React Native vs Ionic: The Best Mobile App Framework in 2025

Quick Summary: Mobile app development is an integral part of business strategy today, and opting for the right framework can significantly impact your app's success. Two prominent frameworks in the mobile app development arena are React Native and Ionic. They are the most incredible options for building apps, but they differ significantly. In this blog, you’ll explore everything about React Native vs Ionic to help you decide which framework aligns better with your business needs and requirements.

Do you know what the best thing to be in the IT industry is? You always have a ground to play with the latest and diverse technologies. Interesting, right?

Last month we came up with a comparison between Next.js vs React - choosing the best front-end framework blog. In fact, since the inception of TezJS, it has not become easy to choose the right stack for front-end developers. Because TezJS has turned out to be the most effective, progressive, and revolutionary JavaScript framework for modern Jamstack development. And now, we are going to shed some light on the best mobile app framework; definitely a cross-platform framework – React Native vs Ionic for developing non-native applications.

The actual reason for writing this blog post is that I am often asked by our clients – “Which platform is better for my enterprise app development?” As an answer, we give them the primary benefits of each to provide them with a better idea to choose one. Both frameworks allow you to develop iOS and Android mobile apps. After going deeper into these technologies, I would say these two are amazing frameworks because they let you quickly build prototypes and publish apps on various platforms with a single source code.

Before going further, many leaders and developers still fail to understand the exact meaning of native and hybrid terms. So, allow me to explain in a simple term.

Let’s assume you are writing a storybook or novel in your native language - English. But unfortunately, where you reside, people don’t understand English. So, you have to translate the whole book into other languages like Japanese, Hindi, or German. The entire process consumes a lot of time as you need to write a book in a particular language. In addition, you have to find a good translator and pay him to convert it into given languages. However, this could be a challenging task for you.

Besides, we find no other way to bring your imaginary world to a wider audience.

Watch this short video and get the basic differences of React Native and Ionic

Now coming back to the mobile app world – to develop an application, you have to write the code again from scratch for each platform you want to deploy. And the same way, it consumes time, costs you a lot, and requires expertise as well.

To ease down the development cost, reduce the time, and let you build an app for every platform, there are many hybrid app development frameworks in the market. But here, we will understand the comparisons and similarities between the two most popular JavaScript cross-platform frameworks: React Native and Ionic.

Hybrid Apps vs Native Apps: A Popular Debate

Talking about Native applications, these apps are developed in a specific language for a particular platform to deploy. For example, to create an iOS app, you have to write a code in Objective C. In the same way, to develop an Android app, Java is required. And this application is known as a Native application. The primary advantage of native app development is its extraordinary performance as it is built for a specific platform.

Besides, hybrid applications are web apps that use different web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build an application. However, these hybrid apps use the Cordova or PhoneGap platform to provide the native experience and access native features of iOS, Android, or any other platform.

Also, if you want to clear your mind with the difference between Native and Cross-platform development approaches, you can read our detailed blog on - Native vs Cross-Platform Debate.

Before we get into the difference between Ionic and React Native, let’s understand each framework carefully – advantages, usages, and functionalities.

Ionic Framework: Write Once, Use Everywhere

GitHub: 46.3k Stars and 13.5k Forks

Ionic is an open-source UI toolkit for developing PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) and mobile apps using web technologies like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. It lets you create high-quality cross-platform applications.

Developed by Drifty Co in 2013, it was built on top of Apache Cordova (former PhoneGap) and Angular.js. Also, it offers mobile-optimized web technology-based components and native APIs using Ionic Native and Capacitor. However, the Ionic was launched with support for multiple front-ends, including React.js, in 2019.

The major objective “write once and use everywhere” means developers have to create one app for various platforms and devices. It means developers can easily build hybrid mobile apps, desktop apps, and PWAs.

Ionic allows to build a hybrid mobile app using Angular, React.js, Vue.js, or even with just plain JavaScript.

What is Ionic React?

Ionic React is an open-source UI and Native API project for iOS, Android, PWAs, and Electron applications that leverage React and traditional web technology to provide cross-platform UI components and native capabilities.

Ionic React is the popular Ionic framework's official React version. It is extremely popular among developers. It has empowered many apps for big companies like IBM, T-Mobile, Schneider, Yara International, etc.

Besides, it provides rich UI components that can be easily combined with third-party libraries like Redux and React Router for managing the state and routing at the application level correspondingly. It also contends Capacitor, a native runtime that offers access to such features as a camera, geolocation, and file system for making an application more functional and comfortable for users.

Now let’s take a look at the advantages of Ionic:

Advantages of Ionic

When you hire Ionic developers to develop a hybrid application, you can leverage the below-given advantages for your enterprises.

Native-styled UI Components

With a plethora of out-of-the-box UI elements, Ionic allows developing an app that feels native on each platform

Easy Documentation

Ionic has very easy and simple documentation to understand its configuration and development process. It has everything written and well-structured that developers need.

Fast Testing Cycle

You can easily test code quality in the browser without any heavy emulator loading.

Easy Learning Curve

Learning and understanding Ionic is very easy. It only requires the proper knowledge of React, Angular, and Vue, along with Apache Cordova.

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Disadvantages of Ionic

Along with its perks, Ionic also has its downsides which force you to think twice while choosing the Ionic framework for your project.

Poor Performance

The performance of the Ionic app is slower than native mobile apps. However, many of the average users do not see the performance gap.

Bugs Issue

Developers claim that every new version of Ionic brings new bugs. Some of them may be updating outdated plugins, moving to the latest releases, or accessing native device functionalities.

Not Suitable for Gaming Apps

Ionic is not suitable to develop high-end graphics-dependent game applications.

Early Adopter Risk

Ionic technology is still a newbie and is in the development stage. Its support and standards are constantly changing, and its libraries can be fully rewritten at any time.

React Native: Learn Once, Write Everywhere

GitHub: 101k Stars and 21.7k Forks

While talking about React Native and Ionic for their success, it differs a lot. Unlike Ionic, which was created as a startup, React Native was developed by one of the largest and most famous companies – Facebook, in 2015.

React Native is a cross-platform development framework (or hybrid framework) that lets you create native apps using React code. It operates in the background of the user's device and uses bridging to interface with the device's native components.

With React Native app development, developers can build Android and iOS mobile using JavaScript. It facilitates cross-platform development by supplying platform-independent native components that map to the platforms' native UI building blocks.

It is used in various products, including the marketplace part of the Facebook app. With React Native, developers can also create a TV application for Apple TV and Android TV.

“The primary goal of React Native is for your code to execute natively on Android and iOS devices. Most React Native features were able to reach 95–100% shared code, with only 0.2% of files being platform-specific."

Now let’s consider the advantages of React Native:

Advantages of React Native

You can leverage the following benefits for your project when you hire React Native developers.

JavaScript Usage

You can use JavaScript while developing an app in React Native. Furthermore, it also allows you to use native modules in Kotlin, Java, Objective C or Swift.

Hot Reloading

Hot reloading is one of the most important and useful features of React Native. This lets you inject the latest version into your existing application without changing its state.

Performance

React Native code is compiled directly to native APIs, resulting in faster app performance. The aspect of performance plays a crucial role; other than being fast, something else can enhance the performance. Are you thinking about what is being discussed here? Well, the UI design! Not only will it help you to get the user experience, but also, it'll support the practical functionality of your site. Also, you need to know that ReactJS can help you with it.

If you think you need expert help with the same, then you can consider getting in touch with top React Development Company.

Pricing

React Native is completely open-source, which means any developer can use it and its libraries without any cost.

Disadvantages of React Native

Let’s go through the disadvantages of React Native, which are given below.

Longer Development Time

While developing an app with React Native, the Write-Once-User-Everywhere approach will not work. Creating a bespoke version of each screen for each device or platform is required. Hence, it consumes a good time for development compared to Ionic development.

Steep Learning Curve

It’s not easy to learn and understand React Native for app development, especially for freshers.

Larger App Size

The size of React Native APK is larger than those apps developed with native technologies of Java or Kotlin.

Long Initialization Time

React Native takes time to initialize the runtime, even if you are using the latest devices and systems.

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React Native vs Ionic: The Similarities

The difference between Ionic and React Native is truly great, but these platforms share some similarities that we should consider as well.

Both platforms look quite similar for freshers from their basic descriptions. React Native allows you to build a native mobile app using React JavaScript framework and JavaScript.

On the other hand, you can develop web, mobile, and desktop apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with Ionic development.

Ionic vs React Native: The Comparisons

By now, you know everything about React Native and Ionic. So, let the comparison begin to understand the difference between React Native and Ionic.

Popularity

While considering the popularity factor, React Native is way ahead of Ionic on the GitHub platform. It has very impressive numbers for Stars, Forks, contributors, and version release in GitHub. Besides, Ionic is slowly growing and gaining popularity in the community. It has more than 238 versions as well.

As per the developer survey 2020, here are some of the popularity stats:

• Around 86% of the developers have chosen Ionic SDKs for the enterprise app development, while only 16% of developers have used SDKs of React Native.
• The libraries, frameworks, and Ionic tools are used by around 72% of developers whereas, only 21% of developers use React Native for that.

According to the 2022 Stack Overflow survey, React Native has a greater popularity rate (12.5%) than Ionic (5.2%). Ionic is only recently gaining popularity, as most people are still unaware of its capabilities and benefits.

Winner: React Native. It’s clear that React Native is quite popular than Ionic.

Learning Curve

React Native

The learning curve of React Native is very easy if you are a React developer. The concept is very similar to the way you code in React. But the primary difference is, React employs web components such as <p> and <div>, whereas React Native uses components that are wrappers for native Android and iOS components such as <View>.

So, now the question is - what about freshers who are not aware of React? If you want to learn React Native, you must be aware of React and JavaScript. You actually have to act like a mobile developer as you are going to develop mobile apps but not web apps.

In a nutshell, the learning curve of React Native could be considered steep for someone who is not aware of React technology.

Ionic

As we know, the Ionic technology stack is very flexible. We can use CSS, HTML, and JavaScript along with your preferred web framework – Angular, Vue, React, Knockout, or any other modern web framework. This indicates the developers who are going to choose the Ionic framework will select the framework that they are already aware of to develop apps. Hence, the learning curve is not as difficult as React Native.

You're essentially creating web apps that can be converted to mobile apps with Ionic. So, when compared to React Native's native approach, this hybrid approach is unique. This is simpler for developers to grasp.

Winner: Ionic. It’s very easy and simple to learn.

Technology Stack

React Native

Talking about the technology stack parameter, both React Native and Ionic frameworks follow different approaches.

The popular framework React is used to create React Native, which is written in JavaScript. Its UI components are written in JSX but not in HTML. JSX may look like any other template language, but it has all the capabilities of JavaScript. React Native uses React because Facebook developed both frameworks as open-source. Therefore, it's natural that they used React to build React Native.

Ionic

You can use React, Angular, or even Vue for Ionic app development. The technology stack of Ionic is very flexible compared to React Native. It uses JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS to develop an app and requires a Cordova wrapper to access native platform controllers. You can also use TypeScript to improve the code quality of an app.

You can now use Ionic with any web development framework, thanks to the latest release of Ionic 4.

In addition, Ionic uses the minimum code base, which is based on Angular for faster and smoother app development. Hence, the developers with Angular knowledge find Ionic easier to learn and convenient to use.

Winner: Ionic. In this learning curve phase of the React Native vs Ionic war, Ionic comes out on top.

Performance

React Native

React Native is closer to native performance than Ionic. Thus, developers choose React Native due to its native feeling. It’s used to develop native apps with JavaScript. it employs the same building blocks as native apps and uses the same appearance.

The only distinction is that React Native is cross-platform and wraps these native building components in JavaScript. With React Native, you can get faster performance and responsiveness to mobile apps. But it requires a huge budget.

Ionic

While considering Ionic, it’s a hybrid approach and ideal for rapid app prototyping. It doesn’t cater to the needs of native apps. Hence, you could surely face performance issues. The native code has a lot of callbacks, which could cause latency. If you wish to use native functionality, Ionic additionally requires the Cordova plugin. Although Ionic is a fantastic tool for creating beautiful user interfaces and accelerating development, it has significant performance concerns compared to React Native.

Winner: React Native. It offers better performance than Ionic.

OTA Updates

React Native

The Microsoft CodePush library in React Native helps developers deploy apps and provide over-the-air (OTA) updates. Furthermore, React Native's OTA updates are performed on the end user's device.

Ionic

It is feasible for developers to switch back and forth between new and old versions in Ionic. Also, Ionic Display makes upgrading the app much easier. Furthermore, the Ionic Display allows you to update the app on-demand if any changes are required.

Winner: Ionic. It becomes easier to update an app with Ionic.

Third-party Integration

React Native

React Native comes with a plethora of libraries. There is no shortage of third-party plugins; however, integrating many third-party plugins in React Native is tough.

Ionic

Since the Ionic framework has a large library, developers may quickly find plugins like Ionic, Apache/Cordova, and others. Furthermore, when compared to React Native, it is much easier to create bespoke modules with Ionic. As a result, Ionic has an obvious advantage over React Native, and it is now the most popular option.

Winner: Ionic. It’s very easy to integrate third-party with Ionic.

Plugins and Community

React Native

As we know, React Native is based on React. So, the framework is largely supported by a vast community for information, updates, and solutions. Besides, React Native is used and backed by Facebook and Instagram, making it more popular among developers as well. Furthermore, it has a plethora of plugins to use Cordova or PhoneGap, which help you access mature plugins from the other communities.

Ionic

As we know, Ionic has been slowly growing and gaining popularity for a while now. So, you may find the plugins for native features you are looking for in the community. Besides, the community has a marketplace where people sell and buy plugins.

Winner: React Native. Since it is backed by Facebook, it has a huge community.

CI and CD

React Native

React Native implements Jenkins CI, CircleCI, Birtrise, and Travis CI for Continuous Integration (CI), and Continuous Deployment (CD).

Ionic

Ionic implements Adobe Phonegap Build, Semaphore CI, Jenkins CI, Travis CI, Codeship, CircleCI, and Semaphore CI for Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD).

Winner: No clear winner. Both platforms are equally good for CI/CD.

Debugging

React Native

When it comes to evaluating the legitimacy of any cross-platform framework, code debugging can be the deciding factor.

Since React Native code is written in JavaScript, debugging the applications with Chrome developer tools, Consol.log, or React Native debugger app is easier. Moreover, if the app uses much native code, then debugging can be done with any editor like XCode for iOS apps and Visual Studio for Android apps.

Ionic

Ionic comes with a unique set of tools, such as Chrome dev tools, that make debugging easier for developers. However, there’s a twist in the story. The debugging procedure can be a bit harder for projects that use the features of ngCordova's hardware.

Winner: Both are winners as both can be debugged with Chrome developer tools.

Enterprise Compatibility

React Native

Since many big organizations like Facebook, Airbnb, Wix leverage React Native, it has become a ‘crowd favorite’. However, it is unclear whether React Native framework is officially recommended for enterprise use.

Ionic

Ionic has great support to develop PWAs and hybrid/native apps. Hence, it has become the most preferred and favorable framework for enterprises.

Winner: Ionic. It has better enterprise compatibility compared to React Native.

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Testing

React Native

In React Native, you can perform any testing from the level of unit testing to automation testing with many frameworks like:

• For Unit Testing, use Jasmine, Jest, ReactTestUtils
• For Integration Testing, use Mocha
• For test automating iOS mobile apps, use XC Test
• For iOS UI automation, use EarlGrey

Ionic

The end-to-end testing configuration for Ionic is similar to Angular CLI. As a result, Karma can be used for component testing. Also, end-to-end testing and unit testing are done with Jasmine and Protractor.

Winner: Both React Native and Ionic are a winner. React Native testing ranges from unit to automated testing, whereas Ionic testing goes between component and end-to-end testing.

User Interface

React Native

React Native modules associated with native UI controllers are very similar to native apps. It also uses the ReactJS library, which has a large number of UI elements, simplifying UI development.

Ionic

Ionic UI renders everything in CSS and HTML. And it does not use any native elements. It then uses Cordova to provide a native mobile experience. Ionic apps can also look like native apps due to Angular components that come with the framework.

Winner: React Native. It tops the user interface category when compared to Ionic.

Application Size

React Native

The app size of React Native has around 8.5 MB for the React native build in the case of the Expense Manager app. This app size is without using Proguard for build size minimization.

Ionic

On the other hand, the Ionic app size is around 3.2 MB for the Ionic build in the case of the Expense Manager app.

Winner: Ionic. Ionic can help you build low-sized applications compared to React Native.

Development Time

React Native

It takes around 1.5 months to create and launch the React Native app.

Ionic

It takes around one month to develop the Expense Manager app in Ionic.

Winner: Ionic. It has a faster development time than React Native.

When to Use React Native?

After going through the comparison details – Ionic vs React Native, let’s understand when to use React Native.

Go with React Native:

• If you have great expertise in React Native framework
• If your existing app or website is built React Native
• If you have a good budget and patience to see results
• If the native platform dependency is critical to your product

When to Use Ionic?

Let’s understand when to use Ionic.

Go with Ionic:

• If you have limited time to build an app
• If you are a startup and have a unique idea to build an app
• If you plan to raise funds for your app and business growth depends on MVP development.
• If you have budget constraints

Can We Use React Native with Ionic?

Yes, we can use React Native with Ionic. It’s called Ionic React. It’s the official native React version of the Ionic. If you want to develop an app that performs faster and has some functionalities of React, then Ionic React could be your ideal choice for development.

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Which is Easy to Learn Ionic or React Native?

Having said it earlier, Ionic is easy to learn as it enables you to choose your desired or preferred framework – Angular, Vue, React, and others to work with.

React Native vs Ionic: Tabular Comparison

Source: Codeburst

React Native or Ionic: Which One Should I Choose?

At the moment, we can conclude that both frameworks are the best frameworks, so it’s not easy to choose one over another. However, the app development framework is dependent on the project requirements, functionalities, and target audience.

If your requirement is to develop an app in a short time and have ready code, then Ionic would be the best choice for that. On the other hand, if you want to build a high-performance app with a feature-rich UI, and amazing user experience, then React Native would be your first choice.

If you are clear with your objectives, you can leverage the framework's benefits for the development. Thus, it would be best to be more careful while choosing a framework. And once you have got the right pick, the next step as a business owner is to gather the right developers to work on your app requirements.

At Radixweb, we pride ourselves on being India's best and leading mobile app development company. We bring a wealth of experience and expertise from over 500 developers to the table. Connect with us and find a clear roadmap to complete your dream app project.

So which framework is your favorite one? Why do you prefer it? Tell us now!