Discord has unveiled a new desktop client written in Rust that significantly outperforms its current Electron-based app, according to demonstrations shared by Discord co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy.
In a video comparison showing both apps launching from a cold start, the new Rust client loaded its friends list while the current Electron app was still displaying its startup screen. The Electron app showed a blank window for about three seconds before displaying a loading tip, eventually taking roughly five seconds to reach its interface. By that time, the new client had already loaded the friends list.
The performance gains are substantial. The new Discord Phoenix client uses 290.2MB of RAM while running two accounts simultaneously, which Discord employees confirmed represents approximately 70% less memory than typical usage of the current app, which normally uses under 1GB during normal operation.
Beyond RAM usage, the new client eliminates the “Starting” screen that currently appears during app launch. According to Coral, who leads audio and video at Discord, “It bootstraps so fast + is a new architecture so we don’t need that modal at all. We auto-update in the background.”
The new client is built using GPUI, a GPU-accelerated UI framework from the makers of the Zed code editor, rather than Tauri or Microsoft’s WinUI. GPUI draws the interface directly on the GPU without relying on HTML, while Rust manages memory without requiring a garbage collector. Discord has used Rust since 2018 and will use it for both the new client and shared app code.
For web-based features, Discord is retaining web technology where appropriate. YouTube embeds and Activities will continue using the system webview. The web app will transition to WebAssembly instead of JavaScript for its logic while maintaining the current interface appearance.
Mobile apps are being rewritten in native code while sharing Rust-based app logic with the desktop version. The iOS app, originally built with React Native, and the Android app, which was ported to React Native for feature parity, will move to native implementations.
Discord emphasized that security and accessibility remain priorities alongside performance improvements. The new client stores login tokens in the system keyring (Credential Manager on Windows 10 and 11).
The company plans to enter private testing soon and has confirmed the Rust client works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No public release date has been announced yet.
Key facts
- The new Rust client loads its friends list before the Electron app finishes its startup screen
- New Discord app uses 290.2MB RAM with two accounts signed in, approximately 70% less than current app’s typical under-1GB usage
- New client eliminates the “Starting” screen and auto-updates in the background
- Discord is using GPUI, not Tauri or WinUI, for the new desktop interface
- Mobile apps are moving from React Native to native implementations while sharing Rust code
- Web app logic will transition to WebAssembly instead of JavaScript
- Private testing begins soon; no public release date announced