A Comparative Study of WebAssembly Runtimes: Performance Metrics, Integration Challenges, Application Domains, and Security Features

Abstract

WebAssembly (Wasm), originally developed as a web-focused technology, has evolved into a versatile runtime environment capable of executing code efficiently across web-based and standalone systems. This survey provides a comprehensive analysis of Wasm runtimes, categorizing them into two primary groups: integrated runtimes, which function within web browsers, and standalone runtimes, which operate independently of browsers. Integrated runtimes, such as those found in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, execute Wasm binaries through JavaScript engines, allowing interaction with web application programming interfaces while maintaining a secure execution model. Standalone runtimes like Wasmtime, Wasmer, WebAssembly Micro Runtime, WasmEdge, and Wasm3 operate independently of browsers, serving various applications, including edge computing, Internet of Things, and embedded systems. We explore each runtime's performance characteristics, highlighting their execution modes, such as interpretation, Just-In-Time compilation, and Ahead-of-Time compilation, and their ability to handle resource-constrained environments. Our findings provide valuable insights for developers, researchers, and industry professionals seeking to leverage Wasm for optimized performance, scalability, and security across diverse technological landscapes.

Received: 4 December 2024 | Revised: 21 February 2025 | Accepted: 1 April 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Mircea Țălu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.