The debate of choosing the best mobile application development framework is not going to end any time soon. With the recent advancements in technology, the demand for mobile applications has reached the highest extent and newer technologies are entering the market to make their spot. Businesses now are ‘required to build’ mobile applications for their customers to keep them satisfied. But which technology to choose especially for hybrid mobile applications is a developer’s headache. 

This article specifically highlights the two frameworks, React Native and Ionic; and their comparison with respect to hybrid mobile application development. But before digging into the actual debate, it is important to define the frameworks and a bit of their functionality. 

What is React Native?

React Native is a mobile application development framework that was developed by Facebook and was released in 2015. It is written in JavaScript and code communication with the platforms is done with the JavaScript APIs. It transmits the required functions and data calls to the native platform. Both APIs are connected by a bridge. 

What is Ionic? 

Ionic is another popular open-source JavaScript-based framework that is used for hybrid mobile app development. It was developed by Drifty.co and released in 2013.  Ionic is a framework that depends on Cordova which relies on a Webview component or a Chrome browser view. It uses the JavaScript-native bridge to hold communication between the native platform and the WebView application. 

What is Hybrid Mobile Application Development?

Hybrid mobile application development refers to the process of creating mobile applications that are capable of running on multiple platforms such as iOS and Android using a single code. Hybrid apps are built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript and wrapped in a native application shell. These apps have become increasingly famous due to their cross-platform capabilities that ultimately save time and provide ease.

React Native Vs Ionic: A Comparison

Tech Stack and Learning Curve

Although the core SDK of Ionic and React Native includes JavaScript in common they are not similar. 

As far as React Native is concerned, then familiarity with CSS is a must. Also, it has a steeper learning curve because it also includes knowing to work with React, ES6, Flexbox, and Axions for calling APIs. 

While on the other hand, Ionic is much easier to learn, implement and install. Apart from having a powerful collection of AngularJS services and extensions and multiple web JS options, Ionic has its own Ionic academy that helps developers of all levels to learn the framework. 

Performance

When the discussion is about performance, then React Native has an edge. The performance and responsiveness of React Native are better as it uses native APIs to render. On the contrary, Ionic uses web technologies that result in slower performance.

Popularity and Statistics

The statistics and popularity for both React Native and Ionic are as follows: 

• As per GitHub, Ionic has 13.6K forks and 48.9K stars, while React Native has 23.1k forks. And 109K stars. 
• According to Statista, as of 2021, Ionic stands 4^th in popularity for cross-platform mobile app frameworks and has a market share of 16%. Compared to that, React Native is the second most popular cross-platform mobile app framework and has a market share of 38%.
• As per Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2021, React Native has a market share of 14.51% and is the sixth most popular technology. On the other hand, Ionic could not make it to the popular technologies list.  
• According to AppBrain, more than 34K apps were built with React Native. In contrast, 23k apps were created by the Ionic framework. 

From the statistics, it is identified that the popularity of React Native is more as compared to Ionic. 

Documentation

Documentation of languages and frameworks is always vital for a developer to discover answers and solve difficulties. 

When the talk is about the documentation of React Native and Ionic, then both of them are excellently written. React Native has editable code examples while Ionic mentions best practices for integrating preferred web frameworks. 

There is no competition when it comes to their documentation because both of them are designed and explained well.

Code Testing

For React Native, having a mobile device or an emulator is a must need for code testing. On the other hand, Ionic code can be tested using any browser. 

Code Reusability

While using React Native, you have to change the platform-specific code while Ionic provides optimum reusability of code. 

Who is Using React Native?

The following companies use React Native 

• Facebook
• Instagram 
• UberEats
• Airbnb

Who is using Ionic?

The following companies use Ionic

• JustWatch
• Untappd
• Nationwide
• Pacifica

Which one to Choose?

Whether it is React Native or Ionic, both of them are vastly used frameworks for hybrid mobile application development. However, using the correct app framework is highly dependent on the project requirements. 

If you need to create an app in the least amount of time and if you are planning to develop Progressive Web Apps (PWA) in the future, then Ionic is the best choice for you. On the other hand, if you want a high-performance mobile application with a rich user interface and experience, then React Native is the best choice for you.