whatRust is a free, open-source, lightweight desktop client for WhatsApp Web that runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS — a lean, native alternative to the official Electron-based WhatsApp Desktop app, built with Rust and Tauri v2. It runs multiple WhatsApp accounts at once, each in its own window with a fully isolated login.
Unofficial, independent project — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WhatsApp or Meta. whatRust simply loads the official
web.whatsapp.cominterface in a native system webview.
- What is whatRust?
- Why whatRust? A lean, native WhatsApp Desktop alternative
- Features
- Run multiple WhatsApp accounts
- Lock the app (optional)
- whatRust vs the official WhatsApp Desktop (Electron)
- Requirements
- Installation
- Getting started
- FAQ
- Limitations
- Contributing
- Disclaimer
- License
whatRust is an open-source WhatsApp Web desktop client for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It wraps the official web.whatsapp.com in your operating system's native webview and adds the desktop conveniences a browser tab can't — a system tray, native notifications, persistent login, global shortcuts, and microphone/camera access for voice messages and calls.
It is an unofficial, open-source WhatsApp client and a practical WhatsApp Desktop alternative for people who want a fast, native app with minimal overhead instead of the heavier Electron-based official build. It is not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta.
whatRust's native app shell is small — typically around 90 MB — because it reuses the webview that already ships with your OS instead of bundling its own browser engine the way Electron apps do. That gives it a much lighter baseline than the official Electron-based WhatsApp Desktop, which ships an entire Chromium runtime on top of the same WhatsApp Web page.
The official WhatsApp Desktop app is built on Electron, which packs an entire Chromium browser inside every app. whatRust instead renders WhatsApp Web through the OS-native webview — WebKitGTK on Linux, WebView2 on Windows, and WKWebView on macOS — via Tauri v2. The result is a fast, native WhatsApp desktop app with a small footprint of its own.
A fair caveat on total memory: your overall RAM use is dominated by WhatsApp Web itself and grows with how many chats, groups, and media you keep open — commonly a few hundred MB up to ~1 GB for busy accounts. That cost is roughly the same in any browser-based client (whatRust, the official app, or a plain Chrome tab); whatRust's advantage is the lean native shell, not lighter web content.
- Multiple WhatsApp accounts — run several numbers at once, each in its own window with a fully isolated login (add, rename, and remove accounts)
- Optional app lock — password (Argon2id) or biometric (Windows Hello / Touch ID / Linux polkit); locks on launch, on demand, on hide-to-tray, or after idle
- System tray icon with close-to-tray and an unread message badge
- Native OS notifications for new messages
- Persistent login — scan the QR code once, stay signed in across restarts
- Voice messages, voice calls, and video calls — microphone and camera support
- Launch at startup (auto-start), optional
- Global keyboard shortcut to show/hide the window (default
Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+W; record your own by pressing the keys in Settings). On Wayland, bindwhatrust --toggleto a system shortcut instead — see the FAQ. - Single instance — relaunching focuses the running window;
whatrust --togglefrom a second launch shows/hides it - Remembers window size and position
- One-line install on every platform
- Cross-platform: Linux, Windows, and macOS from one Rust + Tauri codebase
whatRust runs multiple WhatsApp accounts at the same time — each account opens in its own window with a completely isolated session (separate cookies, local storage, and IndexedDB), so you can stay signed in to several numbers at once without them interfering.
- Add an account in Settings → Accounts with the + Add button, then scan the new QR code; you can rename or remove accounts there too.
- Each account keeps its own login, unread badge, and notifications; the tray shows a combined unread count and a one-click switcher for every account.
- Your first (default) account keeps its existing login when you upgrade — no need to re-scan.
macOS note: running multiple accounts requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, where the system webview supports isolated data stores. On macOS 12–13 whatRust runs a single account. Linux and Windows have no such limit.
whatRust can require a password — or a fingerprint / Windows Hello / Touch ID where your OS supports it — before showing your chats. Enable it under Settings → Security.
- Password works on every platform (Argon2id, stored locally).
- Biometric is an optional shortcut: Windows Hello on Windows, Touch ID on any Mac
that has it, and the system fingerprint dialog on Linux where polkit/
pam_fprintdis configured (native.debinstall only; the AppImage falls back to the password). - Lock on launch, on demand (tray → Lock now), when hidden to the tray, or after an idle timeout — each toggleable in Settings.
- Forgot your password? Reset from the lock screen logs out all accounts and clears the lock (you'll re-scan the QR). There is no backdoor.
What the lock does and doesn't do: it controls who can open whatRust's windows. It does not encrypt your data on disk — your WhatsApp session stays readable to other software running as your user, locked or not (the same posture as Signal Desktop). For at-rest protection, use full-disk encryption (FileVault / BitLocker / LUKS).
| Feature | whatRust | Official WhatsApp Desktop (Electron) |
|---|---|---|
| App-shell memory overhead | Lean native shell (~90 MB), no bundled browser | Heavier — bundles a full Chromium + Node runtime |
| Total RAM (with WhatsApp Web loaded) | Dominated by WhatsApp Web (similar across clients) | Dominated by WhatsApp Web + Electron runtime |
| Rendering engine | OS-native webview (WebKitGTK / WebView2 / WKWebView) | Bundled Chromium (Electron) |
| Built with | Rust + Tauri v2 | Electron (Chromium + Node.js) |
| Open source | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Native Linux app | ✅ Yes | |
| Windows / macOS | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| System tray + close to tray | ✅ Yes | |
| Unread message badge | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Native notifications | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Voice messages & calls (mic/camera) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Multiple accounts (isolated sessions) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Optional app lock (password + biometric) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Global show/hide shortcut | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Launch at startup | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Affiliated with Meta | ❌ No (unofficial) | ✅ Yes |
| OS | Webview engine | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | WebKitGTK | Requires WebKitGTK ≥ 2.46.1 (older versions hang WhatsApp's QR login). AppImage may need libfuse2. |
| Windows 10/11 | WebView2 | Uses the Evergreen WebView2 runtime (preinstalled on Windows 11). |
| macOS | WKWebView | macOS 12+ (running multiple accounts needs macOS 14+); the current build is Apple Silicon (arm64). |
Linux / macOS — one line:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/karem505/whatRust/master/install.sh | shInstalls the AppImage to ~/.local/bin on Linux (with an application-menu entry), or the .dmg app into /Applications on macOS (Apple Silicon). The macOS build is unsigned — if it warns on first launch, right-click the app → Open.
Windows — one line (PowerShell):
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/karem505/whatRust/master/install.ps1 | iexDownloads and runs the latest NSIS installer (.exe); an .msi is also available on the release page.
Manual download — grab a .AppImage/.deb, .dmg, .exe, or .msi from the latest release.
Build from source (Rust + Cargo + Tauri CLI)
# Linux build dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install -y libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential curl wget file \
libxdo-dev libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev libhunspell-dev patchelf
cargo install tauri-cli --version "^2.0" --locked
cargo tauri dev # run in development
cargo tauri build # build installers for the current OS
cd src-tauri && cargo test # run the unit tests- Launch whatRust. The WhatsApp Web QR screen appears.
- On your phone, open WhatsApp → Linked Devices → Link a Device and scan the QR code.
- You're in. Login persists, so you won't need to scan again next launch.
- Closing the window hides whatRust to the tray (toggle this in Settings). Use the tray icon or the global shortcut to bring it back.
whatRust is a free, open-source, lightweight WhatsApp Web desktop client built with Rust and Tauri v2 for Linux, Windows, and macOS.
No. whatRust is unofficial and independent — not affiliated with WhatsApp or Meta. It loads the official web.whatsapp.com in a native webview.
whatRust uses your OS's native webview instead of bundling a Chromium engine (as Electron does), which makes it considerably lighter. See the comparison table.
whatRust's own native shell is small — around 90 MB. Your total memory use is mostly WhatsApp Web's own footprint and scales with how many chats and how much media you keep open — commonly a few hundred MB up to ~1 GB for busy accounts, similar to WhatsApp Web in a browser tab.
Its native shell is lighter because it doesn't bundle a Chromium browser engine the way the Electron-based official app does, so it has less baseline overhead. The WhatsApp Web content itself uses a similar amount in either app.
Linux (WebKitGTK), Windows 10/11 (WebView2), and macOS 12+ (WKWebView).
Yes — whatRust is free and open source under the MIT License. The source is on GitHub.
Yes. whatRust grants the webview microphone and camera access, so voice messages and calls work the same as in WhatsApp Web.
Yes. whatRust supports multiple WhatsApp accounts running at the same time — each opens in its own window with a fully isolated session, so different numbers stay logged in independently. Add, rename, and remove accounts from Settings → Accounts. On macOS this requires macOS 14 or later; Linux and Windows have no limit.
Yes. You can set a password under Settings → Security to require authentication before whatRust shows your chats. Biometric unlock (Windows Hello, Touch ID, or Linux polkit with an enrolled fingerprint) is an optional shortcut where the OS supports it. The lock controls window access — it does not encrypt data on disk (same posture as Signal Desktop). For at-rest protection use full-disk encryption.
Wayland blocks apps from grabbing global hotkeys, so whatRust's built-in shortcut can't fire on a Wayland session (GNOME, KDE Plasma's Wayland, etc.) — this is a platform limitation, not specific to whatRust. The reliable approach is to let your desktop own the keybinding and have it toggle whatRust:
- Settings → Keyboard → View and Customize Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts → + (GNOME; KDE has an equivalent under Custom Shortcuts)
- Name it
whatRust, set the command towhatrust --toggle, and assign your key (e.g.Ctrl+Shift+W).
whatrust --toggle shows the window if it's hidden and hides it if it's visible — a true toggle that works on Wayland. (The built-in shortcut still works on X11, Windows, and macOS.)
Yes. It adds a system tray icon with an unread-message badge, can close to the tray, and forwards new messages to native OS notifications.
No. Login is persistent — scan the QR code once via Linked Devices and you stay signed in across restarts.
whatRust only loads the official web.whatsapp.com in a native webview and adds no message-handling layer of its own. It requests only the webview, microphone, and camera access that WhatsApp Web itself needs, and it is open source, so the code can be audited.
- Windows unread count: Windows tray icons ignore text labels, so the unread number appears only in the hover tooltip (the icon still switches to a badged variant). macOS and Linux show the count.
- Notification click does not yet focus the window — use the tray icon or the global shortcut.
- macOS builds are unsigned and currently Apple Silicon (arm64) only.
- Multiple accounts on macOS require macOS 14+ (older macOS runs a single account); Linux and Windows are unrestricted.
Contributions to this open-source WhatsApp client are welcome — open an issue or a pull request on GitHub.
whatRust is an unofficial, independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WhatsApp LLC or Meta Platforms, Inc. "WhatsApp" is a trademark of its respective owner. whatRust only loads the official web.whatsapp.com interface in a native webview and does not modify or intercept WhatsApp's services.
Released under the MIT License.
Rust · Tauri v2 · WhatsApp Web