The Flutter vs React Native debate continues into 2025. Having built production apps with both frameworks, we share our real-world experience to help you make the right choice.
Our Current Recommendation
TL;DR: We prefer Flutter for most projects in 2025, but React Native remains excellent for specific use cases.
Performance Comparison
Flutter
- Compiles to native ARM code
- 60fps animations out of the box
- Consistent performance across platforms
- Slightly larger app size (~5-10MB more)
React Native
- JavaScript bridge (improving with new architecture)
- New architecture (Fabric, TurboModules) closing the gap
- Smaller initial bundle size
- Can leverage existing JS optimization techniques
Developer Experience
Flutter Advantages
- Hot Reload: Faster and more reliable
- Dart: Sound null safety, excellent tooling
- Widgets: Everything is a widget - consistent mental model
- DevTools: Best-in-class debugging and profiling
React Native Advantages
- JavaScript: Larger talent pool, familiar to web developers
- Ecosystem: Vast npm ecosystem
- Native Modules: Easier to integrate existing native code
- Web Support: More mature React Native Web
When to Choose Flutter
- Custom UI with unique animations
- Consistent look across platforms is important
- Starting fresh without existing native code
- Team is open to learning Dart
- Desktop app support needed
When to Choose React Native
- Team has strong JavaScript/React expertise
- Existing native modules to integrate
- Need to share code with React web app
- Using Expo for rapid prototyping
Real Project Comparison
We recently built similar apps in both frameworks:
| Metric | Flutter | React Native |
|---|---|---|
| Development Time | 12 weeks | 14 weeks |
| App Size (iOS) | 45MB | 38MB |
| Startup Time | 1.2s | 1.5s |
| Frame Rate | 60fps stable | 55-60fps |
The Bottom Line
Both frameworks are production-ready in 2025. Choose Flutter for performance-critical apps with custom UI, or React Native if your team is JavaScript-first. We're happy to help you decide based on your specific requirements.