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Ionic vs Xamarin Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Ionic
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
14
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 Ionic is 7.7%, down from 8.9% 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

Nakul Kundaliya - PeerSpot reviewer
The best cross-platform solution of its kind, with good performance and live reloading
Ionic is a cross-platform framework, so when we compare Ionic with native Android and iOS, we can see the drawbacks. For example, if you need to work on very high-level aspects of an application such as animation, even if everything else is not putting load on the app, you will still see high load from the server side. You will eventually find yourself getting lots of image, video, and hardware-related work to deal with. This is the main limitation of Ionic because we still have to depend on the native Android and iOS code. However, in other ways we can achieve the same performance with Ionic as we can achieve with native Android code. One feature I would like to see added is the code post. The code post is a very good feature I encountered when using React Native. Inside the code post, you don't need to deploy your application again when you're modifying your code. You just need to run one command, and each and every server will automatically receive the latest modification. A similar feature in Ionic would be appreciated. Another drawback of Ionic has to do with the no-code service that they provide, where you just need to drag and drop your components to build your application. I feel that, coding-wise, it isn't a good feature. And, for instance, if you're making an API call, they would only provide the UI, so you would still need to take some time to modify it. Because of this, I considered simply building our UI from scratch. Apart from that, one other disadvantage is when you're using a type of plugin like AdSense for putting adverts in your application, Ionic would take a percentage of whatever profit you make.
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

"What I like the most about Ionic is live reloading, which enables us to develop new features without having to build the application again and re-check the functionality."
"The solution can support many languages."
"The most valuable feature of Ionic is the ease of use and the simple connection of the applications. Additionally, the documentation is good in the Ionic application, and beginners can easily learn and download their own application using Ionic. Everyone can easily switch out, their domain, from native applications to hybrid applications."
"Ionic's best features are its hybrid app development, design, and tags."
"I like that I can place the code and escalate data storage. I also like that it's user-friendly. Nothing is complex in Ionic."
"The main value of this solution for our business, is that it is a hybrid product that allows us to write code that is compatible with IOS, Android, and web documents."
"Because it's a hybrid mobile app framework, it is easy for us to develop iOS as well as Android apps for our customers with the same resource skills. We didn't have to have separate iOS teams and Android teams to build the apps. We still have to use the Apple Xcode for iOS, but the main development happens with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. We don't have to write separate code bases in scripts for iOS and Android. We create apps using web-based technology."
"Being able to have one set of code is valuable. I don't have to recode for different platforms. I don't have to recode for Xcode, Angular, or Android. So, the biggest feature for me is that it's a hybrid system, and I can have one set of code, and then the tool sets that are in there convert my code for Xcode or Play Store. It makes work a lot easier."
"We very much like the XAML design techniques, multiple layout and pages, MVVMCross support, and portability across different platforms."
"It allows us to reuse our knowledge of C# and .NET Framework."
"Xamarin Platform enables you to use a single code language. This is beneficial for Android, iOS, and Windows platforms, so they can be developed over application or built over application."
"You can create one solution in C Sharp."
"Xamarin makes it easy to create white label applications for all platforms."
"The most valuable feature of the Xamarin Platform is that both the UI are the same in Android and iOS, in one project and Android and iOS, are applications for developing PCL projects. Additionally, the dashboard is good."
"The most valuable feature of the Xamarin Platform is the deployment."
"The cross platform ability is a great asset."
 

Cons

"There could be better support for augmented reality and other things. Geolocation and background app activity are some of the things that are a little more clumsy at the moment and could be improved."
"Ionic is a cross-platform framework, so when we compare Ionic with native Android and iOS, we can see the drawbacks. For example, if you need to work on very high-level aspects of an application such as animation, even if everything else is not putting load on the app, you will still see high load from the server side."
"Documentation for migrations and compatibility is insufficient."
"In a future release, we would like to have a little more support for the desktop environment. Currently it is still focused on mobile devices."
"It would be good if the mobile version uses something other than JavaScript and HTML."
"Ionic's UI component doesn't always look like the native mobile app."
"The navigation within this solution could be improved; it is currently quite complicated to move through the different tabs."
"Ionic could improve in the Native mode because while we do testing it is difficult to find the root cause of problems. It could be more user-friendly."
"There is limited support for UX widgets."
"Regarding improvements, there are still some limitations with Xamarin, particularly regarding access to core functionality in Android and iOS."
"The solution always has room for improvement with price, integration, stability, and documentation."
"For those who use only XAML to design the UI, it would be better if there was a better XAML previewer or designer."
"We have noticed that there have been stability-based performance issues with this product, which need to be improved."
"There is room for increasing the scale a little bit further with the designer in the Visual Studio, more specifically, Xamarin.Android Designer in Visual Studio."
"Xamarin Platform's performance base could be improved."
"The monitoring of the remote devices is not good as it should be extended along. It would be useful if the log is more integrated with the central console. I am not sure it can be accessed but it would be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's open source option is free with no licensing fees."
"We pay 50,000 dinars per month."
"I think most of the plugins for Ionic are open source, and you can do a lot with many of the basic features. However, if you need to use a premium plugin for something like extra scroll list functionality, Ionic will ask for a certain sum of money."
"The starting cost for the enterprise option is around one hundred dollars per month."
"Ionic is an open-source solution, it is free."
"You can use the free version, but if you still want to buy it, the price starts from $499/month."
"Ionic is an open source solution, and there are no hidden fees."
"You don't have to pay anything except for certain projects. For example, Appflow has some costs related to it but you don't have to use it. You can also pay for extra support."
"There is no requirement for a license. It is available for free as an open-source product."
"My company provided all the licenses that we need to support our use of Xamarin Platform."
"There's no licensing cost for Xamarin."
"Xamarin Platform is open-source, so it is free to use."
"This is a free product, so there is zero investment on licenses and IDE."
"It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."
"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."
"You can build in Xamarin without paying any money."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Insurance Company
8%
University
7%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
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 Ionic?
Being able to have one set of code is valuable. I don't have to recode for different platforms. I don't have to recode for Xcode, Angular, or Android. So, the biggest feature for me is that it's a ...
What needs improvement with Ionic?
When they jumped from version 3 to version 4, 5, and 6, they introduced something called Capacitor, which is basically the tool that you use to convert your code to Xcode, etc. They have a few plug...
What is your primary use case for Ionic?
We are using it for mobile applications that we are publishing to iOS, Huawei, and Google Play Store. It's a very nice hybrid framework for mobile applications.
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

MRA, Napa Group, Sworkit, Airbus, Sense Corp, Interactive Gaming Company, Pacifica, Untapp'd, Diesel, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Ionic vs. Xamarin Platform and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.