Flutter vs React Native: Which is Better for your Project in 2024?

The world of app development today is massive. Mobile apps are getting more impressive each year, and almost every successful business now has its own app. It’s a wise investment, as mobile apps help both large companies and startups to connect with their audiences and increase their profits. Because of that, modern development tools like Flutter and React Native are in high demand — they allow you to build seamless mobile apps for multiple platforms at once. 

Both frameworks are effective, but they have a lot of similarities, so it can be tough to decide on the right one for your app development project. To help you make an informed choice, we made a guide comparing Flutter to React Native. We looked at many important factors, including development cost and complexity, app performance, user experience, and more. Let’s dive in!

Flutter vs React Native: a brief history

If you want to make a mobile app using Flutter or React Native, knowing the origins of these frameworks can be very helpful. Let’s travel back in time and look at the early days of Flutter and React Native to see how these frameworks transformed the app development landscape.

The rise of modern cross-platform apps

The early 2010s were a turning point for mobile app development. Back then, most mobile apps were native, meaning a separate version of an app had to be developed from scratch for each platform. That’s because every platform has a unique architecture and its own set of development tools. This complicated development, as programmers needed to learn the specifics of every platform they were developing for, and that wasn’t sustainable in the long run. With development costs rising and the mobile app space becoming increasingly competitive, developers needed to find a more efficient way of building apps for multiple platforms.

This demand led to the increased popularity of cross-platform development tools, which allowed programmers to build mobile apps using just one codebase, instead of multiple separate ones. This approach was proven to be very cost-effective, as it helped shorten the overall development time compared to native app development. 

Since 2011, many modern cross-platform development tools have been introduced, including Xamarin, Adobe Air, and Appcelerator Titanium. While they aren’t very advanced by today’s standards, they paved the way to more complex development frameworks like Flutter and React Native. Other modern frameworks like AngularJS allow to build progressive web apps, so creating an Angular single-page app can also be worthwhile.

The introduction of React Native

With the increased popularity of cross-platform frameworks, large tech companies were eager to develop their own innovative tools. 2015 saw the release of an essential tool for cross-platform development — React Native. Developed by Facebook, React Native is an open-source development framework based on the JavaScript library called React. It wasn’t possible to use React for mobile app development, and React Native was designed to solve that problem. 

Built specifically for mobile platforms, this framework allowed developers to speed up their workflow and made development more accessible. Programmers could now reuse large fragments of code when building mobile apps, saving a lot of time and effort. Initially, React Native could only be used for developing apps for Apple devices, and building React iOS apps became very popular. The framework isn’t limited to one platform anymore, allowing for a lot more creative freedom.

The origins of Flutter

Developed by Google, Flutter was released in 2017 and quickly took the app development space by storm. Highly responsive and easy to use, Flutter became the best alternative to React Native for building seamless cross-platform apps. The framework was initially limited to the Android and iOS platforms, with no support for web and desktop development. That’s not the case anymore, as you can develop responsive Flutter apps for any platform. 

Since its launch, Flutter has evolved substantially, introducing a wide range of tools for improving app optimization and performance. Thanks to its robust set of features, which includes customizable UI and complex animations, Flutter was adopted by well-established companies like Ebay, Tencent, and BMW. Flutter mobile development has become so common that more and more Flutter development companies are entering the market to meet the demand. All in all, creating a Flutter mobile app in 2024 can be a highly lucrative venture.

React Native and Flutter have significantly improved since launch and continue to keep up with the most innovative app development trends. Nowadays, developers use both these frameworks to create sleek and responsive mobile apps. Nevertheless, Flutter and React Native are not the same and have some notable distinctions in terms of their features and capabilities. So, when it comes to app development, which is better, React Native or Flutter? To find out, let’s look at the most important differences between the two frameworks.

Flutter vs React Native in 2024: which is better?

Now that we’re familiar with the history of Flutter and React Native, let’s explore what sets these development tools apart. First, we’ll focus on the pros and cons of each framework. Let’s start with Flutter.

Flutter: pros and cons

React Native: pros and cons

Flutter vs React Native: a detailed comparison

Now let’s compare Flutter with React Native based on the most crucial app development factors to get the full picture:

Hopefully, our comparison demonstrated the most crucial differences between Flutter and React Native. It’s important to note that while these frameworks excel at different things, they are both very effective tools for making cross-platform apps. 

Your choice should ultimately depend on factors like the key features of your app, the scope of your project, and your budget.
So, now that we’re finished with our React Native vs Flutter comparison, let’s explore how to approach framework selection for an app development project.

React Native vs Flutter: which is better for your app

When trying to decide which framework to choose for developing your app — Flutter or React Native — always put the goals of your project first. To help you get started with app development, we’ve outlined the main steps that you need to take in order to reach a confident decision. We’re assuming that you want to create a cross-platform app, since the apps made with Flutter and React Native are usually built for multiple platforms.

1. Conceptualize your app

This step is arguably the most crucial one. Upon starting a project, you should first determine what exactly your app needs to accomplish and which of the platforms will be the most important. Plan out the key features of your app, set clear goals, outline your target audience, and decide on the primary sources of revenue. 

Also, it’s very important to have a rough estimate of your project’s budget before starting development. This will allow you to align the vision for your app with the resources available and focus on the most important features. Also, it will help you predict potential financial risks, which is an essential part of any business plan. When the initial planning phase of your app is done, it will be much easier to iron out the technical details.

2. Conduct market research and study your competitors

After you’ve outlined the concept for your app, start looking at your competitors and studying the current trends in the app development market. This can help you eliminate potential inconsistencies in your business plan and gain insight into your target audience. For example, if one of your competitors has already developed a popular mobile app, analyze it. Try to determine what it does well and what features customers like the most. Then, think about what features could be implemented better — don’t be afraid to get creative. 

It can also be helpful to look at user reviews, since clients often point out problems that they have encountered while using the app. Besides that, try to find out which development tools your competitor relied on to make the app — this should give you the general understanding of how to proceed with development.

3. Plan out the technical side of development

Now that you’ve completed your research, it’s time to plan out the technical side of your app. To do that, take another look at the key features of your app and try to analyze their scope and complexity from the development standpoint. If possible, look for professional developers and ask their advice — find someone willing to help you and explain to them the main idea behind your app. 

Building apps from scratch can be intimidating, and outside assistance often proves to be invaluable. The closer you get to the development stage, the more you have to consider the technical factors like optimization, security, accessibility, and data storage. If you take all of this into account, you’ll find it easy to choose the right framework for your project.

Best examples of Flutter and React Native mobile apps in 2024

Now that you’re familiar with the overall approach to choosing the right framework for your project, let’s go over the best mobile apps built with Flutter and React Native. We picked out the apps based on factors like ease of use, feature scope, UI/UX quality, and performance.

Flutter app examples

1. Wolt

What does it take to build a responsive Flutter mobile app in 2024? Looking at successful apps like Wolt can help us answer that question. The main draw of Wolt is the app’s simple but effective user interface. 

Neatly organized categories and recommendations help users quickly find what they are looking for and make an order in no time. Wolt proves that a well-made user interface is invaluable for attracting and retaining customers, seeing as their user base has exceeded 20 million by the end of 2022. 

2. BMW

Launched in 2020, the BMW mobile app is just as impressive today. Not only does it allow you to track every detail related to your car’s health, but it also provides users with an ability to lock or unlock their BMW car remotely. You can also use the app to control the car’s temperature, update its software, and plan long trips. All in all, BMW is one of the most well-known companies offering a truly innovative Flutter mobile app in 2024.

3. Reflectly

Reflectly is our third pick when it comes to the best Flutter apps in 2024. Thanks to its visually striking user interface and a suite of useful features, this app remains popular even today, although it first became available in 2017. Reflectly allows users to journal their thoughts, analyze their emotions, and complete mindfulness exercises. Based on the information provided by the user, the app makes personalized suggestions and tracks important milestones. These interactive features have contributed a lot to the app’s success, attracting more and more clients each year.

4. Hookle

Hookle is another Flutter app that is attracting new users every year thanks to its robust set of features. It’s a social media companion app allowing clients to publish posts across multiple social media, plan out their posting schedules, and monitor user engagement. Since its launch back in 2019, the app has introduced new functionality like an AI post generation assistant and smart social media guidance. These regular content updates helped the app stay relevant and successful throughout the years, generating positive feedback from its users.

React Native app examples

1. Discord

If you’ve ever asked yourself the question: “can React be used for mobile apps?”, the answer is a definitive “yes”, and Discord proves that better than any other app. By now, everybody’s heard of Discord, and that’s no wonder — it’s one of the best messaging and networking apps around. 

Built with React Native, it’s a flexible communication tool that offers features like high-quality voice chat, game overlay, and screen sharing. It also allows you to manage custom servers and assign channel permissions. All of these features make Discord an essential app for teamwork and communication.

2. Coinbase

Many companies use React for mobile development, and the Coinbase app is one of the best examples. With the rising popularity of cryptocurrency, more and more people are entering the world of digital finance, and apps like Coinbase make the process quick and straightforward. 

Coinbase serves both as a cryptocurrency exchange and an interactive educational platform for traders, providing useful tutorials and smart recommendations. It offers a wide selection of cryptocurrencies, a simple and clean user interface, and convenient payment options, making it one of the best crypto apps on the market.

3. SoundCloud

React is great for mobile app development, and Soundcloud is another app that proves this. The app provides an extensive set of features for listeners and musicians alike, including offline playback support, in-app recording and publishing, and real-time fan feedback. Its unique functionality and intuitive user interface sets Soundcloud apart from other popular music streaming apps, ensuring it stays relevant as the years go by.

4. UberEats

In our opinion, one of the best-looking apps built on React Native is UberEats. The app’s UI is its most distinctive feature — it’s minimalistic but stylish, and immediately catches your eye. It’s not its only strength, however, as UberEats also offers many useful features like dietary filters, real-time order tracking, and group ordering. These features, and more, make UberEats one of the best React Native apps on the market today, and one of the most convenient delivery apps ever made.

To conclude

Choosing a framework for your app development project can be hard, as both Flutter and React Native have a lot of advantages. We hope that our guide gave you insight into mobile app development and helped you settle on the right framework for your project. If you want to start developing your mobile app today, contact us and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.