Top 15 Flutter Alternatives to Consider for Cross-Platform Apps

Cross-platform apps have witnessed great demand across a broader audience, coupled with the advantages they offer in crafting successful and efficient mobile applications. This catalyzed software development companies to facilitate mobile app development services.

Currently, many platforms are available for mobile app development, but Flutter certainly stands tall amongst them. But, if you are an aspiring developer, a start-up entrepreneur, or even a medium-scale enterprise, well, you landed at the right place. In this blog, we brought forward the top 15 Flutter alternatives that are ideally suited for developing cross-platform apps.

What is Flutter?

Flutter, developed and supported by Google, is a user interface tool kit (UI) designed for developers to create visually appealing interfaces for various screen sizes and devices.

Flutter offers pre-built widgets, such as rows, columns, and stacks, for easy app layout. It also borrows concepts from web design, such as paddings, centers, and margins, which can be used to design and develop for almost any device, as it requires a blank window.

Moreover, Flutter draws on this blank window to render animations, interactions, and changes. This eliminates the need for making-to-iOS apps, the Apple way, or the Android apps, the Android way. Instead, developers can use pre-widgets from Flutter, such as floating action buttons or linear processing indicators, and integrate them into their app. This makes it easier for developers to create visually appealing interfaces for various devices.

Features of Flutter

• Open-source- It is available for free as it is an open-source framework. Moreover, there are many design options available.
• Cross-platform- Flutter allows developers to use the single code database on different platforms.
• Hot reload- Code changes can be easily reflected in the UI.
• Accessible native features & SDKs- This feature makes the development process easy and delightful through third-party integration and platform APIs.
• Minimal code- The system is developed using Dart programming language, which enhances start-up time, functionality, and performance through JIT and AOT compilation.
• Widgets- Flutter can create complex widgets customized to the app’s needs. Moreover, it has pre-built widgets for developers’ usage.

Flutter app development can help you leverage emerging features and leave a lasting impact on the tech-savvy era.

What is the main purpose of Flutter?

The core purpose of Flutter is to allow developers to build interactive native applications for mobile, desktop, and web devices, particularly with a single code base. Flutter is the right choice for developing high-branded designs.

15+ Flutter alternatives to look for cross-platform apps

1. React Native
2. Android SDK
3. Kotlin
4. Swift
5. Xamarin
6. Java
7. React
8. Ionic Framework
9. Apache Cordova
10. NativeScript
11. Dart
12. ASP.NET Core
13. BuildFire
14. Neptune DXP
15. Deskreen

1) React Native

React Native is one of the popular flutter alternatives, and it is an open-source UI framework developed by Meta. It allows developers to build mobile applications utilizing JavaScript and React. It amalgamates React, a significant JavaScript UI library, with the best aspects of native programming.

React Native allows developers to develop cross-platform mobile applications employing the same codebase for iOS and Android. It is well-suited for projects where developers look forward to rapid development, code reusability, and a native user experience.

Features:

• Declarative
• Component-Based
• Developer Velocity
• Portability
• Npm installation
• UI focused
• Live reload
• Hot reload
• Support for 3rd party libraries

GitHub Stars: 114K stars
Total users: 24.1K forks

2) Android SDK

Android SDK is an open-source development tool kit by Google. It encompasses extensive tools, libraries, and resources that help developers build, test, and debug Android applications.

It allows developers to build innovative and gaming applications in a Java language environment. It serves as a helpful platform for developers looking forward to venturing into the Android ecosystem.

Features:

• Debugger
• Wi-fi hardware access
• IPC message passing
• It consists of a handset emulator based on QEMU
• Documentation
• Sample code
• Tutorials

GitHub Stars: NA
Total users: NA

3) Kotlin

Kotlin is one of the modern flutter alternatives, a static-typed programming language developed by JetBrains. It was designed and developed for full interoperability with Java. This allows the developers to leverage both the programming language together for seamless development.

Kotlin’s popularity extends beyond Android development, which includes web development, server-side development, and cross-platform mobile development. Its easy integration with existing Java code makes it the most loved programming language among developers.

Features:

• Simple
• Asynchronous
• Object-oriented
• Functional
• Ideal for tests
• Null safety
• Data classes
• Operator overloading
• Smart cast

GitHub Stars: 46.6 K
Total users: 5.8 forks

4) Swift

Swift, a programming language developed by Apple, is one of the most popular Flutter competitors. It was developed to replace Objective C as the most effective, simple, and accessible language for creating dynamic and efficient alternatives for Apple devices.

Swift’s ingenuity extends across multiple platforms, including iOS, MacOS, and Apple devices. Due to its host features and improvements resulting in high-scale performance, safe features, and integration with the Apple ecosystem, all of this makes it a preferred choice for developers to create a wide range of mobile applications for desktop software.

Features:

• Code readability & maintenance
• Multiple device support
• Dynamic libraries linking
• Compatibility with objective-C
• Sales & less error-prone
• Multiple device support
• Dynamic libraries Linking
• Improved performance
• Integrated memory management

GitHub Stars: 64.9K
Total users: 10.4 forks

5) Xamarin

Xamarin is a cross-platform owned by Microsoft. It leverages the power of C#, which enables the developer to build native iOS, Android, and Windows mobile apps. A key advantage lies within this is its single codebase, which allows the reusability of the code and shared business logic.

Undoubtedly, Xamarin is a robust solution for cross-platform app development. However, the choice typically depends on the cross-platform project requirements, expertise, and desired user experience.

Features:

• Fast app development
• Connectivity
• Comprehensive testing
• Performance
• App actions
• Easy maintenance

GitHub Stars: 5.6K
Total users: 1.9K

6) Java

Java is a well-known object-oriented programming language known for its ability to “Write Once, Run Anywhere” (WORA) philosophy. Java applications can run on any device with a Java Virtual Machine, granting its exceptional portability and versatility.

Java is a preferred alternative to Flutter; moreover, it caters to diverse domains, including web development, enterprise applications, scientific computing, and many more. Therefore, Java is a steadfast choice for software development due to its versatility, popularity, and stable programming language.

Features:

• Simple
• Object-oriented
• Portable
• Platform independent
• Secured robust
• Neutral architecture
• Interpreted
• High-performance

GitHub Stars: NA
Total users: NA

7) React

React is a free and open-source front-end JavaScript library specializing in developing UI or UI components. It enables the development of single-page applications, which allows them to smooth updates and structured rendering. React can also be used in conjunction with Node.js for developing server-side applications.

One of the core benefits of React is that it was originally developed to match the efficiency and interactive user interface for mobile app development. Moreover, React is also used with React Native particularly for creating iOS and Android applications.

Features:

• Easy to use
• Code readability
• Easy to declare
• JSK
• Performance
• Virtual DOM
• One-way data binding
• Components
• Simplicity

GitHub Stars: 217K
Total users: 45.7K

8) Ionic Framework

Ionic Framework is an open-source SDK catering to hybrid app development. Using technologies like CSS, HTML, and Sass enables developers to create mobile apps across multiple platforms.

The exclusivity of the pre-built UI components simplifies the development process. Ionic can also be integrated with other frameworks like React & Vue. This framework balances development speed, code maintenance, and performance, making it an ideal choice for developing hybrid and progressive web applications.

Features:

• Cross-platform
• Default user interface
• Cordova plugins
• Angular JS based
• Elegant designs creations
• High-performance
• Extended technology
• Native experience
• Platform independent framework

GitHub Stars: 49.9K
Total users: 13.7K

9) Apache Cordova

Apache Cordova is an open-source mobile app development framework. It equipes the developers with the crucial means to build hybrid web applications using programming languages such as Java, CSS, and HTML. It bridges the gap to create mobile apps across different platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and more.

It is a prevalent framework amongst developers due to its ability to balance cross-platform compatibility. This helps them achieve their development endeavors.

Features:

• Cross-platform
• Plugins architecture
• Access to native APIs
• Unified development process
• Community support
• IDE support
• App distribution
• Offline support
• Customizable UI/UX
• Continuous integration & testing
• Responsive design

GitHub Stars: 922
Total users: 346

10) NativeScript

NativeScript is an open source that enables developers to develop native apps for Windows, Android, and iOS users using a single code base. Using APIs and UI components, NativeScript compiles the code into native components, which helps developers develop high-performing apps with a native look and feel.

It is ideally a seamless choice for developing cross-platform apps. Developers looking forward to web development can easily develop native applications from this framework.

Features:

• Cross-platform
• Native user interfaces
• JS/TS and Angular support
• Access to native APIs
• Single codebase
• NativeScript CLI
• Hot module replacement
• Code reusability
• XML-Based UI
• Plugins and modules

GitHub Stars: 23.3K
Total users: 1.7K

11) Dart

Dart is an object-oriented programming language developed by Google. It is a versatile tool that creates web and mobile apps, servers, and desktop applications. Developers leverage this Dart language, libraries, and tools to create anything from scratch scripts to full-feature-rich applications.

Owing to the benefits of Dart, it is a well-documented, easy-to-learn, and high-performing app, making it one of the best flutter alternatives.

Features:

• Open source
• Platform independent
• Object-oriented
• Concurrency
• Extensive libraries
• Easy-to-learn
• Flexible compilation
• Type safe

GitHub Stars: 9.6K
Total users: 1.5K

12) ASP.NET Core

ASP.NET core is a modern open-source web application framework developed by Microsoft. It allows developers to create cloud-based and internet-connected applications. This framework helps build modular, scalable, optimized web applications across diverse platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

This framework caters to cloud-native applications, microservices, APIs, and web applications. It has been positioned as one of the best flutter alternatives because of its versatility, performance, cross-platform capabilities, and performance.

Features:

• Flexible
• Fast HTTP performance
• Open-source
• Command line tools
• New project templates
• Identity updates
• Dynamic development
• Unified programming model
• New project templates
• Identity updates

GitHub Stars: 33.4K
Total users: 9.6K

13) BuildFire

Buildfire is one of the exceptional user-friendly mobile app creation platforms, catering to seasoned developers and those who don’t have extensive expertise in programming languages. However, it offers custom templates tailored to the specific industry type. In addition, it allows developers to start from scratch to let me develop their ideal app aligning with the project’s core objective.

Buildfire is one of the robust flutter alternatives that helps developers streamline the development process by saving time & resources and empowering them to focus on the project development.

Features:

• Low code development
• Out-of-the-box features
• Rapid prototyping & real-time preview
• Developer SDK for limitless functionality

GitHub Stars: 48
Total users: 82

14) Neptune DXP

Neptune DXP is a low-code application development platform. It enables organizations to digitize and optimize their business processes and user interfaces. This platform has two distinct modules, Neptune DXP-SAP Edition and Neptune DXP; each has its own approaches and functionalities. Installing both fosters an accelerated development process.

Neptune DXP stands out as an ideal alternative to Flutter due to its robust capabilities that allow rapid development.

Features:

• SAP BTP
• Enterprise-grade digital UX
• API-based integration
• High-performing
• SAP native development
• Platform foundation
• Rapid application development

GitHub Stars: NA
Total users: NA

15) Deskreen

Deskgreen enables the creation of enterprise-grade APIs, databases, integrations, and more within minutes without needing backend or DevOps expertise. This platform offers a comprehensive suite of features, including database management, authentication, user roles and permissions, REST and GraphQL API, and more.

Deskreen is easy to set up and offers effortless scalability to developers for developing their projects. Therefore, it is one of the thriving flutter competitors, positioning the use cases as a crucial aspect.

Features:

• Authentication
• Database & Storage
• Integrations
• Automation
• Permissions & middleware
• Services

GitHub Stars: 15K
Total users: 821 forks

Wrap up:

Flutter is a robust framework that enables developers to build apps on multiple platforms. However, it is important to consider alternatives to Flutter as they are more suitable for specific project requirements. We have compiled a list of the best Flutter alternatives to help developers make informed decisions and create exceptional mobile applications. This list includes a brief synopsis of each alternative.

FAQs:

Which is better Flutter or Swift?

Both have their benefits. Swift is ideally suitable in terms of performance and security. On the other hand, Flutter is the right solution for speed development, and it can accelerate time-to-market.

In what scenarios might developers prefer Flutter Alternatives over Flutter?

A developer might consider Flutter Alternatives over Flutter for specific project requirements, team expertise, and many other factors.

Is Flutter backend or frontend?

Flutter is a cross-platform that enables developers to develop both frontend and backend applications using a variety of programming languages, including Java, CC++, and more.

What criteria should be considered when choosing a Flutter Alternative?

Before choosing Flutter Alternatives, it is crucial to consider a few criteria: a programming language, community & ecosystem, performance, UI/UX capabilities, platform support, development speed & productivity, and integration with native code.

Can developers seamlessly migrate from Flutter to its Alternatives and vice versa?

Actually, it is more complex to migrate from Flutter to its Alternatives or vice versa because every framework has its own architecture, development paradigm, and components. All of these factors can lead to differences in the codebase.