It’s no coincidence that you landed on this article, we are almost certain that you are amazed by the excelling mobile app industry. And would like to profit from it by jumping on the bandwagon of launching a mobile application in the market.
It’s 2023, and mobile app development is more important than it’s ever been. Developers have many options to choose from when it comes to developing applications for various mobile operating systems, and two of the most popular frameworks are Flutter and React Native. These two cross-platform app development tools are some of the best ones too as they help mobile applications to perform better and be more sustainable. However, both are very different in nature, and opting for one over the other is a task that needs quite a consideration as it can set the trajectory of your mobile application and its stages of development.
Read more about: How Much Does App Development Cost?
To make things easier, here is a quick bite-able comparison of the two frameworks which help you to choose the best option for your mobile application development.
Introducing the world of Flutter and React Native
Flutter is a pre-existing User Interface (UI) toolkit developed by Google. This cross-platform app development tool is available as an open-source, which is compatible with existing codes, making it easier and quicker to develop various types of mobile applications, from basic to complex and from custom to standard. Flutter is often used to develop apps for leading platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and the web.
Whereas, React Native is a JavaScript tool that is developed by Facebook (now known as META). This system is also open source and uses a single codebase to create applications for the same platform, Android, iOS, Web, and Windows.
Now since the basic introduction is out of the way, let us talk business and what actually makes these two leading mobile app development tools different, and which one should you choose for your Mobile app.
Let’s start comparing!
Performance
Flutter is an all-rounder tool, that can be used to develop all sorts of applications with low memory consumption and low data storage capacity, making it perform seamlessly. Regardless of the functionality embedded in the application, using flutter help to ensure quick performance. Moreover, It also has fewer issues with platform compatibility and better support for UI customization, making it perfect for complex and custom application development.
As far as React Native is concerned the tool offers good performance as well. However, it works best for basic and less complex applications in terms of imagery used and functionality embedded. The use of anti-pattern code by developers is also one of the reasons that might it perform a bit slowly. And most importantly since the system uses JavaScript is ideally used for web development, the performance gets slow when it is used for app development. Hence making it ideal for standard mobile application development
Winner: Flutter
Development Environment
Flutter offers an integrated development environment (IDE) that is easy to use and has a wide range of kits and libraries. It also offers faster development time and better performance than React Native, as mentioned above. Flutter is also integrated with numerous testing features, making it convenient for developers. Plus, it offers effective ways for debugging. However, Flutter can get slow, especially size the file size ends up getting huge, making it difficult to move around. There are issues with deployment and a lot of companies still opt for react native built applications since it can be used on both the web and app.
React Native also offers an IDE, and though its performance is a bit slower, the turnover development time is exceptionally quick. There is no integrated testing system but is compatible with third-party testing sites such as Detox. However, React Native uses CSS-style styling, making it highly simple and flexible for customer User Interface. So, if an app requires a highly customized interface, react native is a better choice. In fact, popular applications like WhatsApp and Instagram are made via React Native usage.
Winner: React Native
Usability
For expert developers using flutter is great, it’s seamless, has better documentation, and a wide range of development tools within the system. It has an array of proprietary visuals, animations interactive widgets, and structure, making it easier for developers to explore and channel creativity while also ensuring faster rendering and performance. However, it can be tedious and time-consuming, as everything needs to be set from scratch, and for extensive projects or projects with strict deadlines, the app development process can get daunting. Moreover, unlike React Native, developers have to learn a futter, a new coding language to use it.
React Native does have some advantages in terms of usability, which helps it outweigh flutter’s advantages. It offers better code reusability across platforms and a large community of developers who are constantly working on improving the framework. Moreover, the responsive time of its interface is phenomenal and since it uses JavaScript, it makes it very convenient for developers to work with it, as it does not require another coding language to be learned. Moreover, creativity has no boundary with this platform as it offers an extensive collection of User interface kits internally and externally to enhance mobile applications exponentially. One of the crowning features is React Native enables developers to immediately make changes within the application without needing to restart the app. A lot of experts also like to use React Native quiet frequently because of its effective and efficient usability.
Winner: React Native
Popularity
When it comes to popularity, Flutter is used by developers and organizations around the world and is gaining in popularity. It has become a solid competitor of React Native and has surpassed its popularity. The system is reported to be the fourth most loved framework and simultaneously the fifth most wanted framework in the market in recent times. However, since it’s a new language, lesser people are familiar with that and lesser resources are available, if you get stuck somewhere, there are lesser options for assistance.
React Native is easier to use and has the largest active community in the world right now, which means, any sort of resource or support is readily available.
Winner: React Native
Cost of App Development
Many factors determine the cost of development for both systems;
Development Time: Both are cross platforms applications, which means less time to develop resulting in lower costs. Flutter in comparison can be more economical in terms of cost as it has pre-set built-in widgets.
Community Support: React Native has the largest active community in the world right now which means costs can be lowered as resources, libraries, and tutorials are readily available at mere costs if not free.
Maintenance: The two structures offer hot reloading, which can save time and cost especially when it comes to debugging and testing. Flutter, however, uses Dart, a programming language that is designed to make the whole maintenance process similar. In fact, it is easier and more cost-effective to keep flutter applications up to date.
Development Team: Finding developers for React Native is easier than flutter since it’s an old and easy-to-use language. Since there is a large pool of resources using React Native, the costs are often low and there is room for negotiations.
Winner: Tie
Learning Curve
Flutter is a relatively new system that uses a new language. And since it has lesser resources, active users, and tutorials to guide, it can become challenging to learn. Moreover, Flutter requires the developers to develop everything from scratch which makes things much more challenging especially when it comes to deployment as a lot of companies still choose to go with react Native as their system faces issues when deploying the application.
React Native uses JavaScript language, and everyone who knows development is familiar with the language. Moreover, it is easier to learn too and there are community and third-party libraries which help to speed up the development and learning process.
Winner: React Native
Leaving you to Choose
In conclusion, Flutter and React Native are both popular frameworks for mobile app development. Flutter offers faster development times, better performance, and a wide range of development tools. React Native offers better code reusability across platforms and a large community of developers. When it comes to choosing between the two, it really depends on the project and the goals of the developers.
