The Performance Gap Has Closed

The React Native versus native development decision has shifted meaningfully over the past two years. The New Architecture — with TurboModules, Fabric renderer, and bridgeless mode now stable — has closed many of the performance gaps that previously made native the clear choice for complex applications.

When to Choose React Native

React Native is now the stronger choice when your team has deep JavaScript and TypeScript expertise, your app is primarily content and form-driven, you need to ship on both platforms with a small team, and your performance requirements are typical of business applications. The developer experience improvements, combined with Expo managed workflow, make it possible to go from concept to both app stores in a fraction of the time native development requires.

When to Go Native

Native development with Swift and Kotlin remains the better path when your app relies heavily on platform-specific APIs — camera processing, AR, complex animations, or deep OS integration. It is also preferable when performance is a core differentiator, when you have dedicated iOS and Android teams, or when your app needs to feel indistinguishable from first-party platform apps.

The Hybrid Approach

The middle ground — and increasingly the most practical approach — is a hybrid strategy. Build core screens and business logic in React Native, and drop into native modules for the features that demand it. The improved native module system makes this boundary much cleaner than it was even a year ago. The decision should be driven by your team strengths, your timeline, and your product specific technical requirements — not by ideology about which approach is better in the abstract.