Flutter vs. React Native: A comparison

Key takeaways:

• Flutter offers a highly customizable, widget-based UI framework with seamless cross-platform performance and real-time “hot reload” capabilities.

• React Native leverages JavaScript and provides a flexible approach to building cross-platform mobile apps with rapid updates and a strong ecosystem.

If you’ve been in the tech industry for some time, you’ve probably heard of Flutter and React Native and how widely they’ve been used for mobile app development.

Flutter and React Native are used for mobile app development and serve the same purpose. That is why the comparison—Flutter vs. React Native—is often seen. Which Framework is better, or what are the differences between them? These are some of the commonly asked questions that new learners may ask. If you plan to learn to code or create your app, you might be in the same boat.

There is no need to worry or get tangled in these questions anymore because we’ve curated this blog to answer all your questions regarding the difference between Flutter and React Native.

Flutter vs. React Native: Key differences#

Let’s quickly look at the differences between Flutter and React Native.

Performance is a critical factor in mobile app development, and both Flutter and React Native are optimized for it. However, for apps with complex UI or heavy animations, Flutter is often the better choice, while React Native excels in cases where integrating with existing native apps or rapid deployment is a priority.

Let’s dig in Flutter, and see how it is valuable for us.

What is Flutter?#

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit created by Google. It was first introduced in 2015 and has since gained popularity as a framework for building natively compiled mobile, web, and desktop applications from a single codebase. Flutter allows developers to write code in Dart programming, which is compiled into native code for each platform. This allows high performance and a native look and feel of applications across various platforms.

Flutter is used to develop applications for various devices, including mobile phones, desktops, laptops, and the web. It is a versatile tool for developers targeting multi-platform app development with minimal code changes. Its ability to create applications that run smoothly and look native on various platforms has made it a popular choice among developers and companies worldwide.

Flutter benefits#

Flutter is widely used for app development, and the list of Flutter’s benefits goes a long way. It has some unique features that differentiate it from React Native. Let’s discuss some Flutter benefits.

• One of Flutter’s critical features is its widget-based architecture. Widgets are the basic building blocks of a Flutter app’s UI. Flutter provides a rich set of predesigned widgets that follow Material Design (Google’s design language) and the Cupertino style (iOS’s design language).

• Flutter’s hot reload feature is particularly beneficial during the development process because it allows developers to see the effects of their changes in real time without restarting the app.

• Flutter is the only mobile SDK that doesn’t need to use a bridge to communicate between the app and the platform, which allows the application to run efficiently.

• Flutter code can be run on iOS and Android, so you don’t have to write the code multiple times.

Flutter applications#

Flutter is widely used among businesses because of its versatility and capability to create high-quality, performant apps across different platforms. There are many well-renowned Flutter applications, and you must’ve used a few once in your lifetime.

• Alibaba: Alibaba is one of the largest commerce companies, and it uses Flutter for its mobile application to enable a seamless shopping experience for its millions of users worldwide.

• Google Ads: Google Ads uses Flutter for a seamless and user-friendly interface. This app gives users access to their Google Ads accounts on the go, allowing them to view campaign stats, update bids and budgets, get real-time alerts and notifications, and much more. 

• Hamilton: The official app for the Broadway musical Hamilton uses Flutter to offer a range of features, including lottery entries for show tickets, merchandise purchases, and exclusive content related to the musical.

What is React Native?#

React Native is an open-source mobile application framework created by Facebook (Meta) that enables developers to build natively rendered mobile apps for iOS and Android using JavaScript and React. It was introduced in 2015 and combines the best parts of native development with React, a best-in-class JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

The core philosophy behind React Native is “Learn once, write anywhere.” This approach allows developers to use the same codebase or parts for iOS and Android applications, significantly reducing development time and resources compared to developing separate apps for each platform using their native languages (Swift/Obj-C for iOS and Java/Kotlin for Android).

React Native benefits#

According to a recent survey, around 42% of developers use React Native, while only 39% choose Flutter for app development. This indicates that React Native is more famous for app development, so let’s explore some benefits of using React Native.

• Like Flutter, developers don’t have to worry about writing the code multiple times because Flutter code supports both iOS and Android.

• One of React Native’s key features is “hot reloading,” which allows developers to instantly see the result of the latest changes without recompiling the app, speeding up the development process.

• React Native has a large and active community that contributes to a vast ecosystem of libraries, tools, and plugins that extend its capabilities and make it a popular choice among developers for mobile app development.

React Native applications#

React Native is commonly used to create mobile applications. Many popular applications are built using React Native. Some big names in the list for React Native applications are:

• Facebook: Facebook, the creator of React Native, incorporates web features and APIs into its mobile application. It also employs React Native for the Instagram app, showcasing its versatility and effectiveness in app development.

• Uber Eats: The Uber Eats app uses React Native to provide a seamless experience for users across various platforms. This enables features like restaurant menus and the ordering system, which are crucial to the app’s functionality.

• Pinterest: Pinterest has also integrated React Native for mobile app development. React Native allowed Pinterest to improve its efficiency by reusing code across iOS and Android platforms, accelerating feature development and deployment.

Flutter vs. React Native: Which framework should you learn?#

Flutter and React Native have their specifications, benefits, and limitations. However, if you are planning to learn to code and are confused about whether to start with Flutter or React Native, you should consider a few things.

If you know JavaScript, then learning React Native would be a better choice. If you plan to start from scratch, we suggest learning React Native because it is easy. Educative offers multiple beginner courses for learners to learn Flutter or React Native. Explore today and begin your mobile app developer journey.

Happy learning!