Qt Alternatives for Cross-Platform Desktop and Mobile Apps

Qt is a cross-platform C++ application framework from The Qt Company, and it is very much alive. The 6.12 series is current: PySide6 6.12.0, the official Python bindings, was published on October 8, 2026, and PyQt6 6.12.0 followed on October 28. The 6.11.0 bindings arrived in March 2026, so new minor versions still land about twice a year.

Most people searching for alternatives are reacting to licensing, not to the code. The open source route is LGPL or GPL, which is free but comes with obligations Qt documents on a separate page. The paid route has public prices only for small firms: the Qt for Small Business page lists $618 a year for Application Development and $1,090 for Device Creation, capped at three licences and €1M in revenue or funding. Larger teams get a quote.

The list starts with options that keep you in C++ and ends with ones that swap the language or the rendering model.

Prices below are as of November 6, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

wxWidgets

wxWidgets is the most direct swap for a C++ team that wants out of Qt's licence terms. It calls each platform's native API instead of drawing its own controls, so a file dialog on macOS is the real macOS one. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, with bindings for Python, Ruby, Lua, Rust, Dart and Perl.

The latest stable release is 3.2.12 and the latest development release is 3.3.4, both published on October 10, 2026. The project says 3.3.4 should be the last development release before 3.4.0.

Best for: C++ desktop tools that must look native and ship as closed-source binaries.

Pricing:

• Free, wxWindows Licence (OSI-approved)
• No paid edition

Watch out for:

• Native controls mean native quirks. A layout that looks right on Windows still needs testing on macOS and Linux, because each platform draws it differently.
• The licence is LGPL-based. The wxWindows Licence page allows binaries under your own terms, but code you copy in from other GPL or LGPL files is not covered by that exception.

Official site: wxWidgets.

Slint

Slint is the closest match for teams that like Qt Quick's declarative style. UIs are written in Slint's own markup language and driven from C++, Rust or JavaScript, and it targets desktop, mobile and embedded screens. Version 1.18.1 shipped on September 21, 2026.

The licence menu looks a lot like Qt's. A royalty-free licence covers proprietary apps outside embedded systems, GPLv3 covers open source, and paid plans start with Startup and Individual for firms with up to 10 employees, €2M turnover and under five years since incorporation. Small Enterprise covers up to 50 staff and €10M.

Best for: Embedded and desktop products that want a modern declarative UI outside Qt.

Pricing:

• Royalty-free licence for non-embedded proprietary apps
• GPLv3 for open source
• Paid plans: price not published
• Embedded royalties from $1.00 per device

Watch out for:

• Embedded is where the costs land. The Slint pricing page requires a paid plan or GPLv3 for embedded systems, plus a one-time royalty from $1.00 per commercial device, and it shows no subscription prices.

Official site: Slint.

Flutter

Flutter is Google's UI toolkit, written in Dart, and it compiles native Windows, macOS and Linux desktop apps from the same code as your iOS and Android builds. Each desktop target has its own build command, such as flutter build windows, and you can switch off the platforms you do not ship.

Flutter 3.47 is the current stable line. Flutter renders its own widgets rather than calling native controls, the opposite of the wxWidgets approach, so an app looks the same on every platform.

Best for: Products that need one UI across phones and desktops more than a native desktop feel.

Pricing:

• Free and open source
• No paid tier

Watch out for:

• Desktop support depends on plugins. The Flutter desktop docs tell you to use plugins that support Windows, macOS or Linux, or to write your own platform code.

Official site: Flutter.

Avalonia

Avalonia is a free, open source UI framework for .NET under the MIT licence, with more than 70 built-in controls. For a team that writes C# and XAML, it covers the same ground Qt Widgets and QML cover in C++, and it runs the same UI on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Paid tiers add tooling and support, per the Avalonia pricing page: Plus at €299 a year per seat, Pro at €899 a year per seat, and Enterprise from €21,000 a year with three seats included. Annual billing saves over 30%.

Best for: C# teams, including WPF developers who need macOS and Linux builds.

Pricing:

• Free: MIT-licensed framework
• Plus: €299/year per seat
• Pro: €899/year per seat
• Enterprise: from €21,000/year, three seats included

Watch out for:

• Avalonia XPF, the product for running existing WPF apps across platforms, has no published price.
• The free tier's support is community help through GitHub.

Official site: Avalonia.

Tauri

Tauri pairs a web front end with a Rust back end and renders through the webview already on the user's system, instead of bundling a browser. That is why a minimal Tauri app can be under 600KB. Swift and Kotlin can be used for plugin code on mobile.

Version 2 targets the major desktop and mobile platforms, and any framework that compiles to HTML, CSS and JavaScript works for the UI, per the Tauri start guide. The stable tauri crate is 2.12.5 from October 21, 2026, dual-licensed MIT or Apache-2.0, and Tauri 3 is already in alpha.

Best for: Lightweight utilities and tray apps built by a web team with some Rust skills.

Pricing:

• Free, MIT or Apache-2.0
• No paid tier

Watch out for:

• The UI runs in whichever webview the operating system provides, so CSS and JavaScript behaviour can differ between Windows, macOS and Linux machines.
• Native features beyond the plugin set need Rust, which C++ teams will have to learn.

Official site: Tauri.

Electron

Electron ships Chromium and Node.js inside your app, so the UI renders the same everywhere and any web developer can work on it. The trade is size and memory, the opposite of Tauri's approach.

Version 45.2.3 was published on November 4, 2026, under MIT. Teams that already run a web app can reuse most of its front-end code.

Best for: Web teams turning an existing web app into a desktop app.

Pricing:

• Free, MIT licence
• No paid tier

Watch out for:

• The upgrade treadmill is fast. The Electron timelines page says a new major ships every 8 weeks and only the latest three are supported, so a release lasts about six months.

Official site: Electron.

.NET MAUI

.NET MAUI is Microsoft's own cross-platform UI layer. It builds Android, iOS, macOS through Mac Catalyst and Windows through WinUI 3 from one C# project, and Samsung adds Tizen support.

Requirements rise with each .NET release. Apps that target .NET 11 need Android API 24 or newer, iOS 12.2 and macOS 12, while Windows needs 10 version 1809 or Windows 11.

Best for: Microsoft-centric teams building mobile apps with a Windows version.

Pricing:

• Free, part of .NET
• No paid tier

Watch out for:

• There is no Linux target. The supported platforms page lists only Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Tizen, so Linux users need Avalonia or another option.

Official site: .NET MAUI.

How to choose

When to stay with Qt

Stay with Qt if you have a large C++ or QML codebase and either meet the LGPL obligations or already pay for a licence. For a mature product, a rewrite usually costs far more than Qt's small-business fees. If you qualify, the $1,090 Device Creation Small Business licence also exempts you from buying distribution licences up to the revenue cap.

Frequently asked questions