Quynh Ngoc Pham
Content Manager
Flutter vs React Native: Choosing the Right Framework for Cross-Platform Development
5 minutes read
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In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, mobile applications have become the cornerstone of modern businesses. As organizations invest in scalable, cost-effective, and high-performance mobile solutions, the choice between Flutter and React Native has become one of the most discussed topics among developers and IT decision-makers.
At BHSoft, a leading IT software development company in Vietnam, we specialize in delivering innovative, scalable, and cost-effective mobile app development services that meet diverse business needs. In this article, we’ll help you understand the differences between Flutter and React Native so you can make the right choice for your next project.
What Is Cross-Platform Mobile App Development?
Cross-platform mobile app development is an approach that allows developers to create applications for multiple operating systems — primarily Android and iOS — using a single codebase.
This approach streamlines the app development lifecycle, helping companies reduce time-to-market, minimize development costs, and ensure a consistent user experience across all devices. With the growing importance of digital transformation, many organizations now rely on cross-platform mobile ap
p development services to reach a wider audience efficiently.
React Native vs. Flutter: An Overview
The market is filled with numerous frameworks for building mobile apps, but Flutter and React Native stand out due to their flexibility, community support, and performance. Both have become the go-to choices for developers aiming to deliver seamless mobile experiences without maintaining separate codebases for Android and iOS.
Let’s take a closer look at each framework and what makes them unique.
What Is React Native?
React Native is an open-source framework created by Facebook (now Meta) in 2015. It allows developers to build native-like mobile applications using JavaScript and React, a popular library for building user interfaces.
React Native applications use a JavaScript bridge to interact with native components, allowing access to device features like the camera, accelerometer, and GPS.
Its robust ecosystem, reusability of components, and hot reloading capabilities make it ideal for mobile app development projects that require faster prototyping and deployment. Top companies like Instagram, Uber, and Airbnb have successfully adopted React Native to build scalable and engaging applications.
What Is Flutter?
Flutter, developed by Google, is an open-source software development kit (SDK) that enables developers to build beautiful, high-performance applications from a single codebase. Written in Dart, Flutter apps are compiled directly into native ARM code, eliminating the need for a JavaScript bridge — which significantly boosts performance.
With its expressive UI toolkit and powerful rendering engine, Flutter makes it easy to create visually stunning and responsive applications. Global enterprises such as Alibaba, The New York Times, and Square use Flutter to deliver premium mobile experiences at scale.
React Native vs. Flutter: How Do They Work?
While both Flutter and React Native share the same goal — enabling developers to build cross-platform apps efficiently — their architectures and performance characteristics differ significantly.
|
Feature |
React Native |
Flutter |
|
Programming language |
JavaScript |
Dart |
|
Rendering engine |
JavaScriptCore |
Skia |
|
App Architecture |
Hybrid |
Native |
|
Performance |
Good |
Excellent |
|
Learning curve |
Easy |
Steeper |
|
Community |
Large and active |
Growing |
React Native vs. Flutter: Which is superior?
React Native and Flutter are both excellent cross-platform mobile app development frameworks. They both have their own strengths and weaknesses, so the best framework for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences.
Here are the pros and cons of each framework:
|
|
Pros |
Cons |
|
React Native |
React Native offers several benefits for mobile app development. - First, it utilizes native UI components, providing a high-quality user interface that closely resembles native apps. Secondly, it offers a wide range of ready-made components, enabling developers to accelerate development and reduce time-to-market. - Additionally, React Native grants access to native capabilities such as the camera and accelerometer, enhancing the app's functionality. - Furthermore, it allows for the inclusion of platform-specific code, enabling optimization for specific platforms. - Finally, React Native's hot reload feature enables real-time updates to the app without the need for time-consuming recompilation. |
- React Native employs a combination of JavaScript, Objective-C, Java, and C/C++ for development, which can introduce complexity when debugging. While React Native has matured, it still lacks certain components and may have underdeveloped ones. - Furthermore, React Native apps may experience performance limitations and struggle to meet high-performance requirements, making them less suitable for animation-heavy applications and games. |
|
Flutter |
Flutter offers several advantages over other cross-platform frameworks: - Firstly, it enables the creation of sophisticated UI with remarkable speed, capable of rendering apps at up to 120 frames per second. - Additionally, Flutter's association with Google ensures extensive and easily understandable documentation and resources. The framework's Hot Reload feature allows developers to save significant time by instantly implementing code changes without the need for time-consuming compilation. - Lastly, Flutter uses Dart instead of JavaScript, providing a more streamlined and faster development experience compared to other languages commonly used for mobile app development. |
- Flutter's performance may not be optimal on low-end devices, despite its potential to achieve high frame rates. However, the Flutter community actively addresses reported issues, with ongoing efforts from Google developers to enhance the framework's stability. It's important to note that Flutter's APK and IPA sizes are larger than those of native apps, as the entire framework is bundled within the application, similar to approaches used by React Native. |
React Native vs. Flutter: Real-Eorld Insights From Developers
The main question here is: Which one is better among these two cross-platform mobile app development frameworks?
Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages of its own, and it’s difficult to say which is superior. It's a challenging query even for developers, who work with these two every day.
According to StackOverflow’s
survey in 2022 of developers using these technologies, here is a look at the debate between Flutter and React Native.
According to Google Trends data, Flutter and React Native are still engaged in a fierce power struggle. Flutter (the red line) overtook React Native (the blue line) as the most frequently searched query globally in April 2020, maintaining that position in 2023.
And yet, in the US, the battle between Flutter and React Native is still raging, with both frameworks vying for dominance. Flutter (the red line) currently has a slight lead, but React Native (the blue line) is not far behind. The trend curve starting in January 2021 shows that the battle is likely to continue for some time.
Referring to that information, we have the answer to the question above. There is no clear winner between Flutter and React Native. Both frameworks have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice for you will depend on your specific needs and requirements.
When To Use Flutter
Flutter will work well when:
- You are on a tight deadline: Flutter is a very fast framework, which can save you time and money.
- You are developing a simple app: Flutter is a great choice for simple apps because it is easy to learn and use.
- You are developing an app with a lot of custom features: Flutter is a powerful framework that can be used to create complex apps with a lot of custom features.
- You are developing an app for a new platform: Flutter is a great choice for developing apps for new platforms because it is a cross-platform framework.
When To Use React Native
Implement React Native when:
- You are developing a new app and you need to support both iOS and Android. React Native can help you save time and money by allowing you to build a single app that works on both platforms.
- You have a desktop app or website and can reuse components for a mobile app (have a single tech stack)
- You have a team of JavaScript familiar with your existing assets who can use the plug-ins, modules, and widgets from the huge npm repository
- You are updating an existing app and you want to make it available on both iOS and Android. React Native can help you save time and money by allowing you to port your existing app to both platforms.
- You are developing an app that requires high performance. React Native apps are built using native components, which means that they offer the same performance as native apps. This is important for apps that require high performance, such as games or productivity apps.
The Takeaway,
In conclusion, determining the superiority of Flutter, and React Native is no easy task. The choice between these frameworks depends on finding the best fit for your company's specific needs and requirements. Rather than focusing on which one is better, it is more crucial to carefully consider and evaluate which framework aligns most effectively with your organization's goals and objectives.
Are you in need of Flutter or React Native developers? Or perhaps you're planning to develop your own cross-platform mobile app. Look no further than BHSoft for your talent requirements. Our team is ready to provide you with the best talent in the industry. Get in touch with us today to kickstart your project and bring your mobile app ideas to life.