React Native Or Flutter - Do You Know Which One Is Worth Your Money, Time, And Effort?

With the technological market being flooded with various kinds of mobile apps, it is safe to say that there is perhaps an app for every need today. This advancement is partly due to the numerous kinds of app development frameworks that are available for a mobile app development company today. Although there is no shortage in app development frameworks, the hottest debate that is currently reigning in the developer world is between React Native and Flutter.

React Native and Flutter are two of the most popular app development frameworks that a mobile app development company would use to create apps. These two are relatively close to each other in their functioning and are therefore often compared to each other. In this article, we wish to add to this debate between React Native and Flutter by looking at their respective functioning principles, benefits, drawbacks, and other such features.

Understanding React Native And Flutter

Before we decide which of the two app development frameworks is better, let us first understand them in depth. This will then help a company to understand the nuances of the two app development frameworks better. Once a company understands these nuances, it will enable them to hire dedicated developers according to their needs.

1. React Native:

React Native is an app development framework that uses a JavaScript library called React to build native apps for mobile devices. It was built and released by Facebook, Inc. in 2008 and is available as free open-source software for a React Native development company to use. It uses JavaScript, a widely-used programming language, as its base language.

2. Flutter:

The Flutter app development framework is essentially a UI toolbox that can be used to build apps that are natively compiled. It is also free open-source software that is only three years old and was released by Google, Inc. It is used to develop web apps, mobile apps, and desktop apps and is written in a programming language called Dart.

React Native can be used by a React Native development company to create apps for platforms such as Android, iOS, AndroidTV, Windows, and so on, while Flutter can be used to write apps for Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, and so on.

2. How Do They Work?

React Native:

React Native, as mentioned above, works alongside a JavaScript library. With the help of this library, companies can hire dedicated developers and use this app framework to build cross-platform apps, by using most of the same codes or completely new ones. React Native, due to its reliance on a JavaScript library, is equipped to know which section of the code needs to be rewritten for which operating system software. This then allows developers to work swiftly and smartly.

Flutter:

On the other hand, the Flutter app development framework works by providing app developers with a series of components such as the Dart platform, the Flutter Engine, the foundation library, and some design-specific widgets to create natively compiled apps. These sections, especially the widgets, are customizable and allow the use of a single codebase for various software platforms at the same time.

3. Pros And Cons

React Native can be used by companies that hire React Native app developers to build apps for a number of platforms from a single base. This means that it requires only one codebase to maintain all apps. It is, therefore, cost-efficient and flexible in its usage.

Flutter, too, requires only a single codebase for numerous apps on different platforms in order to be maintained. It allows developers to see the changes they make in real-time, using features like ‘just-in-time’ that is unique to Flutter.

On the other hand, both these app development platforms are relatively new and might require some additional knowledge from app developers. However, Flutter scores less than React Native in this regard because its language, Dart, is younger than JavaScript and still quite unfamiliar to a lot of programmers.

React Native Or Flutter?

The opinions of app developers are divided on which framework is better. However, there are some key factors that make React Native the better choice:

Programming Language:

React Native, as was mentioned above, is written using JavaScript while Flutter uses Dart. JavaScript is a very well known programming language whereas Dart is still quite new. This means that when a company decides to hire React Native app developers, they will end up saving some time because developers will not need to use a new and unfamiliar programming language to create an app.

Easy to Migrate:

In recent times, there have been a lot of companies that have been trying to migrate to native apps. This is mostly because, for companies that started off with a website, the use of mobile apps has become more efficient now. In order to migrate, they now need an app framework that will make this transition easy. According to top development companies, such migration is made easy with the use of React Native. Further, when companies wish to migrate to native apps using React Native, it also ensures that the app now looks like and feels like a native app that allows ease of access to its users.

Developers availability:

With the fact that React Native is quite widely adopted by developers, it is far easier to find good developers that can create apps using this framework. On the other hand, given how new Flutter is, it will be harder to find equally experienced developers for this framework. Further, for anyone who has used mobile apps that are created using React Native, the user experience is generally more efficient than with Flutter.

Conclusion

As we can have seen here, React Native certainly does seem to have an upper hand over Flutter in certain aspects of app development. Nevertheless, choosing either of these app development frameworks must only be done after having a detailed discussion with as many app developers as possible, in order to know which one would be the most suitable framework for your needs.

Tarun Nagar is the Founder & CEO of Dev Technosys, a global ranking Web and Mobile App Development Company. With 10+ years of experience of enabling then Startups which are now global leaders with creative solutions