# idea4good/GuiLite

✔️The smallest header-only GUI library(4 KLOC) for all platforms

Repository: https://github.com/idea4good/GuiLite
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/guilite
Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqXEz3bdC0
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: embedded, mcu, graphics-library, microcontroller, display, gui, c, cpp, cross-platform, docker, header-only, iot, iot-platform
Last push: 2025-10-22T14:51:00+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 44/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 48, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3274, "days_push": 315, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7765, forks 834 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:04.865320+00:00)

## What it is
GuiLite is a minimal header-only C++ GUI library of about 4,000 lines of code with zero dependencies, capable of running on everything from MCUs without an OS to desktop and mobile platforms. It integrates with third-party frameworks like Qt, MFC, WinForms, and Cocoa, and includes tooling for layout, fonts, and IoT cloud connectivity.

## Use cases
- build a gui for a microcontroller with only 29 KB of flash and 9 KB of ram
- add a lightweight touch display interface to an embedded iot device
- render a ui on linux/windows without pulling in qt or gtk
- embed a small gui inside an existing qt or mfc application
- create a cross-platform ui that runs on mcu, android, ios, and desktop from one codebase
- run a gui demo in docker on a single-board computer

## When to choose
- you need an extremely small, dependency-free gui for resource-constrained hardware or mcus
- you want one gui codebase running across embedded, mobile, and desktop platforms
- you prefer a simple, readable c++ codebase you can fully understand and modify

## When to avoid
- you need a rich widget set, accessibility support, or polished native look and feel
- you are building a complex desktop application where Qt or a full framework is more productive
- you need extensive third-party integrations and a large ecosystem

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: ui-components, graphics, gui
- domain: embedded-systems, cross-platform, iot, graphics
- platform: cross-platform, embedded, windows, cpp
- tags: header-only, mcu, microcontroller, lightweight, display, rtos, embedded-gui, linux, macos, android, ios, docker

## Member repositories
- idea4good/GuiLite (main) score 44

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:04.865320+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:35:07.511404+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/idea4good/GuiLite (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:04.865320+00:00, sha b01f774b64e0)
  - homepage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqXEz3bdC0 (fetched 2026-08-29T08:31:01.985115+00:00, sha 44136fa355b3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.