Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Eto.Forms VS Xamarin

Compare Eto.Forms VS Xamarin and see what are their differences

Eto.Forms logo Eto.Forms

Cross platform, .NET-based desktop and mobile user interface framework.

Xamarin logo Xamarin

Create iOS, Android and Mac apps in C#
  • Eto.Forms Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-09
  • Xamarin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

Eto.Forms features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    Eto.Forms allows developers to create single-source code for building cross-platform desktop applications that run on Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile platforms using Xamarin.
  • Native Look and Feel
    The framework uses native controls on each platform, providing a native look and feel and better performance compared to other cross-platform solutions that emulate GUI components.
  • Easy Integration
    Eto.Forms can be easily integrated with existing projects. It allows mixing of Eto.Forms interfaces with platform-specific code when needed.
  • Active Community
    The project is open-source and has a community of users and contributors who actively maintain and enhance the framework, ensuring it stays updated with current technologies.
  • Customizable
    The framework allows for extensive customization and styling of UI components, enabling developers to tailor applications to specific design requirements.

Possible disadvantages of Eto.Forms

  • Learning Curve
    Developers not familiar with the Model-View-Presenter (MVP) pattern or cross-platform GUI paradigms might experience a steeper learning curve when starting with Eto.Forms.
  • Limited Resources
    Compared to more popular frameworks, Eto.Forms has limited tutorials, examples, and third-party libraries, which might make it harder for developers to find solutions or resources.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Some advanced GUI features provided by other frameworks might not be available in Eto.Forms, which can limit the development of highly complex interfaces.
  • Platform-Specific Limitations
    There can be differences in functionality or appearance due to reliance on native controls, potentially leading to additional platform-specific tweaks or workarounds.
  • Performance Overhead
    While using native controls improves performance, the abstraction layer introduced by Eto.Forms could add a slight overhead compared to using platform-specific code directly.

Xamarin features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Xamarin allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, and Windows), which can significantly reduce development time and effort.
  • Native Performance
    Apps built with Xamarin perform as well as native apps because they leverage platform-specific hardware acceleration and compile directly to native ARM assembly code.
  • Shared Codebase
    With Xamarin, developers can use a single codebase for different platforms, making it easier to maintain and update apps across multiple operating systems.
  • Large Ecosystem
    As part of the broader .NET ecosystem, Xamarin benefits from a large collection of libraries, tools, and developer resources provided by Microsoft.
  • Strong Community Support
    Xamarin has a strong developer community and comprehensive documentation, making it easier for developers to find support and resources.
  • Integration with Visual Studio
    Xamarin integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio, providing a robust development environment complete with debugging, profiling, and unit testing tools.

Possible disadvantages of Xamarin

  • App Size
    Xamarin apps tend to have larger file sizes compared to native apps because of the additional overhead of the Mono runtime.
  • Limited Third-Party Library Support
    While Xamarin supports a wide range of libraries, not all third-party libraries and SDKs are compatible, which might require custom bindings or workarounds.
  • Performance Overhead
    Some performance overhead might still exist compared to fully native applications, especially in complex and resource-intensive apps.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers coming from purely native development backgrounds might face a learning curve when adopting Xamarin, particularly in understanding the shared codebase approach and platform-specific nuances.
  • Platform Limitations
    Certain platform-specific features and UI elements might not be fully supported or might require additional custom code to implement.
  • Licensing Costs
    Although Xamarin itself is open source, enterprise-level features or more advanced tools might require a Visual Studio Enterprise subscription, which can be costly.

Analysis of Xamarin

Overall verdict

  • Xamarin is a good choice for developers who are entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem and are looking to create cross-platform mobile applications using a shared codebase. Its native performance, extensive library support, and community backing make it a viable option. However, it's crucial to consider the specific needs of your project, including performance requirements and platform-specific features.

Why this product is good

  • Xamarin is a popular open-source platform developed by Microsoft for building cross-platform mobile applications. It allows developers to use a single codebase written in C# to create native apps for Android, iOS, and Windows. Xamarin is known for its integration with the .NET ecosystem, enabling developers to leverage shared code, libraries, and tools across multiple platforms. It offers access to native APIs and performance optimizations, making it a solid choice for developers familiar with C# and the .NET framework.

Recommended for

  • Developers proficient in C# and .NET
  • Teams looking to build native apps with a single codebase
  • Projects where integration with Microsoft services is a priority
  • Enterprises with existing .NET infrastructure aiming to expand into mobile

Eto.Forms videos

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Xamarin videos

Pros and Cons of Xamarin Development

More videos:

  • Review - Is Xamarin Forms Any Good?
  • Review - Why Xamarin Is Awesome

Category Popularity

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No Code
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User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Eto.Forms and Xamarin

Eto.Forms Reviews

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Xamarin Reviews

Explore 9 Top Eclipse Alternatives for 2024
Xamarin.Forms An open-source UI framework that enables developers to conjure up applications for Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, and Windows from a singular shared codebase. Offers rich features like XAML user-interface language, databinding, gestures, effects, styling.
Source: aircada.com
Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
Developed and launched by Microsoft, Xamarin facilitates developers to build apps for iOS and Android by using C# and .NET. It ensures a seamless integration with Visual Studio and lets developers experience a fully familiar environment. The framework provides a single codebase and allows developers to perform app development rapidly.
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Xamarin is a Microsoft-created framework for building native iOS, Android, and Windows apps in C#/.NET. On the complexity front, Xamarin apps generally require more focus on memory management and garbage collection tuning relative to alternatives like Flutter. The additional diligence pays dividends in runtime performance when done properly. However, developers with...
THE BEST 34 APP DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IN 2022 LIST
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned tool to write native code for apps. Free. Cross-platform. Open-source. An app platform for building Android and iOS apps with .NET and C#.
9 Of The Best Android Studio Alternatives To Try Out
You can also access the required resources at the Xamarin Universal project. You can stay up to date with the latest updates by subscribing to their YouTube channel or blogs. The Xamarin community is most active, and you can get answers to your questions swiftly.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Xamarin seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 28 times since March 2021. 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.

Eto.Forms mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Eto.Forms yet. Tracking of Eto.Forms recommendations started around Dec 2022.

Xamarin mentions (28)

  • Wine Releases Framework Mono 6.14 in Taking over the Mono Project
    I haven't been following .NET lately, but AFAIK .NET works on Linux now and "Mono" is basically .NET for Linux... What even are the differences? Sounds like Microsoft just doesn't want to maintain 2 different versions so they're dumping it. Also, > Microsoft became the steward of the Mono Project when it acquired Xamarin in 2016 They probably never even wanted Mono, they just inherited it because they wanted... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • C# Fundamentals
    Mobile Applications: With Xamarin, a cross-platform mobile development framework, developers can write C# code to build native Android, iOS, and Windows mobile applications. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Making an android app with c#
    Xamarin - Basically an older version of MAUI. I would advise against creating new projects on Xamarin since MAUI is supposed to render it obsolete. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • App developer
    Microsoft Xamarin: For this you'll need to know C# and .net. Source: about 3 years ago
  • I own a web development company in San Antonio and I'm looking for ideas to support the UTSA students with some sort of free courses or classes
    At my internship, we moved to Microsoft's Visual Studio for C# development from Java, and for application development we use Xamarin which can be used on Windows and Mac. Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Eto.Forms and Xamarin, you can also consider the following products

Blazor - An experimental web UI framework using C#/Razor and HTML, running in the browser via WebAssembly

Android Studio - Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA

JSC - jsc can convert your C# Application to PHP, JavaScript, Actionscript, Java, C and C#

OutSystems - Build Enterprise-Grade Apps Fast.

Uno Platform - Build Mobile, Desktop and WebAssembly apps with C# and XAML.

Xcode - Xcode is Appleโ€™s powerful integrated development environment for creating great apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Xcode 4 includes the Xcode IDE, instruments, iOS Simulator, and the latest Mac OS X and iOS SDKs.