Flutter vs React Native : Advantages and Disadvantages

23 Mar 2022

Choosing the right platform for your mobile app development is always tricky, and that too when you have narrowed your option to choose between two technologies Flutter and React Native it is always frustrating, that’s when you need an expert’s help.

Getting help from the expert team will help the organizations to choose the right framework for their world-class mobile applications as per their requirements, budget, and time to market.

Before debate on Flutter vs React Native let us first understand about,

• What is Flutter? 
• What is React Native?
• Pros and Cons of Flutter and React Native

What is Flutter?

Flutter is a cross-platform framework that uses the Dart Programming language for its functions. It’s free and open-source software that was created by Google.

Popular applications that are developed using Flutter are,

• Google Assistant
• Google Ads
• Tencent
• eBay
• The New York Times
• Baidu

What is React Native?

React Native is also an open-source cross-platform framework that was developed by Facebook and it uses JavaScript in android and iOS mobile applications development.

Popular applications that are developed using React Native are,

• Facebook
• Uber Eats
• Airbnb
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Wix

Advantages and Disadvantages of Flutter and React Native

Advantages of Flutter:

• Fast App Development

Compare to react native flutter allows developers to quickly build and test their apps, thanks to its hot reload feature, which allows to see the changes they make in real-time. This means that developers can iterate and make changes to their apps more quickly, which can help them get their apps to market faster

• Hot Reload Feature: 

Normally, after altering the code, developers must wait a few minutes for it to be reflected on their screen. However, the hot reload functionality of Flutter lets developers to alter the code instantaneously. This functionality helps developers and application owners to save a significant amount of time, money, and effort.

• One Codebase for two applications:

Developers and organizations both benefit from Flutter. Because it makes it possible for developers to create apps for both the Android and iOS platforms with a single code, businesses can save money by receiving their mobile applications much more quickly than with traditional techniques.

• Better Compatibility Feature:

Businesses can get compatible mobile apps that support Android versions starting from 5.1.1 and iOS versions 8 and higher.

• Rich Widgets:

Flutter offers widgets material design and Cupertino that help to develop customized designs and provide a glitch-free experience across all the platforms.

Disadvantages of Flutter:

• Libraries and Support:

Flutter is quite new, which means flutter app developers cannot always find functionalities in an existing library means they need to build custom functionalities themselves which takes time for the applications.

• Dynamic Evolution:

It is a challenge that occurs in the framework when frequent changes are made to the development environment means that the apps may sometimes behave in unexpected or undesired ways after the major update.

• Apps Size:

Applications developed by using flutter are larger than the Native ones.

Advantages of React Native:

• Hot Reload Feature:

This is the same feature that is present in the flutter, where the developers can change the code instantly saving time, money, and efforts of both developers and business owners.

• One Codebase for two applications:

Since React is also a cross-platform framework, developers can build applications for both android and iOS with a single code base that helps to get the applications quicker.

• Developed using JavaScript:

The applications are developed using JavaScript, which is a widely known programming language among the developers (Dart is still not so widely used).

• Accessibility:

It is an important feature for any mobile app development process, where the accessibility API in this framework is much stronger than many other applications, and this feature helps the developers to gain some benefits like action support.

• Cross-platform compatibility

React Native allows developers to build apps for both iOS and Android platforms using a single codebase. This reduces the time and resources needed to develop separate apps for each platform, making it an efficient solution for businesses that want to reach a wider audience. The ability to create apps for multiple platforms using the same codebase also eliminates the need to maintain separate codebases, reducing maintenance costs.

• Reusable components

React Native’s ability to reuse components across multiple platforms is a significant advantage. This saves time and reduces development costs, as developers don’t need to write separate code for each platform. It also makes it easier to maintain consistency across platforms, ensuring a consistent user experience across different devices.

Disadvantages of React Native:

• Low Security:

React Native is an open-source framework, and applications are developed using the JavaScript library. Java Script is fragile which requires additional security when developing banking and financial apps. Otherwise, malicious codes pose a great threat to applications.

• Complex User Interface:

Most of the developers will not opt for React Native to build apps that need complex gestures, animations, or requires other interactions. Despite, the presence responder system in React JS app developers continue to struggle with screens with complicated gestures.

• Slow Testing Process:

The development time of the application reduces, but the time taken for testing is similar to testing in native development, and sometimes it even takes more time.

Flutter vs. React Native Differences

Conclusion

We can see that both Flutter and React Native have many things in common, but both have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages.

As a business owner, you can always take the help of an expert team who can guide you to choose the right framework for your mobile application development.