React Native, Flutter and Ionic: Choosing the best framework for your mobile app development

Mobile app development is thriving, with billions being poured into how we make mobile experiences come to life. In fact, Allied Market Research finds the global market was valued at $195.7 billion in 2023, and is estimated to reach $606.1 billion by 2032.

When it comes to the development itself, there are a growing number of frameworks to choose from, with each boasting new features and functionality all the time. So how to choose?

For cross-platform mobile apps, three stand out from the crowd: React Native, Flutter and Ionic. These three have become the go-to choices for businesses and mobile app developers that want to create high-quality apps without reinventing the wheel for every platform.

With hands-on experience with all three, and a passion for delivering the best digital transformation services in the game, we've broken down the pros and cons of each to help you decide which one best fits your needs. And if you're still puzzling away, we’re only a call or email away.

React Native

React Native, developed by Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), has been a popular choice for cross-platform mobile app development services ever since its release, and for good reason. The framework allows developers to write apps using JavaScript (and React, of course) that can run natively on both iOS and Android devices. Unlike traditional hybrid mobile apps, which use a web view, React Native compiles to native code, giving you better performance and a more ‘native’ feel.

While not mandatory, there are many benefits that can come from using React with a framework. In recent months, Expo has become increasingly popular, and again, we can see why. The free to use, open source framework brings a suite of production ready developer tools that simplify app development, including file-based routing and a comprehensive library of native modules.

The Expo team works closely with Meta's React Native team to integrate the latest React Native features into the Expo SDK. Additionally, Expo provides Expo Application Services (EAS) - a set of optional tools that aim to enhance and support every stage of the development lifecycle alongside the Expo Framework.

Key features of React Native:

• Single codebase: Write your app once, deploy it to both iOS and Android.
• Native components: It uses native components like buttons, lists and other UI elements to deliver a better user experience.
• Community support: With a huge community of developers and a wealth of libraries, finding solutions to common issues is relatively easy.

Flutter

Flutter, created by Google, is a relatively new player in the cross-platform app development arena. Unlike React Native, which uses native components, Flutter uses its own set of widgets to create a consistent UI across both platforms. The language used in Flutter is Dart, which is an object-oriented programming language that compiles to native code.

Key features of Flutter:

• Hot reload: You can see changes to your code almost instantly without rebuilding the app, speeding up the development process.
• Custom widgets: Flutter provides rich, customisable widgets that allow for complete control over the app's UI, ensuring consistency across platforms.
• Performance: Since Flutter apps compile to native code directly, they can perform at speeds comparable to native apps.

Ionic

Ionic, developed by Max Lynch, Ben Sperry and Adam Bradley of Drifty Co., is a framework that allows mobile app developers to build apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It leverages web technologies, meaning apps run in a web view within a native container. While Ionic apps may not always have the performance of fully native apps, it’s often a great choice for teams with web development experience.

Key features of Ionic:

• Web-based: Built on web technologies, making it a familiar environment for web developers.
• UI consistency: Ionic comes with a library of pre-designed components that mimic native iOS and Android elements, ensuring a consistent and polished UI.
• Extensive plugins: Ionic offers an extensive collection of plugins to access native device features like the camera, GPS, and more.

React Native vs Flutter vs Ionic: The comparison

No one framework is superior above the rest. Instead, knowing the different benefits and values of each can help you to make an informed decision.

1. Performance:

• React Native: React Native compiles to native code, meaning it offers good performance, especially when using native components. However, for complex UIs or heavy animations it might not perform as well as Flutter.
• Flutter: Flutter wins in terms of performance because it compiles directly to native code without any reliance on a web view. Since it doesn’t use a bridge (like React Native) its performance is often faster, especially in graphics-heavy apps.
• Ionic: Since Ionic uses a web view to render the app, its performance is generally slower compared to React Native and Flutter. However, Ionic apps can still deliver a smooth user experience for less complex applications.

Winner: Flutter takes the lead for performance, especially in graphically intensive apps. But for standard apps, React Native offers a good balance.

2. Development speed:

• React Native: React Native’s ability to use JavaScript and the React library speeds up the development process, especially for developers already familiar with React. Hot reload also speeds up the iteration process.
• Flutter: Flutter’s hot reload feature is one of the best in the industry. However, Dart is less popular than JavaScript, so developers may need to spend some time learning it, which could slightly slow down development at first.
• Ionic: Since Ionic uses web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript), it's an ideal choice for web developers who are familiar with these languages. If you're already working with web frameworks like Angular or React, Ionic can be a quick solution.

Winner: Ionic takes the edge here if you have web development experience, but React Native is a close contender, especially if you're already using React.

3. UI/UX design:

• React Native: React Native uses native components, meaning the app’s UI feels like it was built specifically for the platform. However, achieving pixel-perfect designs across platforms may require extra work.
• Flutter: Flutter excels in UI customisation with its rich set of pre-designed widgets that offer complete control over the UI. The framework ensures that the design looks the same across all platforms, which is a huge advantage if you want consistent branding.
• Ionic: Ionic also provides a wide variety of pre-built UI components that resemble native UI elements. However, the web view-based rendering may result in a slightly less ‘native’ feel.

Winner: Flutter provides the most flexibility and consistency in UI design, but React Native is a great option for native-looking apps.

4. Community and ecosystem:

• React Native: With React Native being around for longer it has a larger community, extensive documentation, and a wide range of third-party libraries and plugins.
• Flutter: Although Flutter is newer, it has gained significant traction in the developer community. Google has invested heavily in Flutter and the community is growing rapidly.
• Ionic: Ionic has been around for a while and has a solid community of web developers. It also boasts a wide range of plugins and integrations, although it may not have the same depth as React Native and Flutter when it comes to mobile-specific libraries.

Winner: React Native is the clear leader here due to its larger community and maturity, but Flutter is catching up fast.

5. Cross-platform support:

• React Native: Offers strong support for both iOS and Android. While it works well for most use cases, you might occasionally need to write platform-specific code to handle certain native features.
• Flutter: Also supports both iOS and Android, and thanks to its custom widgets, it ensures that apps look the same across both platforms. Additionally, Flutter is expanding to support desktop and web apps.
• Ionic: Ionic is designed primarily for mobile, but it also supports web and desktop platforms. It’s a great option if you want to reuse code for web applications as well.

Winner: Flutter is the most versatile here, especially with its expanding support for web and desktop platforms.

And finally, which one should you choose?

With mobile users of today used to having easy, intuitive and seamless experiences at the tips of their fingers, good app development and the frameworks that make this possible is in greater demand than ever.

Whether you want to improve internal processes, offer personalised experiences or create new revenue streams, a good app will directly deliver against your business needs and adequately engage your audience. It can give you a much needed competitive advantage.

When choosing between React Native, Flutter, and Ionic, we’ll leave you with these final thoughts:

• React Native is great if you're already familiar with JavaScript/React and want to build performant, native-like apps with a large community backing.
• Flutter is ideal if you want full control over the UI, need high performance and are open to learning Dart.
• Ionic is a solid choice if you have a web development background and want to build apps quickly with web technologies.

At Voyage, we’ve had experience working with all three frameworks. We understand that each project is unique, and choosing the right framework is a decision that depends on your app’s needs, team expertise and long-term goals. If you’re unsure which one is the right fit, we’d love to help you evaluate the best option and bring your digital transformation solution to life. Book your discovery call today.