React Native vs Flutter: Which One is a Better Framework and Why

The hot debate over which framework to choose to build your next mobile app plagues many developers looking to create cross-platform native apps. With hybrid apps, most companies have realized that making the same app on different devices or operating systems (OS) doesn’t have to be complicated with two teams working with two distinct programming languages. React Native vs Flutter are the two popular and powerful contenders that allow such remarkable cross-platform app development for companies, using a singular codebase for both iOS and Android.

However, how do we pick one over the other? Which one is better and why? The answer, unfortunately, is not so straightforward. In this guide, let’s explicitly compare both frameworks for what it is and how it works. Furthermore, let’s learn the significant factors contributing to the final decision of making a reasonable choice for your app project.

An Overview of React Native vs Flutter

React Native and Flutter are two of the many hybrid frameworks available in the market today for individual app development for distinct platforms. Typically, a whole team of developers is hired to create and manage codebases across multiple platforms. It results in a gap between the same developed apps on different devices. With hybrid frameworks that offer platform independence, one developer can potentially design and maintain apps across platforms with a singular codebase to oversee. These frameworks are equipped with cross-platform solutions that significantly save resources in terms of time, workforce, and cost.

Flutter and React Native are created by two of the largest tech companies in the world, Google, and Facebook, respectively. Flutter is a portable UI toolkit used for making apps with native performance, whereas React Native runs on JavaScript and builds native apps using React. These open-source, free-to-use frameworks are popular in the developer community, showing steady growth over the past few years. It demonstrates the wide usage and demand for mobile app development these days.

However, as mentioned before, choosing one over the other is not a matter of which is better. Instead, you may consider several factors concerning your unique business needs and use-cases.  A C++ or Java developer would most likely prefer Dart and choose Flutter whereas, web developers with JavaScript background would choose React Native. Both React Native and Flutter are tight competitors that come with similarities, differences, and their own set of pros and cons. This article further outlines these factors in detail below.

React Native vs Flutter – Comparison Criterion to Help You Choose

Got an app idea? Need to choose the best cross-platform solution? Can’t decide whether to choose between React Native app development or Flutter app development? We got you covered. The following guidelines will help you identify which framework best fits your project. This comparison criterion will help developers in choosing the precise tech stack required to create world-class applications. Here’s what you need to consider:

Programming Languages

React Native runs on dynamic JavaScript, and Flutter uses Dart that is both dynamic and static. This common ground implies both frameworks are similar in design and code. However, most developers are familiar with JavaScript, and this gives React Native an advantage over Flutter.

Performance

In terms of performance, Flutter got a leg up React Native because the application uses machine languages such as C or C++ that provide enhanced native performance. In contrast, React Native uses a JavaScript bridge and has no compiling to native machine code. Both frameworks are fast enough to satisfy speed requirements as both use hot reloading to make instantly visible changes.

Ecosystem

When you consider the developer ecosystem, both frameworks have corporate backing by giants such as Facebook and Google. React native is quite mature and was launched before Flutter; hence boasts of a richer ecosystem. Flutter may be relatively new, but Google releases new packages consistently, helping it stay in the race.

Features

Features or layouts are a bit tricky if you are going for a defined approach to choose either one framework. React Native contributes to user experience in terms of built-in UI components, and Flutter comes with widgets. Widgets may be more in numbers, but they are not adaptive, unlike UI components. Thus, your app will look the same on both OS unless configured manually to make changes.

Deployment

Flutter gains the upper hand here. The deployment procedure is simple as you can do this with the command line and extra tools if needed. In contrast, React Native requires third-party solutions for deployment.

Having considered all these factors, it’s up to the developer to decide whether to go for react native or flutter app development. They must be able to define what features best suit their app and what they can and cannot compromise. To conclude, it is impossible to state which framework is objectively better and why. Both frameworks have pros and cons, therefore, the choice should depend on the goals, requirements, and experience.