Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

WinDev VS Ionic

Compare WinDev VS Ionic and see what are their differences

WinDev logo WinDev

Integrated software for developing cross-platform applications.

Ionic logo Ionic

Ionic is a cross-platform mobile development stack for building performant apps on all platforms with open web technologies.
  • WinDev Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-16
  • Ionic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-12

WinDev features and specs

  • Rapid Application Development
    WinDev is designed for rapid application development, which allows developers to quickly prototype, develop, and deploy applications, reducing time to market.
  • Integrated Environment
    The software offers an all-in-one development environment with a rich set of features, including GUI design, code editor, debugger, and more, streamlining the development process.
  • Cross-Platform Development
    WinDev supports cross-platform development, enabling developers to create applications for Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and other platforms from a single codebase.
  • Large Component Library
    It offers an extensive library of pre-built components and templates, which can save time and effort for developers by providing ready-to-use solutions.
  • Strong Database Support
    The software provides strong support for database management and integration, including compatibility with a wide variety of databases like SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle.

Possible disadvantages of WinDev

  • Proprietary Language
    WinDev uses its own proprietary programming language, WLanguage, which may require developers to learn a new syntax and approach if they are not already familiar with it.
  • Cost
    WinDev can be costly compared to some open-source or less feature-rich development environments, which might not be feasible for smaller businesses or individual developers.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The comprehensive feature set can result in a steep learning curve, especially for developers who are new to the platform or who come from different development backgrounds.
  • Limited Community Support
    While WinDev has a dedicated user base, its community support is more limited than that of other popular development environments, possibly making it harder to find help and resources online.
  • Dependency on PC SOFT
    As a proprietary tool developed by PC SOFT, users are dependent on the company for updates, support, and bug fixes, which may affect long-term project sustainability if the support changes.

Ionic features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Ionic allows developers to build applications for multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, and the web using a single codebase. This significantly reduces development time and costs.
  • Rich UI Components
    Ionic provides a wide range of pre-built UI components that are customizable and designed to look and feel native on all devices. This makes it easier to create visually appealing and consistent interfaces.
  • Integration with Angular
    Ionic is tightly integrated with Angular, a popular and widely-used front-end framework. This integration provides a robust architecture for building complex applications.
  • Active Community and Extensive Documentation
    Ionic has an active community and extensive documentation, tutorials, and resources. This makes it easier for developers to find support and resolve issues.
  • Cordova and Capacitor Plugins
    Ionic apps can leverage Cordova and Capacitor plugins to access native device features like the camera, GPS, and file system, providing near-native functionality.

Possible disadvantages of Ionic

  • Performance Issues
    Because Ionic uses WebView for rendering, performance can sometimes be inferior to native applications, particularly for highly interactive or graphically intensive applications.
  • Dependency on Third-Party Plugins
    Ionic heavily relies on third-party plugins for accessing native features. If these plugins are not well-maintained or lack support for certain functionalities, it can lead to challenges.
  • Learning Curve
    While Ionic simplifies cross-platform development, it still requires familiarity with web technologies like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, as well as frameworks like Angular. This could be a steep learning curve for developers not versed in these technologies.
  • File Size
    Ionic applications tend to have a larger file size compared to native applications, mainly due to the inclusion of WebView and other dependencies. This can impact download times and initial load performance.
  • Rendering Delays
    There can be noticeable delays in UI rendering, especially on older devices, due to the abstraction layer that Ionic provides over native components.

Analysis of Ionic

Overall verdict

  • Ionic is a good choice for startups, small to medium-sized businesses, and developers who are looking to rapidly build and deploy mobile apps with a consistent look and feel across devices. It is particularly useful when the apps don't require intensive use of native capabilities and where development speed is more important than the performance of strictly native apps.

Why this product is good

  • Ionic is a popular open-source framework used for developing cross-platform mobile applications. It combines HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with front-end frameworks like Angular, React, or Vue to create hybrid applications. Its main advantages are ease of use, a rich component library, and the ability to write once and deploy across multiple platforms, saving time and resources.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a single codebase for multiple platforms.
  • Teams that are already proficient in web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Projects that have simple or moderate use of device hardware and native capabilities.
  • Businesses prioritizing rapid development and deployment over maximizing native performance.

WinDev videos

WinDev Expresss and IDE Overview

More videos:

  • Review - WinDev V24 First Look
  • Review - WINDEV Webservices , the Quick and easy way to develop , a 3 Part Series

Ionic videos

Fitbit Ionic smartwatch review

More videos:

  • Review - Fitbit Ionic Review (IN-DEPTH)
  • Review - Fitbit Versa 2 vs Ionic | Fitness Smartwatch Review (NEW)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WinDev and Ionic)
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
A/B Testing
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
11 11%
89% 89

User comments

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Reviews

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

WinDev Reviews

Frameworks & Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps – Best of
WINDEV Express is an IDE combined with framework for building cross-platform software. This framework allows developing applications for numerous platforms including Windows, Mac OS, Linux and more. It offers its own language called WLanguage to create the cross-platform apps using its IDE.

Ionic Reviews

Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
Ionic is mainly known for its simplicity and, thus, is an appropriate choice for those who have a small team or own startups. The framework is popular for its predesigned UI components, which catalyze the overall development process.
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Ionic is an open-source UI framework that uses web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build progressive web and mobile apps. Ionic shines for apps centered around forms, lists, and data. The extensive UI components and flexible layout options facilitate quickly scaffolding up CRM-style interfaces for managing records and inventory without needing to style every...
Should I use Moxly to create Ionic apps faster? Ionic vs Moxly
It’s always important that an app is responsive and especially important with Ionic, which is designed to reach multiple platforms with one codebase. This is not supported by Moxly, which is not good in the realm of Ionic. That’s where things look different again with Ionic. There you can create Responsive Apps and websites.
THE BEST 34 APP DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IN 2022 LIST
One codebase. Any platform. Now in React and Angular. Ionic Framework is an open-source mobile UI toolkit for building high-quality, cross-platform native and web app experiences. Move faster with a single codebase, running everywhere. Free and open-source, Ionic offers a library of mobile-optimized UI components, gestures, and tools for building fast highly interactive apps.
Android Studio Alternative
Ionic framework is an open-source UI toolkit that allows web technologies to be used to create high-quality mobile and desktop applications. Ionic architecture is based on the user interface or user experience of the application. It’s simple to understand, integrate, or utilize without a front frame using a simple script that incorporates other libraries or frameworks like...
Source: www.educba.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ionic should be more popular than WinDev. It has been mentiond 10 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.

WinDev mentions (1)

  • I found a cool low-code development tool for building models, UIs, and forms. It's extensible, and it comes with a built-in visual reactive flow editor - It's called Microsoft Access, and it came out in 1992.
    Ever heard of this monstrosity https://windev.com/ ? Had a client who's whole company worked on this platform when I told him integration needed to communicate with my REST api he started yelling at me because obviously I should have a library to work with his software. Source: almost 3 years ago

Ionic mentions (10)

  • Hello from Team OutSystems!
    As you may remember, Ionic, the company where I’ve worked as a Developer Advocate for the past year and a half, was acquired in late 2022 by OutSystems. As part of that acquisition, I’m excited to announce that I transitioned to a Lead Developer Advocate position on the OutSystems side of the house this past November. In my new role, I will continue doing what I love – making it easier for developers to build... - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Best Programming language to create Mobile Application ?
    You're looking for a framework to build a progressive web app. Such as Ionic: https://ionic.io/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • What is this type of styling called?
    Some website's that I've collected that use the styling I'm on about; Ionic.io, spline.design, wickedbackgrounds.com, coolbackgrounds.io,. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Android Games with Capacitor and JavaScript
    In the past I would have used something like Cordova, but this new thing from the folks at Ionic has TypeScript support out of the box for their native APIs and support for using any Cordova plugins you might miss. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • 10 Reasons to Choose Ionic for Mobile Development
    Ionic is the only cross-platform development stack that has Enterprise support and integrations for teams building employee and customer-facing apps. Ionic offers dedicated support, security features like Biometrics and Single Sign-on, and cloud services for remote app updates, app builds, and app store distribution. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing WinDev and Ionic, you can also consider the following products

Azure DevOps - Visual Studio dev tools & services make app development easy for any platform & language. Try our Mac & Windows code editor, IDE, or Azure DevOps for free.

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Optimizely - A/B testing you'll actually use.

Apache Cordova - Platform for building native mobile applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript

Micro Focus ALM - Learn how Micro Focus’ Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) software tools provide the agility, visibility, and collaboration solutions you need to optimize app development and testing, foster innovation, and improve the user experience.

NativeScript - Build truly native apps with JavaScript