Discord users may soon notice a welcome improvement when opening the app: less memory consumption and shorter startup times. The company is rebuilding its desktop client using Rust, moving away from Electron in an effort to improve overall performance.

Discord currently relies on Electron, a framework that allows applications built with technologies such as JavaScript to run on desktop computers. While convenient for developers, Electron is built on Chromium, which can contribute to higher memory consumption.

The move to Rust is intended to reduce that overhead. Discord's Chief Technology Officer, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, has already demonstrated an early version of the redesigned client using approximately 290 MB of memory.

According to Vishnevskiy, Discord has been adopting Rust since 2018. Several parts of its infrastructure, voice technology, and existing client already use the programming language. Moving the entire application to Rust is the next major step.

The company is using GPUI, a Rust-based framework, rather than the previously speculated Tauri framework. Discord has also developed its own modifications to GPUI to support its needs.

Mobile users will retain their native interfaces, while sharing application code with the desktop version through Rust.

The potential performance improvements extend beyond memory consumption. Vishnevskiy has also demonstrated a comparison between the existing Discord client and its redesigned version, showing a noticeable difference in startup speed.

In the demonstration, the new client appeared to launch in approximately one second, compared with around six seconds for the existing version.

Memory consumption could also see a substantial reduction. While the demonstration showed the new client using around 290 MB, the current version can consume between 500 MB and 600 MB during normal use. Under heavier conditions, usage can climb even higher.

Discord plans to bring the redesigned client to user testing soon, although an official testing date has not yet been announced. Actual performance improvements will need to be evaluated once the updated version becomes publicly available.

Discord's plans are part of a broader trend toward improving the performance of gaming software. Other major platforms, including Steam, Epic Games, and Xbox, have also introduced or announced optimizations this year.

With memory becoming an increasingly valuable resource for gaming PCs, reducing the amount of RAM consumed by everyday applications could make a meaningful difference. Even modest improvements can leave more resources available for games and other demanding programs.

If Discord delivers on its promises, users could enjoy a faster, lighter experience without sacrificing the communication features that make the platform popular.