Flutter and React Native have sparked exciting debates among the developers of mobile applications for years. Both Flutter and React Native have gained great popularity quickly and are regarded as the most potent cross-platform application development tools.
In fact, about 42% of developers use React Native, and 39% of developers use Flutter. Although these numbers look impressive, their success primarily depends on how well-liked mobile apps are.
For now, let’s make one thing clear: The React Native and Flutter frameworks are the two main participants in multi-platform mobile development. Both platforms have their own features, markets, and pros and cons.
We are going to compare them side by side in this guide to see what they have to offer and what hidden treasures they have. The features of each framework, as well as their relative efficacy and popularity, will be discussed, giving you the best guidance on what you or your company should choose when building an app you want to gain traction quickly on multiple mobile platforms.
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What is React Native
With the help of Facebook’s React Native JavaScript framework, developers can use a single codebase to create native iOS and Android applications. The platform has powerful features that enable developers to quickly and easily create high-performing mobile apps. It can also be used to build desktop, web and TV apps, not just mobile.
Along with cross-platform compatibility for well-known libraries , the framework also has an easy-to-use UI library.
Another good aspect of React Native is its user-friendly features, such as fast refresh. This will allow you to swiftly iterate on your app and make changes without restarting it.
With React Native, creating a unique code for every platform is unnecessary. It lets developers create cross-platform apps fast and effectively. The time and money spent on development might also be reduced because you can write the same code for iOS and Android smartphones.
Features of React Native
There are numerous benefits of using React Native when developing mobile applications. Below are a few of React Native’s key characteristics:
1. Fast Refresh
This allows developers to observe code changes on the user interface instantaneously. It speeds up the debugging process, and as a result, the application launch time is reduced.
2. Cost-Effective
Because of its economical approach, React Native has become very popular among developers of mobile apps. By using this framework, developers may create apps for the iOS and Android operating systems at the same time, which can save time and money. In addition to mobile apps, React Native also supports building for desktop and web platforms, allowing developers to leverage a single codebase across multiple environments, further enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.
Furthermore, React Native is more cost-effective and accessible for new businesses due to the abundance of libraries, tools, and third-party plugins.
3. Built-in Components
With the variety of built-in widgets in the library, creating solutions is made simpler. To improve the functionality of your app, you can also build personalized solutions using these widgets.
4. Third-Party Library Support
To create interactive apps, React Native supports a wide range of components. React Native’s built-in core components are great for a strong foundation, but third-party libraries truly expand its functionality. Here are some examples:
- UI Component Libraries: These libraries provide pre-built components that save you time and effort in designing your app’s interface. Examples include:
- React Native Elements: Offers a wide range of customizable UI elements like buttons, text inputs, avatars, and more, adhering to a consistent style.
- NativeBase: A comprehensive framework with various pre-built UI components that look and feel native on both Android and iOS.
- React Native Paper: Offers a vast collection of Material Design components for a sleek and modern aesthetic.
- Navigation Libraries: Building an app with multiple screens requires a navigation system. Here are some popular options:
- React Navigation: A powerful and flexible navigation library that supports various navigation patterns like tab-based navigation, stack navigation, and drawer navigation.
- Expo Router: A file-based routing system for React Native and web applications, allowing seamless navigation between screens. It supports the use of the same components across multiple platforms (Android, iOS, and web), with new files automatically becoming routes in the app’s navigation, making organization and routing more efficient.
- Other Functionality Libraries: There are libraries for almost any functionality you can imagine. Here are a few examples:
- React Native Vector Icons: Integrates popular icon sets like FontAwesome, Material Icons, and Ionicons into your app, allowing you to easily add icons to your UI.
- React Native Maps: Enables you to embed maps (like Google Maps) within your app, allowing users to see locations and navigate around them.
- React Native Push Notification: Lets you send push notifications to your app users to keep them engaged and informed.
5. Development
Development is faster since React Native lets you reuse previously created code. With this functionality, you can develop apps more quickly. It creates apps for iOS, Android, and other platforms using a common language.
6. Easy Maintenance
The good news for React Native users is that the platform has reusable components, rapid refreshing and a streamlined debugging procedure. This allows faster and more effective development by enabling developers to change the codebase when the app is still running.
7. Community Support
There has been a great deal of support from the React Native development community. This close-knit community of developers fosters cooperation and support between members by regularly offering insightful criticism and resources.
The community also routinely organizes conferences and get-togethers to promote networking and knowledge exchange, such as the popular React Universe Conf in Poland. Companies who want to create adaptable and effective mobile applications find React Native development to be a good choice because of this very feature.
What is React Native For
React Native is great if you are looking for the following:
- Cross-platform development
- Using JavaScript/TypeScript to develop mobile apps
- Using a single codebase to create applications for both iOS and Android.
Let’s have a look at the apps created by React Native.
1. Instagram
Instagram is a social media application people use to record and share moments. It’s a flexible platform for sharing memories and self-expression as users may interact with their followers, text with friends, and upload interesting photos and videos.
React Native is used in the development of the Instagram app. React Native also allows Instagram to create iOS and Android apps from a single codebase.
2. Facebook
Instagram isn’t the only social media app created using React Native. Another famous app is Facebook.
Many views in the Facebook mobile app are constructed using React Native, which Meta currently maintains. The app’s initial release was in 2004, and Facebook developed it in less than two years following an internal hackathon called Facemash.
3. Walmart
One of the largest businesses in the world’s retail sector is Walmart.
By integrating Node.js into its current stack, Walmart has already demonstrated its inventive approach. They have included the React Native technology into their current Walmart app after a few years.
4. Microsoft
Microsoft has helped to steadily push the boundaries of possibility with React Native. From Microsoft Office, to Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and Xbox Game Pass, one might well say React Native is one of the company’s key ingredients for continued customer success.
It’s interesting to note that Microsoft uses RN for more than mobile platforms. The company has found ingenious ways to use it in targeting desktop platforms.
5. Amazon
One excellent example of using React Native for large-scale apps is Amazon . The company’s ecosystem of increasingly important applications has used React Native to deliver cutting-edge customer-facing features since 2016.
Amazon also uses React Native to support its popular Kindle e-readers. You’ll find React Native powering Amazon Alexa, Amazon Appstore, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Photos, and Amazon Shopping.
6. Shopify
React Native is the new staple for all Shopify mobile apps. It’s worthy of note that Shopify Mobile is also being migrated to React Native for a more uniform merchant admin app experience regardless of platform.
Other Shopify apps using React Native include Shopify Shop, Shopify Point of Sale, and Shopify Inbox.
7. Wix
Wix is a proud maintainer of one of the world’s most comprehensive React Native code bases. As an early adopter of the technology , it’s no surprise that its entire app ecosystem – including Dine by Wix,Fit by Wix, Spaces: Follow Business, and Wix Owner – Website Builder – deploys React Native.
What is Flutter
Flutter is an open-source user interface software development kit created by Google. It writes source code for applications using the Dart programming language.
With Flutter, you can develop applications for several platforms, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and iOS. Furthermore, Flutter has a large developer community that is always adding features and improving the platform’s strength.
Because Flutter is open-source and totally free, it’s the perfect option for developers who want a simple approach for mobile app development.
Flutter offers developers a robust yet user-friendly framework for creating good-looking and useful mobile apps due to its quick iteration cycles, extensive feature set, and variety of supported platforms. It’s an excellent choice if developers want to create hybrid mobile apps too.
Features of Flutter
When developing mobile applications, Flutter offers a number of benefits. The following list includes some of Flutter’s key characteristics:
1. Dart Language
Dart language is renowned for being simple, and Flutter uses it to offer great performance. It’s a viable choice for developing desktop, online, and mobile apps of superior quality.
2. The Widget Library
With the help of Flutter’s configurable widget library, developers can design user-friendly app interfaces. Many pre-built UI elements, such as text boxes, sliders, and buttons, are included in the widget collection and can be readily altered to fit the style of your application. With this, developers can surely have a seamless experience.
3. Development across Platforms
With Flutter, developers can create native apps for the web, iOS, and Android from a single codebase.
4. Original Performance
Flutter uses the Flutter engine with the Dart Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compiler to deliver native application performance.
5. Type system
Flutter doesn’t have its own type system since it uses the Dart programming language. Dart utilizes a static type system, meaning variable types are defined during development and checked at compile time. This helps catch errors early on and contributes to creating more stable and predictable applications.
What’s Flutter For
Cross-platform app development is made possible via Flutter. A single codebase provides developers a simple method to create and distribute aesthetically appealing, natively generated programs for desktop, mobile (iOS, Android), web, and embedded devices.
Platforms that Flutter Can Target
Let’s take a look at the types of platforms that you can build Flutter applications to target.
1. Flutter for Desktop Support
You can compile the Flutter source code to create native Windows, macOS, or Linux desktop apps when creating desktop apps with Flutter.
Plugins are another area where Flutter’s desktop support shines. Developers can install premade plugins for Linux, Windows, or macOS or even create their own.
2. Flutter for Web
The same experiences on mobile and web are provided with Flutter’s web support. In other words, you can now use the same codebase to create web, iOS, and Android apps.
3. Flutter for Apps
Over the past few years, Flutter has become increasingly popular, and it makes sense. Flutter is an excellent option for creating mobile apps because of its rapid and user-friendly development cycle.
One of the main advantages of Flutter is that it gives you access to advanced features like rich animations, Google’s Material Design UI, and more, all of which will allow you to create apps quickly and effectively.
Here are a few apps that use Flutter for development:
1. Google Ads
With the help of this mobile app, you can manage Google ad campaigns right from your phone. Its streamlined desktop platform lets you track ad output from anywhere; you aren’t limited to your office.
The app was developed using Flutter.
It offers real-time bid and budget updates, live notifications, keyword editing, campaign statistics, and a Google expert contact feature.
2. Google Pay
Among Google’s most well-known and reliable online payment apps is Google Pay. This app has over 70 million users worldwide and requires a framework to help the business improve its environment and functionality. Flutter was the ideal choice!
The updated Google Pay software can smoothly expand across iOS and Android platforms.
3. Hamilton
The Flutter framework was used to create Hamilton, one of the most well-known and celebrated Broadway musicals. It was specifically designed to keep the band’s enormous fan base up to date on all music news.
In addition to a regular quiz game, access to a number of Hamilton lottery games, a karaoke feature for fans of their favorite songs, and unique films and slideshows, the Hamilton app has much more. The user interface looks great on both platforms.
4. Reflectly
Reflectly is another Flutter app. It’s an AI-powered journaling software that blends positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and meditation to assist users in managing stress on a daily basis, eradicating unfavorable ideas, and maintaining an optimistic outlook. It allows you to manage your mental health and communicate your feelings.
How Mature are React Native and Flutter – Their History
You must know by now that React Native and Flutter are the most frequently used cross-platform development frameworks to create mobile applications.
They allow different applications to run smoothly and enable the development of fully functioning, aesthetically pleasing, and high-performing applications. Now, let’s look at their history.
Google created Flutter in 2017 and has since gained popularity among developers because of its functionality, user-friendliness, and extensive pre-built widget library. Flutter’s most prominent feature is its Dart programming language, which allows users to have an unproblematic and smooth experience.
Then Google brought Flutter 2 in 2021. This was another good news for developers as it uses a codebase for five operating systems: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Then, we have React Native, created by Facebook in 2015 to create cross-platform mobile applications. Using JavaScript, React Native lets developers create applications compatible with iOS and Android smartphones.
One thing’s for sure: React Native has been in the market before Flutter. Thus, it has a larger community. Not to add that the Meta team has had ample opportunity to work on resolving any underlying problems and stabilize the API.
The reason React Native is so popular is that, despite the application being created with JavaScript, it offers consumers a native experience.
Comparing React Native and Flutter: Similarities
When we compare React Native with Flutter, it’s important to note that both are open-source tools for creating cross-platform mobile apps, and both have features like hot reload and code structures.
What is meant by that? Without reloading the application, developers may see the code changes instantaneously thanks to Hot Reload. It enables simpler bug fixes and quicker coding and development.
The idea of having a single codebase for both Android and iOS means that users of both platforms can access identical apps, as supported by React Native and Flutter. Additionally, testing is nearly cut in half with this kind of coding.
Hot Reload Support
We can use Hot Reload with both Flutter and React Native. This feature makes it possible to fully preserve the prior state of the application and relaunch it automatically. Every time a device is connected, or the code is changed, a refresh takes place.
Programmers already using Hot Reload also report increased productivity and a lot easier working process.
Installation and Getting Started
In Flutter, developers download the package, unzip it, and then set up an environment variable that points to the unzipped folder. Moreover, Flutter has a basic system troubleshooting tool known as the Flutter Doctor.
It’s also not too hard to get started with React.
First, developers must use npm install create-react-native-package to install the create-react-native-app package. After that, use it to make a new application.
Furthermore, React offers an Expo integration that enables you to run code on mobile devices without the need for wire. All you have to do is scan the QR code on the console.
Comparing React Native and Flutter: Differences
Let’s dive in further to look at the differences between each.
Simplicity
From the developer’s perspective, React Native is simpler to understand, and there’s a good reason for that: it uses JavaScript as the programming language. And since JavaScript has been around for a while, most developers are already aware of it.
Flutter employs Dart, which is a relatively younger framework. It doesn’t, however, imply that Dart makes Flutter a challenging framework. Instead, it’s the only feature that sets Google’s platform apart.
Performance
Performance is a crucial consideration for any framework. While JavaScript-based frameworks can sometimes struggle with performance bottlenecks, modern advancements have addressed many of these issues.
When it comes to React Native performance and Flutter performance, it’s important to understand their differences. Flutter natively compiles to machine code without requiring a bridge, which can lead to faster performance in certain situations. Previously, React Native relied on a JavaScript bridge to communicate between native components and JavaScript, which introduced some delays.
However, with the introduction of React Native’s new bridgeless architecture, these performance concerns have been significantly addressed. The bridgeless architecture eliminates the need for the JavaScript bridge, allowing React Native apps to perform much more efficiently, with faster communication between JavaScript and native components. This change has resulted in improved app performance, making React Native more competitive with Flutter.
While Flutter may still have an edge in certain areas of performance due to its native compilation approach, React Native’s ongoing architectural improvements continue to close the gap, particularly with the bridgeless architecture now in place.
UI Development
Though perspectives on UI consistency may differ, the underlying technology of React Native uses native UI widgets, which gives developers the option to modify the platform’s default appearance or stick with it. Due to these native elements, it’s consistent with the platform’s conventional user interface elements. To learn more about React Native and native app development, you can open our guide.
In contrast, Flutter doesn’t make use of native elements. Developers can modify the settings and styles of Flutter’s extremely configurable widgets to acquire the desired appearance and functionality on all platforms. This may sometimes involve more work to accurately match the platform’s native UI components.
Community Support
For many developers, the assistance of the worldwide development community is the make-or-break factor when choosing a platform for app or website development.
This gives React Native a considerable advantage. The framework has an extensive online support community, as it was released much earlier than Flutter. Due to this community, developers can easily find solutions for the problems and challenges encountered when designing an app.
That being said, Flutter is a rising star with an ever-expanding developer community, and 2024 is predicted to be a big year for the platform. Thus, Flutter’s lesser degree of community support maturity shouldn’t be a major deterrent.
Widgets
A significant difference between the two frameworks is how much they depend on third-party libraries. The wonderful widgets and tools that Google has included in Flutter enable developers of mobile applications to create user interfaces that are exactly the same for iOS and Android.
Conversely, with React Native, developers must constantly use third-party libraries. Undoubtedly, this difference speeds up the development process for Flutter developers.
Debugging
Flutter gives developers tools for monitoring memory usage and making quick adjustments, as well as a debugger for iOS and Android apps that lets them see what’s happening with the rendering engine.
On the other hand, React Native has an integrated debugger for Android and iOS apps, which gives developers access to tools for real-time memory analysis and adjustment as well as a way to see the current status of the JavaScript virtual machine.
Code Structure
Developers can divide styles and execute code into different classes when using React Native, just like with JavaScript. For example, they can build a single stylesheet that applies to all the elements and functions across the entire program.
As for Flutter, it doesn’t require any other templating languages (like XML or JSX) or specialized visual tools but uses the Dart programming language. Because of this, developers can produce and reuse structural, platform, and interactive widgets.
Flutter Vs. React Native: Which One is Better
The question of whether Flutter is better or React Native depends on a number of factors. Let’s look at the following situations where Flutter might be a preferable option to React Native:
UI Customization: Flutter gives developers additional flexibility over the rendering process so they can make unique UI designs that aren’t constrained by the platform’s built-in components. Conversely, React Native’s reliance on native components for UI rendering may result in fewer customization possibilities.
Performance: Flutter’s performance is better than React Native when it comes to advancement, as Flutter uses the Skia rendering engine. Interestingly both offer animations and transitions with superior performance.
Here are some situations where React Native might be a preferable option:
Community Support: React Native has a larger community than Flutter because it has been around for longer, which translates to more resources, documentation, and libraries being available.
Existing User Base: React Native may be a better option if you already have a team of JavaScript developers or a JavaScript-written codebase because it makes use of the same language and programming concepts.
Compatibility: Even though Flutter offers strong cross-platform compatibility, React Native offers greater flexibility in terms of interfacing with other platforms, such as web and desktop applications.
Prospects and Updates
To understand the future of both Flutter and React Native, it’s essential to look at recent trends and updates.
According to the 2023 Stack Overflow Survey, as cited by Nomtek, React Native trails Flutter slightly in popularity—8.43% vs. 9.12%. However, both frameworks have seen a slight decline compared to previous years. Despite this, both remain dominant in the cross-platform development landscape, each evolving with new features and community support.
Flutter continues to grow, with over a million apps built. The Flutter 3.24 release introduced key improvements, including:
- Updated Material 3 support,
- A new CarouselView widget,
- Android 14’s predictive back gesture support,
- iOS 18 features like custom Control Center toggles and tinted app icons.
Flutter’s updates focus on enhancing cross-platform consistency, while React Native has also made notable strides, particularly with its new architecture. The latest React Native 0.75 release highlights several critical advancements:
- Yoga 3.1 for better layout flexibility, including percentage values in properties like gaps and translation.
- Continued stabilization of the New Architecture, which brings performance boosts by eliminating the JavaScript bridge.
- Integration with Expo to simplify compatibility checks.
- Auto-linking performance improvements for faster builds on both Android and iOS.
Additionally, the New Architecture has significantly enhanced React Native’s performance, bringing it closer to native performance, while improving the developer experience. This makes React Native increasingly attractive, especially as the community moves toward deprecating older commands like react-native init in favor of modern tools like Expo.
Though Flutter continues to innovate, React Native’s new bridgeless architecture, tighter integration with Expo, and improved layout engine are solidifying its place as a top choice for developers looking to build high-performance, cross-platform apps.
Which One is Easier to Learn: React Native or Flutter
Determining which is simpler to learn is a difficult question. You should assess the advantages and disadvantages of both frameworks before deciding.
But if you had to pick, we’d say React Native is a little bit simpler to understand than Flutter. React Native uses JavaScript, which can be easier to learn, especially for people who are already familiar with JavaScript and React.js. But Flutter uses Dart, and if you’re unfamiliar with Dart, you may need to take some time to get used to it.
Among the cross-platform app development frameworks, React Native has carved out a special place for itself. It has grown a lot because of its natural appearance and feel. To further help in managing the development processes, the framework has the support of a sizable and varied community.
Why We Use React Native at Iterators
React Native and Flutter are both popular frameworks for developing cross-platform mobile applications, and each has its own strengths. However, React Native frameworks are often considered to be better than Flutter due to the following reasons:
1. Community and Ecosystem
An experienced developer knows that a framework is as good as the community around it. In this aspect, React Native comes out on top. React Native has a larger community and a more robust ecosystem. This comes with an abundance of third-party libraries, modules, and community support, all of which might be advantageous to development.
At Iterators, we have been building applications with React Native since its inception in 2015, gaining deep experience with the framework. Additionally, we actively contribute to the community by organizing the React Native Warsaw meetup, a recurring event that brings together local developers to share knowledge and foster collaboration.
2. Code Reusability
React Native provides for greater code reuse, especially for web developers who are already familiar with React. It provides significant code overlap across online and mobile applications. This makes the go-to market time for apps and web apps built on a React Native framework shorter.
3. Maturity and Adoption
As we mentioned before, some of the top-earning apps in the world have been built on React Native. While the connection between code and revenue may not be direct, stronger-performing apps with a better UI result in more engagement, leading to higher customer conversions.
React Native has been around longer than Flutter and has been used by many large firms, giving it a sense of maturity and credibility.
4. Integration with Existing Apps
React Native is often chosen for projects requiring integration with native apps, making it easier to incorporate React Native components into an existing native app.
While both React Native and Flutter have advantages, React Native stands out as a strong option for cross-platform mobile development. Its extensive community, mature ecosystem, and superior code reusability make it particularly advantageous for the developers of today.
React Native also integrates with existing native apps and supports native modules for optimal performance. While project requirements and team expertise are important factors to consider, React Native’s well-established strengths make it a preferred framework for many apps.
Final Thoughts
Both Flutter and React Native offer robust solutions for cross-platform mobile development, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Flutter excels in providing a highly customizable UI with a fast development cycle, while React Native boasts a strong community and seamless integration with native components. Ultimately, the choice between the two depends on your project requirements, team expertise, and long-term goals. Here at Iterators, we specialize in using React Native to deliver tailored solutions that meet our clients’ diverse needs. With React Native, we ensure highly efficient and scalable app development to help you reach a wider audience effectively.