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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
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
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

Dansteve Adekanbi - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 17, 2024
Great user acceptance and reliability, multiple teams not required, with prompt customer service
As a developer, I would say one of the improvements is more plugins. More plugins give you the ability to do more interactions with the framework over the library. As a user, I would say more flexibility in terms of look and feel. So far Ionic is very fluid. You might not really know, it is web-based technology. I know recently it has gone through a lot of updates, but it can also be improved and become stronger. Ionic allows you to get the best customization ever, but there is nothing like having more. The more customization you get, the easier it is for you to be able to build more quality apps.
Vishal Paliwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 23, 2022
Lets us build hybrid apps for Android and iOS, with top support from Microsoft
We are using the new release of Xamarin Platform (as .NET MAUI) to create hybrid applications, so we don't need to implement them individually in different platforms. We can simply deploy in a single codeless application which is automatically deployed to multiple platforms. This is the biggest…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The solution can support many languages."
"The solution is secure, reliable, and packed with features so we can easily implement apps even in the most complex situations."
"It's very flexible for UI development."
"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."
"With the Capacitor feature, you have access to the native attributes of your phone such as your camera. This makes work a lot easier."
"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."
"Ionic is easy to upgrade and is helpful for design purposes. It also is quite common and easy to use. It is a very reliable application. It's easy to write on and print. The UI is easy to use as well. My organization chose to go with Ionic because we can access both Android and iOS applications."
"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 platform is easy to learn as many tutorials are available on YouTube."
"Being able to use the .NET framework and platform have me creating applications better than anyone who develops on Windows."
"The most valuable feature of the Xamarin Platform is the deployment."
"I think the best part about Xamarin is that you can create apps for both platforms using one source code. That's the most powerful feature. When you develop something for Android, it also builds for iVerse as well. The cross-platform aspect of Xamarin is unique. The ability to develop both apps with a single code base is something very unique."
"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."
"Xamarin is well-integrated with Visual Studio so it will feel very familiar to you once you start."
"A single line of code works with android and iOS."
 

Cons

"They started writing Capacitor to get rid of PhoneGap and Cordova, but they haven't yet got all the libraries and all the functionalities. They want you to start using Capacitor, but they don't have all the libraries there. They're developing them as they go. So, currently, you have to mix and match the three. When it comes to mobile applications, I would only like to use Capacitor. I don't want to jump between Cordova and Capacitor or have both of them. That's the main thing for me, but they have been working on it."
"As a developer, I would say one of the improvements is more plugins."
"There is a lack of a community environment."
"It would be good if the mobile version uses something other than JavaScript and HTML."
"It would be better if it had a speed niche system. There are a lot of things we need that weren't in the latest version. But I think they will be adding something."
"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's UI component doesn't always look like the native mobile app."
"Ionic would be improved with dynamic design features."
"The worst build issue concerns are the caching process MSBuild uses to reduce the build time."
"Xamarin's profiling tools are only available for the highest tier of MSDN subscription and compatibility with platform-native profiling tools is rather lacking. This causes friction when working on performance-related issues."
"There is limited support for UX widgets."
"From time to time, it is a bit harder to code some specific scenarios compared to the native approach."
"The solution always has room for improvement with price, integration, stability, and documentation."
"Regarding improvements, there are still some limitations with Xamarin, particularly regarding access to core functionality in Android and iOS."
"For those who use only XAML to design the UI, it would be better if there was a better XAML previewer or designer."
"It is common to find a problem that you would need to develop from the start since there are no third-party components to reuse."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The starting cost for the enterprise option is around one hundred dollars per month."
"The solution's open source option is free with no licensing fees."
"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."
"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."
"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, it is free."
"We pay 50,000 dinars per month."
"I think the solution is free."
"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."
"Xamarin is free. There is no license unless you go for some high-end enterprise features. Other than that, everything's free."
"Xamarin Platform is open-source, but there are fees for deployment, the API Store and Play Store, and using third-party libraries."
"The product is inexpensive."
"The price of the Xamarin Platform is not expensive. However, the price of the solution depends on the application that is made. For example, if you have small applications, it's different from large or enterprise applications."
"It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."
"This is a free product, so there is zero investment on licenses and IDE."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Insurance Company
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing 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.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.