Quick Summary :- It is quite a tricky decision to take when it comes to choosing any one out of the two web and app frameworks, Flutter Vs. React Native. This article will take you through the very basics of these two frameworks, starting with their architecture, features, and then to the pros and cons.
Technological advancements are rapidly shifting businesses on online platforms. This has lead to an increase in demand for mobile applications. The global mobile application market size was valued at USD 208.5 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach USD 777.4 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 14.4% from 2023 to 2032.
Also, an average smartphone user opens a minimum of 10 apps per day. This has no doubt put pressure on developers to come up with the most effective web solutions.
And to develop a mobile application that fulfills the demands of the clients, serves the target audience, and also stands out in terms of functionality, it becomes necessary for a developer to choose the correct framework. We at eSparkBiz will help you understand the difference of flutter vs React Native in this blog so that you as a developer can choose the best framework for your app development.
Flutter App Development: Build Fast, Perform Natively
To develop and create fast and native applications for mobile as well as web with flutter, Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit. Initially developed by Google, flutter is now managed by ECMA standard and is based on the Dart programming language.
Top Companies that opted for flutter for app and web development –
Google, Square, BMW, eBay, Alibaba Group.
Programming language
The programming language used to develop flutter-based applications is called Dart. It is an open-source client optimized general programming language developed by Google. If you are well versed with Java and C++, then it would become easier for you to work on Dart.
Although, this language is not that popular among the developers as JavaScript is their major preference.
Flutter Architecture
Flutter comes with a package of in-built components that has all the technologies required to develop mobile apps. It uses the Dart framework with a Skia C++ engine and does not need any bridge or medium to interact with the native modules.
The layered architecture of Flutter consists of the following layers-
Embedder –
Embedder’s programming language depends on the platform being used. For iOS Objective-C or Objective, C++ is used, whereas for Android Java, and C++ are used. The embedder acts as an entry point and contains native plugins. It performs functions like render surface setup and thread setup, along with managing the message event loop.
Flutter Engine-
It is the core of Flutter that enables rendering support for all the flutter applications. C++ is the language used in this engine and it is mainly used to implement flutter’s libraries, API, animations, graphics, plugin architecture, etc. This layer also focuses on rendering, frame scheduling and pipelining, managing dart runtime, text layouts, and asset resolution.
Dart Framework-
Developers use the Dart framework to interact with Flutter. Since flutter has a layered architecture, this framework also consists of different layers.
The key elements in this framework section are foundational classes, widget and rendering layer, services like animation, painting, and gestures, and libraries (Material and Cupertino).
Additionally, the widget layer helps you in defining reusable classes whereas rendering helps in dealing with layout operations.
Exclusive Features
Hot Reload
While developing an app, a major issue faced by developers is the time getting consumed to see the change on screen whenever an update is made in the code.
With Flutter’s special features called “Hot Reload”, you can render a change in sub-seconds. This feature saves the time of the development team along with the cost.
Minimum and single codebase
Flutter uses a single codebase for app development on different platforms like Android or iOS. Thus it saves time for the developers and makes the procedure much easier to build apps on different platforms that give the experience of native-app in terms of its functionality.
Also, since the language used in Flutter is Dart, the amount of coding needed is comparatively less than other SDKs. It consists of JIT and AOT that improve the overall performance and speed up the startup time.
Flutter UI/UX
Flutter framework has a unique Material design, UI components, API access, scrolling, a huge set of libraries. The widgets are highly adaptable that allows you to render the UI across different platforms like iOS and Android.
Flutter being enriched with a vast set of components and libraries emits the need for third-party libraries. Thus ensuring a rich user experience.
Flutter Installation
Depending on the platform, flutter can be installed by downloading the binary code from Github. In the case of Windows or macOS, you first need to download the installation bundle(Zip file) of Flutter SDK.
Post which, you can add flutter to the “PATH” variable. Further, you can run the flutter doctor and also finish the android set-up in very simple steps.
Pros of flutter-
- Hot Reload
- Ready-made widgets
- Single codebase for multiple platforms
- Saves time and develops the apps much faster
- Fewer efforts and time are required in testing
- User-friendly interface
- Minimal coding needed
- Ensures security and scalability
Cons of flutter –
- Dart language is not that mature and popular
- Third-party libraries are absent
- File sizes are comparatively larger
A Quick Comparison
Here’s a detailed comparison table between Flutter and React Native, based on the provided information:
| Feature | Flutter | React Native |
| Developed By | Google (Now managed by ECMA) | |
| Programming Language | Dart | JavaScript |
| Popularity of Language | Less popular than JavaScript; easier for Java/C++ devs | Highly popular and widely adopted |
| Architecture | Layered (Embedder, Engine, Dart Framework) with no bridge | Flux architecture using JS Bridge between JS and Native threads |
| UI/UX Design | Rich set of customizable widgets, Material & Cupertino design support | UI focused, but relies heavily on third-party libraries |
| Code Reusability | Single codebase for Android, iOS, Web | Single codebase for Android & iOS |
| Performance | Fast, uses Skia engine; no bridge improves performance | Slower than Flutter due to bridge; GPU-accelerated UI helps responsiveness |
| Hot Reload | Yes, very fast (sub-seconds) | Yes, but slightly less seamless than Flutter |
| Third-party Library Support | Minimal need; built-in rich components | Heavy reliance on third-party libraries |
| Community Support | Growing rapidly | Mature and vast community |
| Installation | Via GitHub SDK + PATH setup | Uses Node Package Manager (NPM) & HomeBrew (macOS) |
| UI Rendering | Renders directly using Skia | Uses native components via bridge |
| App Size | Generally larger | Larger than native, similar to Flutter |
| Debugging & Testing | Better performance; less testing required | Debugging can be inefficient; longer testing times |
| Scalability & Security | High, with minimal coding | Good but relies on external tools for optimization |
| Top Companies Using It | Google, BMW, eBay, Alibaba, Square | Facebook, Pinterest, Airbnb, UberEats, Skype |
React Native App Development: Learn once, write anywhere
React Native is a mobile application framework to create robust applications for different platforms like android and iOS. This framework uses the JavaScript language and was introduced by renowned organization Facebook.
Top Companies that opted for React Native for their mobile app development –
Facebook, UberEats, Pinterest, Airbnb, Skype
Programming language
JavaScript is the programming language used by React Native developers, which is basically a client scripting language. It is used to make the web pages dynamic in nature. As per the stack overflow 2020 developer’s survey, JS is one of the most popular programming languages for the past 13 years.
This is the reason why it is much easier to gather a team of React Native developers.
To create user interfaces, JavaScript or JS uses a library known as React. Thus, if you hire react native developers the entire work is done via this library while developing web and mobile applications.
Also Read : React Native vs Ionic: Which One You Should Opt For?
React Native Architecture
The architecture is based on a pattern, namely Flux. For client-side web applications development, Flux is being used by Facebook. Flux is focused on the unidirectional flow of data and is responsible for handling the MVC model. Also, React native uses the JS bridge for communicating with the native modules. It is composed of the following components-
1. Actions-
It is a method that triggers a dispatch or helps the data to pass onto the dispatcher.
2. Dispatcher-
A mechanism having no intelligence of its own and is responsible for managing the data flow is known as a dispatcher. It functions as a callback registry in all the stores. All the modifications in the store are made whenever the dispatcher sends the actions to them via registry callbacks.
3. Stores-
Stores are responsible for managing the data and keeping a particular state of the application. It also makes updates in the application state in response to an action event. Typically, a store is a place that contains the application’s state and logic.
4. Controller views-
Controller views react as per the change events, takes the new states/data from the stores, and sends it to the descendants or child components in the data tree. It also stores the logic required to create actions.
The entire functioning of the React Native app is based on three sections called JavaScript Thread, a bridge, and a Native Thread.
Since the coding of both the threads is done in different languages, a bridge is needed to enable bi-directional communication between these threads.
JavaScript Thread-
The point where the placement and compilation of the JS code take place is called the JavaScript Thread. When the user starts the app, this code stored in the thread starts running.
Native Thread-
This thread is responsible for the smooth functioning of the User interface. In this thread, the execution of native code takes place.
React Native Features
Strong developer community
The developer community of React Native is vast since it uses the JavaScript language for programming. Along with this, it also requires a small team of developers as there is no need for different teams of Android and iOS developers. Also, to learn react-native, there are many repositories having tutorials, articles, tools, and materials on learning react native.
UI Focused
Since the apps developed by using React Native are Graphics Processing Unit Oriented, it ensures creating an app that is better in performance than CPU-oriented apps. Thus being focused solely on the UI design, the apps developed by react native are more responsive.
React Native UI/UX
Unlike Flutter, React Native is not that rich when it comes to UI components and libraries. It also relies on third-party libraries for ios based mobile app development like NativeBase.
Although there are some components and libraries available for the react-native users like React Nreact natative Elements, Native Base Components, and Shoutem UI components.
React Native performs UI updates through native elements but for multiple platforms, a third-party app is always needed in React Native app development.
React Native Installation
React Native framework makes use of Node Package Manager for its installation procedure. Since Node Package Manager is easily understood by Javascript developers, it would require other developers to learn the functioning of NPM. For installing React Native for macOS, another package manager named “HomeBrew” is also required.
Pros of React Native-
- Works with the most popular language, i.e., JavaScript
- Vast community support
- Single codebase for multiple platforms
- Cost-effective
- Easy to learn technology
- Supports third-party libraries
- NPM installation
Cons of React Native-
- Bigger apps than native
- Fewer components
- Inefficient debugging
- Doesn’t speed the testing time duration
- Fragile UI
Conclusion
We have provided you the major differences between the topmost competitive frameworks for app development. Both of these frameworks have their own share of pros and cons.
It all depends on the purpose, budget, time, and team members you have to select from both of these frameworks. Depending on your requirements and the target audience, choose the correct framework with the help of the differences provided in this blog.
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What is the best practice for mobile app development, Flutter or React Native?
Both frameworks are best suited for their side, with the choice on the project. Flutter has better UI consistency and faster dev with a lot of widgets, while React Native has better community, mature support and smooth native integration.
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Is Flutter faster than React Native?
On average, Flutter outperforms because it natively compiles to code. React Native uses the JavaScript bridge, so you could experience slight delays in performance for complex apps.
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Which one costs less to work on app development?
Development expenses are also based on the type of project and the experience of the developer. But Flutter might have the fewest bugs and fastest time to market, thus, it might even save costs down the road.
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Is the code the same for ios and Android in both Flutter and React Native?
Yes, both let you write once and approach both ios and Android. Flutter gives a more consistent experience while React Native may need to undergo more platform-specific tweaking.
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Which has a better library of UI design tools?
Flutter is renowned for its extensive library of customizable widgets, which provide developers more control over UI. React Native uses native components, and many of those will require modification for each platform.
