Cross-Platform Development: Which Framework Should You Choose in 2025?

In today’s tech landscape, cross-platform development has become a go-to approach for many developers and businesses. Instead of maintaining separate codebases for iOS, Android, and desktop applications, developers can write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms. But with so many frameworks available, choosing the right one can be challenging.

person holding smartphone while using laptop

If you’re considering Flutter, React Native, .NET MAUI, or other options, this guide will help you weigh their pros and cons and decide which framework best fits your needs.

Table of contents

Why Cross-Platform Development?

Before diving into the frameworks, let’s quickly recap why cross-platform development is so popular:

✔ Faster Development – Write once, run on multiple platforms.

✔ Cost-Effective – Reduces development time and budget.

✔ Consistent UI/UX – Ensures a uniform experience across devices.

✔ Easier Maintenance – One codebase means fewer updates and bug fixes.

But it’s not always perfect—cross-platform frameworks can have performance trade-offs, limited native feature access, or require additional optimization. So, let’s compare the top contenders.

Flutter – Google’s All-in-One Solution

✅ Pros:

Uses Dart, which is fast and optimized for UI.
Highly customizable UI with pre-built widgets.
Great performance (compiles to native code).
Single codebase for mobile, web, and desktop apps.
Strong community and backed by Google.

❌ Cons:

Dart isn’t as widely adopted as JavaScript or C#.
Larger app size compared to native solutions.
Some native integrations require additional work.

Flutter is a great choice if you want a powerful, UI-focused framework that provides a near-native experience across multiple platforms.

React Native – JavaScript Power with Native Feel

✅ Pros:

Uses JavaScript (or TypeScript)—widely known and used.
Strong developer ecosystem (Node.js, NPM, third-party libraries).
Supports hot reloading, speeding up development.
Many pre-built components and native modules.
Backed by Meta (Facebook) and widely used in production apps.

❌ Cons:

Performance may lag behind Flutter and native apps.
Heavily depends on third-party packages, which may lack support.
UI can be inconsistent across platforms.

React Native is a great choice if you already know JavaScript and want a flexible, widely supported framework for building cross-platform apps.

.NET MAUI – Microsoft’s Unified Framework

✅ Pros:

Uses C# and .NET, making it a great choice for Microsoft developers.
Single codebase for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS.
Deep integration with Microsoft tools (Visual Studio, Azure).
Provides native performance and direct platform API access.

❌ Cons:

Still evolving—some features are not as mature as Xamarin.
Limited third-party support compared to Flutter or React Native.
UI customization can be more complex.

.NET MAUI is ideal if you’re already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem and want a single solution for mobile and desktop development.

Other Notable Mentions

Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) – A powerful tool for sharing business logic across platforms while keeping native UI. Best for those who prefer Kotlin.

SwiftUI + Jetpack Compose – While not truly cross-platform, using these native frameworks together allows for easier cross-platform development with native performance.

Uno Platform – A lesser-known but promising alternative for .NET developers, supporting web, mobile, and desktop.

Which One Should You Choose in 2025?

My Thoughts: If you want the best UI and performance, go with Flutter. If you’re a JavaScript developer, React Native is the easiest transition. And if you work with C# and Microsoft technologies, .NET MAUI is a natural choice.