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Apple Xcode vs Xamarin Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Apple Xcode
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Xamarin Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Apple Xcode is 2.3%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Xamarin Platform is 7.5%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Daniel Bell - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, up-to-date, and straightforward installation
The scalability of Apple Xcode is good. It can scale to any engineer team size. I have worked at a company using this solution with 30 iOS engineers and the current company I work at has four engineers. Our numbers are growing and we will increase usage of the solution.
Vishal Paliwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Lets us build hybrid apps for Android and iOS, with top support from Microsoft
My favorite feature of Xamarin platform is the Xamarin.Essentials package. I also like the changes seen in Xamarin's upgrade from Xamarin.Forms to .NET MAUI, because in the older Xamarin Platform, Xamarin.Forms gave you multiple libraries of a particular level for a single platform, whereas .NET MAUI comprises a single, organized library that contains everything needed for both Android and iOS.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is complete and relevant to the job at hand."
"It is stable and user-friendly."
"The tool's most valuable features are debugging and code management."
"Xcode is pretty smart. It's easy to set up and works perfectly on Android."
"We like the ease of access and navigation that this solution provides."
"The most valuable feature of Apple Xcode is that it is up to date."
"Xcode has quite a bit of code error checking built-in, which is great. It also goes a step further and suggests fixes."
"Because of the C# programming language, we can train our .NET developers to learn Xamarin and develop mobile apps easily."
"The solution's most valuable asset is its shared code base in C# that is better for large apps."
"It usually saves time for application development. We write once and the code works everywhere."
"For me, developing apps for iOS and Android is a dream came true, without migrating to Objective-C or Java. Xamarin enables me to do so."
"A single line of code works with android and iOS."
"The combination of forms for cross-platform UI and C-Sharp for the programming language are my two favorite features."
"You can create one solution in C Sharp."
"It allows us to reuse our knowledge of C# and .NET Framework."
 

Cons

"It consists of multiple components and needs a simplified process. This particular area could be more stable."
"There is a drag-and-drop visual system, but as soon as you do something dynamic, then you are unable to use it."
"We would like a 'light' version of this solution to be developed, as it currently uses a lot of memory space."
"It is a bit challenging to sign in."
"The size of Apple Xcode could improve. It is too large."
"There should be additional documentation on App Store deployment. In terms of features, they're pretty much on top of where they need to go. I've been happy with its progress so far. As things evolve, they need to evolve to match that need."
"As Apple has introduced more and more features on top of Xcode, it sometimes, but very rarely, hangs."
"We have noticed that there have been stability-based performance issues with this product, which need to be improved."
"The file size is a bit big, so you have to make certain layers."
"They need to improve performance, especially for the Android platform. Also, some controls are missing in the Xamarin framework when compared to native controls; for example, the checkbox control."
"For beginners, the entire setup can be overwhelming because it involves setting up development environments for iOS, Android, and Windows at the same time if you want to target all three."
"The architecture in the Xamarin Platform has to improve, there are some features missing."
"It would be better if they offered more certifications. They offer a number of certifications for Azure but none for Xamarin. This is something that could be provided for developers to show off their competency. Technical support could be better."
"We need to think about partnering with IBM because there is a need for a big data partner; someone who has machine learning and can help us connect the app to big data."
"We'd like to have some chat support functionality."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We don't have to pay for Apple Xcode's licenses."
"There are no licensing costs for Xcode and no hidden charges. You just download it."
"You can start off using Apple Xcode for free but if you start using some more of their enhanced features, it's going to be hundreds of dollars a month. There are corporate licenses but most individual users will not be worried about the corporate license, only your CFO will or the person in charge of the software department."
"It has an annual renewal."
"For personal use, the Community Edition is free."
"Xamarin is free. There is no license unless you go for some high-end enterprise features. Other than that, everything's free."
"My company provided all the licenses that we need to support our use of Xamarin Platform."
"This is a free product, so there is zero investment on licenses and IDE."
"Xamarin Platform is open-source, but there are fees for deployment, the API Store and Play Store, and using third-party libraries."
"In most cases, it is sufficient to have free/community license. But if you plan to seriously develop production-level, highly polished apps, you need to use Xamarin.Profiler and the professional or enterprise license."
"There's no licensing cost for Xamarin."
"Xamarin is free, or comes with Visual Studio. Therefore, it is very profitable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Educational Organization
11%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apple Xcode?
The tool's most valuable features are debugging and code management.
What needs improvement with Apple Xcode?
Apple Xcode's usability for developers needs enhancement. It consists of multiple components and needs a simplified process. This particular area could be more stable.
What do you like most about Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform.
What needs improvement with Xamarin Platform?
In Xamarin.Forms, we have the option to preview our UI designs, but the functionality can be limited. So, this is not fully functional. Since I have some knowledge of iOS, where when you write code...
 

Comparisons

 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Apple Xcode vs. Xamarin Platform and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.