React Native VS Flutter

The mobile app industry is constantly on the rise and we believe that this trend will only continue to grow. The luxury of accessing all needed and wanted information with just a few finger taps is what people want and need today. Yet, the question we ask is - what to use to create useful and great mobile applications? In this article, we decided to compare React Native and Flutter.

An interesting fact is that both React Native and Flutter have been designed by the biggest nowadays tech giants - Google and Facebook, but it's true that they have some crucial differences as well. And while a lot of developers worldwide still find it hard to decide whether to use React Native or Flutter, we wanted to make it all easier for you and that's why we made this comparison and a walkthrough.

Statistics from 2022 show that developers used this software framework more.

It's best to take a look at the statistics from the previous year to see what developers all around the globe tend to choose for creating outstanding apps.
Data shows that 32% of developers used React Native, while 46% of them opted for Flutter when it comes to developing. What makes these two frameworks so powerful is that developers can cross-platform apps with a single code.
Those who are not familiar with native apps also said that it's much easier to create the needed changes within hybrid applications.

What are the biggest advantages & disadvantages of using Flutter?

With the purpose to compare two software frameworks, we had to choose one to start with. The best thing to do when it comes to comparing frameworks is to list their advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of using Flutter include:

-Faster apps;
-Comes with dozens of widgets;
-Building web apps is much easier with Flutter 2;
-Amazing UI;
-Faster applications - this is of crucial importance nowadays;
-Clear and greatly structured documentation;
-Community;
-The ability to bring the same UI for various devices.

Okay, now we understand why so many developers love Flutter. It literally brings anything you may need in the process of developing an app, right? Well, let's take a look at some of its main disadvantages now.

Cons of using Flutter as a software framework:

-Limited sets of tools;
-Large applications;
-It's non-native.

This is why React Native may be your number-one choice.

An open-source framework developed back in 2015 by Facebook is based on Java Script. Developers choose it due to these reasons.

Advantages of using React Native:

-JavaScript;
-Makes coding time shorter and simpler;
-Apps for multiple platforms;
-Code reusability;
-Active community that's growing on a daily basis.

Cons of using React Native:

-Same as Flutter - it's not native and larger apps;
-There are no innovative components you may need in the developing process;
-A few limited choices;
-Abandoned libraries;
-Abandoned packages;
-The need for UI testing.

As seen, React Native definitely has a bit more disadvantages than Flutter.

What are some of the main differences between React Native and Flutter?

We already said that React Native is based on JavaScript and uses Flux architecture, while Flutter uses Dart and a 2D graphic rendering library.

When it comes to the documentation guides we already mentioned above, both are great, but Flutter's is still a bit better.

Flutter is also known for offering more compatibility due to the fact it's capable to utilize the widgets, while React Native does it through third-party components.

When it comes to speed, due to the fact that React Native uses JavaScript, it's a bit slower than Flutter.

The winner is...

It's definitely Flutter. We recommend developers start learning Dart because not many people know it and how to use it. Such knowledge probably pay you off in the future. 

Check out our comparison between React and Angular.