As a software developer with 10 years of experience in Node.js, 4 years in React-Native, and 2 years in Dart + Flutter, I’d like to share my personal insight on these two popular cross-platform development frameworks.

Flutter

Pros:

1. 1. Rapidly growing community adoption: According to Statista, Flutter has already surpassed React-Native in terms of community adoption worldwide. In 2021, Flutter has reached 42% in its popularity over 38% of React-Native in just 3 years of its launch. In github, Flutter has 24.5K forks and 150K stars while React-Native has 22.9K forks and 107K stars
   2. 2.Rich and customizable widgets library: Flutter provides a vast collection of highly customizable widgets that allow developers to build beautiful and engaging apps with ease.
   3. Dart language: Dart is a very good language that has several advantages over other programming languages, including being a proper Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) language, easy to learn, good performance, and having a “Sound Null Safety” feature.
   4. Single codebase for multiple platforms: With Flutter, developers can write a single codebase that works on multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and the web.
   5. Google’s backing: Flutter is developed by Google, which owns the Play Store and made Android. This provides a strong backing and a guarantee of long-term support.

Cons:

1. 1. Fewer third-party libraries: Compared to React-Native, Flutter has fewer third-party libraries available, which can limit the functionality of some apps.
   2. Dart’s popularity: Dart is not as popular as JavaScript, which can make it harder to find support and resources.
   3. Fewer production apps: Despite its rapid growth, Flutter still has fewer production apps compared to React-Native.

 

React-Native

Pros:

1. 1. Large and supportive community: React-Native has a large and supportive community of developers that can provide help and resources.
   2. Access to a vast library of third-party components: React-Native provides access to a vast library of third-party components that can save time and increase the functionality of an app.
   3. Familiarity with React: React-Native is built with React, a popular JavaScript library, making it easier for developers who are already familiar with React to start building apps with React-Native.
   4. Stable and widely used in production: React-Native is stable and widely used in production, making it a reliable choice for building cross-platform apps.

Cons:

1. 1. Javascript’s limitations: JavaScript is a bad language, and it requires a lot of support tooling to guarantee proper coding techniques.
   2. Performance limitations: React-Native’s performance is not as good as native apps, which can be a drawback for some developers and projects.
   3. Complexity in developing for multiple platforms: React-Native can be complex to develop for multiple platforms, and debugging can be painful at times.
   4. Builds can easily break: React-Native builds can easily break, especially when there are OS updates, which can take a long time to fix.
   5. No influence on app stores: React-Native is developed by Facebook, which has no influence on either Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store.