GeneXus vs Xamarin Platform comparison

GeneXus and Microsoft are both solutions in the Mobile Development Platforms category. GeneXus is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.4. GeneXus holds a 3.3% mindshare in MDP, compared to Microsoft’s 6.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of GeneXus users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

GeneXus

Read 14 GeneXus reviews

478 Views
233 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Xamarin Platform

Read 40 Xamarin Platform reviews

891 Views
605 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

GeneXus

Xamarin Platform

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Xamarin Platform and GeneXus are two leading products in the mobile development category. Xamarin holds an advantage due to its open-source nature and strong community support, while GeneXus excels in automation capabilities, offering an enhanced speed of development.

Features: Xamarin Platform facilitates cross-platform development with shared codebases and seamless Visual Studio integration, perfect for C# developers. Its support for Xamarin.Forms and plugins like MvvmCross enhance development flexibility. GeneXus simplifies with automatic code generation for multiple platforms, including web and mobile. Its integration capabilities, procedural generation of applications, and multi-language support make it efficient for rapid development cycles.

Room for Improvement: Xamarin could benefit from better integration with third-party libraries, especially in .NET MAUI and support for more complex functionalities like PDF handling without dependencies on external libraries. It could also improve its debugging in complex environments. GeneXus could enhance its front-end customization options, streamline its learning curve for new users, and offer more straightforward integration processes with external services.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Xamarin's deployment is well-integrated within its robust ecosystem, providing comprehensive documentation and community-driven support. In contrast, GeneXus simplifies deployment through automatic updates and integrated tools, alongside offering more personalized customer service, advantageous for enterprises needing targeted assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Xamarin Platform's cost-effectiveness lies in its open-source base, potentially lowering maintenance costs driven by community enhancements. GeneXus, despite a higher initial setup cost, promises faster ROI owing to its automation features that significantly reduce time-to-market and ongoing maintenance needs, making it a strategic option for efficiency-focused long-term projects.

To learn more, read our detailed GeneXus vs. Xamarin Platform Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GeneXus vs. Xamarin Platform

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

GeneXus

Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Low-Code Development Platforms (20th)

Xamarin Platform

Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of GeneXus is 3.3%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Xamarin Platform is 6.6%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Mobile Development Platforms

Featured Reviews

XavierEspinoza

Internal System Coordinator at Red CEDIA

Offers a simplified architecture with outstanding integration capabilities

The integration capabilities of GeneXus are highly valuable for our organization. The metadata obtained within the logic of different systems is also vital. Due to the solution, our company team doesn't have to work with multiple languages and integrations can be made with C Sharp. JavaScript can also be used with GeneXus, the tool takes charge of all the rest and has a simple architecture. The solution can be used out of the box without facing any issues and nothing much needs to be done with frameworks. In our case we need to use Python with GeneXus, we use Ironpython to embed python code in C# .

Read full review

Prince Tiwari

Senior Software Engineer at AAPC

Facilitates UI development with XAML, enabling shared UI code across platforms and reducing platform-specific work

I like its simplicity. As someone who didn't start my career as a dedicated developer, I was used to building websites or Windows applications. Transitioning to mobile app development meant learning new languages like Swift or Java. With C# and Xamarin, though, I could leverage my existing skillset. Xamarin, and specifically Xamarin.Forms, let me write my code once and deploy it natively to both Android and iOS. 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. The advantage is that roughly 90% of my UI code can be shared. This significantly reduces the amount of platform-specific UI work compared to having to write separate UIs for each platform. For the most part, Xamarin's integration with Visual Studio improved the workflow, whether I'm on Windows or Mac. Since I'm familiar with Visual Studio, it provides a comfortable development environment. Additionally, features like Hot Reload and the integration of tools like Copilot help streamline the development process. Overall, it offers a positive development experience.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The integration capabilities of GeneXus are highly valuable for our organization"

"The solution provides ease of programming and the speed of delivery of demands."

"I find the implementation process of GeneXus to be easy."

"In Knowledge Base, being able to model the workflow before developing the screens is great. We first work with the tables or the transactions using GeneXus and then we work on the screens."

"It is fast in creating systems and connects to the database quickly."

"I like that it's very compatible with other tools. The most important feature is getting the developer to focus on the project's business case. It's not about focusing on how I can command this or how I can develop a front end, or how I can work with the advantages. The developer should focus on the business case of the project. No need to focus on connecting the database to the server or connecting the server and the front end. The developer can concentrate on the views."

"With the solution, I can work a normal day. I can plan my work and any other activities for days ahead."

"The front-end features are the most valuable."

More GeneXus pros

"Recently, Xamarin has added a lot of features such as Effects, Behaviors, Triggers, etc. This has made the UI user-friendly, lively, and attractive."

"The platform is easy to learn as many tutorials are available on YouTube."

"The technical support is very good and it's close to native."

"The ability to share a platform-agnostic common core, or business logic, enables a mobile developer to write code for all targeted mobile platforms, independent of the individual developer's specialization in iOS, Android, or Windows. This helps not only during development but also enables easier maintenance of deployed apps, since bug fixes or feature additions can be often made in the platform-agnostic layer."

"Their leadership is exceptional at both listening to the customer base and delivering innovative, best-in-class products."

"On the market, compared to everyone else, they're the top solution. They're the best solution out there that I could see."

"The solution is easy to understand and has banking integrated. The shorter development time, the bugging and as well as availability of a lot of documentation on the web. Also the native integration is easy."

"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."

More Xamarin Platform pros

Cons

"The front-end with GeneXus is not as good as the back-end."

"The graphical interface could be improved. I also notice some performance problems on hardware that should be more than adequate. GeneXus uses a lot of RAM and other computer resources."

"GeneXus's user interface has room for improvement."

"I told them to add something about Angular. They're already working on adding it."

"The tool needs to be tuned before being used. You need some experience to get the best out of the tool."

"It would be better if GeneXus had a wiki. The developer needs some experience to work with the tools. It would be better if they could improve the community. If we have some problem, I open a ticket that takes us to a board, and I have to describe my issue in detail. If the tools have a general community for us to explore with some videos or some articles, I think that that may help the developer."

"It's expensive for a company."

"Documentation is always an issue. In order to develop with GeneXus, there is very little documentation. The documentation is not clear enough in order to develop a great tool."

More GeneXus cons

"All Xamarin library issues need to be taken care of as a top priority."

"Xamarin Platform's performance base could be improved."

"We have noticed that there have been stability-based performance issues with this product, which need to be improved."

"I feel that the Android AppCompat library creates a lot of issues. A lot of development time is often wasted solving these issues."

"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."

"The solution does not include Hot Reload which is painful because it causes us to wait quite some time for huge builds."

"The problem that I faced was that the communication, the roles, and the responsibilities, weren't defined between Microsoft and Xamarin."

"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 or design in the storyboard, your design is immediately visible in the preview."

More Xamarin Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution offers multi-plan licenses, depending on the size of the company and the features required, as opposed to being priced per user/device."

"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten"

"The cost of a GeneXus license is extremely high. At the same time, one person using the solution can do the work of three Java or data developers. I think that's why they charge so much. It's too expensive, which is one reason it isn't widely used."

"It's expensive. I'd rate it a four out of ten in terms of pricing."

"I know that its licenses are generally per year, and in the past, the license for GeneXus was around $5,000, but I don't know what's the current price of the GeneXus license."

"The price is good."

"I give the cost of the solution a four out of ten."

"I don't know about the price because I am an employee, but I hear it's cheaper than other tools."

More GeneXus pricing and cost advice

"Xamarin is available under several licensing arrangements. Each developer needs one license at least. All features, especially the Profiler, unlock only with the highest tier."

"Xamarin Platform is open-source, so it is free to use."

"This is an open-source solution, but there is a subscription charge to use the App Center of around $100."

"It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."

"Xamarin Platform is open-source, but there are fees for deployment, the API Store and Play Store, and using third-party libraries."

"This is a free product, so there is zero investment on licenses and IDE."

"For personal use, the Community Edition is free."

"There is no license fee because the solution is open-source."

More Xamarin Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

18%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GeneXus?

GeneXus evolves with technology.

See all answers

What needs improvement with GeneXus?

GeneXus needs to be more consistent in functionality without any errors. Code generation is highly time-consuming for GeneXus, but in some cases, it saves time as well. Some errors will take too lo...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for GeneXus?

Our company uses the latest version of GeneXus. The solution is used in our company to develop various enterprise systems, and GeneXus is used as an integrator, which further facilitates low-cost d...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Xamarin Platform?

Xamarin Platform is free, and we use an Azure subscription at a relatively low cost for our builds. It offers a good value for money, although it requires time to make it work effectively.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Xamarin Platform?

The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google. The lack of robust documentation and support for third-party bin...

See all answers

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Compared 26% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GeneXus

April 2025

Download GeneXus product report

Buyer's Guide

Xamarin Platform

March 2025

Download Xamarin Platform product report

Overview

What is GeneXus? GeneXus™ is the best Low-Code Platform that you don't know yet.

It's a Software Development Platform that simplifies and automates the tasks of creating and evolving enterprise applications and multi-channel user-experiences. Great Advantages:

- Higher productivity, with automatic maintenance & evolution
- Multi-Experience, we continuously create new code generators
- Agile, incremental approach, with fully functional prototypes
- Easier to learn, one single language to cover all technologies
- Future-proof, we've been around for 30 years, evolving for you

Key Differentiators against the competition:

- No runtime fees, we charge by developer
- Best theoretical framework, which allows us to evolve
- Best coverage in the market: Most technologies, most languages, most markets and industries
- We run on-premise or on the cloud
- Multiple starting points depending on the type of company you work in, with products for Students, Startups, ISVs, Corporate Development, and SAP technologies

GeneXus uses Artificial Intelligence techniques to create software, enabling truly incremental development of apps, providing a low-code, future-proof development platform for the leading execution platforms and languages, and the most popular DBMS.

GeneXus

Xamarin is an open-source platform for developing modern and performant applications for iOS, Android, and Windows using.NET. Xamarin is an abstraction layer that manages how shared code is communicated to the platform's underlying code. Xamarin is for developers with the two following goals:

Cross-platform sharing of code, tests, and business logic.
Writing cross-platform apps in C# with Visual Studio.

Xamarin allows developers to share an average of 90% of their program across platforms. This enables programmers to achieve native performance, look, and feel on each platform while writing all of their business logic in a single language (or reusing existing application code).

Xamarin applications can be created on a PC or a Mac and compiled into native application packages, such as an .apk file for Android or an .ipa file for iOS.

Xamarin Platform Features

Xamarin Platform has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Complete binding for the supporting SDKs: Xamarin includes bindings for almost all of the underlying platform SDKs in iOS and Android.
Java, C, Objective-C, C, C++ Interop: Xamarin gives you the ability to use a variety of third-party code by providing tools for directly invoking Objective-C, Java, C, and C++ libraries.
Modern language constructs: Xamarin applications are written in C#, a modern language with many capabilities that Objective-C and Java do not have, like lambdas, LINQ, parallel programming, generics, and more.
Strong base class library (BCL): Xamarin apps use the .NET BCL, a large collection of classes with streamlined features, like powerful XML, database, serialization, IO, string, and networking support, among others.

Xamarin Platform Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing the Xamarin Platform. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Native UIs and APIs: Xamarin delivers comprehensive access to each platform's native SDK and UI controls, projecting the entire native API of each device into C#. Therefore, the apps you develop are native instead of write-once/run-anywhere programs that look alien on every platform. Xamarin provides you access to all of the capabilities that distinguish each platform.

Share code between platforms: With Xamarin, you can share all code across platforms while providing a native user interface tailored to each individual device. With Xamarin, you can execute the same C# code on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. With Xamarin, your software is compiled to a native binary rather than being interpreted, in contrast to other cross-platform frameworks. Even in the most demanding situations, native compilation provides users with excellent app performance. Xamarin provides responsive, multi-user input and feedback, fluid scrolling, sophisticated graphics and animations, complicated data visualization, and realistic high frame rates for games.

Code with C#: Write shorter, more concise, and more maintainable code by leveraging advanced language features, such as Language Integrated Query (LINQ), delegates, lambdas, events, garbage collection, and many other features. With Xamarin's fully extensible platform, you can include libraries written in C, Objective-C, C++, or Java. In C#, you have access to the entire native ecosystem of components and libraries.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Canal de Panamá, Gerdau, Coca-Cola, Mercado Libre, DHL, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, TECNISA, Mexican Polak Group, Ferrovalle, Canon, Azteca, KPMG, TURBUS, Santander, BBVA

Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates

Buyer's Guide

GeneXus vs. Xamarin Platform

April 2025

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