Cross-Platform (React Native vs Flutter vs Ionic)

Compare React Native, Flutter, and Ionic for your next app.

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React Native

Facebook engineers created React Native in 2015. It’s a framework that helps to create cross-platform applications for Android and iOS platforms.

By writing one code in Javascript, you can create a native application for Android and iOS. After building, you get the same file as if you had used the native language of the platform.

Pros:

  • Lower cost of app development
  • Speeds up the app development process
  • Rich ecosystem
  • Can integrate with native applications
  • Reusable Code for Different OS: More than 90% of the code can be reused for different OS.
  • Updates: React Native apps can bypass the App Store and be downloaded from third parties.
  • Stability: Enhanced app stability.

Cons:

  • Not a native solution
  • Doesn’t speed up the testing process
  • Testing is more challenging
  • Lack of some custom modules
  • Native developers still needed

When to Use:

  • If your developers are already fluent in JavaScript
  • If you prefer creating your app UI with native components
  • If you appreciate having a vast number of tutorials and libraries

Flutter

Flutter is an open-source UI toolkit developed by Google for building beautiful native user interfaces from a single codebase. Apps built with Flutter can run on Android, iOS, and the web.

Over half a million developers use Flutter every month. Flutter is emerging as a winner in the cross-platform app development space and is a worthy competitor to React Native.

Pros:

  • Write Once, Deploy Anywhere
  • Hot Reload
  • Faster Coding: Hot reload ensures a significantly faster coding experience
  • Apps adapt to different screens better
  • Community support and open source
  • Support for web and desktop
  • Compiles to native ARM code
  • Customizable widgets

Cons:

  • Getting the perfect platform-specific look and feel can be challenging
  • Limited number of developers using Dart
  • New iOS and Android features may be introduced later

When to Use:

  • If you want to reduce time-to-market
  • If you plan to scale the app across different platforms
  • If you like experimenting with new, not fully mature technologies

Ionic

Ionic was introduced in 2013 by DriftyCo. It lets you build full-fledged apps for both iOS and Android using web development skills, mainly Angular, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Pros:

  • Quick development and time to market compared to native apps
  • Can be developed mostly in the browser (except for native phone functionality)
  • Can develop for both iOS and Android at once (with some restrictions)
  • Angular, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript skills are almost all you need
  • Plenty of UI components available and easy to use
  • Lots of plugins for smartphone-only features
  • Simplicity: Easy learning curve
  • Less development time: Inbuilt UI features for quick app creation
  • Ease of Learning: Easier than React Native

Cons:

  • Debugging can be challenging and time-consuming
  • Builds can randomly crash
  • Slow performance: Hybrid apps can be slower than native apps
  • Cannot do everything: Not suitable for 3D games or high-performance graphics
  • Problem with iOS: Not as polished on iOS as on Android
  • Heavily dependent on plugins: May need to develop your own plugins for specific features

When to Use:

  • If you want to build creative apps quickly
  • If you want to use web technologies for mobile app development

Depends on project requirement, we should pick the tech stacks!