Flutter vs React native in 2023 – Which is Better For You?

Mobile app development has witnessed a revolution with the emergence of new technology stacks. In 2022, as per Statistica, 32% of developers used React Native and 46% of the developers used Flutter. So, there’s a reason why you’re contemplating when it comes to mobile app development. To be frank, everywhere you go in the realm of mobile app development you’ll see this debate – Flutter vs React native and Which is the better one for your project. We’re here to explain exactly that!

As a reliable Mobile App Development Company we have ample experience to help you to choose between Flutter and react native to make the right decision. Before further ado, let’s quickly jump onto the topic at hand.

Flutter
Flutter was developed by Google and launched in May 2017, completely breaking the sphere of mobile app development. Flutter utilizes its Dart as its programming language. It stands out for its performance, compiling code directly into ARM code, resulting in fast app startups and consistent performance across platforms. The framework’s rich widget library and hot reload feature facilitate quick iterations, making development efficient.

React Native
Facebook introduced react native a bit earlier than Flutter to us in March 2015. Flutter uses JavaScript as its primary programming language. Flutter enables developers to build apps for iOS and Android from a single codebase. Makes it cooler, yes?! While react native provides commendable performance, its reliance on javascript for native component interaction, might have a slightly higher performance load compared to Flutter.

Flutter – One of the flutter’s key strengths is in its exceptional performance. With ahead-of-time compilation, flutter eliminates the need for a javascript bridge, resulting in smoother animations and faster app responsiveness. Its hot reload feature enables mobile app developers to view changes instantly, making the whole development process nice and easy. Moreover, flutter promotes a high degree of reusability, allowing developers to reuse components across different parts of your application.

React native – React native’s performance is noteworthy but slightly impacted because of the reliance on JavaScript. However, optimising through native modules can help your overcome these obstacles. The framework offers a robust development environment with its hot reload functionality, enabling developers to see changes in real time. React native’s component-based architecture fosters code reusability, promoting productivity for the developers.

Flutter – Flutter stands out in its consistent and highly customizable UI. The framework’s vast widget library provides developers with a wide array of design elements that can be tailored to create visually appealing and uniform interfaces across platforms.

React Native – React native allows developers to create the precise interface you want by using components that directly map to native UI elements. While achieving pixel-perfect consistency might require additional effort, React native provides an immense amount of flexibility to let developers craft impressive user interfaces.

Flutter – Flutter can be used across multiple platforms, including iOS, android, web and desktop applications, using Flutter web. Its single codebase for multi-platform development simplifies the process and ensures consistency across different devices.

React native – React native was initially focused only on these two – iOS and android. But now, React native expanded its support through the efforts of the community, like React native for web. While its primary focus still resides on mobile platforms, efforts to extend its capabilities to other platforms continue to evolve.

Flutter – Despite being relatively younger, Flutter has been rapidly gaining traction within the developer community. Backed by Google, it offers extensive documentation, a growing ecosystem, and consistent updates that contribute to its development and adoption.

React native – Comparatively speaking, React has a more mature ecosystem with a larger community with a plethora of third-party libraries and resources that you can count on. This is possible mostly because of the fact that React native is the bigger sibling here. The active community involvement ensures continuous development, support, and a wide range of solutions for various challenges.

Flutter – Flutter drops in the update for the developers very frequently which will offer exciting features for you to dream on. But there’s only one catch but you can overcome that too! That is the adoption period. You have to adapt to the changing technology as the updates get rolled out. But you wouldn’t have to worry about it if you had the best mobile app development company at your side!

React native – react updates are more geared towards stability and it drops in the cool features occasionally. However, since it relies on outside libraries and modules, with the help of an expert, you can use this to your advantage to make any specific changes to your site or application that you want. Remember – React might lack in the update frequency but excels when it comes to flexibility,

Flutter – Flutter’s testing tools are a trusty toolbox for the developers to comfortably rely on. Flutter driver and widget testing make it feel like you’re equipped for any job. Developers can run tests easily, like double-checking everything before a big event. This helps maintain the app’s health and stability across different devices.

React Native – Just like in Flutter, you have Jest and Enzyme in React Native to check your mobile application. These are comprehensive and cover a lot, so you might need technical knowledge to get your testing done and this is especially relatable for larger projects.

Choosing between Flutter and React Native depends on multiple factors that include project requirements, developer expertise, and most importantly your desired trade-off between performance, and productivity that Flutter has and the immense choice and flexibility that React Native has.

To summarize in simple words, Flutter excels in performance, UI consistency, and a streamlined development process. It's an ideal choice for those seeking high-performance applications with a unified look and feel across platforms.

On the other hand, React Native offers a more mature ecosystem, flexibility, and a larger community base, where you can use it to your full potential. It's a preferred option for projects where a broader range of third-party resources and easier adaptation for JavaScript developers are essential.

Before you settle for the tech stack between Flutter and React Native for your Android app development, analyze the needs of your project. Do you want to have a lot of flexibility? Maybe, React Native could be the option for you. Or do you prefer THE best performance for your website? Then, Flutter could be the one that you should chase after.

If you need any help with choosing the best tech stack or with your Android app development, don’t hesitate and give us a call! We’re here to walk you through every step of the development journey!