Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

JavaFX VS Qt

Compare JavaFX VS Qt and see what are their differences

JavaFX logo JavaFX

JavaFX is the next step in the evolution of Java as a rich client platform.

Qt logo 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.
  • JavaFX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-18
  • Qt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22

JavaFX features and specs

  • Rich UI Controls
    JavaFX provides a wide range of built-in UI controls, such as buttons, tables, and charts, which makes it easy to create complex user interfaces.
  • FXML Support
    JavaFX allows developers to use FXML, a scripting interface that enables them to design user interfaces with XML, separating the logic from design, enhancing maintainability.
  • CSS Styling
    The framework supports CSS for styling UI components, offering flexibility in design and the ability to create visually appealing applications.
  • Scene Graph
    JavaFX's scene graph provides a hierarchical structure for managing the layout, simplifying the development of complex UIs with animations and transformations.
  • Cross-Platform
    JavaFX applications are cross-platform, allowing developers to run the same application on different operating systems without modifications.
  • Integration with Java
    As a part of the Java ecosystem, JavaFX integrates seamlessly with existing Java libraries and tools, benefiting from Java's robust environment.

Possible disadvantages of JavaFX

  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Despite its powerful features, JavaFX can be challenging to learn for beginners, especially those not familiar with Java.
  • Limited Third-Party Libraries
    Compared to other UI frameworks like Swing or frameworks outside of Java, JavaFX has a relatively smaller ecosystem of third-party libraries and tools.
  • Performance Issues
    JavaFX might face performance challenges, particularly when dealing with resource-intensive applications or those requiring very high responsiveness.
  • Mobile Support Limitations
    JavaFX's support for mobile platforms is not as strong as other frameworks, requiring additional tools or platforms like Gluon for mobile development.
  • Market Adoption
    The adoption of JavaFX in the industry is not as widespread as other technologies like React or Angular, which might influence community support and development resources.

Qt features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Qt allows developers to write applications that can run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, without the need for significant code changes.
  • Rich Documentation
    Qt provides extensive and well-maintained documentation, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot the framework.
  • Mature and Stable
    Being a mature framework, Qt has a long history of stability and a strong track record in producing robust applications.
  • Comprehensive UI Components
    Qt offers a wide range of built-in UI components, which can significantly speed up the development process and provide a native look and feel on different platforms.
  • Strong Community Support
    Qt has an active and helpful community, which can be beneficial for developers seeking support or looking to collaborate on projects.
  • Performance
    Applications built with Qt tend to be efficient and performant, due to close-to-the-metal coding options and optimizations available in the framework.
  • Tooling
    Qt Creator, the official IDE for Qt, offers powerful tools for designing, coding, testing, and debugging applications, enhancing productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Qt

  • Licensing Costs
    Though Qt offers an open-source option, commercial licenses can be expensive, which can be a significant constraint for smaller businesses or independent developers.
  • Learning Curve
    The framework can have a steep learning curve for beginners, especially for those unfamiliar with C++ or the specific paradigms Qt employs.
  • Large Executable Size
    Applications built with Qt can have larger executable sizes compared to those built with more lightweight frameworks, which might be a concern for some applications.
  • Dependency on C++
    While Qt has bindings for other languages like Python (PyQt, PySide), its core is based on C++, which might not be ideal for developers looking for a more modern or different programming language.
  • Complexity in Customization
    While Qt offers many features out-of-the-box, deep customization, especially for non-standard requirements, can become complex and time-consuming.
  • Build Times
    Due to its comprehensive nature, applications using Qt can have longer build times, which can slow down the development cycle.

JavaFX videos

JavaFX Project Car Review #6 Homepage GUI and Controller

More videos:

  • Review - JavaFX will be removed from JDK 11
  • Review - JavaFX Projects Car Review #2 Login and GUI Controllers

Qt videos

Review of Qt 5.4

More videos:

  • Review - QT.HAIR Wet & Wavy/ Dream Straight Review |Which is Better?
  • Review - QT HAIR REVIEW| Affordable Brazilian Bundles

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to JavaFX and Qt)
Development Tools
26 26%
74% 74
Rapid Application Development
Cross-Platform Development
Developer Tools
21 21%
79% 79

User comments

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Reviews

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

JavaFX Reviews

We have no reviews of JavaFX yet.
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Qt Reviews

Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development
Qt is a versatile C++ framework known for its efficiency and flexibility. With Qt, developers can create cross-platform applications with native-like performance.
Source: www.miquido.com
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Qt is a mature, cross-platform native framework for building apps and devices using C++. Qt sees extensive use in embedded systems requiring slick UIs on low-power devices with limited memory. It compiles nearly identically to straight C++ while adding conveniences like signals and slots that feel akin to JavaScript event handling. But apps targeting desktops, servers, and...
Best GUI frameworks for Go
Qt is a cross-platform application development framework widely used for developing desktop, mobile, and embedded systems. Qt provides a powerful, easy-to-use, and flexible C++ class library for building GUIs and other types of applications. Qt has a wide range of built-in widgets, including buttons, labels, list boxes, and more.
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
Written in C++, this cross-platform framework is used for native embedded, desktop, and mobile applications using GUI widgets and quick modules using QML language. C++ is a backend and QML (QtQuick 2) is a frontend side. Its meta-object compiler runs before the build. Qt can be used in several programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and others due to language...
Top Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
Qt is a pretty mature GUI and cross-platform app development framework that dates back to 1995. Developers can use Qt for crafting applications for mobiles, embedded platforms, or desktops. As Qt is based on C++, any developer with a decent C++ experience (pretty easily found) can help you craft a cross-platform app using Qt with a single codebase.
Source: www.pangea.ai

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, JavaFX seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 37 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.

JavaFX mentions (37)

  • JBang, the missing scripting tool of the Java ecosystem
    JavaFX is a desktop and UI framework. Its official website is openjfx.io and is also supported by Gluon which provides additional UI components and brings mobile app support to JavaFX. JBang supports this frameowrk and can be used to create signle file JavaFX applications. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Home to Anything JavaFX Related
    It has a very active community, nothing is dead when there are active users. It has been living as independent package for a long time https://openjfx.io. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Book review - Frontend Development with JavaFX and Kotlin
    Other topics handled in this chapter are Kotlin utilities for JavaFX and direct downloads of JavaFX releases from openjfx.io. The author also explains why FXML is not used in the book. I agree with his view that the XML files are not as dynamic as code and bring a mix of technologies into your project. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Setting up Continuous Integration
    One, I don't understand Java environments really well. All I have done so far is create some GUI applications using JavaFX. Wish I could share my code, but unfortunately, its part of my assignments and can't be open-sourced. Second, the instructions I found in the Contributing docs were bare-minimum, and kinda hard to follow for a beginner. An experienced Java developer would get them really quickly, no doubt... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How to use the JavaFX library Medusa to display weather data
    JavaFX (an open source, next generation client application platform for desktop, mobile and embedded systems) has many useful out the box UI controls to build modern interactive desktop apps. These include buttons, checkboxes, list views, labels etc, that can be configured and styled in countless ways. I’ve using them for many years at work building mapping apps! - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Qt mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Qt yet. Tracking of Qt recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing JavaFX and Qt, you can also consider the following products

Electron - Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

wxWidgets - wxWidgets: Cross-Platform GUI Library

Flutter - Build beautiful native apps in record time 🚀

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

Avalonia - A multi-platform .NET UI framework

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