DuomlyThis article was originally published at: https://www.blog.duomly.com/flutter-vs-react-native-comparison/
This article will compare and contrast Flutter and React Native to determine a better framework. This time, we'll be looking at ecosystem support, community size/activity level, and other aspects to see how they compare.
Flutter and React NativeNative are two of the most popular frameworks for building mobile apps. They both have pros and cons, but which one is the better option for your project?
1. What is Flutter?
Before comparing Flutter vs React Native, let's first look at Flutter. Flutter is Google's mobile UI framework developed in 2015 that allows developers to create iOS and Android apps from a single codebase. This means you can make an app using Flutter and run it on Android and iOS without making any changes.
Flutter uses Dart programming language for developing user interfaces which makes Flutter distinct from other frameworks such as React Native or Ionic.
Flutter comes with many widgets and tools like Flutter components, Flutter gallery, and Flutter doctor, making Flutter an extremely productive framework.
Flutter supports hot reloading, which means that you can see the changes in your app as you make them without rebuilding your project.
Flutter also has built-in support for unit testing, making it one of the best mobile app development frameworks. That's because writing tests is critical if you want to have a successful project.
The Flutter community has been working really hard to improve flatter's performance.
So now, flatter apps don't use up much memory space on a device and run smoothly even on older devices.
2. What is React Native?
React Native is a JavaScript framework developed by Facebook for building native iOS and Android apps from a single codebase. It also allows developers to create mobile apps using web development technology, making it an extremely popular choice among companies with existing web apps.
This means you can build new features on the React Native app while maintaining the old parts of your website. All of that without maintaining two separate codes for each of them.
Although React Native was initially developed by Facebook, numerous other companies like Walmart, Tesla Motors, UberEats, Instagram, etc. They use React Native to develop their apps as well.
3. How do they compare to each other?
Now that we've discussed Flutter and React Native in detail, let's compare Flutter with React Native in Flutter vs. React Native comparison 2022 in the following areas:
Cost
Flutter and React Native both have a one-time cost which means you only need to pay when starting your project. Let's compare this to Ionic or other cross-platform frameworks. Flutter is much cheaper than them because Flutter uses Google's material design widgets which are free.
React Native has a fast-growing community right now, so hiring developers for React Native should be easier than hiring Flutter developers.
Community size/activity levels
Both Flutter and React Native have many contributors and an active community. That makes it easier for beginners like us to develop solutions to our problems.
Since React Native is backed by Facebook, the framework has a lot more resources at its disposal than Flutter, which means we'll find answers much faster should we hit any problem while working on Flutter.
Flutter has been available for a few years now. Google is actively working on Flutter, which means Flutter will have a much better future than React Native, which is just starting out right now.
Ecosystem
Flutter uses widgets from the material design library, whereas React Native doesn't have such tools.
Flutter deals with only mobile platforms while React Native deals with a web as well, which means we'll have to learn web development if we want to develop apps for both platforms simultaneously without switching from a Flutter to React Native, which is a lot of extra work.
Both Flutter and React Native have been used by several companies for creating mobile apps.
4. Which companies use React Native? (Examples)
React native is used by Facebook, Airbnb, Walmart, UberEats, Instagram, Netflix, Discord, the official Google I/O app, and many more.
5. Which companies use Flutter? (Examples)
There are a lot of companies using Flutter. Ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, a Chinese multinational conglomerate specializing in e-commerce, retail, technology, etc.
Flutter has been used by mega organizations, including banks such as Bank of Montreal or TD Canada Trust, and popular travel websites like KAYAK.com & Expedia.com.
6. Growth
React Native was first released in 2015, while Flutter was first released in 2017. Flutter has more than 135k+ stars compared to React Native, with around 101k+ stars. Flutter is backed by Google, which means Flutter can grow much faster than React Native.
7. Which one should I choose?
There are several things we need to consider before choosing any particular framework.
For example:
- What is your app idea
- How much money you're ready/willing to invest in
- Whether your team knows Javascript or not
Now that you know the difference between Flutter and React Native, you can decide which framework you should choose, Flutter or React Native, for your next project.
Whichever framework you pick, one thing is clear Flutter and React Native are both great options for developing cross-platform mobile apps.
8. What about performance?
As Flutter uses widgets from the material design library, Flutter's performance might get better over time. Still, it lags behind React Native in this aspect because React Native uses its own set of components.
Flutter doesn't have good support for gestures right now, whereas React Native has excellent gesture handling built into it.
Flutter takes advantage of hardware acceleration on Android while supporting only a limited number of devices on iOS.
So we'll have to use Flutter only for apps that don't require iPhone support.
Flutter's rendering takes place on Flutter's side rather than in device hardware which means Flutter apps are much more responsive than React Native apps.
Flutter is better suited for simple tasks, whereas React Native handles complex things like game development better than Flutter.
9. What kind of projects can be built with them
Flutter & React Native are great options for mobile development. Both Flutter and React Native can be used for building mobile apps, websites, or even chatbots.
You can use Flutter to build iOS apps. In contrast, Flutter's web support is currently experimental, but it will soon be production-ready.
React Native works well for complex apps like games, but Flutter is better suited for simple projects. With that being said, developing an app with Flutter or React Native depends on what kind of app idea you have.
Flutter & React Native both excel at communication between components & state management, which makes them ideal choices to create composable social apps.
10. How difficult are they to learn for an experienced programmer?
Flutter apps are built using Flutter's own modern programming language, dart, similar to javascript.
On the other hand, to play with React Native, you will need Javascript knowledge.
Flutter has a steep learning curve & developers need at least 6 months of experience to build high-quality apps. At the same time, React Native is easy to learn if you already know Javascript.
Existing ReactJS developers will be able to pick it up quickly.
11. Flutter vs React Native: Conclusion
After considering all the factors mentioned above, you can now decide how to choose Flutter or React Native for your next app development project depending on your team size, budget, and requirement.
Suppose I had to pick one of them. In that case, I'd go with Flutter(but not always) because it has a cleaner API and comes from Google.
This means Flutter will have a bright future compared to React Native because React Native is dependent on Facebook, whereas Flutter has a better community.
Feel free to contact us. We will be pleased to help you with your next project's technology and development!
Thank you for reading, \
Radek from Duomly
