Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GTK VS NativeBase

Compare GTK VS NativeBase and see what are their differences

GTK logo GTK

GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces.

NativeBase logo NativeBase

Experience the awesomeness of React Native without the pain
  • GTK Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17
  • NativeBase Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19

GTK features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    GTK supports multiple platforms including Linux, Windows, and macOS, making it versatile for developing applications across different operating systems.
  • Rich Widget Set
    GTK provides a comprehensive set of widgets for GUIs, allowing developers to create complex and highly functional user interfaces.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, GTK offers developers the ability to inspect, modify, and distribute their modifications, fostering a community of collaboration and innovation.
  • Language Bindings
    GTK supports multiple programming languages through various bindings, including C, Python, and JavaScript, thereby offering flexibility to developers.
  • Consistent Look and Feel
    GTK strives to maintain a consistent look and feel across applications and platforms, providing a unified user experience.

Possible disadvantages of GTK

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, GTK can present a steep learning curve due to its comprehensive nature and the depth of its APIs.
  • Performance Overhead
    GTK applications can sometimes exhibit performance issues, especially on less powerful hardware, due to the extensive features and capabilities it includes.
  • Limited Native Support on macOS
    Although GTK is cross-platform, native support and integration on macOS can be limited compared to its support on Linux and Windows.
  • Heavy Dependencies
    GTK applications often require a significant amount of dependencies, which can lead to larger application sizes and more complex installation processes.
  • Documentation Quality
    While GTK has extensive documentation, the quality and depth can sometimes be inconsistent, which may hinder learning and troubleshooting for developers.

NativeBase features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    NativeBase offers components that work seamlessly across both iOS and Android, ensuring a consistent user experience across different devices.
  • Rich Component Library
    Provides a vast collection of pre-built UI components, such as buttons, forms, navigations, and more, significantly speeding up the development process.
  • Customization
    Highly customizable themes and components that allow you to match the look and feel of your app to specific design requirements.
  • Community Support
    Active community and extensive documentation make it easier to find solutions to common problems and get support from fellow developers.
  • Integration with React Native
    Designed to work specifically with React Native, offering better integration and performance compared to more generalized component libraries.
  • Accessible Design
    Offers components and practices aimed at making apps more accessible, which is crucial for creating inclusive applications.

Possible disadvantages of NativeBase

  • Learning Curve
    Can have a steep learning curve for developers who are not familiar with React Native or component-based design.
  • Performance Overhead
    May introduce some performance overhead due to the abstraction layers, which might not be suitable for performance-critical applications.
  • Dependency Management
    Frequent updates and changes in the library can lead to dependency issues that require regular maintenance and updates.
  • Limited Advanced Customization
    While basic customization is easy, deeply customizing components to fit unique use cases can be challenging and may require additional effort.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Relying heavily on any proprietary framework or library can make it difficult to switch technologies in the future, constraining flexibility.
  • Size
    The library can add to the overall size of the application, which might be a concern for apps where minimizing the footprint is crucial.

GTK videos

GTK4 Is Here: Why You Should Even Care

NativeBase videos

NativeBase Market Purchase Flow

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GTK and NativeBase)
Development Tools
54 54%
46% 46
Rapid Application Development
Developer Tools
41 41%
59% 59
Cross-Platform Development

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GTK and NativeBase

GTK Reviews

Best GUI frameworks for Go
The go-gtk package is a Go binding for the GTK toolkit. The package enables Go developers to use the GTK library in Go with similar features as the GTK library. The package is performant, well-documented, and actively maintained. The go-gtk package depends on the GTK library to function, and you’ll need to have GTK installed on your machine to build GUI applications in Go....

NativeBase Reviews

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

Based on our record, NativeBase should be more popular than GTK. It has been mentiond 22 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.

GTK mentions (6)

  • What GNOME needs to progress faster? (More contributors, money, better docs etc.)
    Wha? An example of a barebones GTK JavaScript app is right there on the front page. One click on the bindings link, will send you to the official GNOME-hosted GitLab repo for gjs, which in-turn, has links to official API documentation. Source: over 2 years ago
  • GTK 4 & JavaScript - how to start?
    I think what is lacking is a kind of introduction similar to what you have written in your post now. Myself, I am totally new to GTK. I come as a user of Gnome. All I knew until today was that to develop applications for Gnome, preferably I should use something called GTK. And I heard so much about the recent version that came out - GTK 4. So I started to look for a Getting Started tutorial for GTK 4, to build... Source: about 3 years ago
  • GTK 4 & JavaScript - how to start?
    BTW, I think the GTK team should really step up their game in terms of how to encourage new people into their ecosystem. Seeing that windows screenshot in the official tutorial makes me think I'm dealing with some old technology. Also, the official gtk.org has two separate tutorials that show very similar applications being built. Source: about 3 years ago
  • CTA: We need Web Developers to Contribute to GNOME!
    Faces of GNOME Faces of GNOME is an initiative to create something similar to People of Mozilla / Mozillians which is a directory of active, current or past GNOME Contributors. Faces of GNOME (Current Demo HERE) aims to give a space for every GNOME Contributor, GNOME Foundation Member and more. It is being designed to showcase the list of current Maintainers, People that spoke at GNOME Conferences/Events, GNOME... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Software Engineering student looking to get started developing apps on the pinephone
    My advice is to basically learn how to write GTK apps using Python. Source: over 3 years ago
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NativeBase mentions (22)

  • Exploring the Best UI Component Libraries for React Native apps
    Gluestack, like any other customizable UI library, is built to make styling less cumbersome. It comprises a set of themed and unstyled components easily integrated across different platforms and devices. Originally, Gluestack was a part of NativeBase, a component library for both React and React Native. With performance and maintainability in mind, NativeBase was split into two parts, focusing on a universal... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Best headless UI libraries in React Native
    Just like the other libraries mentioned in this article, Gluestack is another unstyled component library. Originally a part of NativeBase, the developer team created this library to prevent bloat and enhance maintainability of the project. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • An Overview of 25+ UI Component Libraries in 2023
    KumaUI : Another relatively new contender, Kuma uses zero runtime CSS-in-JS to create headless UI components which allows a lot of flexibility. It was heavily inspired by other zero runtime CSS-in-JS solutions such as PandaCSS, Vanilla Extract, and Linaria, as well as by Styled System, ChakraUI, and Native Base. ### Vue. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • 7 Popular React Native UI Component Libraries You Should Know
    NativeBase is a collection of essential cross-platform React Native components. The components are built with React Native combined with some JavaScript functionality with customizable properties. NativeBase is fully open-source and has 18,000+ stars on GitHub. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • React vs React Native: How Different Are They, Really?
    CSS-based UI libs don't make sense on mobile; your new options include NativeBase, React Native Elements and others). Some web-based UI libs do have RN siblings though - such as React Native Material and React Native Paper (for Material-UI), and tailwind-rn (for Tailwind). This just means new decisions to make, some learning, and new paradigms for how to use the new libs. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing GTK and NativeBase, you can also consider the following products

Qt - Powerful, flexible and easy to use, Qt will help you not only meet your tight deadline, but also reduce the maintainable code by an astonishing percentage.

React Native Desktop - Build OS X desktop apps using React Native

wxWidgets - wxWidgets: Cross-Platform GUI Library

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

PyQt - Riverbank | Software | PyQt | What is PyQt?

React Native UI Kitten - Customizable and reusable react-native component kit