How We're Building Gratonite
A look at the tech stack, design philosophy, and decisions behind the platform.
By Gratonite Team
The stack
We're not going to pretend our tech stack is revolutionary. We picked tools that let us move fast and ship reliable software:
- Electron + Rust for the desktop client — native performance where it matters
- WebRTC for real-time voice with spatial audio processing
- CRDTs for offline-first conflict resolution
- Next.js for this very website you're reading
Design philosophy
We call it "neobrutalist utility." Bold borders, hard shadows, solid colors. No glassmorphism, no blur, no pretending your UI is a frosted window.
Every element should feel:
- Intentional — nothing is there for decoration
- Readable — high contrast, clear hierarchy
- Fun — software doesn't have to look like a tax form
Spatial audio
This is the feature we're most excited about. Traditional voice chat is flat — everyone sounds the same distance away, the same volume, the same direction.
Spatial audio in Gratonite positions voices in 3D space. Move your avatar closer to someone and they get louder. Walk away and they fade. It makes group conversations feel natural in a way that's hard to describe until you try it.
What's coming
- Shared worlds — collaborative spaces beyond text
- Plugin API — build your own tools on top of Gratonite
- Mobile clients — iOS and Android, not just desktop
We're building in public. Follow along, break things, tell us what sucks. That's how good software gets made.