The mobile app development market is growing at a rapid pace, especially post covid times. The new lifestyles and ways of communication have raised the demand for mobile applications. But developing apps for both Android and iOS means having two different skillset and development teams. Thanks to a cross-platform mobile app development framework that made it easy to develop an app for both platforms using a single code base.

Cross-platform mobile app platforms like Google’s Flutter and Facebook’s React Native are the two hottest topics to debate when it comes to choosing hybrid app development platforms. Deploying an app on Google Play Store or App Store is every business’s wish. But shipping your app in the market and choosing the right technology stack is the first step that needs to be taken wisely. When we talk about two renowned platforms React Native and Flutter, it is hard to find the most suitable one for your project. Before deciding on anything, let’s know both of them in detail.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source cross-platform mobile app development framework that utilizes Dart language. Both Dart and Flutter are introduced by Google and the business giant uses this framework to create robust and big-size business apps with ease. The initial alpha version was released in May 2017. Later on, Google timely releases new versions at intervals every month. Due to its rich capability of cross-platform app development, Flutter has gained massive popularity in less time. Also, it has birthed numerous famous mobile apps that are getting appreciated today.

Key Benefits of Flutter App Development Platform

• Same UI and business logic in all platforms
• Faster code development
• Increased time-to-market
• Close to native app performance
• Enormous UI customization potential
• Separate rendering engine
• No reliance on platform-specific UI components
• Suitable for any target platform
• Minimizes the security risks

What is React Native?

React Native was launched by Facebook. It is the most preferred and well-known cross-platform mobile app development framework. Initially React Native was launched as an internal hackathon project at Facebook back in 2013 and later released to the public in 2015. React Native uses JavaScript and simplifies iOS and Android app development with a single codebase.

Key Benefits of React Native App Development Platform

• Community-driven framework with ample support
• Accelerates development and reduces the time to market
• Code reusability and cost-saving
• Same code for both Android and iOS development
• The live reload feature
• Fast and gives the best performance on mobile
• Offers a flexible development environment
• Third-party plugins
• Pre-developed UI components are available

React Native vs. Flutter: Which is the Best Cross Platform Mobile App Development Framework?

Both Flutter and React Native are renowned frameworks for cross-platform mobile app development. But each of them offers different benefits. Let’s compare React Native and Flutter as per the eight different criteria:

1. Programming Language

React Native uses JavaScript to create user interfaces. It becomes easy for web developers to work with react Native due to the robust popularity of JavaScript. According to Stack Overflow 2020 developers’ survey, javaScript has been the highly preferred and chosen programming language among developers for consecutive eight years in a row. It simplifies training the development team to work on React Native.

On the other hand, Flutter uses the Dart language launched by Google. As a client-centric language, Dart offers tremendous benefits. Moreover, Dard enables the assembling of famous OOP languages like C++ and Java. If you have knowledge and understanding of any of these to OOP language then you can easily get command over Flutter. On top of that, according to Stack Overflow, Dart is more loved by developers than JavaScript.

2. Architecture

In React Native, JavaScript creates a bridge between the native language and JavaScript. It works via two-sided communication by sending JSON messages. Due to the asynchronous message transmission, it requires a smooth user interface for the application. Although, React Native app development has a probability of a lagging UI in the end because the bridge affects the rendering speed.

In contrast, Flutter is a complete package, it does not need any bridge to communicate with native components. It includes everything within itself like the Cupertino framework, material design, etc. The massive Flutter advantage makes the app more predictable and robust to perform on different platforms as compared to React Native.

“Is Flutter Better than React Native?
Setting up your environment for Flutter app development is simple as compared to React Native. The hot reload feature offered by Flutter work in a better way. The framework includes excellent tools for profiling, widget tree inspection, and debugging.“

3. Installation and Configuration

React Native offer an easy configuration process. You can install React Native CLI globally via the command line. Keep it noted that, you will be required to install Yarn and NodeJS as a package manager. Whereas, Flutter can be installed by downloading the binary for a particular mobile platform followed by adding it to your PATH variable. Thankfully it can be easily done by command line. When it comes to installation, Flutter goes one step down as its installation process is not as straightforward as React Native.

4. Development Tools and Documentation

React Native has decent documentation. Sadly, it’s a cup of tea for experienced developers who are already familiar with JavaScript. For instance, important features like navigation aren’t well-documented. Moreover, finding information about building native libraries can be troublesome.

As compared to React Native, Flutter includes a rich set of documentation. It offers in-depth guides in video and graphics format. The best part is that Flutter has various tools like Flutter inspector and debugger that help in the mobile app development process.

5. User Interface

Due to the JavaScript bridge, React Native renders the native components for individual platforms. The user interface gives shape to the look and feel of the mobile application. The most promising thing about React Native is that it offers readymade elements that act as a building block of an app. Unfortunately, there is a disadvantage as well. For instance, it’s difficult to replicate complex UI in a React Native app. Flutter offers UI widgets packaged within itself, that simplifies native mobile app development. It eliminates the need for a third-party library as it has a large set of framework widgets. Besides, Flutter apps are constant across all platforms.

6. Developers’ Productivity

React Native enables code reusability across all platforms. Even more, there are many libraries developed by the development community that can be utilized as building blocks to fasten the mobile app development process. Moreover, React Native has a hot reload feature that shows app changes without recompiling them. On the other hand, Flutter has hot reload features as well that simplify the app iterations and receive feedback instantly. Flutter offers fast app compilation.

7. Community Support

Having large community members matters when it comes to an open-source mobile app development framework and React Native has all of that. It is the best cross-platform mobile app development framework that was launched by Facebook in 2015. It has gained huge support from many developers and cross-platform mobile app development companies. Comparatively, Flutter has a smaller community than React Native. Later on, Flutter gained massive popularity among tech professionals and grew at a rapid pace.

8. CI/CD Support

React Native does not support a CI/CD solution for Google Play Store and Play Store delivery. Unfortunately, only manual deployment for Google Play is documented. You need a third-party solution to automate your app deployment process. On the other hand, Flutter has a well-documented guide to developing and deploying the app on Android and iOS platforms. It enables the app deployment using CLI (Command Line Interface). In case of any advanced customization, it allows third-party integrations.

Who’s the Winner?

In the React Native vs. Flutter battle, there are no winners or losers. Each framework has its pros and cons. Some tech experts assume that Flutter is the future of mobile app development. But, React Native will remain the toughest contended with some remarkable benefits and impressive React Native-based apps accessible in the market.

In short, your choice should depend upon your project specification and budget. You can opt for Flutter app development if the app’s user interface is the key priority for your project. But if you have enough budget to build a complex app, it is recommended to go with React Native app development.