React Native Vs Ionic Vs Flutter – Best Fit for Mobile App Development

It is no big surprise that the App market is growing at a faster rate. It’s very difficult for developers to choose the right technology that can shape innovation in this tech-savvy world. Companies need to be aware of the latest industry trends to create a competitive edge in the market and adapt quickly.   

Today, Mobile apps are no more than a necessity. Millions of people start their day with mobile apps and end it by performing specific actions on it.   

If you expect hundreds of thousands of customers to download your mobile app, then your app should have the best user experience and scalability.   

But if your app fails to provide the best user experience, you might lose your potential customer.   

Improving the performance of an app is not limited to the speed aspect. Various factors are responsible for affecting the performance of an app. Some of them are user experience, the responsiveness of an app, devices, etc.  

Nowadays, entrepreneurs are interested in building cross-platform apps that deliver an exceptional user experience.    

There are various reasons as to why business owners prefer cross platform app development over native – 

• Cross-platform app development reduces your development time as developers do not need to write different codes to develop an app. The same code will work on android, IOS, and the web.   
• The development cost required to build native apps is higher than cross-platform app development. Developing apps through cross-platform saves your development cost by 30-40%  

• The maintainability cost of choosing cross-platform is less costly than native because of the same codebase.   

There are 3 popular languages that developers use to build cross-platform apps –  

1. React Native   

2. Flutter  

3. Ionic   

 In this blog, we will do a detailed walkthrough of which framework (react native vs. Flutter vs. Ionic) is best for developing cross-platform applications. 

1. React Native  

React native was introduced in the year 2015. It is an open-source framework that uses JavaScript as its programming language. React native enables the developers to build cross-platform apps that run on android, IOS, and Windows.   

React native provides native-like app performance. Facebook backs it. Various apps are built using react native framework, which includes Instagram, Facebook, Walmart, and Airbnb.   

2. Flutter   

Flutter was introduced in the year 2018 to create high-performing applications. Futter is backed by google so it is receiving massive support from the google team. Flutter is best at developing native-like applications. Flutter is a new player in the market in developing cross-platform apps that run on Android and IOS.   

Many top brands have leveraged the Flutter framework in developing scalable mobile apps including google pay, Alibaba, etc.   

3. Ionic   

 Ionic is an open-source SDK framework that was introduced in the year 2013. it was created by Drift co. Ionic framework is used for developing cross-platform apps using web technologies such as HTML 5 and CSS to run the app on android and IOS.   

Let’s understand the difference between these 3 frameworks to understand which is best for you for developing cross-platform apps. 

1. Programming language  

React native combines react framework with JavaScript to deliver native-like experiences. React uses JavaScript as its programming language. React native is mostly preferred by developers as it is widely used in developing hybrid apps.   

Ionic uses HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript to develop high-quality apps for android and IOS.  based on angular 

Flutter uses Dart, an object-oriented programming language to create cross-platform apps that work well on Android, IOS, and web.  Google developed Flutter. 

Which framework does the developers use? 

If someone has expertise in an object-oriented programming language, then Flutter is good to use. If an organization has angular developers, they can choose Ionic. However, if someone has skilled react developers, then they can develop apps using react native framework.   

2. Performance  

When it comes to developing mobile apps, the performance aspect can’t be ignored.   

React native uses native APIs and components to develop applications that are similar to native apps. The applications developed using react native framework provides high performance.  

Ionic delivers better performance. Though Ionic offers a native-like app appearance, it does not develop native-like Apps. Flutter is clear winner here.  

Flutter offers amazing performance (60 Frames per second) as it does not use JavaScript bridge to interact with native components.   

3. Popularity  

React native is a more popular framework as it has a large community of developers. The number of react developers is increasing as react native framework uses popular JavaScript libraries. Additionally, react native framework is used by tech giants such as Walmart, uber, tesla, etc.  

86% of web developers use ionic, but it has gained huge support from the developers’ community as it is the oldest framework than react native and Flutter. 

Flutter, a new framework that entered the market, has seen increased growth in the number of developers. Though it has a smaller user base, its growth of development is expected to skyrocket than react native and Ionic in the coming few years.   

Additionally, Flutter is backed by google and google uses Flutter to develop its applications. Flutter framework is used by many companies such as invoice ninja, eBay, google, etc.   

4. User Interface  

 React native uses React JS library and native UI controllers to provide a native-like experience. It uses third-party libraries as it does not have its UI components.   

The ionic framework does not make use of any native elements. It uses web technologies such as HTML and CSS to give a native-like appearance to apps.   

Flutter has its own UI components, widgets library, and UI rendering engine to create user-friendly apps that work well for multiple platforms.   

5. Pricing  

React native is an open-source framework because it allows engineers to use various libraries for free.  

Though Ionic is a free, open-source framework, it offers a pro version called Ionic pro. Ionic pro allows developers to expedite their development process.   

Flutter is also an open-source SDK that enables developers to use widgets and libraries for free. The cost of flutter developers ranges between $35-$65 per hour.  

6. Execution of code   

React native is based on this principle “Learn code once, Use it everywhere.” Developers need not worry about wasting time and efforts in creating separate codes for multiple platforms.   

One advantage that makes react native stand out from other frameworks is that it uses the JavaScript library with react to develop scalable apps.   

The ionic framework uses the principle of “one codebase and all platforms,” which means developers can build highly interactive apps quickly.  

Flutter uses Dart programming language, and Dart is an advanced and comprehensive language. Flutter has rich features and platform-specific APIs to create interactive mobile applications.  

7. Maintainability  

It becomes challenging to maintain a cross platform app that is developed through react native framework. However, it has a huge community support from developers. Different plugins are used to ensure proper maintenance of an app.  

Ionic has less community support than react native. It is difficult to do backward compatibility.  

Flutter, being the new framework, has huge support from google. It is easy to maintain an app using flutter framework as google regularly tests the app against new versions.  

8. Availability of developers  

The availability of react native developers is enormous.  React native framework has a community of more than 5000 app developers.  

Flutter uses Dart programming language. Dart is a modern and object-oriented language and there has been a rising trend as most developers wanted to become proficient in this. Object oriented developers can quickly learn Dart to develop cross platform apps.  

The demand for angular developers is fading away with an increasing popularity of Flutter. Therefore, it has become least popular choice for developers to opt in.  

Here is a quick breakthrough to understand how Flutter differs from react native and Ionic.

Wrapping up   

If you ask us, “What is the best framework for building cross-platform apps.” The answer is entirely subjective. There is no specific framework that works well for all businesses. Every framework (react vs. native vs. ionic) has pros and cons.   

If you want to build apps quickly, ionic would be the profitable option. It ensures fast development of apps but will compromise an app performance and efficiency. If you want to develop apps that provide better user interfaces, developer could either choose Flutter or react native. 

If you need help in creating cross platform development apps then connect with our experts for free one to one 30 min consultation call.

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