Introducing a capable framework in the year 2021 would be a breakthrough for most of the development companies, as compared to previous years.

The creeping question that every developer and business owner faces is what would be the best framework for cross-platform app development. To develop multivariate apps for cross-platforms is not feasible every time, as you need to allocate resources on two different platforms.

An array of queries emerges for choosing the better platform for various choices like iOS or Android, the best technology, cost optimization, kind of apps to be built, and so on.

Frameworks like Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin are packed with loads of outstanding features and benefits. However, it becomes difficult to choose the best from them.

Read through some of our findings on the pros and cons of technologies namely Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin.

Pros & Cons of Each Technology in summarised form

Flutter

Flutter is designed to be an open-source, cross-platform development framework for Android and iOS applications. Developed by Google in 2018, this technology is power-packed with APIs and command-line tools to create eye-catching cross-platform mobile apps. Accompanied with native widgets, Flutter makes compatible and speedy cross-platform development tools for mobile applications.

Pros

• Hot reload feature – helps quick bug fixing, supports fast code implementation, and provides instant previews
• Easy to learn with Dart facility
• Animation integration with UI components
• Compatibility due to CI tools namely Jenkins and Travis
• Direct access to native code

Cons

• Larger size app
• Limite range of libraries and third-party plugins

Prominent apps created with Flutter

• Google Ads
• Groupon
• Hamilton
• Alibaba
• eBay Motors

React Native

An open-source platform, Facebook launched React Native in the year 2015. Built from JavaScript as a cross-platform development tool, React Native is for Android and iOS apps. A pool of native component APIs and modules are included to accelerate the app development process. 

Pros

• Quality and simple user interface
• Huge library of native UI components
• Easy access to native device functions
• Diverse tools, technologies, and libraries
• Supports real-time refresh, quick code implementation, and quick bug fixing
• Helps modular application development
• Permits the declarative programming approach
• Range of extensible third-party APIs and plugins
• Extensive community support

Cons

• Inappropriate for complex animations and transitions
• Elongated run-time and initialization
• No robust security for third-party integrations
• Needs experienced developers
• Irregular native platform updates

Famous apps made with React Native

• Facebook
• Bloomberg
• Instagram
• SoundCloud
• Walmart

Xamarin

Developed in 2011, Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft. An open-source, cross-platform app development tool for Android, Windows, and iOS. It builds apps with C# programming language and with help of native apps. Encompasses a range of functionalities, virtual machines, and runtime engines to work like a native app development environment. Also, it has a cloud-based automated testing platform and a monitoring tool to trace application bugs.

Pros

• Robust design tools for UI integration and user experience
• Complete development framework with Microsoft Visual Studio, .NET, and C#
• Pre-installed layouts and controls
• Access to the native APIs
• Native hardware component integration
• Quick UI changes testing
• Access to NuGet libraries
• Offline application workability

Cons

• Larger size apps than other frameworks
• Limited inbuilt resources
• Time -consuming UI creation process
• Requires high experienced developers
• Limited community support

Famous apps designed with Xamarin

• World Bank
• Storyo
• Insightly
• Alaska Airlines
• Skulls of the Shogun

Now that you acquired a basic idea of these technologies, it becomes vital to know some significant and real dissimilarities between all the three. A quick look into the differences is given below.

Comparisons Flutter vs React Native vs Xamarin

• Performance Parameters

 One of the crucial factors to be considered for all three technologies is the app’s performance. While React Native and Xamarin offer close-native code development, Flutter leads the comparison. Because apps created in Flutter possess prominent interaction speed with the underlying system. As a result, Flutter apps launch faster with better performance.

• Popularity/Relevance

2019 Stack Overflow reports show the popularity of React Native leading the popularity charts followed by Xamarin and Flutter. React at 10.5%, Xamarin at 6.5% and Flutter at 3.4%. This reveals that the popularity of Xamarin is decreasing and the fanbase of the other two is increasing. 

• Architechture/Framework

React uses Flux for developing client-based web applications along with the MVC framework. In this manner, React supports developers to modify existing projects. Xamarin has a framework based on visual designs for building native apps. Flutter uses Reactive UI practices. However, the limited size of the Flutter makes developers frustrated.

• The Community Support

Xamarin lags when it comes to having strong community support. Although Microsoft puts efforts to provide affluent documentations, extensible code samples, tutorials, and training materials. Even Flutter and React Native have official documentation and tutorials. And both of them are bestowed with better community support than Xamarin. Besides, React Native developers and experts share information and provide assistance regularly on platforms like GitHub, Reddit, and YouTube. Flutter also gets similar growth via GitHub and famous FAQ sites.

• Reusability of Codes

As compared to React Native and Xamarin, Flutter steers the competition. React Native and Xamarin needs expert and knowledgeable developers for understanding native codes and platform-specific development tools. Flutter permits easy tweaks for the required sections of codes.

• Programming language

The success of the development tool depends upon the developer’s expertise in the language. Xamarin is simple and easy to learn because it is based on C# language. Besides, stable integration with the ecosystem of Microsoft, developers prefer Xamarin. React Native is also quite easy to handle as it is based on JavaScript. Coding with Flutter is a new experience for many developers as it is based on Dart programming language.

• Security

To develop a secure application and safe coding is a significant concern for developers and businesses. All three development tools support third-part plugins and libraries. However, React Native lags behind the other two in providing reliable security. Hence, apps developed in Flutter and Xamarin are more secured as compared to React Native.

• Customization

Thankfully, all three tools possess a quick debugging feature. React Native’s Live Refresh, Flutter’s Hot Reload, and Xamarin’s Live Reload helps the development team to debug codes and have an instant preview of updated versions. Flutter and Xamarin are ahead of the competition of customizations as they come with pre-installed layouts. These help developers to customize the app easily. Whereas, for React Native, developers remain dependent on third-party plugins.

Final Thoughts

Based on the discussion, we found some benefits and disadvantages of each app development tool. Even though React Native and Xamarin have affluent libraries and plugins, building apps with Flutter is easy. Coding becomes easy with React Native, but code reusability with Flutter and Xamarin is better.

The ultimate decision to choose out the most suitable cross-platform development tool completely depends on the kind of project and the requirement of the customer.

With Cubet, your cross-platform applications will be created by highly experienced developers who can handle complex and diverse projects with simpler and creative solutions.