React Native vs Flutter vs Kotlin Multiplatform Developers:  The Ideal Choice For Cross-Platform App Development

By Maria H. Gray 2 days ago
React Native vs Flutter vs Kotlin Multiplatform Developers:  The Ideal Choice For Cross-Platform App Development

Cross-platform app development is one of the most popular approaches to developing mobile apps, the others being native, hybrid, and progressive web app development. Cross-platform apps use a single codebase that is compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows platforms, unlike native apps, which require a platform-specific codebase. Cross-platform apps minimize development time and costs, enabling businesses to reach a wider user base faster. However, Flutter, React Native, and Kotlin Multiplatform are technologies used for cross-platform app development, each catering to unique project needs. Read this blog to understand their comparison and make informed hiring decisions. 

React Native vs Kotlin Multiplatform: What Is The Difference? 

React Native is a cross-platform app development framework developed by Facebook. It is built on JavaScript and JSX, its extension, React.js, and ES6. React Native app developers help businesses achieve the following benefits:  

  • Code Reuse: React Native enables businesses to use a single codebase for apps that can be exported to multiple platforms.  
  • Near Native Performance: React Native applications have a native look and feel because they combine native components with their JavaScript code and ensure consistency across Android and iOS platforms with the same combination of building blocks.  
  • Native UI Components: React Native mobile development enables businesses to create views with React Native UI components, already compiled with platform-specific UI components.  
  • Fast Refresh: Designed to improve the Hot Reload and Live Reload features, Fast Refresh eliminates manual reloads and automatically tries rendering after code changes.  
  • Maintenance Ease: Cross-platform app development with React Native offers maintenance ease as developers only need to update changes once, which automatically reflect on all platforms and devices consistently.  
  • Cost Efficiency: Businesses that hire React Native developers save significantly on development costs by eliminating hefty expenses for platform-specific expertise and codebases, and reduce time to market by reaching all platforms with a single codebase.  

Kotlin Multiplatform simplifies app development for iOS and Android by enabling the sharing of Kotlin code across platforms and minimizing the time spent on maintaining the same code for two different platforms. A successful example of an app using Kotlin Multiplatform is Netflix. Discussed below are the benefits of Kotlin Multiplatform, which you can unlock by hiring Kotlin app developers:  

Development Flexibility  

It enables businesses to retain the benefits of native programming by combining it with the flexibility of cross-platform development.  

Seamless Integration: 

Developers can easily integrate Kotlin Multiplatform into projects as its shared Kotlin code complies into platform binaries.  

Mobile App Development Tech Stack for Unified UI 

Google Compose Multiplatform and its Jetpack Compose libraries constitute the most valuable mobile app development tech stack as they offer a declarative approach to developing shared and consistent UIs across iOS, Android, desktop and web. 

Native APIs 

Businesses can hire dedicated Kotlin developers to integrate any functionality into their apps- be it a video player or a camera feed, Kotlin Multiplatform simplifies the process with platform-specific UI capabilities, native APIs, and interoperability with UIKit and SwiftUI.   

For cross-platform app development, React Native is the ideal choice when:  

  • Your development team is fluent in React and JavaScript as both these technologies are at the core of React Native. 
  • You are looking to reduce the time to market for your cross platform mobile development as React Native enables expansion with a single codebase.  
  • You are building an MVP and need to launch quickly without investing neck-deep into more features or platform-specific development.  
  • When your app does not require complex or advanced native functionality, as React Native can offer some native-like customizations and is apt for apps with simple UI components. 
  • When there is a budget constraint and platform-specific development is not an option to reach users across all platforms.  

Kotlin Multiplatform happens to be the ideal choice for cross-platform app development when:  

  • You have access to top Kotlin app developers or experts who understand Android development closely since Kotlin is Google’s preferred language for Android development.  
  • There is a need for code reuse for networking and data handling. 
  • Native UIs need to be retained for platform-specific consistency.  
  • Your apps need low latency and high performance as Kotlin Multiplatform compiles into native binaries.  
  • Your enterprise needs scalable apps for long-term consistency, robust architecture, and codebase that grows with users.  

Flutter vs Kotlin Multiplatform  

Flutter is Google’s open-source UI software development kit for using a single, shared codebase to develop natively compiled applications across platforms. It offers the following benefits, which businesses can unlock by hiring Flutter app developers:  

  • Code Reuse: With Flutter app developers for hire, businesses can build apps for web, mobile, and desktop using a single codebase that leverages the Dart programming language.  
  • Extensive Widgets: Businesses that hire skilled Flutter developers can leverage Flutter’s customizable widgets to create appealing UIs adhering to Android’s Material Design and the Cupertino guidelines for iOS. 
  • Faster Time to Market: Why Flutter is the best framework for faster time to market is because it enables the use of a single codebase to reach users across all platforms and accelerates development with its widgets and features like hot reload. 
  • Enhanced Developer Productivity: Hiring Flutter developers is beneficial because of features like Hot Reload, which accelerate development, simplify debugging, and contribute to greater developer productivity. 

As such, businesses can hire Flutter developers when:  

  • A single UI is to be used across all platforms. 
  • The expansion plan to reach target users needs you to build your digital presence on desktop and web, along with mobile.  
  • The idea needs to be tested with an MVP and faster iteration is required. 
  • Your dedicated development team is equipped with Dart programming language.  

React Native vs Flutter vs Kotlin: Which Expertise Do You Need?  

As discussed in this blog, the choice between React Native, Flutter, or Kotlin experts will depend on the exact needs of your project, the performance expected by your app, and the growth stage of your business to evaluate time to market, cost considerations, and long-term scalability. Each tech stack has its own approach and advantages and learning about the same helps you make informed hiring and project decisions.