Which Is Best For Your Mobile App: React Native Or Flutter?

Imag­ine a life with­out mobile apps. 

Sounds dif­fi­cult? Well, over 6 bil­lion smart­phone users on the plan­et agree with you! 

Research by App Annie (Source: App Annie) shows that 204 bil­lion mobile appli­ca­tions were installed in 2019!  Not only that, but the app’s rev­enue has reached $33 bil­lion in the first half of 2022.

You should con­sid­er React native or Flut­ter app devel­op­ment if you plan to launch an iOS or Android mobile app. After choos­ing the best plat­form for your mobile app devel­op­ment, you can search for good React Native devel­op­ment ser­vices or Flut­ter devel­op­ment companies.

And you will need to make a choice: whom to hire Flut­ter or React Native developer. 

And that’s where we will help you! 

Here, we have cre­at­ed a head-to-head com­par­i­son between React Native and Flut­ter. By the end of the arti­cle, you will have a clear idea of who won. 

Let’s find out which is best for your mobile app–React Native or Flutter!

What Exact­ly Is React Native Frameworks? 

Face­book’s React Native is an open-source JavaScript Mobile Frame­work that spe­cial­izes in devel­op­ing mobile apps for Android and iOS. The basis of React Native is Reac­tJS in the JavaScript library, which helps cre­ate a user inter­face per­fect for mobile applications.

There are two ways in which React Native can be used in mobile app development: 

1. Direct­ly inside the Android and IOS apps
2. Build­ing the React Native app from scratch. 

Some mobile appli­ca­tions run­ning on React Native include Face­book, Pin­ter­est, Skype, and others.

Advan­tages of Using React Native

1. 1. Reusable Codes Enabling Native Look and Feel
      The React Native frame­work allows devel­op­ers to build cross-plat­form appli­ca­tions that work across Android and IOS.

1. 1. Live Reload
      The app devel­op­ment and test­ing in React Native are easy, as the changes are avail­able right after the code is saved. Fur­ther, there’s no issue with code com­pi­la­tion that makes it more accessible.

1. 1. Com­po­nent Flexibility
      React Native offers native com­po­nents like Text, View, and Image that change when the app is shift­ed to an Android or iOS device.

What is the Dis­ad­van­tage of Using React Native?

1. Unfore­seen Life Cycle
   React Native is a new­er con­cept in the mar­ket, due to which its life cycle isn’t accu­rate­ly assessed. Thus, this fac­tor can become a problem.

2. A New­er Concept
   Appli­ca­tions on React Native are built on JSX, which can be dif­fi­cult and chal­leng­ing for devel­op­ers, espe­cial­ly freshers.

A brief on Flutter

Flut­ter has been in the mar­ket longer than React Native; pre­vi­ous­ly, it was called the Sky. How­ev­er, the new ver­sion of Flut­ter was released in 2019 after imple­ment­ing changes per the user’s feedback. 

The plat­form is open-source and reflects Dart pro­gram­ming lan­guages like C++. For devel­op­ers, Flut­ter gives them an edge in work­ing with fea­tures like geolo­ca­tion, cam­era, stor­age, net­work, and a lot more.

Advan­tages of using Flutter

1. 1. Easy Cod­ing
      Flut­ter does not require heavy cod­ing; thus, devel­op­ers need­n’t depend on using Javascript.

1. 1. Renewed Fea­tures
      Flut­ter comes up with renewed fea­tures for func­tion­al­i­ties and mech­a­nisms for cus­tomiza­tion and excel­lent user experience. 

Dis­ad­van­tages of using Flutter

1. 1. Needs Improve­ment
      Despite Flut­ter’s attempts to improve it requires a lot of updates in future versions. 

1. 1. Restric­tions
      Due to lim­it­ed third-par­ty libraries in Flut­ter, devel­op­ers have to use short­cuts. This increas­es the dif­fi­cul­ty in devel­op­ing apps quickly.

Fac­tors To Con­sid­er While Choos­ing the Right Mobile Appli­ca­tion Devel­op­ment Platform 

Check out the sig­nif­i­cant fac­tors while choos­ing the best plat­form for your mobile app devel­op­ment (React Native and Flut­ter as com­par­i­son sources).

1. Devel­op­ment Time

   Flut­ter: 

   Flut­ter uses two dif­fer­ent pro­gram­ming lan­guages for IOS and Android, so the appli­ca­tions are sep­a­rate­ly devel­oped on both plat­forms. When a code is changed, the entire process of build­ing the app has to start again.

   React Native: 

   React Native sup­ports the devel­op­ment of appli­ca­tions on the two giv­en plat­forms — iOS and Android with the help of native UI ele­ments. Instead, it runs on JavaScript for both Android and IOS. The best part about it is hot reload­ing. And hence, due to rapid devel­op­ment, React Native pro­vides a faster time to mar­ket than Flutter. 

   Who wins: React Native wins on the devel­op­ment time.

2. Mobile App Cost

   To deter­mine the cost of Rect native mobile app devel­op­ment, you must know the:

   • Fea­tures you are look­ing for in the mobile app
   • Total num­ber of react native devel­op­ers to hire
   • Devel­op­ment budget 

   React Native: 

   As per reports, the cost of devel­op­ing mobile appli­ca­tions on React Native can be reduced to 30–35% due to:

   • React com­po­nent reusability
   • Sin­gle code base
   • Eas­i­er maintenance
   • Takes 33–35% less devel­op­ment time than the Flut­ter app

   Flut­ter:

   Since Flut­ter, devel­op­ers have to work on two sep­a­rate UIs for Android and iOS, the cost is high­er than React Native. 

   Who Wins: React Native takes an edge over the cost fac­tor of mobile app development.

3. UI/UX Expe­ri­ence

   React Native

   In React Native, devel­op­ers can reuse and write plat­form-spe­cif­ic codes. How­ev­er, the chal­lenge in React Native devel­op­ment is cre­at­ing a com­plex user inter­face that involves nav­i­ga­tion, seam­less cus­tom views, pat­terns, tran­si­tions, and animations. 

   Flut­ter: This is not the sce­nario with Flut­ter since the design­ing for Android app devel­op­ment and iOS devel­op­ment are done indi­vid­u­al­ly. This helps in a bet­ter UI/UX expe­ri­ence with Flutter.

   Who wins: Flut­ter wins over the fac­tor of UI/UX design­ing in mobile app development.

Read also: Is React Native Smart Choice Over the Hybrid for Mobile App Devel­op­ment in 2021?

4. Scal­a­bil­i­ty 

   React Native: React Native gives devel­op­ers an inbound oppor­tu­ni­ty to process more work in an app and launch updates with high functionality. 

   Flut­ter: Flut­ter pro­vides lim­it­ed oppor­tu­ni­ty for scal­a­bil­i­ty, as updates and func­tions are lim­it­ed. Thus, scal­a­bil­i­ty in React Native is much high­er in com­par­i­son to Flutter.

   Who wins: React Native wins over the fac­tor of Scal­a­bil­i­ty in mobile app development.

5. Per­for­mance

   React Native: React Native is asso­ci­at­ed with JavaScript, mean­ing there is only one ded­i­cat­ed device thread. It can­not accom­mo­date mul­ti­ple asyn­chro­nous activ­i­ties at one time. Fur­ther, the frame­work isn’t very sup­port­ive of mul­ti­ple func­tion­al­i­ties and mod­ules. As a result, it’s dif­fi­cult to build com­plex apps with native device features.

   Flut­ter: For Flut­ter, the Android lan­guage is Java or Kotlin, which works bet­ter for advanced hard­ware devices, and fea­tures and ini­ti­ates heavy cal­cu­la­tions. Devel­op­ers find it easy to cre­ate appli­ca­tions using native technologies.

   Who wins: Flut­ter wins here due to its abil­i­ty to accom­mo­date com­plex app functions.

6. Sup­port and Maintenance

   Flut­ter: Main­tain­ing appli­ca­tions with Flut­ter can be time-con­sum­ing and tedious. It comes from the fact that there are two ends to focus on and resolve indi­vid­u­al­ly. Devel­op­ers have to focus on Android and iOS ver­sions sep­a­rate­ly to remove bugs and address users’ issues. 

   React Native: With React Native mobile appli­ca­tion devel­op­ment, there is only one end for both React Native iOS and Android apps. Hence, resolv­ing bugs is easy and less time-con­sum­ing. Thus, app main­te­nance is more man­age­able with React Native than with Flutter. 

   Who wins: React Native wins here due to easy maintenance.

These were the cri­te­ria on which we tried to study the effi­ca­cy of React Native and Flut­ter. Now, in the lat­ter part of the blog, let us look at the con­clu­sions drawn from the factors.

When Should You Go For Flut­ter Mobile App Devel­op­ment Services?

Choose Flut­ter app devel­op­ment ser­vices when you want to:

• Keep your app UI cen­tered and build MVP quick­ly to launch it 
• Build a util­i­ty appli­ca­tion that relies on native fea­tures. For exam­ple, play­ing videos in the appli­ca­tion’s back­ground or an app that can con­trol the brightness
• Devel­op IoT-based apps
• Pay more focus to the native user experience
• Aim to devel­op mobile apps that per­form at a speed of 60 to 120 FPS 
• Have a tight budget 

When Should You Go For React Native Mobile App Devel­op­ment Services?

Choose React Native App Devel­op­ment over Flut­ter as an ide­al solu­tion when you:

• Wish to cre­ate pro­gres­sive cross plat­forms apps like Face­book and Insta­gram that will grow over time. 
• You are bound due to bud­get. Since React Native works with a sin­gle code­base, you won’t need to devel­op apps for mul­ti­ple plat­forms. More­over, one set of JavaScript devel­op­ers can work on the app with­out requir­ing native app developers.
• React Native is high­ly flex­i­ble, which means mul­ti­ple devel­op­ers can work on a sin­gle project simul­ta­ne­ous­ly and com­plete the project in record time! 
• React Native frame­work has sev­er­al short­cuts which improve the pro­duc­tiv­i­ty of devel­op­ers. For exam­ple, with hot reload­ing, devel­op­ers don’t have to reload the entire app if they make changes. And when devel­op­ers are pro­duc­tive, you can bet that the app will turn out well. 

Why is React Native a Pre­ferred Devel­op­ment Plat­form for Startups?

React Native is a preva­lent one among start-up com­pa­nies. Below are the rea­sons that prove it:

1. 1. Tar­get Var­ied Audience 

      With React Native, the appli­ca­tion can be launched on both plat­forms, i.e., iOS and Android. 

   2. Bud­get

      When you don’t want to invest heav­i­ly, React Native becomes an ide­al choice as the devel­op­ment cost is low.

   3. Com­bat­ing Launch Dilemma

      The app launch time is one occa­sion that must be decid­ed by look­ing at and study­ing the market’s struc­ture. With React Native, the launch is easy as it hap­pens simul­ta­ne­ous­ly on both plat­forms with­out delay.

React Native Vs. Flut­ter!: What’s Your Choice?

React Native has gained pop­u­lar­i­ty because it is easy to use and is flex­i­ble to sup­port the devel­op­ment of var­i­ous web app solutions.

How­ev­er, Flut­ter is a strong com­peti­tor to React Native, and it indeed has a promis­ing future backed by Google.

If you decide to go with React Native choose React Native App Devel­op­ment Com­pa­ny. This is a lead­ing native app devel­op­ment ser­vice firm in the USA with a strong case study port­fo­lio and a team of expe­ri­enced developers.