React Native vs Flutter Performance
Performance is one of the primary differences between Flutter and React Native. Flutter compiles to native machine code using Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation and uses its own custom rendering engine (Skia) for smooth animations and high frame rates, even on complex User Interfaces (UIs). On the other hand, React Native uses a JavaScript bridge to communicate between the Native API and the JavaScript code, which may limit the performance when developing graphics-intensive applications. However, using this approach lets developers quickly test and improve features.
When businesses decide to launch an app, the answer to the question “Is Flutter better than React Native?” ultimately comes down to their business priorities: design-heavy applications can be created more effectively using Flutter, while React Native allows developers to work in JavaScript and build applications quickly.
Flutter is typically chosen as the best solution when:
● You need perfect or nearly perfect pixel-wise matching of your app across multiple platforms.
● Your app requires high-quality, complex animations, to function correctly.
● Your app requires maximum performance.
● You are integrating closely with Google services, such as Firebase.
● You want to target multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Web and desktop) from a single codebase with consistent behavior.
On the other hand, the strengths of React Native include:
● If your team is familiar with JavaScript (or TypeScript) and has good C# or .NET skills.
● If you need your React web applications to integrate well with other applications, you are building using React Native.
● If Rapid prototyping and fast iteration are required.
● If you need platform-specific native device access through native modules.
● If you want to leverage a large, mature ecosystem of third-party libraries.
Future of Cross-Platform Development
As both frameworks continue to evolve, Flutter is adding support for Desktop and Web platforms, while React Native has been improving with Hermes engine optimizations and creating new modular UI architectures like Fabric.
To make the best decision regarding which framework to use for cross-platform development, app owners need to align their choice of a cross-platform or native development framework with their business objectives, their team’s skills, and the future scalability of their application.
Final Thoughts
Choosing between Flutter vs React Native is more than a technical decision; it’s a strategic business choice. With Flutter providing the best UI consistency and performance, and React Native enabling teams to leverage their existing skills in JavaScript and quickly iterate on features, either approach can provide a cross-platform application with high-quality results if developers plan properly. When you are ready to move from concept to launch, reach out to V Group for assistance. Their professionals assist app developers with the process of selecting a framework, developing the framework, and optimizing apps based on the intended performance characteristics and design goals, as well as the goals of user experience. Get in touch with us today!
FAQs
Consider your priorities when selecting a framework: Flutter for performance and design consistency, or React Native if you or your team is skilled in JavaScript and wants to quickly integrate with your existing React web apps.
Flutter’s rendering engine has been built with an emphasis on creating excellent, smooth, and robust animations. If your app’s interface is very visually rich with animations, Flutter is the better option.
Typically, applications that rely heavily on the UI (User Interface) perform better on Flutter than React Native due to the Ahead of Time (AOT) compilation capabilities of Flutter. React Native’s simpler graphical applications generally develop quickly in comparison to the more complex and graphic-laden applications that Flutter is better at developing and providing high-quality performance on.
Flutter has support natively for developing applications for mobile, web, and desktop platforms, as well as embedded devices. React Native primarily targets mobile app development with the option of supporting web and desktop development through the use of 3rd-party libraries.
If your team can work with Dart and you want to create an application that looks exactly like you designed it (designed fidelity), the best choice would be Flutter. If you have a team that has experience developing in JavaScript/React and wants fast prototyping to create applications that integrate with their previously built React web applications, the best framework choice for your team would be React Native.