Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

React Native VS Appcelerator

Compare React Native VS Appcelerator and see what are their differences

React Native logo React Native

A framework for building native apps with React

Appcelerator logo Appcelerator

Native apps, Mobile APIs, Real-time analytics, One Platform.
  • React Native Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-16
  • Appcelerator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-17

React Native features and specs

  • Cross-platform development
    React Native allows developers to write code once and use it to build applications for both iOS and Android platforms, significantly reducing development time and effort.
  • Performance
    React Native uses native components under the hood, providing better performance compared to hybrid technologies like Cordova or Ionic.
  • Community support
    React Native has a large and active community, which means plenty of libraries, tools, and support are available to help developers solve problems and add features.
  • Hot reloading
    React Native supports hot reloading, enabling developers to see the results of the latest change instantly without losing the application's state.
  • Reusable components
    Developers can use React Native's component-based architecture to create reusable UI components, making code more modular and easier to maintain.
  • Strong backing
    Backed by Facebook, React Native benefits from continuous development, regular updates, and a high level of reliability and stability.

Possible disadvantages of React Native

  • Complexity for advanced features
    Implementing complex features and achieving deep integrations with native APIs may require more effort and a good understanding of native programming.
  • Performance limitations
    While React Native performs well for most use cases, it may still fall short in performance-intensive applications compared to fully native solutions.
  • Limited third-party libraries
    Some third-party libraries might not be available for React Native, or they may lack features compared to their native counterparts.
  • Platform-specific code
    Despite being cross-platform, certain features might still require platform-specific code, increasing the complexity when developing for both iOS and Android.
  • Potential for outdated documentation
    As React Native evolves quickly, some documentation or tutorials might become outdated, leading to confusion and extra effort to find up-to-date information.
  • Size of the application
    React Native applications tend to have larger file sizes compared to their native counterparts due to the inclusion of the JavaScript runtime and other dependencies.

Appcelerator features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Appcelerator allows developers to build applications for multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows, from a single codebase. This saves time and resources compared to developing separate apps for each platform.
  • JavaScript-based
    The platform uses JavaScript, a widely-known and popular programming language, making it accessible to a large number of developers and facilitating seamless integration with other JavaScript libraries and tools.
  • Unified API
    Appcelerator provides a unified API for accessing native features across different platforms, simplifying the development process and ensuring consistency in functionality.
  • Rich Library of Modules and Plugins
    The platform offers a wide range of pre-built modules and plugins that can be used to add advanced features and functionalities to apps, enhancing productivity and reducing development time.
  • Strong Community Support
    There is a robust community of developers who use Appcelerator, providing ample resources in terms of forums, tutorials, and third-party plugins to assist in troubleshooting and development.
  • Comprehensive Performance Analytics
    Appcelerator includes built-in tools for performance analytics and monitoring, helping developers understand user behavior and optimize their applications accordingly.

Possible disadvantages of Appcelerator

  • Learning Curve
    While using JavaScript is advantageous, there is still a learning curve associated with mastering Appcelerator's specific features, APIs, and the Titanium SDK, which can be challenging for new users.
  • Performance Issues
    Some developers have reported performance issues in their applications when using Appcelerator, particularly with complex or highly resource-intensive apps. Native development can sometimes offer better performance.
  • Limited Access to Native Features
    Although Appcelerator provides access to many native features via its API, it may not cover all the latest features released in the native SDKs, potentially limiting some advanced functionality.
  • Dependency on the Platform
    Apps built with Appcelerator are dependent on the platform’s ongoing support and updates. Any disruption in service or support from Appcelerator could impact the maintenance and longevity of apps developed using it.
  • Subscription Costs
    While there is a free tier available, advanced features and enterprise support require a subscription, which can be a significant investment for startups or small businesses.
  • Debugging Complexity
    Debugging applications can be more complex compared to native development due to the additional abstraction layers between the codebase and the native execution environment.

React Native videos

React Native in 2019 & Beyond

More videos:

  • Review - What Is React Native?
  • Review - Why React Native is garbage.

Appcelerator videos

Silicon Valley JavaScript Meetup - Appcelerator

More videos:

  • Review - Deliver great Customer Experience for your Retail Mobile app with Axway Appcelerator
  • Tutorial - Appcelerator tutorial 02 : overview

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to React Native and Appcelerator)
Development Tools
99 99%
1% 1
Developer Tools
79 79%
21% 21
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0
App Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare React Native and Appcelerator

React Native Reviews

Explore 9 Top Eclipse Alternatives for 2024
Pioneered by Meta Platforms, Inc., React Native is a remarkable JavaScript framework that merges native app development with JavaScript libraries, offering a dependable solution for creating exemplary native apps for Android, iOS, and other platforms.
Source: aircada.com
Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
Introduced in 2015 by Facebook, React Native is an open-source framework based on JavaScript. Being a developer-friendly framework, it’s a mobile-first platform that is capable of rendering mobile apps for multiple platforms, including iOS and Android.
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
React Native is an open-source UI framework for writing native Android and iOS apps using JavaScript and React. React Native does deliver excellent prototyping capabilities, however. The React framework lends itself nicely to creating basic proofs of concept and experimenting with different interaction models and UI designs with little overhead. Features like Fast Refresh...
THE BEST 34 APP DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IN 2022 LIST
Create native apps for Android and iOS using React. React Native combines the best parts of native development with React, a best-in-class JavaScript library for building user interfaces. You can use React Native in your existing Android and iOS projects or you can create a whole new app from scratch. Written in JavaScript—rendered with native code. React primitives render...
Top 10 Visual Studio Alternatives
React native is famous for enabling the users to develop the core native applications and offers the best quality. It does not compromise on providing the best customer services and support. The react-native components surround the codes that already exist and then interact with the native APIs. That, in turn, allows the developers to learn the development process and makes...

Appcelerator Reviews

10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
One of the top choices for cross-platform development, Appcelerator has high approval ratings from developers because it lets you reuse up to 90% code across platforms. Experienced JavaScript developers prefer Appcelerator since its source code is available for access at all times. Business owners choose it because of its Titanium framework which is cost-effective. Its...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, React Native seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 232 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.

React Native mentions (232)

  • Apprendre Flutter
    React Native: Assez faile à prendre en main si on maitrise React. - Source: dev.to / 24 days ago
  • Migrating from AngularJS to React
    React skills work for React Native development - Although React Native is a separate framework designed specifically for building mobile applications, many of the skills a developer gains working with the React framework are applicable here as well. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • The Mobile Development Tech Stack for 2025
    React Native (Official Documentation) allows you to create apps for both iOS and Android with a single codebase, while TypeScript adds type safety to your JavaScript, reducing bugs and improving code quality. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • React + AI Stack for 2025
    React Native is the powerhouse for cross-platform mobile development. Write once, run everywhere, get native performance when you need it, enjoy hot reloading for rapid development, tap into a huge ecosystem of libraries and tools, and integrate with native modules when you need platform-specific features. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How Do I Start a New React Native App?
    React Native is a powerful framework for building cross-platform mobile applications using JavaScript and React. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a beginner, starting a new React Native project can be both exciting and challenging. This guide will walk you through the essential steps, tools, and best practices to set up your React Native project efficiently and effectively. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
View more

Appcelerator mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing React Native and Appcelerator, you can also consider the following products

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

Android Studio - Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA

OpenSSL - OpenSSL is a free and open source software cryptography library that implements both the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols, which are primarily used to provide secure communications between web browsers and …

Xcode - Xcode is Apple’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.