Flutter and Ionic are 2 leading technologies that are majorly used in the arena of mobile application development services for both iOS and Android platforms.

They empower the developers to prototype and publish compiles applications for desktop, web, mobile, etc. with just one programming language and single codebase.

Both these frameworks are highly popular and widely used frameworks in the world of mobile and web application development.

Let us begin with understanding both these frameworks one by one followed by the major differences persisting between them, proceeded by the points as to which one should you go for:-

What is Flutter?

Flutter is a cross-platform UI toolkit that enables the developers to create and build fast, attractive, natively compiled applications for mobile and web with the usage of Dart programming languages.

It develops the application with just one programming language and a single codebase. It is a completely free and open-source framework developed by Google.

Google introduced it as a software development kit commonly known as the SDK to create advanced and convenient mobile apps for both iOS and Android. Flutter is one of the most competitive SDK that gives tough competition to several cross-platform application development tools including the highly popular React Native.

Flutter is a user interface software development kit used for developing mobile applications using just a single code Dart. It is blended with the inbuilt Java Code on Android and Objective C and Swift on iOS.

Key Advantages Of Flutter

• It is supported and backed by Google.
• It has numerous ready-made widgets.
• It offers relatively easy prototyping.
• It is very similar to the react-native framework where the developers do not necessarily require to update the UI content manually again and again.
• It supports the Hot-Reload feature that makes the complete application development process remarkably swift and fast.
• It diminishes the time and effort required for testing because of its wonderful cross-platform characteristic.
• It has an exceptional user interface because it makes use of a design-centric widget and a bunch of advanced APIs.

This was all about Flutter, now, let us see what Ionic has to offer.

What Is Ionic?

Ionic framework is an open-source UI toolkit used for developing high-quality mobile, desktop, and even web applications using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, etc.

It comprises of a wonderful feature to build once and run everywhere. It was invented by the competent team of Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley of Drifty Co. in the year 2013.

It mainly renders focus on the front-end user experience which handles all the appearance, appeal, and feel of the app. It is very easy to learn and can be combined with numerous other libraries or frameworks including Angular, Cordova, etc. It is an excellent framework that can also be applied as a standalone without a front-end framework using a simple script include which focuses on enhancing and improving the front-end user experience.

Key Advantages Of Ionic

• It is easy to learn because it demands a basic knowledge of CSS, HTML, or JavaScript technologies to build and develop applications.
• It supports the cross-platform trait that can deploy the applications on multiple platforms with just a single codebase.
• It is built on Angular that renders many functionalities to the application developer for crafting an application.
• It stimulates beautiful UI designs with a pretty simple framework.
• It is compatible with many frameworks including React and Vue as well.

So, now you are pretty much familiar with both the terms of Flutter and Ionic. Now, let us see those points that differentiate both of them:-

• Flutter was introduced and released by Google and Ionic was formed by a team of three members namely created by Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley.
• Flutter was launched in the year 2017 in May whereas Ionic was introduced in the year 2014 in the month of March.
• Flutter makes use of Dart programming to develop mobile apps while Ionic uses web technologies such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript for building applications for web, desktop, and mobile.
• Flutter will run by Custom Graphics Engine and on the other hand, Ionic runs in a Web browser.
• Flutter’s performance is brilliant as it uses Dart programming and requires absolutely no to use of JavaScript Bridge for commencing interactions with the applications. On the other hand, Ionic’s performance is a bit slow because it makes use of web technologies for administering an application which diminishes the speed of the application.
• In Flutter, it becomes a must for the developers to learn Dart programming to build an app while Ionic can be used easily as it uses web technologies only for developing an application.
• Flutter’s UI elements consist of widgets and Ionic’s UI elements consist of web components.
• Flutter has very well organized documentation where we can access everything that we want in just one place. Ionic too renders well-structured documentation to the developers.
• Flutter has an outstanding user interface in comparison to Ionic.

So, these were all the prominent differences between Flutter and Ionic. Now, have a look at the below-mentioned points and see which one should you choose from between the two:-

Code Portability

With Flutter, you can build appealing iOS and Android applications from a single set of code. But If you need to deploy your application as a PWA, you should choose to work on Ionic.

Knowledge

If if you have sufficient knowledge about Dart and are comfortable using the same, you must go for Flutter. But if not, choose to opt for Ionic.

Performance

If you are looking for independent animation, going for Flutter is possibly the best option. But, if you are planning to build a more user-friendly application, choose to work with Ionic.

Sustainability

On comparing Flutter and Ionic, projects built on Ionic have proven to be more sustainable than Flutter.

Hence consider all the above-mentioned points and choose the one that fits all of your application development requirements. Both Flutter and Ionic have their own pros and cons, so choose carefully before you make your decision.