Updated March 20, 2023
Difference Between Ionic vs React Native
The mobile User Interface toolkit used for building cross-platform applications for android, iOS, Windows is called Ionic Framework. Ionic is a CI/CD framework. Ionic integrates with other plugins and is really fast in building applications. Ionic is written in JavaScript and was released in 2013, created by Max Lynch, Adam Bradley, and Ben Sperry at Drifty Co. It has an MIT license. React, Facebook creates a native as a mobile application framework. The initial release was in 2015. It is written in JavaScript, Java, C++, Objective-C, and Python. The applications for Android, iOS, Web, and UWP can be created using React Native.
Head to Head Comparison Between Ionic vs React Native (Infographics)
Below are the top 30 differences between Ionic vs React Native:
Key Differences Between Ionic vs React Native
Let us discuss some major key differences between Ionic vs React Native:
- Ionic helps to build native apps that can be downloaded from play Store using web technology. React Native does not do so.
- Ionic uses HTML/CSS/JS to build apps, whereas React Native uses the JS framework to build apps.
- Ionic is a hybrid web platform framework, whereas React Native is a cross-platform framework.
- The code is shared, and there are separate components in React Native, whereas the components are shared in Ionic.
- The user interface in Ionic is portable, whereas, in React Native, it is not portable.
- The entire application can be customized in Ionic, whereas, in React Native, it is not customizable.
- Ionic apps are not divided into multiple codebases, while React Native apps are divided into multiple codebases.
- Ionic apps can be built in the web browser, whereas React Native apps cannot be built in the web browser.
- The ionic framework has better performance and design when compared with React Native.
- Ionic apps are built for mobiles, desktops, and browsers. React Native apps are built for only mobiles.
- Ionic has a complete software kit to develop the apps, whereas React Native has a native approach to developing the apps.
- The Ionic code can be tested using any web browser, while React Native code can be tested using only mobile devices.
- Ionic is easy to learn when compared with React Native. The learning curve is steep for React Native, but it can be used on any platform if learned once.
- Since Ionic is developed before two years of React Native, we can call Ionic as matured than the other framework.
- The licensing rules are less in Ionic than React Native as Facebook develops the latter.
- Typescript can be used in all platforms in Ionic, whereas, in React Native, we cannot do so.
- Ionic is platform-independent than React Native.
Ionic vs React Native Comparison Table
Let’s discuss the top 30 differences between Ionic vs React Native.
| Ionic | React Native |
| The user interface is written in different languages. | The user interface is programmed in one language. |
| It has a single shared library of reusable UI components wrapped by Cordova and PhoneGap. | It does not have a single shared library of reusable UI components. |
| JavaScript is not used, and the apps run on all platforms. | JavaScript controls UI elements. |
| The ionic platform is more stable. | React Native’s platform is not much stable. |
| The UI codes are reused so that codes need not be always rewritten for GUI. | The UI codes are not reused, and hence the codes are rewritten. Codes written in android and iOS are reused. |
| Investment needed is very less. | Investment needed is medium. |
| Ionic is built on top of Angular. | React Native is built on top of JavaScript. |
| Plugins are not needed, and they are inexpensive to use. | Plugins have to be downloaded and used. |
| Ionic is slow due to its web apps. | React Native is faster. |
| Documentation is good. | Documentation is not great. |
| WebView is used to provide a native-like experience. | React Native has a built-in native experience. |
| Graphics development is difficult in Ionic. | Graphics is better in React Native. |
| Simple apps are created using Ionic. | Complicated apps are created using React Native. |
| The app has to be rebuilt if there are any bugs in it. | The app can be debugged and developed without completely rebuilding it. |
| The community is smaller. | The community is bigger, and hence the issues are resolved quickly. |
| Plugins can be used to access the native functionalities of the system. | Native functionalities are not explored using plugins. |
| It is easy to convert HTML codes into native codes. | Bugs are created while converting HTML to native codes. |
| A web layer is used above the platform. | A web layer is not used above the platform. |
| Ionic can easily convert the apps into progressive web applications. | The conversion to progressive web applications is not easy. |
| The programming languages are more flexible. | React Native uses either JavaScript or React. Also, it is necessary to know to React. |
| The performance is more of a hybrid type. | The performance is more of a native type. |
| Gaming applications and animations are easily built in Ionic. | We cannot build a gaming application or animation easily to React Native. |
| User experience is suboptimal. | The user experience is responsive. |
| The compilation is done with WebView or UIWebView. | The compilation is done with the interpreter. |
| The problems and bugs are more. | Bugs are less when compared with Ionic. |
| The web application is designed using CSS or HTML, and developers find it easy to use since it is common. | The design of web applications is done using JavaScript, and hence it is not easy for developers familiar with CSS. |
| The components are made and styled, and customized for easy use. | Developers have to design everything based on the application need, and hence it is not available readily. |
| Developers offer plugins, and they are marketed and sold easily. | Plugins by developers are not easily available in React Native, but they are available readily in the framework. |
| App delivery is not as fast as React Native, and codes are different for each platform. | Apps are delivered faster due to the reuse of codes from android. |
| In order to access the hardware, Apache Cordova is used. | React Native accesses the hardware by itself and does not use any external support. |
When developers have to create mobile applications, they always consider ionic and react native. And now, the combination of both as ionic react is available. Both are open source and are cross-platform frameworks. They have a huge community and are used commonly in enterprises and provide native experience.
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This is a guide to Ionic vs React Native. Here we discuss the Ionic vs React Native key differences with infographics and comparison table, respectively. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –
