Enables fast, peer-to-peer apps across mobile, desktop, and connected devices
Holepunch, the open-source peer-to-peer company, announced the launch of its newest runtime: Bare.
Bare is a small and modular JavaScript runtime for desktop and mobile. Like Node.js, it provides an asynchronous, event-driven architecture for writing applications in the lingua franca of modern software. Unlike Node.js, it makes embedding and cross-device support core use cases, aiming to run just as well on your phone as on your laptop. The result is a runtime ideal for networked, peer-to-peer applications that can run on a wide selection of hardware.
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At its core, Bare is minimal—no bloated standard library, no assumptions about how to build. Instead, it gives developers the freedom to compose their environment from a growing ecosystem of modules. Each module is small, purposeful, and designed to work seamlessly within the Bare runtime. No hidden dependencies, no unnecessary overhead—just building blocks that creators can control.
Holepunch CEO, Mathias Buus Madsen commented “Bare isn’t just a runtime—it’s a foundation for the future of the internet. Where Node.js requires servers, Bare makes them obsolete.”
Bare can be run on any device with minimal requirements. And using Pear with the Holepunch stack’s peer discovery, direct data sharing, and decentralized networking, Bare lets developers build applications that connect users directly, safely, and seamlessly.
What Can You Build with Bare?
Peer-to-Peer Applications
Bare’s minimal footprint and modular architecture make it the perfect foundation for P2P applications. By leveraging the Holepunch stack, developers can seamlessly embed modules to build live data streaming, real-time communication, file sharing applications, and much more. Bare’s flexibility ensures that P2P solutions remain lightweight, efficient, and scalable.
Self-contained, Cross-platform apps
With Bare, you can write secure modules once and reuse them across both mobile and desktop environments. Whether it’s private, encrypted push notifications running in low-memory settings or re-encoding videos on the fly, Bare’s ecosystem offers an ever-expanding array of cross-platform modules. This makes app development both efficient and versatile, allowing you to create robust applications without redundant code.
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Bare offers developers the most bang for their buck, as it can interface with existing runtimes, such as V8, through LibJS. This integration offers powerful abstractions, enabling you to achieve native performance while maintaining the flexibility of JavaScript. Bare’s native fastcalls ensure that layers seamlessly work together, giving you the best of both worlds as a native and JavaScript developer.
“We built Bare to support multiple JavaScript engines—V8, JavaScriptCore, QuickJS—so it can run anywhere from computers to phones to embedded systems. That flexibility is built into its core.”, added Kasper Isager who is Bare’s Technical Lead.
The Foundation for Decentralized Apps: Pear + Bare
Applications written for Bare enjoy all the benefits of Holepunch’s Pear Runtime, in that their peer-to-peer foundation removes the need for any centralized servers, thus eliminating all server costs and maintaining complete data privacy.
Bare works seamlessly within the Holepunch ecosystem — developers have access to Bare when they use the full open source platform. Pear auto updates, and all of the Bare runtime is included in these updates.
Buus Madsen concluded, “With Bare and Pear together, you have this new kind of container model— an elegant innovation that we believe will be a game-changer for developers. It runs anywhere—mobile, desktop, even small devices—and is completely peer-to-peer, so your data is safe, secure and you will never need any costly centralized infrastructure. It is minimal, modular, powerful and fast.”
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