Gooey GUI framework for Zig | 6 | 10 | 38% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | Dear ImGui Bundle | 6 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | Sycamore | 6 | 13 | 32% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | Gova GUI framework | 6 | 2 | 75% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 35 | PySimpleGUI | 6 | 8 | 43% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 42 | Makepad | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 42 | Ionic Framework | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 42 | Kivy | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 42 | Shirei | 5 | 3 | 63% | 1 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same GUI framework in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to GUI frameworks that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.