The short answer
Choose Flutter if your app has its own look and rich motion that must match on every phone. Choose React Native if your team already works in React or the app shares code with a web product. Both build iOS and Android from one codebase, both are fast enough for most apps and both cost about the same. At Enthros, apps in either start at $1,500.
What is the main difference?
Flutter, made by Google, draws every pixel of the app itself, in a language called Dart. React Native, made by Meta, is written in JavaScript or TypeScript and shows the phone's own buttons, lists and menus.
That one difference explains most of the rest: Flutter gives you the same app on every phone, and React Native gives you an app that follows each platform's own style and shares more with web code.
How do Flutter and React Native compare?
- Language: Flutter uses Dart. React Native uses JavaScript or TypeScript, which most web teams already know
- Look: Flutter looks the same on iOS and Android. React Native uses each platform's own parts, so it feels native on both and differs slightly between them
- Motion: Flutter makes custom animation easy and smooth. React Native can match it, with more setup
- Speed: both run smoothly for business apps, shops, bookings and dashboards
- Sharing code with a website: React Native wins, since logic and some screens can be shared with a React web app
- Cost: about the same for the same app. The bigger factor is the number of screens and the backend
When is Flutter the better choice?
- The app has its own visual style, and it must look identical on every phone
- Motion and custom screens are part of the product, not decoration
- You start fresh, with no web code to share
- You may want the same app on tablets, the web or desktop later
When is React Native the better choice?
- Your team builds in React or JavaScript and will look after the app later
- The app shares logic or screens with an existing React web product
- The app should follow each platform's own style closely
- You rely on a JavaScript library or service that has no Flutter version
Does the choice change the price?
Not much. Both build two apps from one codebase, so both cost far less than two native apps. At Enthros a first version costs the same in either: from $1,500 for up to 10 screens, with login and the release to both stores, in 15 to 20 weeks.
Can you switch later?
Only with a rebuild of the app itself. The designs, the backend and the store listings carry over, but the app code does not. That is why the choice is worth five minutes of thought now: pick the one your future team can look after.
How do we choose at Enthros?
We build in both and pick on the first call, from three questions: who will look after the app, does it share code with a website, and how much custom motion does the design need. The answer goes into the written plan, with the price and the timeline.
Planning one?
Flutter apps at Enthros start from $1,500 and take 15 to 20 weeks.
