Software Alternatives & Startups

Three.js VS React Native

Compare Three.js VS React Native and see what are their differences

Three.js

A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
React Native

A framework for building native apps with React

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source

Which is more popular?

Three.js might be a bit more popular than React Native. We know about 257 links to it since March 2021 and only 244 links to React Native.

social mentions
257 vs 244
Javascript UI Libraries popularity
40% vs 60%

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Three.js
React Native
Website threejs.org reactnative.dev
Pricing
Open source
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Three.js 5 features
React Native 6 features
  • Ease of Use
    Three.js simplifies the complex task of 3D rendering with an intuitive API, making it accessible to developers who may not have deep expertise in 3D graphics.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Three.js is built upon WebGL, ensuring compatibility across modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    The library offers extensive documentation, examples, and an active community, which helps in quickly resolving issues and understanding implementation.
  • Integration with HTML and CSS
    Three.js can be easily integrated with HTML and CSS, allowing for the blending of 2D and 3D elements in web applications.
  • Extensive Features
    It supports a wide range of features including cameras, lights, materials, shaders, and post-processing effects, making it highly versatile for various 3D projects.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance Overhead
    Despite its powerful capabilities, Three.js can have significant performance overhead, especially for complex scenes, which might require optimization.
  • Learning Curve
    While easier than raw WebGL, Three.js still has a learning curve, particularly for those new to 3D graphics, requiring time to become proficient.
  • Limited Built-in Advanced Tools
    Although feature-rich, Three.js lacks some advanced tools out-of-the-box compared to more specialized or industry-standard 3D engines, necessitating custom solutions for certain tasks.
  • Dependency on WebGL
    Three.js relies on WebGL, meaning it cannot be used in environments where WebGL is not supported, which can limit accessibility and compatibility.
  • Frequent Updates
    The library is actively developed, which is generally positive, but frequent updates can mean breaking changes, requiring developers to frequently refactor their code.
  • 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

  • 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.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Three.js
React Native

No analysis of Three.js yet.

Overall verdict

  • React Native is generally a good choice for mobile app development, especially if you're looking for a cross-platform solution. Its ease of use, combined with the ability to leverage a single codebase for both iOS and Android, makes it a popular option among developers.

Why this product is good

  • React Native is considered good because it allows developers to build mobile applications using JavaScript and React, enabling code reuse between Android and iOS platforms. This can speed up development time and reduce costs. It also has a vibrant community and a strong ecosystem with numerous libraries and tools, making it easier to implement complex functionalities. Additionally, React Native provides a native-like performance for most use cases, which enhances the user experience.

Recommended for

  • Startups and small businesses looking to develop mobile apps quickly and cost-effectively.
  • Developers with a background in JavaScript and React who want to expand into mobile app development.
  • Projects that require rapid prototyping and iterative development.
  • Applications that need to maintain a shared codebase between web and mobile platforms.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Three.js 2 videos + Add
React Native 3 videos + Add

Getting Started With Three.js

More videos

  • - Ricardo Cabello (Mr doob) - 5 years of three.js

React Native in 2019 & Beyond

More videos

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

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Three.js
React Native
40% 40%
60% 60%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using Three.js and React Native. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Three.js no reviews yet
React Native no reviews yet
  • Top 20 Javascript Libraries
    hackr.io · Mar 2022

    Cross-browser JS library and API that allows for the creation of beautiful animations, Three.js relies on WebGL rather than conventional browser-plugins. Through its library utilities, developers can include complex...

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Three.js 257 mentions
React Native 244 mentions
  • Why a static Three.js scene still cooks your phone, and the dirty-flag fix
    So I have a bunch of small games on my site. Ludo, tic-tac-toe, carrom, rock-paper-scissors. Nothing fancy, the kind of thing you'd think runs on a potato. They're built with Three.js, which is the standard library for drawing 3D... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Fable Built a 3D Model of Aristotelian-Thomistic Cognitive Architecture
    This looks like the usual https://threejs.org animation built by LLMs. I'm more interested in the source of the data and if it was reviewed for correctedness. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Building LoreKeeper: An Immersive 3D Library to Bridge EPUBs and AI
    Frontend: Three.js for the 3D engine, Vite for a lightning-fast build. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago

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  • AI React Native Form Builder: The Complete Data-Entry Stack in 2026
    The takeaway isn't "AI writes forms now." AI has written forms for two years. The takeaway is that the useful surface has moved: from generating the visible pretty layer to generating the whole data-entry pipeline (migration, RLS, typed... - Source: dev.to / 29 days ago
  • Yoga: A Simple Guide to Layout in React Native
    When you build layouts in React Native, you write styles that look a lot like CSS: flexDirection, alignItems, justifyContent, and so on. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • I Built The Same App 3 Ways: No-Code, React Native, And Angular + .NET On Azure - Here’s What Nobody Tells You
    React Native hit the best balance for speed and product quality. Its official docs still position it around building native apps with React, and the project continues shipping frequent releases and improvements to the New Architecture.... - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago

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Alternatives to Three.js and React Native

When comparing Three.js and React Native, you can also consider the following products.