Electron Forge vs InstallShield
Electron Forge
electronforge.ioInstallShield
revenera.comSide by side
| Figure | Electron Forge | InstallShield |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $393.58/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Software Packaging Tools | 8.6 (#1) | 7.8 (#14) |
| Purpose | Electron Forge is an all-in-one tool for packaging and distributing Electron applications. | InstallShield is a software tool for building Windows installers, including MSI and MSIX packages, with Microsoft Visual Studio integration. |
| Requirements | The getting-started guide lists Node.js version 16.4.0 or later, Git, and a JavaScript package manager as prerequisites. | The listed authoring system requirements include Windows, 1 GB RAM and 1 GB of free disk space. |
Plans
InstallShield
- InstallShield Professional$4,723 a year
- InstallShield Premier$7,795 a year
- InstallShield Premier - Cloud License ServerPriced on request
- InstallShield Premier - Local License ServerPriced on request
In their own words
Electron Forge
Electron Forge is a free, open-source tool for packaging and distributing Electron applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its build pipeline brings together code signing, installer creation, and artifact publishing. Makers generate platform-specific distributables, including Squirrel.Windows, ZIP, DEB, RPM, DMG, AppX, and Flatpak formats. Publishers can send outputs from the make command to distribution services, update servers, or storage such as an S3 bucket. Developers can initialize projects with create-electron-app and choose first-party Webpack, Webpack with TypeScript, Vite, or Vite with TypeScript templates. The Plugin API supports custom build logic, and custom Makers and Publishers can address additional build or storage targets. The GitHub Publisher supports GitHub Releases and, with host configuration, GitHub Enterprise. Documented auto-update options include a free Electron team service for open-source GitHub apps, static storage publishers, and a hosted update server; macOS auto-updates require a signed app. Getting started requires Node.js 16.4.0 or later, Git, and a JavaScript package manager. Packaging requires node_modules on disk and does not account for symlinked dependencies or Yarn Plug'n'Play.
InstallShield
InstallShield has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.