According to statistics, 39% of developers used Flutter and 42% of developers used React Native in 2020. Both are very powerful open-source platforms. They support the concept of a single codebase across Android, iOS, and the web. The frameworks provide fairly fast programming and bug fixing for developers. Let’s discuss Flutter vs React Native in detail.
Flutter vs React Native Comparison
RN is quite mature, which means that most, if not all, popular developers support it. When it comes to packages, RN is on top because it has more packages than Flutter, although quantity doesn't always mean quality. It also supports hot reloading, which greatly improves the development process.
However, Flutter is gaining traction pretty quickly and many important packages are already available for public use. The official Dart website offers over 1,450 Flutter packages.
Both frameworks can boast:
- customizability;
- fast development;
- convenience UI;
- constant support.
Pros and Cons
Let's find out pros and cons related to both frameworks.
What about Flutter pros and cons?
➕ Pros:
- Easy to use. Flutter greatly simplifies the programmer's workflow.
- A great solution for creating MVP. The combination of advantages such as built-in UI components, ease of development, fast page loading speed, and cost savings due to a single code base makes Flutter a sufficient solution for creating a minimum viable application product.
- Less testing effort. Developers can create two apps using the same codebase, QA specialists need to write automated tests once.
- Fast application performance. App performance is almost the same as native.
➖ Cons:
- Big size of the app. This can be caused by built-in Flutter widgets. Thus, applications can be over 4 megabytes in size.
- Small developers pool. Since this is a relatively new technology, it is not uncommon to find programmers who know this SDK.
- Absent support for TV devices. Now, this feature is not available on Apple TV.
And now you may ask: “what are the pros and cons of React Native?”
➕ Pros:
- Fast app development. This tool allows using the same codebase for creating an app for Android and IOS.
- Low entry threshold. This is true if you've already used React library and JavaScript in web development.
- Hot/live-reload function. This is a quick update feature to speed up bug fixes and add more features.
- Wide community. This software is part of the React family, so you won't have a problem finding some solutions on Stack Overflow.
➖ Cons:
- Delay function. With numerous updates, Android and iOS are introducing new features to their operating system. Updates can take time.
- Potential performance degradation. Considering this is the same codebase for two platforms. RN still fails to provide the best user experience it does on the native platform. Serving one platform to maximize its functionality.
- Third-party library. Although this framework still has a lot of libraries and components to choose from. It may be necessary to install a third-party library or even create a specific component with specific functionality from scratch. It just adds money and time.
What are the Best Companies that Use These Frameworks?
Flutter scored 121 thousand stars on Github and in 2020 entered the top three most popular frameworks.
Flutter top 5 companies:
- Google Ads;
- Alibaba;
- Square;
- eBay;
- Hamilton musical;
RN has an active developers community. It has almost 96k stars on Github.
Top 5 companies using React Native:
- Instagram;
- Facebook;
- Skype;
- Pinterest;
- Afterpay.
Final Thoughts
Flutter and React Native are the best candidates for multiple platform app development initiatives. However, Flutter is more modern than React Native, but Flutter can provide you with high-performance applications that are compatible with multiple platforms.
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