React Native and Flutter are both solid choices for building cross-platform mobile apps. Here’s why I reach for React Native more often—and when Flutter might still be the better fit.
One Language and Ecosystem for Web and Mobile
React Native lets you use JavaScript or TypeScript—the same languages most web teams already use. If you or your team build React web apps, you’re already most of the way there: same mental model (components, state, props), same tooling (npm/yarn, ESLint, VS Code), and a lot of shared logic. You can reuse utilities, types, and sometimes even UI code between web and mobile.
Flutter uses Dart, which is a good language but another one to learn and maintain. For teams that are primarily web-focused, React Native reduces context-switching and speeds up onboarding.
Huge Ecosystem and Third-Party Libraries
React Native sits on top of the npm/JavaScript ecosystem. There’s a library or solution for almost everything: auth, analytics, payments, maps, charts, camera, and countless native modules. Expo expands that further with a curated set of modules and a smooth dev experience. Finding answers, examples, and Stack Overflow threads is easy.
Flutter’s pub.dev is growing, but the breadth and depth of the JS ecosystem still give React Native an edge when you need an obscure integration or a quick workaround.
Native Components and “Write Once, Run Anywhere” Feel
React Native uses native UI components under the hood. Your views map to real UIView and View on iOS and Android, so the app looks and feels like a native app—platform conventions, accessibility, and system controls behave as users expect. You can drop down to native code when you need to.
Flutter draws everything with its own engine (Skia), which gives pixel-perfect consistency and great performance, but the look can feel more “Flutter-ish” unless you invest in platform-specific theming. React Native’s approach often gets you closer to native look-and-feel with less effort.
Faster Iteration and Hot Reload
React Native’s Fast Refresh (and legacy hot reload) lets you see UI and state changes almost instantly without a full rebuild. That tight feedback loop matters a lot for layout tweaks, styling, and debugging. Flutter has hot reload too and it’s good; in practice, both are fast. React Native’s iteration speed is one of the reasons it’s so pleasant for UI-heavy work.
One Team for Web and Mobile
If you’re a full-stack or frontend web developer, adding mobile with React Native is a natural step. You don’t need a separate “Flutter/Dart” specialist for the mobile app—the same people who build your React or Next.js front end can own the React Native app. That simplifies hiring, code reviews, and shared standards.
When Flutter Might Be the Better Choice
React Native isn’t always the answer. Flutter can be better when:
- You want very custom, highly branded UI and are okay with owning the whole visual layer (e.g. games, design-heavy apps).
- You need strong consistency across platforms with a single design system and little platform-specific UI.
- Your team already knows Dart or is willing to invest in it.
- You’re building for desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) or embedded where Flutter’s story is mature.
Bottom Line
I choose React Native when I want to ship cross-platform mobile apps with the same language and ecosystem I use for the web, leverage the npm ecosystem, and keep one mental model for web and mobile. For many product teams and full-stack developers, that makes React Native the more practical default. Flutter is powerful and has real advantages—but for “web devs doing mobile,” React Native often wins.
What’s your go-to for cross-platform mobile—React Native, Flutter, or something else? Share in the comments.
Saad Mehmood — Portfolio
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