Flutter vs React Native – Which One Rules in 2025

Picking the right framework for your mobile app feels like standing at a crossroads – one path leads to Flutter’s expressive widgets, while the other takes you to React Native’s JavaScript-powered ecosystem. Both are top contenders in cross-platform mobile app development frameworks. Both are backed by tech giants Meta and Google, and each offers unique strengths. However, as we navigate 2025, the question remains: Which framework will rule the charts in 2025?

Let’s dive into the ultimate showdown of Flutter vs React Native.

Cross-platform Mobile Frameworks

Cross-platform mobile frameworks have emerged as game-changers in app development. These platforms not only save time but money as well. With developers writing a single codebase that runs seamlessly on multiple platforms, cross-platform frameworks are gaining popularity. This reduces development costs and accelerates time-to-market.

With Flutter and React Native at the forefront, Statista estimates that by 2022, about one-third of developers globally will be using cross-platform frameworks. By 2025, the usage of these frameworks is projected to increase significantly, driven by their efficiency and growing popularity among businesses aiming to streamline app development. 

Let’s move to the battle of the Titans – Flutter vs React Native.

What is React Native?

React Native framework is a relative of React, which was already in the game. Backed by Facebook(no, no, now it’s called Meta) came in 2015. It comes with new features to support cross-platform mobile development. Building apps that give a native-like feel. 

What is Flutter?

Flutter is Google’s progeny to compete in the cross-platform market with other frameworks. Came in 2018 with a whole lot of superb UI and animation features. 

Flutter vs React Native: Comparison Table

Here is a comparison table showing the key differences between Flutter vs React Native

Framework	React Native	Flutter
Launch Year	2015	2017
Backed by	Meta(Previously Facebook)	Google
GitHub	120k stars	167k stars
Language	Javascript	Dart
Architecture	Bridge -Based Native components	Work with Widgets
Code Reusability	Upto 80%	Upto 90%
Hot Reload	Yes	Yes
Development Speed	Fast	Faster. Widgets
Performance	Native Based Overhead	Skia Engine, moving to Impeller
Learning Curve	Easier, if you know Java	Moderate
Community Support	Very Strong, established	Strong, though growing rapidly
Popular Examples	Instagram, Walmart	Gpay, BMW

 

The Battle Begins Here

We are taking the battle on different rounds, measuring different levels like popularity, UI/UX design, features, and other things. 

Round 1: The Popularity Battle

React Native: Speaking of popularity between React Native and Flutter, saying which is more popular is a bit difficult. React Native is backed by Meta, a big name with an established community since 2015 completing 10 years. With 120k stars on GitHub, React Native is a strong challenge for Flutter.  

Flutter: Google has heavily adopted and promoted Flutter. In a mere 7 years, Flutter has earned 167k stars on GitHub, which is proof of its growing fanbase. 

Round 2: The UI/UX Design Battle

Flutter: It has rich custom UI widgets. With so many options and customizations, you are free to design your imagination. Known for its expressive and flexible UI, Flutter leverages its proprietary widgets, providing developers with complete control over app design. Along with consistency, it allows for intricate customizations, making it ideal for visually complex apps.

React Native: Relies on native components to render its UI, which means the look and feel of the app adapt to the platform’s native design standards. While this ensures a more native-like experience, it may require additional effort to achieve identical designs on both iOS and Android.

Round 3: Hot Reload

“Hot reload” is one of Flutter’s most outstanding features.

Without having to restart the application, developers can make changes to their code and see those changes reflected instantly. Enabling rapid iterations greatly reduces development time and increases productivity.

Similarly, in the React Native framework, there is Fast Refresh, a functionality resembling the hot reload feature. By enabling developers to view changes in real-time without losing the app’s state, Fast Refresh improves the development experience. Almost instantly, Fast Refresh updates the application whenever you make changes to your code. You don’t lose your existing app state, which is very helpful for testing new features. Fast Refresh will enable you to correct any errors in your code without having to restart the entire application.

If you are looking to Hire react native developers then you can connect with a React Native app development service like SolGuruz. Next, let’s look at the code reusability of both frameworks. 

Round 4: Code Reusability

Flutter: Developers can create code in Dart, the only language supported by Flutter, and have it compiled to native iOS and Android. This also makes it much easier to reuse code between the two platforms, which saves time and development resources. Given that Flutter is still a relatively new technology, code reuse could be improved. In Flutter, state management is a complex yet crucial feature. 

Read our essential guide on Flutter state management to learn how to manage the different states of Flutter. 

Pro Tip: Hire Flutter app developers who have experience with state management and working with different packages.

React Native saves development time and effort by enabling code reuse across platforms. When it comes to reusing the codes across mobile devices, React Native lacks skilled developers and support resources.

Round 5: OTA feature

Over-the-air OTA is the ability to push immediate updates. In the current competitive landscape, this feature is quite valuable. 

React native: React Native’s support for OTA updates enables the quick and easy deployment of app upgrades. This is also due to the framework’s well-evolved structure and age. 

Simplified Update Procedure – By avoiding the conventional app store update cycles, developers may swiftly fix defects or make enhancements thanks to the framework’s OTA update capability.

Improved User Experience – By guaranteeing that users always have access to the most recent version of the app, this feature affects user satisfaction and engagement. Anyone providing React Native development services will know that the key to a fast app is faster updates. 

Flutter: Historically, developers had to use more intricate workarounds since Flutter lacked native OTA update capabilities. However, recent developments in the Flutter framework are altering this scenario.

Emerging OTA Update Support- A third-party service called Shorebird has added code push capabilities for Flutter apps, allowing for immediate updates to be sent to iOS and Android devices.

Considerations for Implementation- Although encouraging, Shorebird and other similar tools need more integration work and might not yet be as developed as React Native’s OTA ecosystem.

Round 6: Performance Battle

The most important consideration for any framework is performance. Performance issues are resolved by JavaScript-based frameworks. While some web development frameworks, such as TezJS, optimize Core Web Vitals with unmatched speed even on mobile devices, other JavaScript frameworks do not even provide improved performance on mobile devices.

Flutter vs React Native performances are defined by their architecture. Both frameworks have and are evolving with solid changes in their architecture. 

React Native: React Native interacts directly with the device’s native APIs, in contrast to certain frameworks that render content in web views, which function as a browser inside the application.

The app feels more responsive and fluid as a result of the direct contact, which also produces faster load times and smoother animations.

The experience that users have is quite similar to that of using a completely native program.

Flutter: Pixel-perfect performance is possible with Flutter’s Skia Engine. The engine is responsible for the greater speed giving Flutter an edge over React Native. Now Flutter is moving on to C++ based Impeller. Flutter runs incredibly smoothly on mobile devices because it compiles native ARM code. On the newest devices, the Skia engine can generate visuals at up to 120 frames per second. While preserving a great user experience, Flutter helps optimize app performance by reducing the amount of code required for development.

While choosing between React Native or Flutter app development company, give a good thought to the performance of both frameworks. 

Round 7: Learning Curve

React Native: React Native is simpler to learn from the developer’s perspective, and there’s a good reason for that: it employs JavaScript as its programming language. The majority of developers are familiar with JavaScript because it has been around for years. 

Flutter: Flutter uses Dart, which is relatively recent and could expand the learning graph. However, Dart doesn’t make Flutter a difficult framework. Rather, it is a characteristic that distinguishes Google’s platform.

Round 8: Community Support

React Native: For many developers, assistance from the international development community can be quite helpful while pursuing cross-platform development. Given that React Native was introduced far earlier than Flutter, a sizable online community providing assistance is to be expected. Readily available solutions for common problems.  

Flutter: Nevertheless, Flutter has a constantly expanding developer community due to its status as a rising star, and it is anticipated to reach a significant size in 2020. Therefore, the lack of community support and a lower maturity level shouldn’t be a major deterrent to using Flutter.

Round 9: Backend Compatibility

Flutter: It is a popular option for Flutter projects since it integrates easily with Firebase, another Google product. Firebase makes it simple to integrate databases, storage, cloud services, and authentication.

Any backend provider, such as Google Cloud, AWS Amplify, and bespoke backends, can be integrated with Flutter. Dart’s ability to manage HTTP requests and establish a connection with any cloud service that has an API accounts for this versatility.

React Native: Due to its shared use of JavaScript, it works well with Node.js and enables smooth backend integration. The shared environment of JavaScript makes Node.js a popular choice for React Native applications.

Any backend solution, including Firebase, AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions, and others, can be integrated with React Native. Given its compatibility with RESTful APIs, GraphQL, and related technologies, it offers backend integration flexibility that is on par with Flutter.

Round 10: Documentation

React Native: General documentation is provided by React Native. The framework makes extensive use of third-party developer tools. The documentation is more intricate than Flutter.

Flutter: It provides easily comprehensible documentation due to its organization and comprehensive information. The documentation is also more effective and lucid.

Times When You Can Use Flutter

When working with Flutter vs React Native, there will be a question in your mind – “When can I use Flutter, or when is Flutter better than React Native?” Here are some suggestions – 

• When you want a high-performance gaming app or app requirement that heavily depends on animation or graphics.
• Having said that, when your app requires customized UI designs. Extensive custom libraries in Flutter allow for your desirable permutation and combination of UI designs.
• You want a unified codebase because you are developing for a variety of platforms, including desktop and online, in addition to mobile.
• When you have budget restrictions, you have to give effective outcomes on a smaller budget. 

Times When You Can Use React Native

• If your team is already comfortable with JavaScript, development can proceed more quickly, and onboarding can go more smoothly with React Native.
• If you need a native look and feel for your cross-platform app, your software must work effectively on both the iOS and Android platforms.
• Because React Native’s ecosystem is more developed, your project depends on a large number of third-party libraries.

Conclusion

The needs of your project, team experience, and long-term objectives will all influence your decision between Flutter or React Native. While Flutter shines in performance and design flexibility, React Native’s extensive ecosystem and JavaScript compatibility make it a strong contender.

Now, the choice is yours. Which framework aligns better with your app development goals? If you’re wondering about costs, rest assured—the cost depends on your project requirements.

If you decide on Flutter and want to hire Flutter developers on demand, then you can contact us. 

Read more if you want to know the cost to hire a Flutter developer in detail. This means cost isn’t the primary differentiator. Instead, focus on compatibility with your project’s unique requirements.

FAQs

Is React Native or Flutter Better for Developing Apps?

It totally depends on your project. If your project needs a heavy animation interface or graphical UIs, then Flutter is your go-to option. However, if you need a Javascript-based codebase and are in a hurry to develop your MVP, React Native helps in quick MVP development.

In 2025, Will React Native be Superior to Flutter?

If we speak from the forecasting, then forecasts indicate that Flutter's popularity and adoption will continue to rise, maybe overtaking React Native because of its adaptability and performance. React Native will probably remain competitive, though, thanks to its sizable community and strong environment.

Which has Lower Development Cost, Flutter or React Native?

Both, Flutter or React Native are great frameworks to build your app. It depends on the complexity of your project to choose the framework you want to work on. The cost depends on the features you add to your project.

In Contrast to React Native, is Code Reusable in Flutter?

Yes, Flutter's single codebase enables significant cross-platform code reuse. Reusability is also supported by React Native, even when the platform-specific components might need extra adjustments.

Is React Native or Flutter a better option for artificial intelligence?

Both frameworks are capable of incorporating AI solutions. Flutter is marginally more suited for AI applications that require high performance. Because of its quick rendering and more customizable features, Flutter is the preferred option. By utilizing the extensive library ecosystem of JavaScript, React Native can also manage AI efficiently.