Mobile app development is becoming more and more popular across the world. And the people who have mastered this skill have already set themselves apart from others. Since there is a high demand for mobile apps among users, their development won’t stop any time soon.

Flutter vs React Native is a hot topic that often comes up when it comes to mobile app development. After all, the two of them are two of the leading solutions in the world of cross-platform development tools. But what exactly is their difference and which technology is better for your app? We’ll help you understand how these tools work before diving deeper into their differences and helping you choose what suits your project best.

Today we will compare Flutter and React Native. Both of these technologies are very popular in the development community, but their approach to mobile app development is completely different.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source mobile app development framework that is already being used by thousands of businesses worldwide to create highly interactive cross-platform apps with a single codebase. This UI development software toolkit was created by Google in 2017 to help developers build products with incredible native performance, animations and gestures, while also providing fast and efficient updates across iOS, Android and web.

In general, Flutter has two main components:

1.     A Software Development Kit (SDK) – a collection of tools that you need for app development like ready-made widgets, testing APIs, and so on;

2.     A UI library that consists of reusable UI elements as buttons, sliders, etc.

If you are an experienced mobile app developer, you may need to learn Dart programming language to start off with Flutter. The Dart programming language is a compiled language that offers great performance for mobile development. However, otherwise it can be confusing to get started with the language

Apps Built with Flutter

Flutter has a huge list of apps built with the help of it. You can find various innovative apps developed with Flutter. And many of them made a big nudge in marketing, finances, e-commerce and other industries so let’s mention a few of them:

1.     Google Ads – an online advertising platform that allows you to track and see the results of your advertising campaigns;

2.     Alibaba is a global wholesale mobile marketplace enabling smartphone users to shop online;

3.     Birch Finance is a mobile app that aims to manage personal finances in a resource-efficient way;

4.     Coach Yourself is a highly engaging mobile app, helping users practice meditation and keep track of their results.

What is React Native?

React Native is a cross-platform mobile framework designed by the Facebook team. It allows you to build native apps on both iOS and Android in JavaScript, with a developer experience as close to web development as possible. React Native is powered by the famous React library and allows you to build your logic using components, just like in other popular web frameworks such as VueJS.

Apps Built with React Native

React Native enables the most popular mobile apps to be built in a concise and efficient way. Facebook, Tesla, Bloomberg and many more reliable companies base their work on this framework. Moreover, React Native is a Javascript-based programming language that provides people with an opportunity to create better apps faster!

1.     Delivery.com is a food delivery app that helps users order meal from the neighboring restaurants and cafes;

2.     SoundCloud Pulse is a music streaming service for both singers, producers, and music lovers;

3.     Townske is a community of the locals who share stories about their favorite spots and places with travelers;

4.     Airbnb is a rental marketplace for travelers and homeowners to make their experiences more memorable and enjoyable.

The Key Differences Between Flutter and React Native

Programming Language: Dart vs JavaScript

Flutter’s programming language, Dart, is an open source and object-oriented language that is optimized specifically for mobile development. It was designed to help developers create complex UIs while maintaining performance and speed.

Testing Support: Flutter vs React Native

Testing is an integral part of the software development cycle. It helps developers to solve bugs in the system and make sure the app runs smoothly.

So, what’s testing support is better – Flutter or React Native?

To find a clue, let’s compare the testing capabilities of these two technologies in detail.

We start off from Flutter first.

Flutter has three main testing categories to measure your app performance like:

1.     Widget testing is applied to test multiple widgets as a text, screen layouts, and buttons;

2.     Unit testing is used verify whether a single method, function, or class is correct;

3.     Integration testing aims to check if all tested widgets and services work well together

Performance: React Native vs Flutter

When looking at app performance, it’s important to understand how your end users are experiencing your app as they interact with its components. This is especially true when deciding whether you should build a new app using React Native or Flutter. We’ll dive into the details of how these two technologies measure up and why Flutter may deliver better performance than React Native.

The way performance is handled in React Native and Flutter differs in a few ways. The hot reload feature, which allows developers to see changes made in their code in real time, is only available for React Native. Another benefit of this framework is that you don’t have to use a specific IDE; any text editor will do!

Flutter Setup vs React Native Setup

React Native became very famous in 2018, due to its cross-platform capabilities. However, Flutter has different approaches for cross-platform development and things like UI. There are some differences between them and we will mention some of those below:

1.     The guide to React Native is written for developers who have installed the essential setup for Android and iOS platforms;

2.     React Native uses Expo CLI and React Native CLI to set the development environment;

3.     Flutter has a flutter doctor feature that allows coders to ensure effective app installation and configuration;

4.     The guide to Flutter contains the necessary data on iOS, Android and Integrated Development Environment setups.

UI Components and API Development in Flutter and React Native

Native components may be used to build the components of a React Native or Flutter app. A native component is one that uses the same API as that used for web applications. Streaming music apps are a good example, which use the native audio API for both Android and iOS platforms. You should think about whether to use a native component when:

With UI Components and API Development in Flutter and React Native, you’ll learn how to build real-world applications for web, mobile, desktop, and embedded systems. Get hands-on with practical examples that show you how Flutter and React Native can be used to build interactive UIs. You’ll also explore the capabilities of both technologies so that you can choose the right one for your next project.