Xamarin vs. Flutter: 8 Major Reasons to Pick Flutter for Mobile App Development

Flutter is Google's UI toolkit for building beautiful, natively compiled mobile, web, desktop, and embedded applications from a single codebase. It is an open-source technology available for developers and designers free of charge. It was announced in 2015 at the Dart Developer Summit. Originally, it enabled the development of Android mobile operating system applications, supporting content rendering at up to 120 frames per second. The first stable version appeared in 2017.

Xamarin, on the other hand, is an older technology than Flutter. It has been around since 2011 and became part of Microsoft in 2016. The current form of Xamarin was created by Mono developers as a solution for building cross-platform applications. Development in Xamarin was based on the same language, allowing code to be shared across all supported platforms. 

Initially, each platform's user interface (UI) was not reusable. The solution appeared in 2014: Xamarin.Forms was born. Xamarin.Forms delivered an abstraction layer above the various platforms' UI concepts. Thanks to this, developers were able to reuse most of their code across all platforms. In 2016, Microsoft bought it out and integrated it into the NET platforms. 

Flutter and Xamarin are both cross-platform mobile application development frameworks, so what makes them different? 

The two biggest differences between Xamarin and Flutter are the languages ​​used and how the interface is rendered. In Xamarin, the UI is implemented using XAML with C# support. In Flutter, logic and the entire UI are handled by a modern, powerful language—Dart. Also, the way the UI is rendered is significantly different. However, when comparing the two, Flutter services offer clear advantages regarding UI performance and rendering, which are handled by the Skia rendering engine in real-time. In contrast, Xamarin translates a tree of native controls, leading to slower performance.

The definition and functioning basis of Xamarin sounds encouraging to most developers. I fell for it too. 

First, many of us are familiar with standards-based markup languages such as HTML, which allows us to describe what a UI should look like. Therefore, XAML shouldn't be weird. Second, C# is a very user-friendly and powerful programming language that is used and loved by millions.

According to Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024,C# is used by 27.1%of professional developers worldwide. Moreover, Xamarin enables developers to share an average of 90% of their applications across platforms. It means you can write all business logic in a single language and achieve native performance, look, and feel on each platform. That’s all about theory. In practice, working with Xamarin left me with slightly different impressions.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if I said I had many problems with the basic framework, plugins, and the general appearance and quality of the application (otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading my conversion-to-Flutter story). Most of my colleagues didn’t like (or even hated!) what Xamarin offered. 

I quickly concluded that writing the Flutter application (for iOS and Android) would require less effort and undoubtedly be more up to my expectations regarding the result. The two biggest problems I encountered when working with Xamarin were: 

• User Interface. For Xamarin.Forms, a single shared codebase, does not make the UI look the same on different platforms. The simple reason for this is that Xamarin.Forms map the XAML you write to a platform-specific implementation. Take the Entry control, for example. XAML maps the appropriate control for the target framework.

I started my technology switch by rewriting the Xamarin application to view offers, create wishlists, and order products into Flutter. I was amazed at how easily I created the views. The same things happened in Xamarin.Forms that kept me awake at night could be done faster and nicer in Flutter. I was impressed by the multitude of options for customizing default components and the same appearance on different platforms. The smooth operation of Flutter applications made it clear to me that there’s no coming back to Xamarin.

Actually, I found plenty of other reasons to support Flutter. Here's why I now strongly recommend working with Flutter developers to build your apps.

Nearly half a million apps use Flutter! Flutter became the most popular cross-platform UI toolkit, as measured by analysts such as Statista and SlashData.

One of Flutter's biggest advantages is that it can share code between platforms almost completely, saving developers time and effort. This leads to more efficient development workflows, particularly when utilizing Flutter app development company solutions that further streamline the process.

With Flutter, developers write a single codebase in one language—Dart—which powers the language and runtime behind Flutter apps, ensuring smooth performance and consistent functionality across all platforms.

Flutter doesn't use the operating system's built-in platform widgets. Instead, it provides a set of Material Design and Cupertino (iOS-styled) widgets. They are managed and rendered by the framework and the Flutter engine. Thanks to the fact that built-in widgets of a specific platform are not used, we gain flexibility and eliminate limitations.

As you know, application performance is crucial for user-friendly UX. Most of us will quickly become discouraged from using an application running slowly. What distinguishes Flutter from other cross-platform frameworks in this regard? Flutter application is built directly into the machine code, eliminating performance bugs in the interpretation process.

It is worth paying special attention to the widget concept. Anyone who works with this technology will notice the power of the widget approach. Practically everything related to the application's graphic layer is a widget.

The most common widget is a view or a graphic control, but there are also those used, for example, to manage animations or detect gestures. There are two words to look at for the graphic layer. Often, different sources indicate that everything in Flutter is a widget, which is not quite a true statement. After all, in our application, we also have business logic in addition to views. 

Let's take an example of a method that checks if a given day of the week is a business day. Can such a helper method be called a widget?

Regarding widgets, Pub is the package manager for the Dart programming language, containing reusable libraries and packages for Flutter, AngularDart, and general Dart programs. The Flutter Ecosystem Committee selects some of the highest-quality packages. The Flutter Favorite program aims to identify packages and plugins that you should first consider when building your app. 

The number of well-rated packages is constantly increasing. Sound null safety is available in Dart 2.12 and Flutter 2, so when you’re wondering if the found package is valuable, check whether it supports null safety. Remember to pay attention to the date of the last update of the package. It may turn out that the package has not been updated for a long time. This is not a guarantee of quality or suitability to your particular situation — you should always perform your evaluation of packages and plugins for your needs. 

Packages simplify developers' work, e.g., HTTP packages. Many of them are unlimited in use and well documented. When partnering with a Flutter app development agency, developers will use this rich ecosystem of tools to speed up development and improve app functionality.

The great advantage of creating applications in Flutter is the "Hot reload" function. Building the view is time-consuming. Imagine that we have to restart our application every time we change our code to see the effects. Thanks to hot reload, the changes can be observed at any time. It is enough to press the appropriate key combination to observe our view in various configurations. Flutter developers often cite this as one of the reasons they prefer Flutter over other frameworks. Hot reload is also present for other mobile frameworks/tools, but in Flutter, it works great and fast, making it easy for beginners to learn the process of building layouts quickly.

While Xamarin primarily focuses on mobile, Flutter is a true multi-platform framework. It enables you to create mobile apps, web, desktop, and even embedded applications—all from a single codebase. The promise from Flutter.dev sounds like “Build apps for any screen,” and it seems to be kept. You can build, test, and deploy beautiful mobile, web, desktop, and embedded apps from a single codebase. Flutter contributors are working hard to release a stable version of Flutter for each of these platforms. This versatility is a key reason many developers and businesses choose Flutter app development services for their projects.

Many mobile applications rely on advanced operating system-level functions, such as downloading GPS coordinates or collecting sensor data. Plugins supported by Google solve many of these problems. When there are cases when your application relies on an operating system-level feature that is not yet available as a plug-in, don't worry! Flutter provides easy-to-establish communication between the platform's native code and the Dart through the platform's channels.

To sum up, Flutter allows you to create applications with beautiful, advanced views while their performance is similar to native solutions. Moreover, the process involves lower costs than in other cross-platform solutions. In addition, the UI looks the same on every platform.

With its customizable widgets, high performance, and vibrant community, Flutter development services are a compelling option for companies of all sizes. And if any widget or functionality is missing, thanks to Pub, we may find an elegant open-source solution. Once we feel confident in this technology, we can add our package and thus build our position. With good ratings and high popularity, your package will certainly contribute to building your strong personal brand. 

So, are you ready to give Flutter a chance? If you’re considering a cross-platform framework for your next project, Flutter should be at the top of your list. Whether you choose to collaborate with Flutter developers or a Flutter app development agency, the benefits of this framework are clear.

Would you like to dive deeper into why Flutter might be the best choice for your app development? We've got you covered! Whether comparing Flutter with other frameworks or exploring its features and benefits, these articles will help you make informed decisions.

Check out Flutter vs. React Native: What’s Best for Your App in 2024? for a side-by-side comparison, or explore Top 6 Reasons for Using Flutter for Mobile App Development. Also, learn more about the magic of Flutter widgets that make development a breeze!