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Discord co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy shared a cold-start video in which the company’s new Rust-based Windows client loads its friends list before the current Electron client finishes starting. Discord staff said the new client used 290.2 MB of RAM while running two accounts, but the company has not published a controlled comparison, and the figure comes from an early build.
Discord co-founder and chief technology officer Stanislav Vishnevskiy shared a video showing the company’s new Rust-based Windows client loading its friends list before the existing Electron app finished starting. Discord employees said both apps were cold-started; the demonstration also showed the new client using 290.2 MB of RAM with two accounts signed in, though Discord has not released a controlled, like-for-like benchmark.
The approximately 15-second clip, shared by Vishnevskiy and Discord’s official account, compares the apps on two Lenovo ThinkPads running Windows 11. In the footage, the Electron client opens first and displays a blank window before its loading screen. The Rust client is launched about a second and a half later, and its window appears quickly. By the time the older app reaches its interface, the new client has loaded the friends list.
Discord employees said the result was not caused by the new app being left open in the system tray. Coral, who leads audio and video at Discord, wrote that both launches were cold starts. Coral said the new architecture starts quickly enough that it does not need the existing client’s “Starting” screen, and that updates happen in the background. Coral also said Discord is not currently using the Microsoft Store or Windows Update Orchestration Platform to handle those updates.
Vishnevskiy said the displayed 290.2 MB RAM reading reflected two accounts running concurrently. The new client supports keeping work and personal accounts active without closing and reopening the app, he said. The clip is a single demonstration, however, and the reading is not a published benchmark comparing both clients under matched conditions.
A Different Desktop App Architecture
The demo gives Windows users a visible example of why Discord is rebuilding its desktop app rather than only tuning its existing software. The company’s current client is based on Electron, which uses Chromium and Node.js; its replacement uses Rust and GPUI, a GPU-accelerated interface framework made by the team behind the Zed code editor. Discord says the new architecture can start without the familiar loading modal and can keep multiple accounts active.
Those changes could matter to people who leave Discord running alongside games or other applications, especially on systems where memory and startup delays affect day-to-day use. But the video does not establish how much faster or lighter the new app will be for typical users. The 290.2 MB figure is a snapshot from an early build, not a verified general result, and the clip does not show a controlled comparison across identical settings and workloads.
The example is also specific to Discord. It does not establish that every Windows app built with Electron would benefit from adopting Rust or a GPU-rendered interface. App design, features, background activity and implementation all affect performance, so the demo supports a case for testing alternative architectures, not a universal conclusion about Electron.
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From Electron to GPUI
Discord has used Rust since 2018, according to the source report, and is now applying it to the Windows desktop client’s interface as well as its app logic. The company chose GPUI, which draws the interface without HTML, rather than Tauri. Tauri uses Rust for app logic but displays interfaces built with web technologies in the system webview, which is WebView2 on Windows.
Discord has also made changes to its Electron client. September patch notes said an Electron 42 upgrade reduced median CPU usage by about 17%, while increasing median memory use by about 4%. That earlier update shows the company has pursued improvements within Electron too; the Rust client is a separate architectural move rather than evidence that no optimization was possible in the current app.
The source report says an earlier employee statement described ordinary Discord use as staying below 1 GB of RAM, while the company had tested restarting the app at 4 GB. The report’s own machines typically showed the Electron app idling at 1–2 GB. These are different observations and conditions, not a standardized baseline, so they cannot independently verify the new client’s memory advantage.
“The new Discord client using less RAM is just part of the story. Clicking around feels instant, I can’t go back. Check out the boot time.”
— Stanislav Vishnevskiy, Discord co-founder and chief technology officer
Benchmarks and Release Plans
Discord has not published a controlled, like-for-like performance test comparing the Electron and Rust clients. The clip provides a visual startup comparison, and the RAM figure is a reading from the new client while two accounts were signed in; the source does not provide matched memory readings for the old client under the same conditions. It is also unclear how the new build performs across different Windows PCs, account configurations or longer sessions.
The demonstration does not state when the Rust client will reach users generally, whether it will replace the Electron version all at once, or how updates and feature parity will be managed during any rollout. Discord’s comments about background updating describe its current approach, but do not provide a public release schedule.
A Public Test Could Clarify Performance
The next useful evidence would be a broader release or test that lets users compare both clients under the same conditions. A public build, if Discord makes one available, could show whether the startup difference and memory reading hold across machines and everyday use. Discord has not announced a release date or promised a benchmark in the material cited here.
Until then, the clip is evidence of one successful cold-start demonstration and an employee-reported two-account memory reading—not proof of a universal performance gain. Readers will need to wait for more testing and details from Discord on availability, feature support and performance outside the demonstration.
Key Questions
What did Discord demonstrate?
A video showed the company’s new Rust-based Windows client loading its friends list before the current Electron app finished starting. Discord employees said both apps were launched from a cold start.
How much RAM did the new client use?
The video showed a Task Manager reading of 290.2 MB while two Discord accounts were signed in. This is an early-build snapshot, not a published benchmark against the Electron app.
Is Discord replacing Electron with Tauri?
No. The source report says Discord chose GPUI, a Rust interface framework, rather than Tauri. Tauri uses a system webview to display web-based interfaces; GPUI draws the client interface without HTML.
When will the Rust client be available?
The cited material does not give a public release date or describe a rollout schedule. Discord has not stated when the new client will reach users generally.
Source: windowslatest.com
