How Flutter is better than React Native

Mobile applications are now more common than ever. The rapid increase was driven mostly by smartphones becoming easier to use and less costly, and by mobile networks spreading to the point where we can stay online almost constantly. As a result, businesses are working harder to meet user expectations — building native-feeling products for both desktop and mobile, fast and easy to use, to stay competitive in a global market.

Let us analyse this properly. And it starts with one question.

What Exactly Is Flutter?

Google's Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit. It is used to create cross-platform applications from a single codebase for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Google Fuchsia, and the web.

If you want to build sleek mobile apps, you have a couple of technological options to choose from — especially if you want a single codebase for your project. One is Facebook's React Native, the younger sibling of React. The other is Flutter, developed and supported by Google.

The entire UI concept in Flutter revolves around widgets, provided out of the box in two styles that comply with Android and iOS design guidelines. Widgets define stylistic, layout, and structural elements — buttons, fonts, colours, menus, forms, and so on. They can be altered and combined into more complex elements, and custom widgets can be built from the ground up.

Flutter vs React Native: The First Impression

Interest in Flutter has increased dramatically and continues to grow. That said, because React Native uses a JavaScript and React approach, it offers a smoother learning curve than Flutter for most teams.

Flutter uses Dart — an object-oriented language that supports fixed typing and has a syntax distinct from JavaScript. If you have worked with Dart before, the Flutter learning curve is far less steep.

Staying on the technical side a moment longer: installing and running either the Flutter SDK or React Native is simple, and the documentation for both is on par with any other mature environment.

Why Teams Choose Flutter

1. Quick time to market

As a cross-platform technology, Flutter significantly decreases app delivery time. Because one codebase is reusable across two target platforms, it helps businesses cut delivery time and reach audiences on both Android and iOS at once.

2. Excellent user experience

Flutter, according to Google, enables the creation of adaptive and expressive UI — and it delivers on that promise. A large library of reusable, customisable widgets lets developers build stunning interfaces, while Flutter's native capabilities enable a seamless experience and top-tier app performance.

3. Cross-platform compatibility

Flutter was created to allow natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. In mobile development, that means one project running on both Android and iOS.

4. Google's backing

Flutter is free and open source, but it is backed by a tech behemoth. Google has a direct interest in keeping Flutter healthy: it makes Android development easier and, more importantly, opens the door to cross-platform work. A company that primarily builds iOS apps can ship to Android from the same code.

5. Savings on development costs

Working with a single codebase rather than two always reduces overall project cost, which makes cost-efficiency one of Flutter's most appealing features. Simpler development and shorter delivery time unlock real savings and increase the application's return on investment.

6. Even more cost savings

Lower development effort, faster project completion, and lower resource demand are all good things on their own. Add the fact that Flutter is free and open source, and project costs drop further compared with proprietary, licensed tools.

7. Excellent for an MVP

Flutter is an excellent technology for testing and assessing your app idea before committing to a full software rollout. The SDK lets you build a beautiful, performant MVP quickly and affordably.

8. A moderate learning curve

Flutter is admired for its clear documentation and pleasant developer community, which brings together professionals and newcomers who are eager to help, share knowledge, and publish working examples of their design models and development templates. That friendly atmosphere makes the technology accessible to a wide range of users.

Result: Faster delivery, lower cost, and a polished UI from a single codebase.

Cons of Flutter App Development

Flutter is still a developing framework. It has not been around very long, which is why it is not completely stable. A number of more or less serious issues remain, as does a lack of advanced features that take full advantage of operating system capabilities. Many libraries are still pre-alpha and show limitations next to their native peers (Google Maps, for instance).

Dart is also a bit immature. Compared with Swift and Kotlin it can feel like a step back — either it has fewer features, or the ones it has are not as well refined.

1. Building a Flutter team

Everything can look in order while working with the framework — until you try to staff it. Assembling a strong team of more than five Flutter developers is difficult and time-consuming. One of our banking clients ran into exactly this while moving to an in-house solution: the team came together, but it took a lot of work, and a dispersed team had to do for a while.

2. A scarcity of third-party libraries

App size is a real constraint. Not every user in the world has spare storage on their phone — many older devices force people to choose between an app and their photos and music. The larger file size does buy better runtime and performance, which makes the trade-off a question of who exactly you are building for.

3. Issues on iOS

Flutter was created by Google, which is why developers still worry about its iOS implementation. Building Android apps on Flutter is quick and enjoyable, because Google has a direct interest in fixing Android bugs fast.

One of the more recent Flutter updates delivered a pixel-perfect iOS appearance — the Cupertino widgets bring iPhone conventions into the framework. Those features were built against iOS 10 and iOS 11 and updated later, so parity has come in waves rather than all at once.

Verdict: Weighing the benefits and drawbacks, Flutter offers far more advantages than drawbacks for both business and development teams. You can absolutely build stunning, high-performance cross-platform apps with it — and hiring one Flutter developer costs less than hiring two native developers, one for Android and one for iOS.

What Exactly Is React Native?

React Native is a JavaScript-based open-source mobile application framework.

React Native is a useful framework for:

Development across multiple platforms

Building mobile apps with JavaScript

Shipping to both Android and iOS from a single codebase

Working with the same design model as React

Facebook, Instagram, and Skype are all well-known platforms built with React Native.

Pros of React Native

1. Essentially the same core workflow as Flutter

Hot Reload lets a developer inject new code directly into a running app, so changes are visible immediately without rebuilding. It also preserves application state, avoiding the risk of losing it during a full reload — a critical benefit for state-based frameworks, and a real speed-up for day-to-day development.

2. One codebase, two mobile platforms

As with Flutter, a single codebase powers two apps — one for Android and one for iOS. Better still, JavaScript lets you share code with web apps by building abstraction components that compile for each target platform.

3. It uses a widely known language

React Native runs on JavaScript, a language a huge number of developers already know, whereas Dart is still comparatively niche. If you prefer strong typing, you can use TypeScript instead.

4. Developer independence

React Native lets developers build cross-platform apps — nothing more, nothing less. The advantage is freedom: the developer picks exactly which solutions to use based on the project's requirements and their own preferences. How to handle global state, which router library to use, JavaScript or TypeScript, a custom UI library or one written in-house — all of it is your call.

5. Comparative maturity

React Native was officially released more than five years ago, so the Facebook team has had plenty of time to stabilise the API while fixing issues and solving problems. Ongoing work includes some genuinely exciting improvements, such as reducing app size.

6. A large, vibrant community

React Native has a sizeable developer community, plus an abundance of tutorials, libraries, and UI frameworks that make the technology easy to learn and quick to build with. On repositories that gather articles, tools and learning material, React Native still outpaces Xamarin, Flutter, and Ionic.

Cons of React Native

1. It is not truly native

As with any cross-platform solution, the UI experience and performance will be similar to — but not identical to — a native app. React Native does make a native feel easier to achieve than Flutter; getting genuinely native components into a Flutter app takes extra effort.

2. Fewer out-of-the-box components

Out of the box, React Native supports only the most basic components, though many of them adapt to the platform automatically (button, loading indicator, slider). Plenty of additional components exist in external repositories, but using them costs more time and effort.

3. Developer independence — the other side of it

The same freedom is both a curse and a blessing. After creating a new project, a developer has to decide on a navigation package and a global state management approach. Understanding the nuances of each option, and then picking the right ones for the project, can take a long time.

4. A large number of unmaintained packages

React Native ships with access to an enormous library ecosystem. Unfortunately, far too many of those packages are poor quality or abandoned entirely.

The Future of Flutter and React Native

Flutter is attracting an increasing number of businesses. As Google refines its tool, the SDK improves month over month, and the community stays friendly and enthusiastic. Given that leading companies such as Alibaba already run on Flutter, the toolkit's future looks bright.

React Native, meanwhile, is going through a large-scale re-architecture at Facebook — work aimed squarely at performance and app size.

Flutter vs React Native: Which Is the Better Option?

We have tried to present the facts and figures of both frameworks without bias. The goal of a detailed comparison is to help developers choose the right technology for their own needs and skills.

Flutter is a strong competitor to React Native. Sometimes Flutter outperforms it; sometimes the reverse is true. Overall, both are potent options for cross-platform app development and both offer a convenient development experience.

If you have doubts, or you are stuck between these two titans and cannot decide which to hire for, work with a reputable mobile app development company. Skilled, experienced developers can help you select the right one for your business and clear up any hesitation you have.

So — what is more important than saving money and time? Flutter is worth considering, especially if you are targeting both iOS and Android. Codonnier is the cross-platform partner to help you get there.