Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Apache Cordova VS Refine

Compare Apache Cordova VS Refine and see what are their differences

Apache Cordova logo Apache Cordova

Platform for building native mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript

Refine logo Refine

A React Framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards & B2B apps with unmatched flexibilty.
  • Apache Cordova Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17
  • Refine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-11-18

Refine is a meta React framework that enables the rapid development of a wide range of web applications. From internal tools, admin panels, B2B apps and dashboards, it serves as a comprehensive solution for building any type of CRUD applications.

It's internal hooks and components simplifies the development process and eliminates the repetitive tasks by providing industry-standard solutions for crucial aspects of a project, including authentication, access control, routing, networking, state management, and i18n.

Refine is headless by design and offers unlimited styling and customization possibilities, empowering developers to create tailored and fully functional applications that meet specific project requirements.

Refine

Website
refine.dev
$ Details
Platforms
Web Browser React Native Remix Electron NextJS ReactJS
Release Date
2021 September

Apache Cordova features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Apache Cordova enables developers to build applications for multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.) using a single codebase, which saves time and resources.
  • Use of Web Technologies
    Cordova allows the use of standard web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it accessible for web developers to create mobile applications without needing to learn platform-specific languages.
  • Extensive Plugin Ecosystem
    Cordova provides a wide range of plugins that enable access to native device functionalities (such as the camera, accelerometer, GPS, etc.), allowing for more versatile app development.
  • Cost Effective
    By reducing the need for multiple native developers and leveraging a single web development team, Cordova can significantly cut down the costs of application development.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, Apache Cordova benefits from community support and contributions, leading to continuous improvements and a wealth of shared knowledge and code.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Cordova

  • Performance Issues
    Applications built with Cordova may experience performance issues, especially with complex graphical or computational tasks, as they are essentially web applications wrapped in a native container.
  • Limited Native Functionality
    Although Cordova provides many plugins, accessing the latest native features often requires custom development, which can be complicated and time-consuming.
  • Dependency on Plugins
    Developers often rely heavily on third-party plugins to access native features. If these plugins are not well-maintained, they can introduce compatibility issues and bugs.
  • User Experience
    The user experience of Cordova-based apps may not be as smooth or responsive as fully native applications, potentially leading to lower user satisfaction.
  • Security Concerns
    Using multiple plugins and technologies can increase the surface area for security vulnerabilities. Also, web-based applications can be more susceptible to common web security issues.

Refine features and specs

  • Backend Agnostic
  • Decoupled UI
  • Native Typescript Core
  • Powerful Default UI
  • Routing
  • Authentication
  • Rest API Integration
  • GraphQL API Integration
  • Developer tools
  • SSR Support

Apache Cordova videos

Apache Cordova - Hello World from Android and iOS

More videos:

  • Review - What’s Your View on Apache Cordova?

Refine videos

No Refine videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Cordova and Refine)
Development Tools
83 83%
17% 17
Developer Tools
43 43%
57% 57
JavaScript Framework
100 100%
0% 0
Open Source
0 0%
100% 100

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing Apache Cordova and Refine.

What makes your product unique?

Refine's answer:

Refine's unparalleled flexibility with data providers makes it a unique choice. Whether you're integrating with REST, GraphQL, or any other data source, Refine streamlines the process.

Another defining feature is its built-in UI integrations. This means you can create polished and responsive user interfaces with ease. Plus, with a thriving community and extensive developer support, you're never alone when using Refine.

Refine simplifies data management and CRUD operations, allowing you to focus on building your application's core functionality. Its robust security features and authentication support ensure your data is protected.

What truly sets Refine apart is its headless architecture. This design philosophy empowers you to customize every aspect of your application, giving you complete control over its look and feel.

Real-time capabilities are another standout feature. This means you can easily incorporate live updates and collaboration features into your apps.

With comprehensive documentation and tutorials, getting started and mastering Refine is a straightforward process. The active open-source community ensures regular updates and improvements.

Refine is suitable for projects of enterprise-level solutions. Its scalability makes it a versatile choice for developers and organizations alike.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Refine's answer:

It provides a headless architecture, giving developers complete freedom to customize the frontend using any UI library or framework, which is not always the case with other solutions.

Secondly, Refine's data provider support is extensive, with a wide range of options, making it easier to integrate with various backends. Additionally, it has a rapidly growing community and extensive documentation, ensuring excellent support and resources for users. The real-time features, along with built-in UI integration for popular libraries, simplify complex tasks.

Refine is backed by an active development team that regularly releases updates and improvements. In summary, Refine offers flexibility, comprehensive support, and a strong community, making it a compelling choice in the competitive landscape of web application development frameworks.

How would you describe your primary audience?

Refine's answer:

Refine's primary audience consists of developers and teams who are focused on building Enterprise web applications, particularly those in need of admin panels, internal tools, or dashboards. Refine can be use for any type of CRUD apps.

These developers typically have a background in Typescript and React and are looking for a framework that provides flexibility, extensibility, and efficiency in building data-centric applications.

Refine is popular among enterprises and businesses that require scalable and maintainable solutions for their data management needs.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apache Cordova and Refine

Apache Cordova Reviews

Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
Developed by Apache Cordova, PhoneGap is used extensively for developing cross-platform mobile with the use of several web technologies. It lets developers write code by using HTML, CSS & JavaScript and package it as a native app. Being a simple framework, it includes the largest collection of plugins that extend its wide functionality.
Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development
Apache Cordova is an open-source mobile development framework that lets you create cross-platform apps using standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Like NativeScript, Apache Cordova is more accessible to developers comfortable with web development, especially Angular or VueJS.
Source: www.miquido.com
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Oracle Mobile Application Framework (MAF) offers cross-platform development using standards like HTML5 and JavaScript containerized via Apache Cordova. Oracle MAF delivers excellent offline support capabilities matching the needs of field service teams and remote inspectors. With tools like Oracle Database and middleware, MAF apps cache relevant data subsets locally while...
Top 10 Android Studio Alternatives For App Development
Apache Cordova is used for building mobile applications with the help of HTML, CSS, and Javascript. It is an open-source mobile application development framework that was created by Nitobi.
10 Best Android Studio Alternatives For App Development
Apache Cordova is a tool to develop Android App Development. It enables software engineers to build apps for Android mobile phones. Using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript instead of relying on platform-specific APIs. Like those in Android, iOS or Windows phones. When you are using Apache Cordova APIs, an app can be developed without any native code (like Java, objective-C, etc.) from...
Source: techdator.net

Refine Reviews

We have no reviews of Refine yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Apache Cordova might be a bit more popular than Refine. We know about 44 links to it since March 2021 and only 39 links to Refine. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache Cordova mentions (44)

  • Show HN: I Made a Web App to Bring Children's Drawings to Life
    This is truly amazing. Is there a 'How it Works' a 'Potentials' section? I work with things that push to inspire creativity and learning to foster the passion behind creativity and authentic works where otherwise we'd see how 'AI copies our work' and now we can see how AI can bring works to life and make them more fun. Over-all would you like to see schools adopting your project? I didn't see a contact form but... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • PWAs wont replace native iOS apps
    Anyone have experience with/opinions on Apache Cordova? [1] It seems like it would solve most of the PWA issues. Although I vaguely recall reading that Apple is not too fond of apps that are basically just wrapped web views. [1] https://cordova.apache.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • What's the latest way of submitting pwas to the app stores?
    Has anyone tried pwa builder?[2] Thank you for any insights! [0]https://cordova.apache.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Why does everyone "suddenly" hate Single Page Apps?
    A little over a decade ago, I worked on the open-source project Apache Cordova/Adobe PhoneGap, first at IBM and later at Adobe. Apache Cordova enables you to build mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript while targeting multiple platforms with one code base. In today’s technology landscape, mobile is dominated by iOS and Android. In the early 2010’s we were awash in mobile platforms from BlackBerry,... - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • The right way to build multi platform apps in 2023 using web tech. ?
    There are layers that offer access to native APIs like capacitor, cordova and nativescript. Apparently sometimes multiple of them should be used, but I didn't understand what are the differences even after reading the announcement. These seem to be frontend agnostic technologies and Capacitor is apparently the more modern choice at the moment. Source: over 2 years ago
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Refine mentions (39)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Cordova and Refine, you can also consider the following products

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

ToolJet - Open-source alternative for Retool

PhoneGap - Easily create apps using the web technologies you know and love: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Appsmith - Appsmith is an open source web framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and workflows.

Ionic - Ionic is a cross-platform mobile development stack for building performant apps on all platforms with open web technologies.

PocketBlocks - In PocketBlocks, all you need to do is drag and drop pre-built or self-customized components onto the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) canvas to make an app, PocketBlocks helps you build an app quickly and focus on the business logic.