NativeScript vs React Native: A Head-To-Head Comparison
February 14, 2023
March 10th, 2023
The number of smartphones is estimated to reach 7.7 million by 2027.
The smartphone market revenue projections are estimated to be $792.51 billion by 2029.
These figures are quite tempting for any entrepreneur seeking to enter the business world with a vision of success in the next five years or more. Apart from it, mobile app development can be yet another ROI-increasing opportunity for small businesses apart from giants (regardless of business niches).
Leveraging mobile computing as a business opportunity is the broader idea. It involves various attributes starting with choosing the appropriate tech stack. The right tech stack can make or break the growth trajectory of any business.
The first step to choosing the right tech stack is opting for a cross-platform mobile app. It can increase the target users multi folds due to combining the users of all platforms – Android, iOS, and Windows, unlike native apps.
Up next is the choice of the right framework to develop the cross-platform app. To make the right decision it is inevitable to know everything regarding the framework – features, advantages, cons, similarities, and differences.
For two popular frameworks – NativeScript and React Native, we have compiled a detailed comparison guide to help you with your decision. Before comparing these two frameworks, let us first learn more about these frameworks individually (features, advantages, and more).
What is NativeScript?
Developed by Progress Telerik, NativeScript is an open-source, JIT-compiled, cross-platform JavaScript that developers use to build mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms without requiring any platform-specific language expertise.
“Liberate your development by using platform APIs directly without leaving your [love] of JavaScript.” Source: nativescript
It is hard to let go of using JavaScript for some seasoned developers. With NativeScript you do not have to make that choice. Using it developers can build cross platforms mobile apps using TypeScript, JavaScript, Vue.js or Angular, or JavaScript-related language in a nutshell to provide a native app user experience. Apart from using V8 engine runtime, it renders applications outside WebView leaving no scope for performance issues.
Empower JavaScript with native APIs.
NativeScript uses a modular design pattern. Which means a separate module to access each functionality. Further, to get a quick glance at some of the important info about this framework you can also read:
What is React Native?
React Native (also known as RN) is an open-source, cross-platform mobile app development or UI software JavaScript-based framework. It was started as an internal Hackathon project by Meta Platforms, Inc (previously Facebook) in 2013 to find a solution to the requirement of two separate codebases for Android and iOS platforms. It was made open and available to developers worldwide in 2015.
Developers can use this framework to develop natively rendered applications for iOS, Android, Web, and Universal Windows Platform (UWP/Windows) platform without losing touch with the Native app user experience.
React Native combines the best parts of native development with React!
React Native has been all the hype lately because it relieved the mobile app developers from coding separately for mobile and desktop app development for all device types. So, the developer no longer must develop an Android app in Kotlin or Java while an iOS app in Objective C or Swift programming language. This does not mean it will restrict React Native developers from writing native code wherever needed.
It can be better understood by the following quote from React Native’s official website.
Learn once, write anywhere!
This JavaScript-based mobile app framework work on the above principle enabling developers to utilize their existing JavaScript knowledge to build robust, stable, scalable, native-looking, and high-performing mobile applications.
To get a brief through of React Native, you can also read:
Now that we have understood these frameworks briefly, let us understand the NativeScript alternatives and React Native alternatives.
NativeScript vs React Native: The Best Alternatives
Looking for alternatives is not a sign that any of these frameworks are not worth using for your project. It means that these frameworks lack some functionalities and features that are fruitful for some specific requirements of your mobile app development project.
Let us find out some of the top alternatives of these two mobile frameworks which every mobile app development company can consider for their tech stack.
Popular NativeScript Alternatives
- Ionic
- React Native
- Flutter
- Xamarin
- Apache Cordova
- QT
- Framework7
- Onsen UI
- Capacitor
- PhoneGap
Good Read: Kotlin vs React Native: Which Is Best For Cross-platform App Development
Popular React Native Alternatives
- Flutter
- Cordova
- Xamarin
- Ionic Framework
- NativeScript
- Onsen UI
- Codename One
- Tabris Framework
- QT
- Apache Cordova
Good Read: NativeScript vs. Ionic: What Should You Prefer For Your Application?
NativeScript vs React Native: Companies Using Them
The trustworthiness of any framework or programming language is visible from their showcase of the companies (emerging start-ups to well-established giants) using them for years. In the case of React Native vs NativeScript, here is the list of the top fifteen companies using these frameworks.
Companies Using NativeScript
- GeekyAnts
- Navadra
- FinTech Consortium
- Whoz.com
- POSHA
- Monogramm
- Zege Technologies
- Beachy
- TurkDevOps
- Workbox
- Zdravel
- Cuponet
- Traverse LLC
- Organaza.com
- Ably SDKs
Companies Using React Native
- Walmart
- Microsoft
- Meta
- Shopify
- Wix
- Tesla
- Tableau
- Salesforce
- Uber
- Bloomberg
- Uber Eats
- PUMA
- Flipkart
React Native vs NativeScript: Advantages of Each Framework
NativeScript Advantages
- Write once, run everywhere
- Use of a single codebase to develop mobile apps
- Angular, typescript, and JavaScript support
- Supports present/existing native libraries.
- Native UI rendering without WebViews.
- Latest and upcoming mobile OS versions compatibility
- Uses Command Line Interface (CLI)
- Zero-day access to the entire native APIs
- 60FPS performance
- Support for native iOS and Android hardware and UI components
- Powerful data visualization with native UI tools
- Support for Vue.js
Advantages of React Native
- Learn once write everywhere
- Time and resource savings
- Live and hot reloading
- Accessibility to intelligent debugging tools
- Straightforward learning curve
- App Store or Play Store approval is not required for the app update
- Uses Virtual DOM
- Over-the-air (OTA) updates
- Save on development cost
- Nemours “ready-to-go” templates
- Faster time to market
- Compatible with third-party plugins
Top Industries using NativeScript:
If your business falls in any of the below industry categories, then you can consider using NativeScript for mobile app development.
- Information and Technology Services
- Computer Software
- Financial Services
- Higher Education
- Marketing and Advertising
- Hospital and Health Care
- Insurance
- Automotive
- Telecommunications
Top Industries Using React Native:
If you are considering mobile application development and are not sure whether to select React Native, then you can consider finding out if your company belongs to any of these industry categories. If yes, then React Native is the right choice for your project.
- Information and Technology Services
- Computer Software
- Social Media
- Marketing & Advertising
- Fintech App Development and Financial Services
- Hospital and Healthcare
NativeScript vs React Native: A Comprehensive Comparison
Most entrepreneurs seek data-backed decisions for every crucial decision as this one. To ensure you have extensive knowledge of both frameworks, we have weighed them on various parameters in the following table.
| Parameters | NativeScript | React Native |
| Creator | Progress Telerik | Facebook (now Meta) |
| Release Year | 2014 | 2015 |
| Nature of apps | Natively rendered Nobile apps | Cross-platform native mobile apps |
| Language Support | A mixture of JavaScript and a special markup language, JSX | JavaScript and a subset of CSS |
| Performance | Comparatively slow due to divided components | Performs well due to use of Virtual DOM |
| Documentation | Easy to understand | Lacks details leaving beginners confused |
| Thread model | Single-threaded model | Multi-threaded architecture |
| Application Size | Compact | Huge |
| Bundler | Webpack | Metro |
| Platform Support | Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, tvOS, Web, Windows, and UWP | Apple iOS and Android |
| Web application development | Only possible with Angular + NativeScript or NativeScript-Vue. | Yes |
| Native functionality access | Native API access through JavaScript | Native modules |
| Code Sharing | Lesser code sharing due to component styling for individual platforms | Increased code sharing as code is written once |
| Debugging | Hard | Easy |
| Plugin Marketplace | No official plugin marketplace | Has an official marketplace of plugins |
| Community | Bigger and mature | Comparatively smaller |
| Popularity | Most popular | Not so popular |
| Synchronicity | Mostly asynchronous | Synchronous |
React Native vs NativeScript: The Concluding Thoughts
We know how difficult it can be to choose a framework for your mobile application as it is a kind of decision that you would make once in the development process. To help you ease the decision-making, here are some recommendations for when to opt for React Native or NativeScript.
Choose React Native if:
React Native is the most popular cross-platform mobile app development platform after Flutter according to a 2021 developer survey as mentioned in Statista. It clearly indicates that developers are choosing it often (for various reasons). Here are some such development requirements.
- If your developers are familiar with React.js.
- If you want a platform with cross-platform compatibility
- If you want to build an MVP.
- If you want to build real-time apps.
- If you want to leverage live and hot reloading.
- If you want a quicker development process
Choose NativeScript if:
Though NativeScript may not be as popular as React Native according to that survey, it sure has its strong fan base. Here is when the developer opts for NativeScript and so can you.
- If your developers have prior knowledge of Angular and Vue.js
- If your priority is to develop a cross-platform app.
- If you want to dodge performance-related issues.
- If you wish to use re-usable templates and plugins to develop extensible APIs
- If you want to save considerable development costs and time.
- If you want to eliminate the requirement of WebViews to develop engaging and accessible UIs.
The ball is in your court now!
There are other cross-platform frameworks that are worth comparing with these two frameworks. One such framework is Ionic. You can read our comparison guide React Native vs. NativeScript vs. Ionic to get a better idea of these three frameworks.
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