📌 This article was originally published on Stackwrite, where I compare developer tools hands-on. Reposting here for the DEV community.
If you're starting a mobile app in 2026, React Native and SwiftUI are two of the most common starting points — but they're built for different kinds of developers. Here's an honest, side-by-side look at where each one wins, what they cost, and how to choose.
Quick comparison
| React Native | SwiftUI | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mobile | Mobile |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Paid plan | $0 | $99/yr (Apple Developer) |
| Enterprise | N/A | $299/yr |
| Best for | React devs building native mobile apps with their existing JS/TS skills | Developers building Apple-native apps who want the tightest iOS/macOS/watchOS integration |
React Native vs SwiftUI: the full breakdown
Both are popular choices in the mobile space, but they serve different developers.
React Native is Meta's cross-platform framework for building native iOS and Android apps with React, sharing one codebase across platforms. If your team already lives in JavaScript/TypeScript, it lets you ship to both stores without learning a new language. Its standout strengths are being cross-platform and React-based, plus native modules, the Expo framework, and hot reload.
SwiftUI is Apple's declarative UI framework for building native apps across iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS with Swift. It trades cross-platform reach for the deepest possible integration with the Apple ecosystem. Its strengths are declarative syntax and live previews, along with built-in animations and accessibility.
Both offer free tiers, so you can try each before committing. The right choice comes down to which capabilities matter most for your workflow — code reuse across platforms, or native depth on Apple devices.
Pricing comparison
- React Native: Free and open source. Paid cost is effectively $0 (you only pay the platform's own developer fees to publish).
- SwiftUI: Free to use, but shipping to the App Store requires the Apple Developer Program at $99/yr, with an enterprise tier at $299/yr.
Our verdict
- Choose React Native if you value cross-platform reach and want to reuse your React skills across iOS and Android.
- Choose SwiftUI if you're building Apple-native apps and want the best integration with iOS, macOS, and watchOS.
Both are solid mobile options in 2026 — the best pick depends on your team size, budget, and how much you care about native Apple features versus shipping everywhere from one codebase. If you can, prototype the same screen in both before committing.
Not sold on either?
Flutter is Google's UI toolkit for building natively compiled apps for mobile, web, and desktop from a single Dart codebase — worth a look if you want cross-platform reach with a different tradeoff.
Originally published on Stackwrite — honest comparisons of AI and developer tools.
