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Yes. You can sell, license, subscribe to, or otherwise monetise an Electron.js application. Electron is distributed under the permissive MIT License, which allows commercial use, modification, distribution, sublicensing and selling copies, provided the required copyright and license notice is retained. The important qualification is that Electron is only one part of a shipped application: every bundled dependency, asset, SDK and distribution channel must also be reviewed.
What Electron’s MIT license lets you do
The Electron project’s MIT License permits you to use Electron in a paid download, subscription client, freemium product, enterprise application, internal tool sold to customers, or desktop front end for a paid cloud service. Electron does not impose a per-copy runtime royalty.
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| You can generally | You still must |
|---|---|
| Sell copies or subscriptions | Preserve the applicable copyright and MIT license notice |
| Keep your application’s source code proprietary | Check the licenses of dependencies and bundled components |
| Modify Electron and distribute the result | Comply with notices and conditions for the modified and bundled software |
| Sublicense your own application | Follow store, privacy, consumer, tax, payment and API rules |
Using Electron as a dependency does not, by itself, require you to publish your application’s source code. That conclusion can change when you add separately licensed libraries, copied code, native components or commercial SDKs, so “Electron is MIT” is not a complete license audit.
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Retain Electron’s copyright and MIT text in a form appropriate to the product. Common implementations include an in-app Open source licenses page, a bundled THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt or HTML file, installer documentation, or a combination of these.
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Audit the whole software bill
- Direct and transitive production npm packages.
- Native Node add-ons and libraries linked by them.
- Chromium, Node.js, FFmpeg or other components included by the Electron distribution.
- Fonts, icons, images, datasets and media codecs.
- Commercial SDKs, APIs and their redistribution terms.
- Code copied from examples, repositories or snippets.
- Files introduced by Forge, electron-builder or another packaging system.
Generate a dependency inventory or software bill of materials, map each item to its license and required notices, and have counsel review ambiguous or reciprocal-license obligations. An automated report helps with discovery; it is not a legal opinion. Electron’s repository also directs users to OpenJS Foundation trademark policy for Electron logos (project licensing information). Copyright permission does not automatically grant permission to present Electron branding as your product.
What “commercialise” involves beyond permission
The framework license answers whether you may use Electron. A credible commercial release also needs product identity, platform artifacts, trust signals, updates, security maintenance and support. Electron’s distribution guidance treats packaging, signing, publishing and updating as separate production steps: Electron distribution overview.
Rank #2
Build a releasable product
- Choose targets. Decide which operating systems, CPU architectures and distribution routes you will support.
- Set identity. Configure the application name, product and bundle identifiers, executable name, icons, publisher details, versioning and update endpoint. Remove development defaults and sample assets.
- Package artifacts. Electron Forge provides an Electron-oriented packaging and publishing workflow (Forge overview). A typical setup may use
npm install --save-dev electron,npm install --save-dev @electron-forge/cli,npx electron-forge importandnpm run make; commands and generated files vary by Forge version, so inspect the generated scripts and current documentation. - Consider alternatives. electron-builder supports Windows NSIS, portable, AppX/MSIX and MSI targets; macOS DMG and PKG; and Linux AppImage, Snap, Debian and RPM formats (electron-builder documentation). Its documented commands include
electron-builderandelectron-builder --dir. Native dependencies may require itsinstall-app-depsworkflow and rebuilding after Electron upgrades. - Test installation. Use clean machines and ordinary user accounts. Test first install, upgrade, uninstall, rollback, file associations, permissions, offline behavior and recovery.
Signing and publishing by operating system
macOS direct downloads
Plan for Apple Developer Program enrollment, a suitable signing identity, code signing, hardened-runtime and entitlement configuration, notarisation, and a macOS build environment. Electron’s guidance describes signing followed by notarisation and lists Xcode and certificates among the prerequisites: Electron code signing. The Mac App Store is a different route with its own sandbox, entitlements, packaging, review and submission requirements; do not treat it as equivalent to a notarised direct download.
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Windows direct downloads
Produce an installer such as NSIS, MSI or another suitable artifact, and sign the installer and application binaries with a trusted certificate or signing service. A valid signature does not guarantee immediate SmartScreen reputation, so test installation under normal consumer and enterprise security controls.
Rank #3
Microsoft Store
Build the required MSIX/AppX package and meet Microsoft’s technical and policy requirements. Microsoft states that Store-distributed MSIX packages are signed by Microsoft after certification, so you do not need to purchase and manage a certificate for that Store-signed package (Microsoft signing options). This does not sign a separate direct-download EXE. Microsoft’s Electron packaging guidance is at Electron packaging for Windows.
Linux
Choose among AppImage, Debian, RPM, Snap, distribution repositories and enterprise deployment systems. Packaging, signing, sandboxing, desktop integration, dependencies and update behavior vary by route; one package should not be assumed to behave identically across distributions. See the supported targets in electron-builder’s documentation.
Rank #4
Electron apps can be submitted to operating-system stores, but acceptance is never automatic. Store packaging, privacy, security, content, payment and review rules apply.
Security and source-code exposure
Electron’s security recommendations include using a current release, loading remote content only over HTTPS, avoiding insecure protocols, validating IPC senders, limiting APIs exposed to untrusted web content, and applying a restrictive Content Security Policy (Electron security checklist).
An ASAR archive is packaging, not strong secrecy. Users may inspect JavaScript, resources, strings and network behavior. Never embed API keys, signing credentials, database passwords, long-lived service credentials or business logic that must remain confidential. Put sensitive operations behind an authenticated service where appropriate, and secure update delivery and dependency patching.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Costs and operational trade-offs
Electron itself does not charge a commercial runtime fee, but a product budget may include signing certificates, Apple enrollment, build infrastructure, artifact hosting, update delivery, store commissions, support, legal review, security work and ongoing maintenance.
- Strengths: reuse of web skills, a largely shared codebase across Windows, macOS and Linux, Chromium consistency, Node.js integration and mature packaging tools. Electron describes itself as a cross-platform desktop framework based on Node.js and Chromium (project README).
- Trade-offs: bundling a browser runtime can increase download size, disk use, memory use and update size. Measure your own application and Electron version rather than relying on universal figures.
- Maintenance: Chromium and Node updates bring security fixes, native-module rebuilds, regression testing and possible OS or signing changes.
- Platform fit: menus, notifications, accessibility, input methods, permissions, file associations and system integrations often need platform-specific work.
- Risk areas: highly memory-constrained products, latency-sensitive or heavy 3D workloads, minimal-size applications, deep native integrations and products constrained by strict store sandboxes may be better served elsewhere.
When another approach may fit better
Compare Electron with the requirements rather than choosing by reputation. Tauri can produce smaller distributions by using system webviews, with corresponding platform differences and a Rust backend. Native toolkits such as Swift/SwiftUI, WinUI/.NET, GTK and Qt can offer deeper integration at the cost of more platform-specific expertise. Flutter provides a cross-platform rendering model with Dart and its own runtime and accessibility trade-offs. A Progressive Web App simplifies deployment but may not provide equivalent filesystem, offline, tray, protocol or notification integration.
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- Confirm rights to all code, assets, fonts, media and data.
- Audit direct and transitive dependencies and prepare required notices.
- Choose operating systems, architectures, package formats and store routes.
- Configure a branded identity and remove development content.
- Keep secrets server-side; harden IPC, HTTPS loading and CSP.
- Sign relevant artifacts and notarise macOS direct-distribution builds where required.
- Test clean installation, upgrades, rollback, uninstall and offline recovery.
- Implement secure updates and a process for Electron, Chromium, Node and dependency patches.
- Review store, payment, privacy, consumer, export and industry-specific obligations.
- Obtain qualified legal advice when revenue, proprietary dependencies, regulated data or complex open-source licensing creates material risk.
The Bottom Line
Electron’s MIT license lets you commercialise an application without an Electron royalty or automatic requirement to open-source your code. Your real release obligation is broader: preserve notices, clear every bundled component, secure and sign the product, satisfy the chosen platform’s rules, and budget for continuing updates and support.
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