ReactJS vs React Native: Key Differences Explained

ByIyanu Taiwo Last Update on

ReactJS and React Native are two of the most popular JavaScript libraries for building modern web and mobile applications. Both were created by Facebook and share a lot of similarities, but they each have their own strengths and use cases. This guide will highlight the key differences between ReactJS and React Native to help you decide which is best for your next project.

Overview

ReactJS is an open-source JavaScript library for building user interfaces specifically for web applications. It allows you to create reusable UI components to build complex and dynamic web apps. ReactJS only renders on the client-side and is used for web development.

React Native is an open-source mobile application framework that uses ReactJS for building native mobile apps. It compiles to native app components so you can build Android, iOS and UWP apps with JavaScript and React. React Native combines the best parts of native development with React, giving you greater speed and efficiency.

In summary:

  • ReactJS is for web only, React Native is for native mobile apps
  • ReactJS uses HTML and CSS, React Native uses native code
  • React Native apps have greater performance and access to API‘s
  • ReactJS has more mature ecosystem and support

Technical Differences

Here is a more in-depth look at some of the technical differences between the two frameworks:

1. Platforms and Target Environment

The most obvious difference is the platform and environment each framework targets.

ReactJS creates web applications that run in a web browser and gets served from a web server. It uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript to render the user interface in the DOM. ReactJS only builds web apps.

React Native builds native mobile applications that compile for Android, iOS and UWP platforms. Instead of the DOM, React Native uses native components and bridges to render UIs natively on mobile. This gives better performance, smooth animations and can access device API‘s.

2. Architectural Design

Both ReactJS and React Native share the same core design principles and use a component-based architecture. However, under the hood they work very differently.

ReactJS uses a virtual DOM that syncs with the browser‘s DOM using a reconciliation process. When state changes, it will re-render components and update only the parts of the DOM that changed. This allows for fast performance and minimal DOM manipulation.

React Native does not have a DOM since it renders to native UI components. It creates a JavaScript thread that communicates with the main native thread via an asynchronous bridge. This allows you to write components in JS but still get the performance of a native app.

3. Development Languages

When it comes to languages, ReactJS development is simpler, but React Native allows you to leverage your existing native language knowledge.

ReactJS only requires you to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You don‘t need to know any other languages to build a web app, and many web developers are already familiar with these core technologies.

React Native uses JS and React concepts for writing UI components, but still requires knowledge of the native languages underneath – Java/Kotlin for Android and Objective-C/Swift for iOS. This means you can reuse existing native codebases and libraries.

4. Styling Approaches

For styling UI components, ReactJS uses CSS while React Native has more limitations.

ReactJS fully supports CSS allowing you to style components directly or via external stylesheets. This gives you maximum flexibility and reuse of existing styles. ReactJS also has popular CSS-in-JS libraries like Styled Components.

React Native does not use CSS and has its own StyleSheet API. You have to define styles inline using JavaScript objects or StyleSheets. Some CSS properties don‘t map directly either. This can make styling more verbose and harder to maintain styles across views.

5. Navigation and Routing

For multi-page apps and SPA‘s, navigation works very differently.

ReactJS apps typically use a third party router like React Router for navigation. This allows you to define routes and paths for a smooth single-page app-like experience with animated transitions between views.

React Native has an inbuilt native Navigator API to handle routing and navigation between scenes. It provides native-style navigation with transitions and animation between views and stacks. Being native, it‘s very smooth but offers less flexibility than React Router.

6. Component Libraries

Both ReactJS and React Native have huge component libraries. React Native is more limited, but rapidly improving.

ReactJS has an extremely rich ecosystem of third-party components and UI libraries like MaterialUI, AntDesign and BlueprintJS. These provide pre-built components allowing complex UIs with minimal code.

React Native has fewer mature UI component libraries right now, but popular options include React Native Paper, React Native Elements and React Native Base. The ecosystem is quickly growing though, especially with Expo helping push component innovation.

7. Development Tools

ReactJS has more mature open-source dev tools while React Native tooling continues to evolve.

ReactJS benefits from a huge range of community-built dev tools like Create React App for bootstrapping projects, React Dev Tools for debugging, React Training Wheels and CodeSandbox for learning React and many more.

React Native now has Expo for quick prototyping, React Native Debugger and Reactron for debugging React Native apps. React Native is quickly catching up, but still has fewer mature developer tools than ReactJS.

8. APIS and Data

When accessing APIs and data, React Native has a key advantage of leveraging native modules for better performance.

ReactJS uses REST APIs, client-side HTTP requests and often Redux for state management and data in web apps. React Query also recently emerged for powerful data syncing abilities.

React Native can still use the same REST API and Redux approaches, but also allows native modules for complex background tasks, push notifications and hardware API access unavailable on the web. React Query also works very well for data management.

9. Testing Frameworks

Automated testing is critical for both platforms, and they share some preferred testing tools.

ReactJS applications typically use Jest combined with React Testing Library for unit and integration testing components. Cypress and Selenium can also used for E2E browser testing.

React Native also uses Jest as the top choice for testing business logic, Redux functionality and components. For UI tests, tools like Detox and Appium automate full native end-to-end flows through on-device testing.

10. Performance Optimization

Both platforms provide ways to analyze and improve app performance.

ReactJS applications should use React Profiler for profiling component rendering performance. Optimized image loading, bundle analysis, route-based chunking and memoization help improve ReactJS site speed.

React Native also uses memoization and allowing caching to optimize. Preloading, App Startup Optimization and handling large lists with FlatList also boost React Native app speed. React Native CLI provides RAM and debug info to diagnose performance issues.

11. App Size and Loading Performance

Out of the box, React Native allows smaller bundle sizes which helps initial load times.

ReactJS web apps can suffer from long initial load times as big JavaScript bundles, fonts, images and other static assets pile up. Code splitting helps minimize this issue.

React Native compiles all JS into a single minified bundle leading to a smaller download. Without big images or fonts to load, apps launch with the minimal viable code needed. Expo also optimizes loading performance automatically.

When Should You Use Each?

With the differences compared, when should you use ReactJS vs React Native for a project?

Use Cases for ReactJS

ReactJS is better suited for:

  • Web applications and websites
  • Single-page applications (SPAs)
  • Content/data dashboards and data visualizations
  • Web apps with majority static content
  • Teams with more web development experience

Use Cases for React Native

React Native is better suited for:

  • Cross-platform native mobile apps
  • Mobile apps needing native device API access
  • Apps where performance is critical
  • Quick proof-of-concepts and prototypes
  • Teams with native iOS/Android experience

For web, ReactJS is generally the best fit and is fairly ubiquitous. For mobile, comparing React Native vs native development is heavily dependent on the app goals, team skills and other requirements.

Conclusion

ReactJS and React Native share lots of common concepts, but ultimately target different platforms with their own sets of pros and cons.

ReactJS remains the top choice for building modern, dynamic web applications thanks to its strong cross-browser support and extensive ecosystem. It brings componentization and organization to otherwise disorganized web app code.

React Native provides a means to use familiar React code paradigms to build true native mobile applications. For teams already using React web apps, it makes native much more accessible and easy to ramp up on. The framework is improving rapidly and quickly gaining popularity as more teams adopt a "Learn Once, Write Anywhere" approach.

Consider what your target platform(s), performance needs, app features, team skills and code reusability requirements are before deciding on ReactJS, React Native or possibly even a hybrid approach leveraging both.

I am an online marketing specialist with 8+ years of experience in SEO, PPC, Funnel, Web and Affiliate marketing. My expertise as an online business and marketing specialist lies in helping individuals and brands start and optimize their business for success online.

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