Will React Native and Flutter Continue to Dominate, or Will Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile Take Over?

Mobile app frameworks like React Native and Flutter have a stronghold on the US cross-platform development market. However, Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile (KMP) has emerged as a compelling alternative, leading to speculation about its potential to disrupt the dominance of the former giants. But like any good programmer, we have our preferences and opinions. This article discusses the technical nuances and compares the advantages and disadvantages of using React Native, Flutter, or KMP. We also share our humble opinion on the future prospects of app development and which framework we think will stand the test of time.

The Current State of Cross-Platform Market

Cross-platform applications have revolutionized productivity by allowing developers to create apps that run on multiple operating systems using a single codebase. React Native, backed by Meta, offers a JavaScript-based framework that bridges native components, enabling developers to build cross-platform applications with a near-native feel.

Google created Flutter to leverage the Dart programming language, a widget-based architecture that provides high-performance and visually appealing apps across platforms.

Kotlin Multiplatform, spearheaded by JetBrains, allows developers to share business logic across platforms while maintaining platform-specific UIs. Its native-first approach is a significant departure from the full cross-platform solutions offered by React Native and Flutter.

Comparing the Performance

If you want a first-class mobile app, there’s no substitute for building your UIs natively. However, the cross-platform approach shortens development time while improving resource allocation and maintenance efforts.

React Native is great for quick prototyping and creating minimum-viable products. React Native relies on a bridge to communicate between JavaScript and native components, which can introduce performance bottlenecks, particularly in computation-heavy tasks. It can also struggle with visually complex things like 3D and animations.

Flutter uses a rendering engine to draw its widgets directly, bypassing native UI components. This approach provides consistent performance but results in larger app sizes.

Kotlin Multiplatform directly leverages native components, offering optimal performance akin to fully native apps for shared business logic. The native UI is untouched, ensuring high responsiveness.

Comparing Developer Productivity

One reason React Native has gained traction is that it's familiar to those who already know React and JavaScript/TypeScript, enabling them to build mobile applications. Developers benefit from JavaScript's ubiquity and the extensive React ecosystem, which enable quick onboarding and a plethora of libraries.

On the other hand, Flutter offers a cohesive development environment with a single codebase for UI and logic. However, Dart has a smaller talent pool compared to JavaScript.

KMP provides seamless integration with Android Studio and IntelliJ IDEA, which are familiar to Kotlin developers. However, its current tooling and ecosystem are less mature, requiring additional effort for multi-platform setups.

Comparing Ecosystem and Community Support:

Popular platforms like React Native boasts a large, active community with extensive third-party library support. However, its dependency on third-party modules can sometimes lead to maintenance challenges, and be aware that outdated or missing libraries can cause significant frustration.

Alternatively, Flutter offers a growing ecosystem strongly emphasizing first-party libraries and tools, ensuring stability and consistency.

Although still in its early stages, KMP has a smaller community but is steadily growing in popularity. Its syntax is very similar to other popular languages, such as Swift and Java, so it's easy to learn and adopt.

Comparing Flexibility and Scalability

React Native and Flutter provide "write once, run anywhere" capabilities, streamlining development for multiple platforms. On the other hand, Kotlin Multiplatform adopts a "share what’s shared, keep what’s native" philosophy. This hybrid approach allows for greater flexibility but may require more nuanced architectural decisions.

The Case for Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile

KMP’s strongest appeal lies in its alignment with modern, native development practices. Kotlin’s growing dominance as the preferred language for Android development gives KMP a natural foothold. You can easily use the Kotlin Multiplatform wizard to create a new KMP project. Additionally, its ability to integrate seamlessly with existing native projects makes it an attractive option for teams that want to incrementally adopt cross-platform solutions without overhauling their workflows.

Currently, however, Kotlin Multiplatform is not without challenges. Its ecosystem and tooling are still maturing, and it will take time to achieve parity with the rich libraries and robust developer experiences of React Native and Flutter. Moreover, for organizations looking to unify UI and logic development across platforms, KMM’s native-first approach may feel limiting.

Fortunately, Android plans future collaboration with JetBrains, Google engineering teams, and the community on a variety of improvements for Kotlin Multiplatform, such as:

• Improving Jetpack libraries with KMP support
• Wasm platform target support in Jetpack libraries
• Improving Kotlin/Native build performance
• General debugging
• Expanding KMP support in Android Studio

The Future Outlook

React Native and Flutter currently dominate the cross-platform ecosystem. KMP’s rise underscores a broader shift toward more modular and native-friendly approaches. In a recent announcement, Google officially endorsed KMP for sharing business logic across mobile, web, server, and desktop. Google's enthusiasm about KMP's potential as the direction for its multi-platform architecture investment is a strong signal for growth.

We see many companies successfully leveraging Kotlin MultiPlatform and believe it will increasingly appeal to enterprises and developers seeking performance and flexibility without compromising native capabilities. We think React Native and Flutter will remain the go-to solutions for startups and teams that prioritize rapid development and shared UIs. However, with Google backing KMP, we are confident the platform adoption will grow exponentially.

Final Thoughts

React Native and Flutter’s dominance in cross-platform development is unlikely to wane in the short term, but Kotline MultiPlatform is steadily carving out its niche. As the cross-platform ecosystem evolves, your choice of framework will depend on your project's specific needs. Fortunately, Tevpro's software engineers are agnostic in their technology recommendations. We fully assess your requirements, including performance requirements, team expertise, and scalability goals, to ensure the final product will stand the test of time. We love to help you build your next big idea, answer questions, or provide recommendations. Reach us by emailing or messaging us on Linkedin or Twitter/X. ‌‌