CyberInstaller Suite vs electron-packager

CyberInstaller Suite helps developers build software installation packages for Windows projects made with a range of languages and development environments. CyberInstaller Studio provides a graphical interface and wizard for creating packages, which can be compressed into self-extracting executables. Other modules include Installer, Extractor, Updater, CIPEW and Downloader. Output options include self-extracting files, CD/DVD packages and web pages linking to downloads; command-line packaging and silent installation are also supported. Find Dependencies checks Visual Basic, Delphi and.NET projects, plus executables, and can add required runtime files. Installers can download prerequisites that were not embedded in a package, and distributed applications can receive online updates. With rollback enabled, the installer records system changes and can restore the earlier state during removal. Digital signing is available for package files and the package itself without modifying the originals. The free license is limited to freeware packages; commercial packaging is permitted with Professional and Enterprise licenses. Windows Vista, Server 2008, 7, 8.x, 10 and 11 are listed as supported. Prices are free, €39.90, paid once, €129.90, paid once and €169.90, paid once.

electron-packager bundles Electron app source code with a renamed Electron executable and supporting files into folders ready for distribution. It works as a command-line tool or a Node.js library called through JavaScript. Packager can find or download a matching Electron release and build for a selected platform and architecture, all valid combinations, or the host combination. Output targets include Windows, macOS—including Mac App Store targets—and Linux; these are also the listed host platforms. Documented target architectures include x86, x86_64, arm64, universal macOS, Linux armv7l, and Linux mips64el, though some depend on Electron versions. CLI options include a regular-expression ignore filter for files and folders. Electron Forge uses Packager internally, and installer tools can use its output folders to create distributables. The free, open-source Node.js tool requires Node.js 22.12.0 or higher, and local installation is recommended. Signing a macOS or Mac App Store bundle requires building on a macOS host. The project also notes that even a minimal zipped app is approximately the size of the matching zipped Electron binary.