Using Rust Inside .NET MAUI Apps
When a slice of your app becomes too heavy — data processing, image manipulation, tight rendering paths — Rust offers C++-level performance with a friendlier safety model and no garbage collector. This post shows how to make Rust feel natural inside a .NET MAUI app using the RustMaui dotnet tool.
What you’ll learn
- How to install the
RustMauitool and scaffold a new MAUI app with Rust integration - How to apply Rust to an existing .NET MAUI project
- How C# and Rust can share a SkiaSharp canvas, with both languages drawing on the same surface
- How RustMaui compiles native libraries for all four MAUI platforms: Android, iOS, MacCatalyst, and Windows
- When Rust makes sense in a MAUI app: GC spike reduction, compute-heavy paths, and performance-critical sections
- The interop pattern for calling Rust functions from C# in a cross-platform context