Flutter Vs React Native : Which Framework Is The Best Choice For Cross-Platform Development In 2023?

Comparing Flutter and React Native: A Comprehensive Analysis

Introduction

In the rapidly evolving landscape of cross-platform app development Flutter and React Native have emerged as the top contenders for the past two years, as per a Statista report. Their increasing adoption rates suggest that they might soon surpass their competitors. These frameworks play a crucial role in reducing Time to Market (TTM) for developers, enabling the swift delivery of interactive business applications, and boosting overall productivity.

This article aims to guide decision-makers in selecting the most suitable tech stack for their projects by providing an in-depth comparison between Flutter and React Native.

1. What is Flutter? – An Overview

Flutter, an open-source framework developed by Google, employs the Dart programming language. Launched in May 2017, it has witnessed significant growth, becoming a preferred choice among developers. Flutter stands out as an improved UI toolkit, allowing the creation of cross-platform apps with a single codebase. Its unique features include expressive and flexible user interfaces with native performance. According to Statista, over 39% of developers globally use Flutter for cross-platform mobile app development.

Use Cases of Flutter

• Flexible UI with high-level widgets
• Apps with material design
• Apps that function with OS-level features
• MVP mobile applications
• Advanced OS plugins with simple logic
• High-performance apps with the Skia rendering engine
• Reactive apps with vast data integration

Widespread Apps Created With Flutter

• Alibaba
• BMW
• Google Ads
• eBay
• Reflectly
• Tencent

2. What is React Native? – An Overview

React Native, an open-source framework led by Facebook, operates on JavaScript. It gained peak popularity in 2018 and primarily focuses on native rendering for Android and iOS apps. Facebook’s substantial backing, with almost 50 dedicated developers, has contributed to its widespread adoption. React Native utilizes XML-Esque markup and JavaScript (JSX), making it accessible for JavaScript developers, as the codebase is predominantly written in JavaScript. In 2020, approximately 42% of developers reported using React Native for cross-platform development.

Use Cases of React Native

• Simple cross-platform app development
• Quick prototype applications
• Apps with easy UI
• Apps that look almost native with responsive UX
• Apps with reusable components
• Apps that work with synchronous APIs

Popular Apps Created With React Native

• Facebook
• Walmart
• Bloomberg
• Instagram
• SoundCloud
• Wix

3. Advantages and Disadvantages – Flutter vs React Native

Advantages of Flutter

Pros of Flutter

• Hot-reloading: Stateful Hot Reloading updates logic instantly without changing the application state.
• Rich widgets: Feature-rich widgets follow Material style (Android) and Cupertino (iOS) guidelines.
• Seamless integration: Easily integrates with Swift or Objective C for iOS and Java for Android without code rewriting.
• Quick shipping: Fast iteration cycles reduce build time, requiring only one codebase for testing.
• Codesharing: Developers write and share codes across platforms effortlessly, providing exceptional support for MVP development.

Cons of Flutter

• User interface: Animation support and vector graphics may have rendering issues.
• Operating platforms: Unable to create apps for Android Auto, tvOS, CarPlay, or watchOS.
• Updates: Inability to push patches and updates immediately into applications.
• Tools and plugins: Third-party libraries and tools ecosystem is not as vast as React Native.

Advantages of React Native

Pros of React Native

• Native rendering: Uses host platform to render APIs natively, without HTML or CSS markup.
• On-par performance: Renders application markup to mimic reliable UI components, maintaining high performance.
• Reactive components & ecosystem: Third-party UI libraries form a rich ecosystem, with stateful components automatically re-rendering with each state change.
• Debugging: Offers accessibility to intelligent debugging tools and error reporting.
• Hot-reloading: Hot/Live reload allows developers to add new codes directly into a live application and see changes without a project rebuild.

Cons of React Native

• User interface: Native UI components might not be supported by native rendering of APIs, affecting the user interface.
• Tools and plugins: Third-party libraries for higher implementation may prove to be outdated.
• Performance: Lack of support for multi-processing and parallel threading results in slow performance.
• Debugging: Chrome debugger can be inconvenient for updating and examining codes and UI components accurately.

4. React Native vs Flutter: A Detailed Comparison

Performance

Flutter Performance In a Flutter vs React Native performance comparison, applications developed using Flutter demonstrate superior performance. Flutter runs faster due to the absence of JavaScript bridges for communication between native modules, saving development time. The performance check reveals that Flutter sets its animation standard at 60 FPS, ensuring smooth running performance.

React Native Performance React Native exhibits slower performance compared to Flutter, attributed to the JavaScript bridge used for communication between native modules. The number of frames reported in a simple React Native app is higher, and in some cases, the app took more than 16 milliseconds to render, causing stammering. Third-party libraries like Proguard can be employed to improve application performance.

Learning Curve

Flutter’s Learning Curve for Developers Flutter is relatively easy to learn, with Dart as its programming language. Developers with basic skills in native Android or iOS development find it accessible. The documentation for Flutter is reported to be smoother than that of React Native.

Learning Curve of React Native for Developers Learning React Native is straightforward for those experienced in JavaScript. However, mobile developers transitioning from web development may find it comparatively challenging. Over time, React Native has improved its learning curve with free libraries, extensive documents, and tutorials.

User Experience

Flutter’s Capability to Provide the Best User Experience Flutter offers an enriched user experience with basic tools, elements, and custom-built widgets. The generational garbage collection feature in the Dart programming language helps avoid UI clutter and animation lag, enhancing the user experience.

React Native’s Ability to Provide the Most Effective User Experience React Native adapts to the evolving Android Material Design and iOS style changes. Ready-made React Native UI tools, such as Shoutem, React Virgin, and ANT design, contribute to creating reliable native designs across platforms. Elements like ScrollView, modal components, activity indicators, snap carousels, and pagination components significantly improve UX.

Community

The Community Around Flutter Flutter’s community, since its launch in 2017, has gained traction. While the number of skilled contributors is 662+, which is lower than React Native, the GitHub repository boasts over 132k stars. Platforms like Slack, Discord, Gitter, Reddit, Flutterday, and Stack Overflow connect developers globally.

The Community Around React Native React Native, launched in 2015, has experienced fast-growing community support. With over 2,207+ skilled developers actively sharing experiences, it provides ample resources for even novice developers. Platforms like Meet Up, Slack, Discord, Telegram, Reddit, and Stack Overflow offer opportunities for collaboration and learning.

5. React Native or Flutter Framework: The Ultimate Fact

While Flutter excels in performance, engineering expense, app compatibility, and future market trends, React Native takes the lead in availability of qualified developers. The choice between the two has a direct impact on the time to market, influencing businesses to select the right technology for application development.

6. Guide for the Reader

React Native is suitable for applications with basic functionality, especially in well-established companies with a large client base. It is an excellent choice for native-looking applications when time to market is crucial. On the other hand, Flutter is ideal for new projects involving complex computations and animations. It is recommended for early-stage software companies to build visually appealing proof-of-concept with essential functionality on a budget before scaling.

7. FAQs

Why Should One Use Flutter or React Native? Both Flutter and React Native offer reusable code, cost reduction, faster deployment, and support for various platforms. They are designed to meet the current business requirements.

Is Flutter or React Native Forward-Looking? Both frameworks, backed by Google and Facebook, receive regular updates to adapt to changes, making them future-oriented and likely to remain favorites among developers.

Flutter and React Native, Which One Has Better UI/UX? For a better user interface, Flutter is recommended as it comprises native UI elements, device access APIs, navigation, and testing. React Native relies on a vast number of third-party libraries for accessing most native modules.

8. Conclusion

In conclusion, both Flutter and React Native have their pros and cons. React Native is excellent for developing native and cross-platform apps, while Flutter excels in making multiple iterations and MVP applications. Many industry experts believe Flutter is the future of Android and iOS mobile app development. A checklist is provided to assist in choosing the most suitable technology for your tech stack.