React Native is Meta’s open-source framework for building scalable, cross-platform mobile applications. On the other hand Flutter is Google’s open-source framework for building cross-platform mobile apps.

Both frameworks are platform-agnostic and help developers build high-performance mobile apps that can rival native Android or iOS apps:

  • Both help developers save time, money, and effort by letting them build multi-platform products from single, unified codebases
  • Both were ranked in the top 10, most popular cross-platform frameworks list by professional developers in Stack Overflow’s 2023 survey

Now, the question is, React Native or Flutter: which framework should you choose to build your next app? To answer this question:

  • Let us break down the React Native vs Flutter debate by walking you through the experience of working with both frameworks
  • We’ll highlight all the core differences between the two and explain the best use cases for each

Let’s start with Meta’s open-source JavaScript framework – React Native.

What is React Native?

What is React Native?
  • React Native is a powerful open-source framework developed by Meta in 2015
  • It allows developers to use JavaScript to build mobile apps for both Android and iOS
  • JavaScript is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world
  • The prospect of using JavaScript to build, scalable cross-platform mobile apps with a unified codebase is very appealing to developers

History and Background of React Native

  • 2012 – Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges that relying on HTML5 for Facebook’s mobile app was a mistake
  • 2013 – Facebook engineer Jordan Walke discovers a method to generate native UI elements for iOS using JavaScript

This breakthrough became the foundation for what would become React Native in 2015:

  • In January 2015 the basic React Native framework was introduced at the React.js Conference
  • By March 2015, React Native was open-sourced and available on GitHub

React Native quickly gained traction among developers due to its ability to streamline the development process:

  • Letting developers use a single codebase for both iOS and Android saved them a ton of resources
  • Soon, notable companies such as Microsoft, Instagram, and SoundCloud adopted React Native to accelerate their development cycles
  • In 2025, React Native is one of the leading frameworks for mobile app development in the world
  • Millions of developers use it and it  boasts 2+ million downloads per month on Node Package Manager

How the React Native Framework Works

How the React Native Framework Works?

The React Native framework’s architecture operates on three main threads:

JavaScript Thread

  • This is where your app’s logic runs. It handles user interactions and processes events
  • Think of it as the brain of your app. When the app is launched, the JavaScriptCore executes this code

Shadow Thread

  • The Shadow Thread operates in the background
  • This background thread is responsible for calculating the layout of your components
  • It uses a layout engine called Yoga to determine how elements should be arranged on the screen
  • This engine constructs a tree of layout information based on the properties defined in the JavaScript code

UI Thread

  • This is the main thread that actually displays the user interface
  • It is the only thread that can manipulate UI elements directly
  • The thread is responsible for rendering the user interface
  • It directly manipulates UI elements and responds to user interactions

React Native’s Code Rendering Process

  • React Native developers write components using JSX, which looks similar to HTML
  • When this code runs, React Native creates a tree structure called the React Element Tree
  • This tree represents how your app will look and includes all the properties and styles you defined
  • The Shadow Thread takes this tree and calculates how each component should be laid out using Yoga
  • It generates another tree called the Shadow Tree, which contains layout information for each component
  • The JavaScript Thread communicates with the UI Thread through a mechanism known as the Bridge
  • This bridge serializes data (converts it into JSON) and sends it back and forth between threads
  • Once the layout calculations are complete, the UI Thread receives this data and updates the actual display on the device
  • This final step ensures that users always see what they expect based on their interactions

Recent updates to the framework have introduced a new architecture that enhances communication between JavaScript and native code through a more efficient JavaScript Interface (JSI). This reduces overhead and improves performance.

The introduction of Turbo-Modules and Fabric Renderer also allows for lazy module loading and smoother UI updates, improving the apps’ responsiveness during user interactions.

Key Features and Advantages of React Native

Code Reusability

  • One of the standout features of React Native is code reusability
  • This means that developers can write about 90% of their code once and use it for both Android and iOS applications
  • This approach significantly speeds up development time because you do not have to duplicate your efforts
  • When updates or bug fixes are needed, you can make changes in one place, and those changes will apply to both platforms

Native Performance

  • Unlike some frameworks that render content in web views (essentially a browser inside the app), React Native communicates directly with the device’s native APIs.
  • This direct interaction results in smoother animations and faster load times, making the app feel more responsive and fluid
  • Users enjoy an experience that closely resembles using a fully native app

Fast Refresh

  • Fast Refresh enhances the development experience by allowing developers to see changes in real-time without losing the app’s state.
  • When you make changes to your code, Fast Refresh updates the app almost immediately
  • You do not lose your current app state when making code changes, which is especially useful for testing new features
  • If there is a mistake in your code, Fast Refresh will let you fix it without restarting the entire app

Component-Based Architecture

  • React Native uses a component-based architecture, which is key to its flexibility and scalability
  • Developers create small, reusable components that represent parts of the user interface (like buttons or text fields)
  • This modularity ensures consistency across the application since components can be reused wherever needed
  • Managing a project becomes simpler because changes can be made at the component level without affecting the entire application

Access to Native APIs

  • React Native allows developers to access native device features directly (camera, GPS)
  • Developers can use JavaScript to call native functionalities without needing complex workarounds
  • This capability allows for richer user experiences

Community and Support

  • The React Native community is vast, and active, and provides numerous free resources for developers
  • With over 50,000 contributors on platforms like Stack Overflow, there is a wealth of knowledge available

New Architecture Enhancements

  • The introduction of features like Fabric and Turbo-Modules will further improve the performances of apps built with RN
  • These features allow developers to make synchronous UI updates across apps directly with JavaScript  

Limitations of React Native

  • For very complex animations or heavy computational tasks, React Native may require additional optimization or native modules
  • Some functionalities of RN may depend on third-party libraries, which could lead to compatibility or maintenance issues
  • New developers may find it challenging if they are unfamiliar with JavaScript or React

Popular Apps Built with React Native

What is Flutter?

What is Flutter?
  • Flutter is an open-source framework developed by Google 
  • It allows developers to create visually appealing and natively compiled apps for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase using the Dart programming language
  • The framework has seen explosive growth since its inception, with the number of Flutter apps on the Google Play Store skyrocketing from a few hundred at launch to over 1 million in 2023

History and Background of Flutter

Just like React Native, Flutter was created to address the challenges of cross-platform app development:

  • Flutter 1.0 was officially launched in December 2018 with a small but growing developer base
  • Flutter 2.0 was released in March 2021 with support for web applications
  • Between 2018 and 2021, the number of Flutter apps on the Play Store crosses 150,000
  • Flutter 3.0 was released in May 2022, with more advanced features to improve the developer experience
  • By July 2023, the number of published Flutter apps reached over 1 million  

How the Flutter Framework Works

Flutter operates on a unique architecture and a new programming language unlike React Native which uses JavaScript:

Dart Programming Language

  • Flutter uses Dart, an object-oriented programming language developed by Google
  • Dart is designed for client-side development, making it ideal for building mobile apps

Dart code can be compiled in two ways:

  • Ahead-of-time compilation where the code is compiled into native machine code before the app runs (results in faster startup times)
  • Just-in-Time compilation where the code has ‘hot reload capabilities’ which allows developers to see the changes they make to the code instantly on the app, without restarting

Flutter’s Layered Architecture

Flutter’s architecture is divided into three main layers – the Framework, the Engine, and the Embedder:

Flutter Framework

  • At the core of Flutter is the concept of widgets
  • Everything in Flutter is a widget, including layout elements (like rows and columns) and UI components (like buttons and text fields)
  • Widgets are the building blocks of your app’s user interface

Flutter Engine

The Flutter engine is responsible for:

  • Rendering graphics
  • Handling input events
  • Managing communication between the framework and the underlying platform
  • The engine also includes a dart runtime that executes dart code and manages memory allocation efficiently

Flutter also uses Skia, an open-source graphics library that

  • Enables high-performance rendering of UI components directly on the screen
  • It allows for adding smooth animations and transitions to the UI

Embedder

The embedder layer interacts with the operating system to:

  • Provide platform-specific functionalities like input handling or rendering surfaces
  • Manage event loops to ensure that user inputs are always processed correctly

Rendering Process

The rendering process in Flutter involves several steps:

  • When you build your app on Flutter, you create a tree of widgets that represent your UI
  • The framework converts this widget tree into a render tree
  • This tree describes how each widget should be displayed on the screen
  • The render tree is then rasterized using Skia
  • Skia produces pixel data that can be displayed on the device’s screen at high frame rates (up to 60 FPS)

Key Features and Advantages of Flutter

Hot Reload Feature

  • One of Flutter’s standout features is ‘hot reload’
  • It allows developers to make changes to their code and see those changes reflected in real time without restarting the app
  • This significantly speeds up development time and enhances productivity by allowing quick iterations

Smooth Cross-Platform App Development

  • Flutter enables developers to write code once and deploy it across ios, Android, web, and desktop
  • You maintain one codebase for all platforms
  • All platforms can be updated simultaneously so that your app has consistent features across all devices

High Performance

  • Flutter compiles to native ARM code, which allows it to run ultra-smoothly on mobile devices
  • The Skia engine renders graphics quickly, achieving FPS of up to 120 frames per second on the latest devices
  • By minimizing the amount of code needed for development, Flutter helps optimize app performance while maintaining a rich UX

Quicker Time to Launch

  • Flutter accelerates the development lifecycle with features like hot reload
  • Developers can make changes and instantly see results without recompiling the entire app
  • This feature encourages experimentation and quick bug fixes

Access to Native Features

  • Developers can use pre-built plugins to access native device functionalities like camera, GPS, and sensors (without writing platform-specific code)
  • If needed, developers can also create custom plugins to extend functionalities further

Community and Support

  • The Flutter community is vibrant and rapidly growing.
  • Millions of developers use Flutter worldwide
  • There are numerous free resources available for troubleshooting and learning
  • Google regularly updates Flutter based on community feedback
  • Flutter now supports web apps and desktop environments like Windows and macOS
  • Ongoing improvements in rendering speed are being implemented through updates in the Skia engine
  • New plugins are being developed that allow easier integration with machine learning models for more intelligent apps

Limitations of Flutter

  • While Flutter apps perform well in most scenarios, they usually struggle to run highly complex animations without additional optimizations
  • Flutter apps tend to have larger file sizes compared to native apps due to the framework’s overhead
  • Developers new to Dart may face an initial learning curve

Popular Apps Built with Flutter

React Native vs Flutter Detailed Comparison

Native Performance:

  • While React Native performs well for many apps, it relies on a JavaScript bridge to interact with native modules
  • This can introduce latency and slow down performance, especially in larger, more complex apps that require heavy computational tasks
  • Flutter is better in terms of native performance
  • It compiles Dart code directly to native ARM code, which eliminates the overhead of a bridge for communication with native components
  • This results in smoother animations and faster rendering
  • On top of that, the use of the Skia graphics engine enables high-quality rendering directly on the screen
  • This allows Flutter apps to achieve frame rates of up to 120 FPS

Winner: Flutter due to its direct compilation to native code and superior rendering capabilities

Development Speed:

  • Flutter has a clear advantage here with its hot reload feature
  • This feature allows developers to see changes almost instantly without restarting the app
  • React Native also offers Fast Refresh, but it may not be as seamless as Flutter’s hot reload

Winner: Flutter 

Ease of Development:

  • Flutter’s widget-based architecture simplifies UI design
  • While many developers are familiar with JavaScript, React Native’s reliance on third-party libraries can complicate development
  • The need for knowledge of both React concepts and React Native components adds more complexity for newcomers

Winner: Flutter for ease of use through hot reload and rich sets of widgets

UI/UX Design Flexibility:

  • Flutter excels in design flexibility due to its extensive library of customizable widgets
  • These widgets adhere to Material Design (for Android) and Cupertino (for iOS) standards
  • They allow developers to create highly tailored UIs that appear consistent across platforms
  • React Native uses native components that provide an authentic look and feel but it does not offer as many creative options as Flutter’s extensive widget library

Winner: Flutter 

Creative Flexibility:

  • Flutter allows developers to implement custom animations and transitions easily with its rich set of built-in widgets
  • While React Native supports custom designs, the requirement to work with platform-specific components can restrict creativity in certain scenarios

Winner: Flutter for its comprehensive widget system

Community and Ecosystem Support:

  • With a longer presence in the market, React Native boasts a larger community with extensive resources, tutorials, and 3rd-party libraries
  • Flutter’s community is rapidly expanding but its repository of resources online isn’t as vast as React Native’s

Winner: React Native

Cross-Platform Capabilities:

  • React Native relies on some platform-specific components that may require additional adjustments for each platform
  • Flutter offers more seamless and low-effort cross-platform development in comparison

Winner: Flutter 

Platform-Specific UI Elements:

  • Flutter provides both Material Design and Cupertino widgets out of the box
  • This ensures that apps look native on both Android and iOS without any extra effort from devs
  • React Native uses native UI components specific to each platform
  • But, it requires slightly extra work to ensure consistency across devices (due to minor differences in design guidelines)

 Winner: Flutter’s built-in support for platform-specific designs

Code Reusability:

  • Flutter allows developers to reuse approximately 95% of their code across different platforms (iOS, Android, web)
  • React Native also supports code reusability but generally achieves around 90% reuse across platforms

Winner: Flutter for higher reusability rates across more platforms  

Pros and Cons of React Native

Here are the main advantages of React Native:

  • Allows for the cost-efficient development of apps for both iOS/Android from a single codebase, cutting down on overall development costs
  • The framework’s hot reloading and fast refresh features enable developers to speed up the development process
  • Approximately 90% of the code can be reused across platforms which saves time and simplifies maintenance
  • React Native apps provide native-like experiences by combining JavaScript with native UI components
  • RN has a vast developer community and the Internet is full of resources, libraries, and plugins

Here are some notable React Native limitations:

  • Over-reliance on a JavaScript bridge can lead to slower performances compared to Flutter or fully native apps
  • It relies too much on third-party libraries that may not always be compatible with the latest framework updates
  • Some native functionalities may not be fully accessible through React Native
  • Debugging can be more complex in React Native due to its need for bridging between JavaScript and native code
  • Developers not familiar with JavaScript or React may face a steep learning curve

Pros and Cons of Flutter

Here are the main advantages of developing with Flutter:

  • Fast development cycles thanks to Flutter’s hot reload feature
  • Allows developers to create visually stunning interfaces with ease
  • High-performance thanks to direct compilation to native code and Skia’s superior rendering capabilities
  • Supports building apps for iOS, Android, web, and desktop
  • Rapidly growing community with a rich ecosystem of plugins and packages

Here are the most notable Flutter disadvantages:

  • Flutter apps are larger than their native counterparts because the app package includes the Flutter engine and framework libraries
  • Flutter’s ecosystem still lacks the extensive range of third-party libraries available in React Native
  • Dart may present a challenge for developers not accustomed to it
  • Managing complex UIs can be challenging due to Flutter’s unique widget tree structure
  • Despite its popularity among developers, Flutter has not yet seen widespread adoption by large corporations

When to Choose React Native Over Flutter

JavaScript Expertise

  • If your team’s proficient in JavaScript and has prior experience with React, the choice is obvious
  • By choosing React Native, your team can leverage existing skills, use familiar tools and libraries, and hit the ground running

Need for Native UI

  • Developing an app that needs polished, platform-specific UI and UX design?
  • Choose React Native for its native components and give your app a more authentic look and feel

Rapid Prototyping

  • Are you creating a simple app with no complex designs or heavy computational tasks, quickly, as a proof of concept?
  • Use React Native’s extensive library of pre-built components for rapid and cheap prototyping

Integration with Existing Native Code

  • Does your project involve integrating with an existing native app or an existing codebase?
  • Do you have a legacy app that’s already built in native languages?
  • React Native can be used to incrementally adjust both Swift or Java codebases
  • Use it to modernize parts of your app without a complete rewrite

When to Choose Flutter Over React Native

High-Performance Requirements

  • Are you developing a gaming app, an IoT-enabled interactive dashboard, or any other complex app that relies heavily on animations/graphics?
  • Flutter’s architecture compiles directly to native code and uses the Skia graphics engine
  • It helps you create complex apps that deliver superior performances with ease

Custom UI Design

  • If your app requires a unique and customized UI, choose Flutter
  • Flutter’s extensive library of customizable widgets allows developers to defy standard platform designs
  • Use it to create intricate UI designs that aren’t bogged down by native components

Unified Codebase

  • Flutter’s architecture supports cross-platform development not only for mobile (iOS and Android) but also for web and desktop
  • If using the same codebase for all platforms and reducing duplication of effort are your priorities, choose Flutter

Future-Proofing

  • Looking for a framework that is more likely to evolve with time?
  • Flutter receives constant and continuing support from Google
  • If you are investing in long-term projects where updates and maintainability are critical, choosing Flutter will position your app well

Quick Iteration Cycles

  • Do you have an Agile approach to app development and need to iterate rapidly based on user feedback?
  • Flutter’s hot reload feature is perfect for such projects
  • It allows developers to maintain the app’s state while testing changes its code
  • Facilitating faster iterations based on real-time feedback is much easier with Flutter

Conclusion

We have laid out all the details. Now, it is time for you to answer. What do you make of the React Native Vs Flutter debate? Which one seems better for your upcoming app development project? You are probably thinking – which one will cost more? Do not worry – the average annual salary of React Native as well as Flutter developers is around the same (in the ₹5,00,000 per-year range). Cost is not the major factor. The more important thing to consider is compatibility with your project’s specific requirements.Contact us now for a free discussion on Flutter and React Native development services.