Flutter vs React Native
Side-by-side comparison of 2 ecommerce template stacks. Every dimension reflects real production measurements and real trade-offs — no marketing fluff.
Flutter
Flutter renders every pixel via Skia instead of bridging to native UI — the result is pixel-perfect consistency across iOS, Android, and (optionally later) desktop and web. Pick Flutter when mobile UI polish is a differentiator and you have dedicated mobile engineering capacity.
What you gain
- Pixel-perfect consistency across iOS, Android, and every device generation
- Cross-platform from one Dart codebase — one language, one toolchain, two platforms
- Riverpod or Provider for state — both are mature and well-documented
- Material 3 and Cupertino widgets give you platform-appropriate defaults where you want them
Trade-offs
- Dart is unfamiliar to most JavaScript teams — 2-4 weeks of ramp-up for a React team
- Code sharing with a web frontend is limited — Flutter Web exists but isn't a Next.js storefront
- Ecosystem is smaller than React Native for commerce-specific integrations
Performance
First meaningful paint ~1.6s on a mid-tier Android phone. Skia rendering is slightly faster than React Native's bridge-to-native-widgets approach on identical hardware.
SEO positioning
N/A for the app itself — mobile apps aren't indexed by web search engines. App Store Optimization (ASO) replaces SEO for discovery. Pair Flutter with a web storefront on any of the SSR stacks for full-funnel coverage.
React Native
React Native + Expo is the default choice for a cross-platform mobile ecommerce app when your web team already writes React. You can share TypeScript types, API clients, and business logic with a Next.js web storefront through a monorepo.
What you gain
- Cross-platform iOS and Android from one codebase — faster than building native apps separately
- Expo managed workflow handles build, sign, release, and OTA update infrastructure
- Shares types and business logic with a Next.js web storefront through monorepo packages
- OTA updates let you push content and pricing changes without an App Store review
Trade-offs
- App Store and Play Store review adds days to every major release
- Native dependency drift can block releases — budget occasional rescue work
- Push notifications, deep linking, and biometric auth all work but need per-project setup
Performance
First meaningful paint around 1.8s on mobile hardware — feels faster than web because there's no network round trip for the app binary.
SEO positioning
N/A for the app itself (App Store / Play Store discovery, not web search). Mobile apps complement a web storefront rather than replace it for SEO.
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