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Xamarin VS Qt Creator

Compare Xamarin VS Qt Creator and see what are their differences

Xamarin logo Xamarin

Create iOS, Android and Mac apps in C#

Qt Creator logo Qt Creator

Qt Creator is a cross-platform C++, JavaScript and QML integrated development environment. It is the fastest, easiest and most fun experience a C++ developer could wish for.
  • Xamarin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17
  • Qt Creator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

Xamarin features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Xamarin allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, and Windows), which can significantly reduce development time and effort.
  • Native Performance
    Apps built with Xamarin perform as well as native apps because they leverage platform-specific hardware acceleration and compile directly to native ARM assembly code.
  • Shared Codebase
    With Xamarin, developers can use a single codebase for different platforms, making it easier to maintain and update apps across multiple operating systems.
  • Large Ecosystem
    As part of the broader .NET ecosystem, Xamarin benefits from a large collection of libraries, tools, and developer resources provided by Microsoft.
  • Strong Community Support
    Xamarin has a strong developer community and comprehensive documentation, making it easier for developers to find support and resources.
  • Integration with Visual Studio
    Xamarin integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio, providing a robust development environment complete with debugging, profiling, and unit testing tools.

Possible disadvantages of Xamarin

  • App Size
    Xamarin apps tend to have larger file sizes compared to native apps because of the additional overhead of the Mono runtime.
  • Limited Third-Party Library Support
    While Xamarin supports a wide range of libraries, not all third-party libraries and SDKs are compatible, which might require custom bindings or workarounds.
  • Performance Overhead
    Some performance overhead might still exist compared to fully native applications, especially in complex and resource-intensive apps.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers coming from purely native development backgrounds might face a learning curve when adopting Xamarin, particularly in understanding the shared codebase approach and platform-specific nuances.
  • Platform Limitations
    Certain platform-specific features and UI elements might not be fully supported or might require additional custom code to implement.
  • Licensing Costs
    Although Xamarin itself is open source, enterprise-level features or more advanced tools might require a Visual Studio Enterprise subscription, which can be costly.

Qt Creator features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Qt Creator allows developers to write code once and deploy it across multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, saving time and resources.
  • Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
    It provides a comprehensive IDE with features like code completion, syntax highlighting, and integrated debugging that streamline the development process.
  • Rich Library of Widgets
    Qt Creator includes a wide range of widgets for UI development, making it easier to build complex user interfaces.
  • Strong Community and Documentation
    The tool is backed by a robust community and extensive documentation, providing valuable support and resources for developers.
  • Native Performance
    Applications built with Qt Creator often exhibit near-native performance due to its effective use of C++ and platform-specific optimizations.
  • Designer Tool
    Qt Creator features a visual designer that helps developers create and modify UI components through drag-and-drop functionality.

Possible disadvantages of Qt Creator

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users might find Qt Creator challenging to learn due to its comprehensive set of features and the intricacies of C++ programming.
  • License Cost
    While Qt is free and open-source under the LGPL, for commercial use or access to additional features, the licensing fees can be quite high.
  • Heavy Resource Usage
    The IDE can be resource-intensive, potentially slowing down development on less powerful machines.
  • Limited Non-C++ Language Support
    Qt Creator is primarily designed for C++ development, and although it supports other languages, the support is not as robust.
  • Deployment Complexity
    Deploying applications across multiple platforms can sometimes be complex and require significant configuration.
  • Large Binary Size
    Applications built with Qt often have a larger binary size compared to those built with some other frameworks, which might be a concern for resource-constrained environments.

Analysis of Xamarin

Overall verdict

  • Xamarin is a good choice for developers who are entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem and are looking to create cross-platform mobile applications using a shared codebase. Its native performance, extensive library support, and community backing make it a viable option. However, it's crucial to consider the specific needs of your project, including performance requirements and platform-specific features.

Why this product is good

  • Xamarin is a popular open-source platform developed by Microsoft for building cross-platform mobile applications. It allows developers to use a single codebase written in C# to create native apps for Android, iOS, and Windows. Xamarin is known for its integration with the .NET ecosystem, enabling developers to leverage shared code, libraries, and tools across multiple platforms. It offers access to native APIs and performance optimizations, making it a solid choice for developers familiar with C# and the .NET framework.

Recommended for

  • Developers proficient in C# and .NET
  • Teams looking to build native apps with a single codebase
  • Projects where integration with Microsoft services is a priority
  • Enterprises with existing .NET infrastructure aiming to expand into mobile

Analysis of Qt Creator

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Qt Creator is considered a good choice for developers who are working within the Qt framework. It combines functionality with a user-friendly interface, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced developers. While it excels in Qt-focused development, it might not provide the same level of convenience for projects outside of this framework.

Why this product is good

  • Qt Creator is a well-regarded integrated development environment (IDE) primarily used for developing cross-platform applications with the Qt framework. It offers a robust set of features including a powerful code editor, GUI design tools, integrated debugging and profiling, and excellent support for C++ and QML languages. The IDE supports version control systems such as Git and offers various plugins and extensions, enhancing its capabilities. Its cross-platform nature allows developers to compile applications for multiple operating systems with relative ease, making it a versatile tool for application development.

Recommended for

  • Developers working with the Qt framework.
  • C++ programmers looking for an integrated design and development environment.
  • Teams developing cross-platform applications.
  • Those seeking an all-in-one IDE capable of handling both development and design aspects of software creation.
  • Individuals interested in developing applications with a graphical user interface using QML.

Xamarin videos

Pros and Cons of Xamarin Development

More videos:

  • Review - Is Xamarin Forms Any Good?
  • Review - Why Xamarin Is Awesome

Qt Creator videos

Introduction to Qt - Qt Creator IDE Overview and Examples {tutorial}

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Xamarin and Qt Creator)
Developer Tools
71 71%
29% 29
IDE
22 22%
78% 78
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Text Editors
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 Xamarin and Qt Creator

Xamarin Reviews

Explore 9 Top Eclipse Alternatives for 2024
Xamarin.Forms An open-source UI framework that enables developers to conjure up applications for Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, and Windows from a singular shared codebase. Offers rich features like XAML user-interface language, databinding, gestures, effects, styling.
Source: aircada.com
Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
Developed and launched by Microsoft, Xamarin facilitates developers to build apps for iOS and Android by using C# and .NET. It ensures a seamless integration with Visual Studio and lets developers experience a fully familiar environment. The framework provides a single codebase and allows developers to perform app development rapidly.
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Xamarin is a Microsoft-created framework for building native iOS, Android, and Windows apps in C#/.NET. On the complexity front, Xamarin apps generally require more focus on memory management and garbage collection tuning relative to alternatives like Flutter. The additional diligence pays dividends in runtime performance when done properly. However, developers with...
THE BEST 34 APP DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IN 2022 LIST
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned tool to write native code for apps. Free. Cross-platform. Open-source. An app platform for building Android and iOS apps with .NET and C#.
9 Of The Best Android Studio Alternatives To Try Out
You can also access the required resources at the Xamarin Universal project. You can stay up to date with the latest updates by subscribing to their YouTube channel or blogs. The Xamarin community is most active, and you can get answers to your questions swiftly.

Qt Creator Reviews

Top 10 Android Studio Alternatives For App Development
Qt Creator is an IDE for programmers that is used to create multiple applications and eases GUI application modifications or designs. It is the best tool for creating Qt applications.
9 Of The Best Android Studio Alternatives To Try Out
Qt Creator is a QMl, javaScript, and C++ integrated development environment for the Qt framework. It comes equipped with a visual debugger and forms designer and also has a GUI layout.
What's The Best C++ IDE? Our Top C++ IDEs & Editors In 2024
Another standout feature of Qt Creator is its design tools. This C++ IDE offers an intuitive and powerful drag-and-drop interface for designing user interfaces. This level of integration between UI design and code development can streamline your workflow, making it easier to transform your visual designs into functional code.
Source: hackr.io
10 Best Android Studio Alternatives For App Development
QT Creator is another SDK for QT Framework. It is a cross-platform development application with integration to C++, QML, and Javascript. It comes with an integrated GUI platform that lays a perfect environment for Android app development.
Source: techdator.net

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Xamarin seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 28 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.

Xamarin mentions (28)

  • Wine Releases Framework Mono 6.14 in Taking over the Mono Project
    I haven't been following .NET lately, but AFAIK .NET works on Linux now and "Mono" is basically .NET for Linux... What even are the differences? Sounds like Microsoft just doesn't want to maintain 2 different versions so they're dumping it. Also, > Microsoft became the steward of the Mono Project when it acquired Xamarin in 2016 They probably never even wanted Mono, they just inherited it because they wanted... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • C# Fundamentals
    Mobile Applications: With Xamarin, a cross-platform mobile development framework, developers can write C# code to build native Android, iOS, and Windows mobile applications. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Making an android app with c#
    Xamarin - Basically an older version of MAUI. I would advise against creating new projects on Xamarin since MAUI is supposed to render it obsolete. Source: over 2 years ago
  • App developer
    Microsoft Xamarin: For this you'll need to know C# and .net. Source: over 2 years ago
  • I own a web development company in San Antonio and I'm looking for ideas to support the UTSA students with some sort of free courses or classes
    At my internship, we moved to Microsoft's Visual Studio for C# development from Java, and for application development we use Xamarin which can be used on Windows and Mac. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Qt Creator mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

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

Android Studio - Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA

Microsoft Visual Studio - Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft.

OutSystems - Build Enterprise-Grade Apps Fast.

IntelliJ IDEA - Capable and Ergonomic IDE for JVM

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.

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