Electron Forge review
A capable Electron-focused pipeline for building, signing, publishing, and updating desktop apps.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
Electron Forge is an open-source development tool for creating, packaging, signing, publishing, and updating Electron applications. It is designed for developers and teams distributing desktop software across Windows, macOS, and Linux. Teams can scaffold projects with create-electron-app or use existing Electron projects, including projects based on Webpack, Vite, and TypeScript templates. Its command-line workflow covers package, make, and publish steps rather than providing a hosted software distribution service.
Packaging breadth is a central strength. Platform-specific makers can generate formats including Squirrel.Windows, ZIP, DEB, RPM, DMG, AppX, and Flatpak, while custom Makers support additional distributable formats. Build lifecycle hooks and plugins allow teams to customize the process, and the published feature set includes code signing plus macOS notarization support. This makes Forge a strong fit when an Electron application needs a repeatable path from source project to platform-specific installer or archive.
Distribution and release automation extend beyond local builds. Publishers can target GitHub Releases and Amazon S3, while integrations with GitHub Actions and CircleCI support CI/CD workflows. Automatic update workflows can use GitHub, static storage, or update servers. The tradeoff is focus: Forge is built around Electron projects, so teams seeking a general-purpose packaging tool should look elsewhere. Automatic updates also require application-level configuration, and macOS updates require a signed application. Choose Forge for an Electron-centered build and release pipeline; avoid it when the application is not based on Electron.
Questions about Electron Forge
What does Electron Forge run on? Windows, macOS and Linux. It runs self-hosted.
What does Electron Forge integrate with? 4 integrations: GitHub Releases, Amazon S3, GitHub Actions and CircleCI.
Who is Electron Forge built for? Solo users, small businesses, mid-market companies and enterprises (our editorial estimate).
Electron Forge pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Packages Windows, macOS, and Linux applications
- Supports signing, macOS notarization, publishing, and updates
- Open-source CLI with makers, hooks, plugins, and CI integrations
- Where it doesn't
- Centered on Electron rather than general desktop packaging
- Automatic updates require application-level configuration
- macOS automatic updates require a signed application
Electron Forge fact sheet, pricing and score →
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