You asked for quotes for your app. One mentions Flutter, another mentions React Native, and a third says it will build two separate native apps for a clearly higher price. Each company explains why its choice is the right one. To decide, you only need to know what each option means for your budget, for how fast updates ship, and for who will maintain the app two years from now.
What does a native app mean?
A native app means two separate apps: one for iPhone written in Swift, and one for Android written in Kotlin. Each uses the platform maker's tools directly, so it gets the best access to the device's capabilities and gets new features as soon as they are released.
The cost is plain to see. Every feature is built twice and tested twice, and you usually need a specialist developer for each platform. When you want to change a single screen, the change happens in two places.
What are Flutter and React Native?
Both let developers write one codebase that runs on iOS and Android. Flutter comes from Google and is written in Dart. It draws its own interface, so the app looks almost identical on both platforms. React Native comes from Meta and is written in JavaScript or TypeScript. It relies on the platform's own components and suits teams that already work with React on websites.
Both are used in large commercial apps, and each has a big community and ready-made libraries for payments, maps and notifications. The differences between them matter more to developers than to you. What matters to you is the experience of the team that will build with either one.
What difference matters to you as a business owner?
| Factor | Flutter or React Native | Native for each platform |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Usually lower, one codebase | Higher, two apps |
| Adding a new feature | Once for both platforms | Twice |
| Performance in an ordering or booking app | Very good | Very good |
| New device features | Arrive once the libraries support them | Available right away |
| Finding a replacement developer | Available | You need developers for each platform |
For most of the business apps we build for clients in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, one codebase for both platforms is the sensible choice. It is one of the factors we explain in what determines the cost of an app.
When is a native app worth the higher cost?
When the app relies heavily on the device's capabilities or needs high performance at every moment. Examples include heavy games, real-time audio or video processing, connecting to Bluetooth devices with their own protocols, and features specific to one platform, such as smartwatches and complex widgets.
There is a simpler case as well. If the app is internal for your staff and runs only on Android devices the company buys, a native app for that one platform may be clearer and cheaper than anything else.
If you have an in-house technical team that works in a particular language, take their experience into account. The app will be maintained for years, and it is easier for your team to understand it, or take it over from you later, if it is built with a technology they know.
Can the same code power the website and admin panel?
Partly. Flutter can build a web version of the app, and there are libraries that make React Native run in the browser. That helps for some internal tools, but it is rarely the best option for a public website that has to appear on Google and load quickly.
The admin panel your team uses on a computer is usually built as a separate web app. What the app, website and admin panel really share is the server, the API and the database, and that is the heaviest part of most projects. If it is built well, you can later change the app's screens, or even the technology behind them, without rebuilding everything.
Do these technologies handle Arabic and right-to-left well?
Yes, all three support Arabic and right-to-left layout. The problems we see come from how the app is put together: arrows that don't flip, numbers and dates running in mixed directions, Arabic fonts that are hard to read at small sizes, and text that gets cut off because the screen was designed for English first. Ask any company to show you an Arabic app they built, and try it yourself on your own phone.
What should you ask the company proposing the technology?
The answers to these questions tell you more than the name of the technology:
- Why did you pick this technology for my app specifically?
- Will I own the source code and the store accounts in my company's name?
- If we stop working together, can another developer pick up the work easily?
- How do you handle the yearly iOS and Android updates, and what do they cost?
- Can I try an app you built earlier with the same technology?
A convincing answer to the first question mentions something about your own app: the number of users, a device feature, or a system it has to connect to. A generic answer usually means the company builds every project with one technology, which is fine if that technology suits your project. For what happens after launch, read app maintenance and OS updates.
We choose the technology based on what the app needs, as part of our mobile app development service. Send us a description of your app or the quotes you received, and we'll explain the differences between them in plain language.
Questions our partners ask
Is an app built with Flutter slower than a native app?
In typical business apps such as ordering, bookings and online stores, users don't usually notice a difference. The difference shows up in heavy apps such as games and real-time video processing.
Can I switch technology later?
You can, but it usually means rewriting the app. That is why the decision deserves some time at the start. What matters most is that you own the source code and that other developers know the technology.
Which one is cheaper to maintain?
One codebase for both platforms usually means less work in each update. Flutter and React Native themselves need updates too, though, so don't expect maintenance to be free with any option.
Written by the Visual Innovate team, the people who build, host and follow up systems, websites and apps for our clients in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt.
