It can be challenging to understand why cross-platform development is becoming more popular. As implied by the name, it enables enterprises to reach a wider audience by enabling the operation of apps across many platforms, including iOS and Android. The global mobile application market will reach $187.58 billion in 2021 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 13.4% from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View Research, which has observed a significant boom in the tech sector today.
In the battle of cross-platform mobile app frameworks, two players were battling it out for the throne – React Native Vs. Flutter. Over the last decade, a new java-based programming language has gained enough popularity that developers are starting to notice. This new language is Kotlin. There is a new debate that is catching the attention of many developers – Kotlin Vs. Flutter.
The past standard programming frameworks for cross-platform development were Flutter and React Native. Developers used to utilize these languages a lot. However, currently, Kotlin has established itself in the developer community. Google formally launched Kotlin support for Android mobile app development in 2019. But it’s also critical to remember that Google developed the open-source mobile application development framework known as Flutter.
Kotlin and Flutter both have a Google Label associated with them. Therefore, the crucial question for developers is which is more appropriate. To help readers choose a mobile app development platform wisely, we will compare Kotlin and Flutter’s unique features in this article. So let’s take a quick look at both before delving into their differences.
Kotlin: Overview
Kotlin is a general-purpose programming language developed by JetBrains in 2016. The major focus of Kotlin is on interoperability, clarity, and safety. Some of the tech giants using Kotlin are Amazon, Netflix, Uber, Trello, etc. Kotlin multiplatform is an additional feature provided by Kotlin for enabling developers to reuse the business logic by not imposing any rules on how they want to build their app UI.
Note: Google also announced Kotlin as an officially supported language to write Android apps in their Google I/O in May 2017.
Flutter : Overview
Flutter is Google’s open-source and cross-platform UI development kit. It uses Dart as its programming language that makes use of Ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation. Google introduced flutter framework in 2017, and it has been the talk of the town ever since. The Flutter architecture is divided into three broad categories – Platform, Engine, and Framework.
The Ultimate Technical Kotlin Vs. Flutter Comparison – 2024
Now that we have a better understanding of both the platforms let us dive straight into the ultimate Kotlin Vs. Flutter comparison and see which one is better suited for your app development needs.
Flutter Vs Kotlin: Performance
The programming language Dart is used by Flutter. Apps developed using Flutter are incredibly quick since they are directly compiled to machine code. It renders each view component using its own rendering engines, not the widgets provided by the device’s OEM or the web view. The entire essential range of platform variations, including typefaces, navigations, scrolling, and other UI elements, are included in its comprehensive widget collection.
Flutter uses the programming language Dart. Since Flutter apps are directly built to machine code, they are extraordinarily quick to develop. Instead of using the widgets offered by the device’s OEM or the web view, it draws each view component utilizing its own rendering engines. Its extensive widget library contains every important variation of a platform, such as typefaces, navigations, scrolling, and other UI elements.
When we compare the performance of flutter with kotlin, flutter performs better on the performance test. It strives for 60 frames per second in order to assess how well the application’s user interface (UI) performs with flutter. It’s because flutter, a UI toolkit, focuses mostly on the application’s front end.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Draw.
#4. Flutter Vs Kotlin: User Experience – UX perspective
Flutter is a widget-oriented cross-platform framework. It has unparalleled customization options, allowing Flutter developers to create unique, functional, and scalable applications. Kotlin is a general-purpose language that makes it cross-platform capable. Using this language, Kotlin developers can easily create efficient applications without any issues.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Draw.
#5. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Third-party libraries and Tools Integration
Flutter is an open-source, cross-platform SDK. It provides easy integration of third-party UI development tools. Kotlin is a programming language that is capable of developing native-like cross-platform apps. For this, it makes use of native tools like SwiftUI and Jetpack Compose.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Kotlin.
#6. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Scope in Backend Development
Google backs Flutter; hence it lets Flutter developers leverage Firebase (Backend-as-a-service platform) to write codes at the backend. Kotlin multiplatform allows developers to directly write the backend code without any hassle.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Kotlin.
#7. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Pricing
We are comparing pricing in regards to the app development costs with Kotlin and Flutter framework. Both Kotlin and Flutter are open-source and free to make use of platforms. Flutter provides the fastest way to build an MVP – Minimal Viable Product. Moreover, it significantly reduces app development cost and time as you can make Android and iOS apps using a single codebase at the same time with Flutter. Since Kotlin is also open-source, you can directly download it from Github and start using it.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Draw.
8. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Support for Testing
Flutter has immense testing support for various features to test widgets, conduct unit testing, and app integration. Flutter’s well-documented support also is a plus point. Flutter also works on Firebase, which is an efficient backend-as-a-service tool. Flutter can integrate quickly with iOS and Android platforms, which makes the testing process easier. However, with Kotlin, you don’t need to integrate. Kotlin is multiplatform which enables developers to work using their native framework. This helps developers work with their native tools for cross-platform apps too.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Kotlin.
#9. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Documentation and Community
Flutter is relatively new and rising as a platform. It has one of the most impressive and extensive documentation amongst all popular frameworks for a relatively newer framework. Kotlin has decent documentation ready and is constantly working on improvising it for its developers. As far as community goes, Flutter already has 811 contributors even after being a new platform compared to Kotlin that has 475 contributors on GitHub.
Winner for this round of Kotlin Vs. Flutter – Flutter.
#10. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Time-to-market
The quick experimentation and adjustments made possible by Flutter’s hot reload speed up UI development. Stateful Hot Reload, along with a set of rich widgets, completely customizable architecture, and layered design, enables developers to offer a native-like user experience more quickly.
Compared to Kotlin, Flutter appears a little quicker. Kotlin offers a lot more than that, though. Its clear syntax and code reuse make faster app development and shorter app-to-market times.
Both frameworks significantly reduce development time by using a single codebase to create apps for several platforms, even though the program’s complexity determines the coding speed.
#11. Flutter Vs Kotlin: Job Opportunity
Last but certainly not least, when comparing Kotlin and Flutter, we need to consider Job and Market Share of these two mobile app development frameworks. As a fresher who is looking to learn either one of the frameworks for career purpose or as a company that is trying to decide between the two frameworks, market share and job opportunity can be important metrics to consider. Here are the overall market stats given by App Brain on both these mobile app development frameworks:
Kotlin Vs. Flutter : Head-to-Head Comparison
Though both Kotlin and Flutter offer great things to mobile app developers, a choice must be made between the two.
| Factors | Flutter | Kotlin |
| Developed By | JetBrains | |
| Released | May 2017 | July 22, 2011 |
| Definition | Flutter is Google’s open-source and cross-platform UI software development kit. | Kotlin is a general-purpose programming language developed by JetBrains in 2016. |
| Git Stats | Star – 150K | Fork – 24.6k | Licence: BSD-3-Clause license |Contributors: 1100+ | Star – 43.9K | Fork – 5.4k | Licence: Apache2.0 |Contributers: 550+ |
| Pre-requisites | ➤Object Orientated Concepts –Class,Methods,Inheritance,Objects, Abstraction ➤Dart Language ➤Knowledge about Object-Oriented Languages like – C++ and Java | ➤Java programming language ➤Exposure to any programming environment ➤Basic knowledge of basic concepts like – variables, syntax, and commands |
| Features | ➤Open source ➤Hot Reload ➤Widgets ➤Access Native Features ➤Minimal code ➤Platform-specific Logic implementation | ➤Cross-platform Support ➤Reuse of logic ➤Concise ➤Interoperable ➤Null-safety ➤Adaptability & Flexibility ➤Tool Friendly ➤Extension function |
| Pros | ➤Faster code writing ➤One code works for two platforms ➤Apps made with Flutter are faster ➤Less testing needed ➤Consistent app UI on older devices ➤Ideal for MVPs | ➤100% Java Code Interoperable ➤It is easily maintainable ➤Least buggy programming language ➤Easy bug detection ➤Increase Team Productivity ➤Easy to Learn ➤Compatibility with existing JAVA code |
| Cons | ➤Limited set of tools and libraries ➤Lacks password management support ➤Apps usually are heavy and chunky in size ➤iOS support isn’t that great | ➤A small pool of Talent ➤Slower compilation speed ➤Smaller development community ➤Limited Resources |
| Programming Language | DART programming language is utilized | It was created to work with Java and is a programming language in and of itself. |
| Hot Reload | Supported | Not Supported |
| Supported Platforms | Android, iOS, Google Fuchsia, Web, Linux, macOS, Windows | Android, JVM, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, JavaScript, WebAssembly |
| Popular for | Using a single codebase, beautiful and quick UI development is possible for desktop, mobile, and the web. | Google’s top-notch support for Android app development and compatibility with Java |
| App Size | Bigger | Smaller compared to Flutter |
| Job Availability | 470,822 Jobs Available | 471,980 Jobs Available |
| Salary | $72,166 /yr | $80,760/yr |
| Learning Curve | Must learn Dart to build an app | Easy Learning curve |
| Third-party Integration | Being a UI tool, Flutter requires third-party libraries and tools to connect to the native environment. | To connect with the native environment, a connection does not need to be made using third-party libraries and tools. |
| Scope in backend development | To ensure efficient backend opportunities, Flutter partners with Firebase. | Kotlin enables programmers to create backend code. |
| Deployment | It can be deployed beyond mobile, desktop, and web | It can be deployed on mobile, desktop, and web |
| Release Status | Relatively new compared to Kotlin | Mature and Stable language with tools |
| Component library | Big & Quickly growing | Small & Quickly growing |
| UI Design | Proprietary Widgets | No Preconceived Regulation |
| Testing Support | No | Yes |
When to Use Kotlin?
- When you want a full-fledged mobile application
- When you want to create an app for retail businesses
- When you want to create an app for fintech and banks
- When app needs to be made with a tighter deadline and budget restraints
Flutter is mostly famous for its unparalleled hot-reload feature. Using this, a developer can instantly check the changes they make to the source code. Flutter is ideal for making an MVP product or prototype to show it to your potential investors.
Wrapping Up!
As we can see above, Kotlin and Flutter are both capable platforms for developing efficient cross-platform apps. They both bring different advantages and limitations to the market. And since Kotlin is a programming language, we cannot directly declare a winner in the hot debate of Kotlin Vs. Flutter. It is anyway more beneficial for a developer to have a clearer idea of which tool to use for their requirements.
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