Discord is rebuilding its desktop app in Rust to cut RAM and boot time
An early Windows build used 290.2 MB with two accounts signed in. Discord uses GPUI, not Tauri, and has given no date yet for public testing of the client.
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Discord is rewriting its desktop client in Rust and dropping Electron, co-founder and CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy said in posts on X on November 4 and 5, 2026. An early Windows 11 build, shown in Task Manager as "Discord Phoenix", was using 290.2 MB of RAM with two accounts signed in.
There is no public beta or release date yet. Vishnevskiy says the goal is to get the new client in front of users for testing soon, so the current Electron app stays on your PC for now.
What's confirmed
The rewrite. In his November 4 post, Vishnevskiy wrote that Discord has used Rust since 2018 across its infrastructure, voice technology and parts of the current client, and that moving the whole client to Rust was the "holy grail". Electron goes away on desktop. On mobile, React Native goes too: phones keep a native interface but share app code with desktop through Rust.
Not Tauri. Many developers had guessed Discord would use Tauri, the best-known Rust app framework. Vishnevskiy said it is GPUI instead, the GPU-rendered interface framework made by the team behind the Zed code editor, and PC Gamer reports he added that Discord has "our own patches on top of it". The difference matters: Tauri usually draws a web interface through the system's webview, while GPUI renders the interface directly. IT-Connect reports that the system webview will still be used for embedded features such as YouTube and Activities.
The numbers shown so far. The Task Manager screenshot shows Phoenix at 290.2 MB. IT-Connect notes that in the same capture Notion was using 932.5 MB and Spotify 652.7 MB. PC Gamer's own staff measured the current client at about 500 to 600 MB, with one colleague seeing 785 MB. Windows Latest says it regularly sees the current client use 1 to 2 GB, and points to a December 2025 Reddit post in which a Discord employee said the company was testing an automatic restart when the Windows app goes over 4 GB, with normal use under 1 GB.
Boot time. On November 5, Vishnevskiy posted a clip of two laptops starting the old and new clients from cold. PC Gamer estimates about six seconds for the old client against about one for the new one, and Windows Latest says the new app will not need the "Starting" screen at all.
Background
Discord launched in 2015 as a voice and text app for gamers and has used Electron on desktop since then. Electron bundles its own copy of Chromium and Node.js with every app. That makes it easy to ship one codebase to Windows, macOS and Linux, but each Electron app carries its own browser engine in memory. Windows Latest notes that Microsoft's WebView2 apps at least share resources with Edge, while every Electron app brings its own.
Discord has tried to tune Electron rather than leave it. IT-Connect reports that its September 8, 2026 patch moved to Electron 42, cutting median CPU use by about 17% while raising median memory use by about 4%.
PC Gamer places the change in a wider trend of lighter clients this year, alongside faster-loading updates to Epic's launcher, Steam and the Xbox PC app.
My take: what it means for players
For anyone who games on a 16 GB machine, this is one of the more useful software stories of the year. Discord is the app most PC players never close. It sits next to the game, the browser and the launcher, and with RAM prices where they are, many people are buying 16 GB builds rather than 32 GB. Getting several hundred megabytes back on a mid-range PC is real headroom.
I would hold the celebration until it ships, though. A Task Manager screenshot from the CTO is not a benchmark. We do not know what Phoenix uses in a voice call with screen share, in a busy server, or after a twelve-hour session, which is where the current client gets heavy. I would also watch for missing features. Rewrites tend to arrive with gaps, and Discord's long tail of overlay, streaming and accessibility features is where users will notice.
It is still the right call. The best-loved chat apps of the 2000s, mIRC and Ventrilo and TeamSpeak, were small native programs that never fought your game for memory. Discord replaced them by being far more capable. If it can also get back to that lightness, it has fixed the oldest complaint PC players have about it.
What we don't know yet
- Release timing. Discord has not given a test date or a public release date.
- Platforms. Windows has been shown. IT-Connect reports Linux is expected, but macOS timing is unclear.
- Real-world memory use. No figures have been published for voice calls, streaming or long sessions.
- Feature parity. Discord has not said whether every current feature will be ready on day one.
Quick facts
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| App | Discord desktop client ("Discord Phoenix" build) |
| Change | Electron replaced by Rust with GPUI |
| Announced | November 4-5, 2026, by CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy on X |
| RAM shown | 290.2 MB with two accounts signed in (early build) |
| Mobile | React Native dropped; native UI with shared Rust code |
| Release date | Not announced |
FAQ
Is Discord leaving Electron?
Yes. CTO Stanislav Vishnevskiy said the desktop client is being rebuilt in Rust and Electron is going away.
How much RAM does the new Discord use?
An early Windows build used 290.2 MB with two accounts signed in, according to Vishnevskiy's screenshot. Final figures may differ.
When can I try the Rust version of Discord?
There is no date. Discord says it hopes to start user testing soon.
Is Discord using Tauri?
No. Vishnevskiy said it uses GPUI, the Rust interface framework from the Zed editor team, with Discord's own patches.
More: Steam's Linux client goes 64-bit as Achievement Sets reach every player.
Sources: Stanislav Vishnevskiy (Discord, on X); PC Gamer; Windows Latest; IT-Connect. Image: PC Gamer feed image.
