Building WASM Apps

Building Native-Like Apps for the Web with WebAssembly

When building applications, many developers face a tough choice: should you create a native desktop app or a web app? Native apps are great — they feel snappy, integrate well with the operating system, and can offer a polished user experience. But building them across all three major platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux) is challenging. Each platform comes with its own quirks, potential bugs, and often limited toolchains.

That’s where WebAssembly (WASM) steps in as a compelling alternative.

Why WebAssembly?

WebAssembly allows you to compile code from languages like C++, Rust, or Go and run it directly in the browser at near-native speed. Combined with HTML and CSS for the GUI, this approach makes it possible to create native-like applications that are instantly cross-platform — no complicated setup required.

The idea is simple:

  • Build your app as a static website.
  • Host it on any static file server (GitHub Pages, Netlify, S3, …).
  • Let the browser handle the execution on the client side.

Advantages of Static WASM Apps

  • No backend required – your app can be fully client-side, which means less infrastructure to maintain.
  • Easy distribution – updates are as simple as uploading a new version to your static host. Everyone is instantly on the latest version.
  • Offline support – thanks to browser caching, users may even be able to keep using your app without an internet connection.
  • Cross-platform by default – your app runs anywhere with a modern browser.
  • Fewer headaches – no “works on my machine” problems, no disk space issues, and no backend security patches to worry about.
  • Future-proof – the web’s backward compatibility ensures your app will likely keep running long after you’ve stopped maintaining it.

What About the Downsides?

Of course, static WASM apps aren’t perfect:

  • Limited APIs – browsers don’t expose all the system-level interfaces native apps can use.
  • “Web feel” – no matter how polished, some apps may still feel different from true native applications.
  • Performance trade-offs – while WASM is fast, raw native performance is still unmatched in some scenarios.
  • Large downloads – if your codebase becomes too big, users may face bandwidth issues when loading your site.

Conclusion

If your project doesn’t need deep OS integration and you want something simple, maintainable, and cross-platform, a static WebAssembly-based web app could be the right model for you.

It brings back some of the simplicity of the “old days,” where applications ran locally and the user was responsible for their own data — but with the convenience and distribution power of the modern web.