The Cross-Platform Mobile Landscape

Cross-platform mobile development has matured significantly, and both React Native and Flutter deliver production-quality applications. At Nexis Limited, we build mobile applications using both frameworks, choosing based on client requirements, team expertise, and project characteristics.

React Native: JavaScript-First Mobile Development

React Native, developed by Meta, allows developers to build mobile apps using React and JavaScript/TypeScript. It renders native UI components, meaning the resulting apps look and feel native to each platform.

Strengths

  • JavaScript ecosystem: Access to npm's vast package ecosystem and shared logic with web applications.
  • Hot reloading: See changes instantly during development without recompiling.
  • Team reuse: Web developers with React experience can transition to mobile development quickly.
  • Mature ecosystem: A large community, extensive third-party libraries, and proven at scale by Meta, Microsoft, and Shopify.
  • New Architecture: The new architecture with Fabric renderer and TurboModules has significantly improved performance and native interop.

Flutter: Dart-Powered UI Toolkit

Flutter, developed by Google, uses the Dart language and renders UI through its own Skia-based engine rather than platform-native components. This gives Flutter pixel-perfect control over rendering across platforms.

Strengths

  • Rendering control: Flutter draws every pixel, ensuring identical appearance across platforms without platform-specific UI quirks.
  • Performance: Dart compiles to native ARM code, and Flutter's rendering engine avoids the JavaScript bridge overhead that older React Native versions had.
  • Rich widget library: Material Design and Cupertino widgets are built in, with extensive customization options.
  • Multi-platform: Flutter supports iOS, Android, web, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) from a single codebase.
  • Hot reload: Sub-second hot reload with state preservation.

Our Decision Framework

  • Choose React Native when your team has JavaScript/TypeScript expertise, you want to share code with a React web application, or you need native platform appearance.
  • Choose Flutter when you need pixel-perfect custom UI across platforms, your app is visually rich (animations, custom drawings), or you want to target web and desktop from the same codebase.

Performance in 2026

With React Native's new architecture and Flutter's mature engine, the performance gap between the two frameworks has largely closed for typical business applications. Both deliver 60fps animations and responsive user interfaces. Choose based on developer experience and ecosystem fit rather than raw performance benchmarks.

Conclusion

Both React Native and Flutter are excellent choices for cross-platform mobile development. React Native leverages the JavaScript ecosystem and developer familiarity. Flutter provides superior rendering control and a polished development experience. The best choice depends on your team's skills and your application's requirements.

Building a mobile app? Our mobile team works with both React Native and Flutter — let us help you choose.