Kotlin Multiplatform vs Flutter vs React Native 2025
This comprehensive guide compares Kotlin Multiplatform, Flutter, and React Native for mobile app development in 2025, focusing on real-world performance, costs, and hiring challenges. With cross-platform development growing to a $14.3 billion market this year, choosing the right framework for your business has never been more critical.
In today's competitive mobile app landscape, choosing the right cross-platform development framework isn't just a technical decision—it's a strategic business choice that impacts your development velocity, user experience, and hiring pipeline for years to come. As we navigate 2025, three frameworks have emerged as the clear leaders: Kotlin Multiplatform, Flutter, and React Native.
Each offers compelling advantages: Kotlin Multiplatform's native performance and seamless integration with Android ecosystems, Flutter's beautiful UI consistency across platforms, and React Native's massive JavaScript talent pool. But each also comes with distinct limitations that could make or break your mobile project.
This article provides a data-driven comparison to help you navigate these choices. We'll analyze performance benchmarks, development costs for MVPs, talent availability, and real-world examples of companies that have adopted—and in some cases abandoned—each framework. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of which technology best suits your specific business needs, especially if you already have an Android app in production.
Understanding Kotlin Multiplatform vs Compose Multiplatform
Kotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform are related but distinct technologies that serve complementary purposes in cross-platform development. While Kotlin Multiplatform enables sharing business logic across platforms, Compose Multiplatform extends this functionality to include UI code sharing, creating a comprehensive cross-platform solution.
Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP)
Kotlin Multiplatform is a framework that allows developers to share business logic code across different platforms while keeping the UI layer platform-specific. It achieves this through:
- Sharing common Kotlin code for business logic, data models, and network operations
- Compiling to platform-specific binaries: JVM bytecode for Android, native code for iOS via Kotlin/Native
- Using expected/actual declarations to create platform-specific implementations of common interfaces
- Facilitating gradual adoption in existing codebases, allowing teams to migrate incrementally
This approach enables near-native performance while maximizing code sharing for non-UI components.
Compose Multiplatform
Compose Multiplatform extends Kotlin Multiplatform's capabilities by providing a UI framework that works across platforms. It's based on Jetpack Compose for Android and has been adapted to work on other platforms:
- Enables writing UI code once that works across Android, iOS, desktop, and web
- Uses the Skia rendering engine (via Skiko) to ensure consistent UI appearance
- Provides declarative, reactive UI programming model similar to SwiftUI or React
- Allows for platform-specific UI code when needed for native experiences
The result is a complete cross-platform solution that can share both business logic and UI code.
Key Differences and Synergy
| Feature | Kotlin Multiplatform | Compose Multiplatform | When Used Together |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | Business logic sharing | UI code sharing | Complete cross-platform solution |
| UI Approach | Platform-native UI (SwiftUI, Jetpack Compose) | Unified UI framework | Single UI codebase with native customizations |
| Performance | Near-native | Native for Android, similar to other cross-platform frameworks for iOS/desktop/web | Optimized balance with platform-specific tweaks |
| Development in 2025 | Stable, production-ready | Stable for Android, iOS and Desktop, maturing for web | Production-ready with strategic platform choices |
Understanding this difference is crucial: Kotlin Multiplatform allows you to build a cross-platform app with fully native UI layers, giving you unmatched performance on Android where your UI is already fully native. This creates a unique advantage for companies with existing Android apps—you can build a fully native iOS app that shares business logic with your Android app without requiring a complete rewrite.
Adding Compose Multiplatform gives you the option to share UI code as well, potentially accelerating development further. However, this comes with trade-offs in performance and native platform integration. The beauty of the Kotlin ecosystem is the flexibility to choose how much to share based on your specific requirements.
Performance Comparison: Hard Data from 2025
New 2025 benchmarks confirm that Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) now has the leanest binaries and lowest idle-memory footprint, while Flutter 3.24 + Impeller delivers the quickest cold start and the highest frame rates. React Native’s new Bridgeless/Fabric architecture cuts load-time and memory, but it still trails the other two under heavy UI stress.
Below is a consolidated table from reproducible public tests on a Samsung Galaxy A54 (Exynos 1380, Android 15) and an iPhone 15 (Apple A16). All builds are release-mode, no dev flags.
| Metric | Native (Baseline) | Kotlin Multiplatform | Flutter 3.24 (+ Impeller) | React Native 0.74 (Bridgeless) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App Size (Android APK) | 6.16 MB | 6.18 MB (+0.3%) | 12.08 MB (+96%) | 11.56 MB (+88%) | KMP |
| Startup Time Cold (TTFD) | 0.55 s (target P95) | 1.27 s (+131%) | 0.72 s (+31%) | 1.61 s (+193%) | Flutter |
| Memory Usage (Idle) | 85 MB | 96 MB (+13%) | 253 MB (+198%) | 130 MB (+53%) | KMP |
| Avg FPS (List Scroll) | 119 FPS | 119 FPS (-0.8%) | 120 FPS (+0.8%) | 42 FPS (-65%) | Flutter |
| CPU Usage (Idle) | 8 % | 12 % (+50%) | 11 % (+38%) | 12 % (+50%) | Native |
| Battery Impact (%/hr) | 8 % | 10 % (+25%) | 11 % (+38%) | 15 % (+87%) | KMP |
Sources: Reddit Performance Showdown (Galaxy A54, Jan 2025), Speednet Software cross-platform audit (Apr 2025), Android Dev Guidelines (Cold-start < 500 ms), React Native 0.74 release notes, Instabug benchmark report (Jan 2025), Flutter Impeller deep-dive (Feb 2025), GitHub issues on Impeller path/battery (2024-2025).
Key Performance Insights for 2025
Kotlin Multiplatform
Thanks to Kotlin/Native’s new incremental GC, pause times dropped by 60 % versus 2023 builds, keeping memory and CPU overhead low. KMP therefore remains the closest to native in both binary size and background footprint.
Best for: Data-heavy, long-lived apps where sustained efficiency matters.
Flutter 3.24
The Impeller renderer and shader pre-warming push Flutter to 120 FPS on mid-range hardware while shaving ~30 % off jank and 17 % off battery drain compared to Skia. Cold-start is now < 0.8 s on the A54 test rig.
Best for: Pixel-perfect, animation-rich UIs that must feel ultra-smooth across iOS & Android.
React Native 0.74
Bridgeless mode and Yoga 3.0 trim startup by ~20 % and reclaim 80-100 MB on average devices, yet RN’s JS-driven UI still struggles under very long lists or image grids, and devs report pathologically high battery drain in poorly optimised code paths.
Best for: Content-light apps where JS/React expertise and rapid iteration trump raw performance.
Performance in Complex Scenarios
| Complex Scenario | Kotlin Multiplatform | Flutter 3.24 | React Native 0.74 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 000-item list scroll | 119 FPS (native RecyclerView/UICollectionView) | 120 FPS (Impeller ListView) | 42 FPS (FlashList) |
| Image-heavy feed | Excellent with Coil/Glide | Very good with CachedNetworkImage | Good when optimised libraries used |
| Complex animations | Excellent (Compose Animations) | Excellent (Implicit/Explicit Animations) | Good (Reanimated 3) |
| Heavy matrix multiplication | 2.1 s | 2.9 s | 4.2 s |
Performance Evolution (2023 → 2025)
- Kotlin Multiplatform: Incremental GC and new memory model reduce pause times by ~60 %; Compose Multiplatform iOS renderer gained a 25 % frame-time improvement.
- Flutter: Impeller matured; shader warm-up and new raster cache cut frame jank by 41 % and lowered battery drain by ~17 %.
- React Native: Bridgeless default in 0.74 trims load time and memory; Yoga 3 gives faster layout passes.
Key Takeaway: In 2025 KMP delivers the closest-to-native footprint, Flutter wins raw UI speed, and React Native trades some headroom for unmatched JavaScript agility. Choose the one that maps to your product’s UX, talent pool, and release cadence.
Cost of MVP Development in 2025
Development costs remain a critical factor in framework selection, especially for startups and businesses launching new products. The total cost of an MVP depends on framework choice, development complexity, and regional labor costs.
Based on current market rates and development timelines, here's a comparative analysis of MVP development costs across different frameworks:
| Framework | Basic App (€) | Medium App (€) | Complex App (€) | Avg. Dev Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native (iOS + Android) | 76,500 - 148,750 | 148,750 - 280,500 | 280,500+ | 5-7 months |
| Kotlin Multiplatform | 59,500 - 106,250 | 106,250 - 195,500 | 195,500+ | 4-6 months |
| Flutter | 51,000 - 89,250 | 89,250 - 161,500 | 161,500+ | 3-5 months |
| React Native | 21,250 - 63,750 | 63,750 - 127,500 | 212,500+ | 3-5 months |
Source: Compiled from market data from Speednet Software, The Droids on Roids, and industry averages in 2025.
Geographic Cost Variations
Development costs vary significantly by region. Here are the hourly rates for specialist cross-platform developers in 2025:
North America & Western Europe
- Kotlin Multiplatform: €96-144/hr
- Flutter: €85-130/hr
- React Native: €80-125/hr
Central & Eastern Europe
- Kotlin Multiplatform: €45-68/hr
- Flutter: €40-65/hr
- React Native: €35-60/hr
Asia & Pacific
- Kotlin Multiplatform: €35-55/hr
- Flutter: €30-50/hr
- React Native: €29-48/hr
Cost Breakdown by Development Phase
Understanding how costs distribute across development phases can help with budgeting:
| Development Phase | Kotlin Multiplatform | Flutter | React Native |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning/Discovery (10-15%) | High - Requires platform-specific planning | Medium - Unified UI simplifies planning | Medium - Component planning needed |
| Design (20-25%) | High - Platform-specific designs needed | Medium - Single design system | Medium-High - Platform adaptations needed |
| Development (40-55%) | Medium - Shared logic reduces costs | Low - Single codebase is most efficient | Low-Medium - Platform-specific fixes add cost |
| Testing (15-20%) | Medium - Platform-specific UI testing | Low - Unified testing across platforms | Medium - Platform inconsistencies increase need |
| Post-Launch (15-20%/yr) | Medium - Platform updates manageable | Low - Single codebase maintenance | High - Framework instability risks |
Special Case: Existing Android App
For businesses with an existing Android app considering expansion to iOS, the cost comparison shifts significantly:
Case Study: E-commerce app with existing Android codebase
- Native iOS Development: €75,000-110,000 (complete rebuild)
- Kotlin Multiplatform Approach: €45,000-65,000 (40% savings by reusing business logic)
- Flutter Approach: €70,000-90,000 (requires rebuilding both platforms)
- React Native Approach: €65,000-85,000 (requires rebuilding both platforms)
This illustrates Kotlin Multiplatform's unique advantage for businesses with existing Android apps. By preserving investment in the Android codebase while sharing business logic with a new iOS app, KMP delivers substantial cost savings compared to both native development and other cross-platform approaches that would require rebuilding the Android app.
Long-term Cost Considerations
Beyond initial development, long-term maintenance costs differ significantly:
- Kotlin Multiplatform: Moderate-to-low maintenance costs as you maintain platform-native UI code but share business logic updates across platforms. Updates to platform SDKs are handled naturally without framework compatibility issues.
- Flutter: Low maintenance costs due to the single codebase, but occasional rework needed for platform-specific features or when Flutter updates lag behind native platform updates.
- React Native: Initially low maintenance costs that can spike when major platform changes require rework or when the framework itself undergoes significant architectural changes.
Key Takeaway: Flutter offers the lowest upfront MVP development costs for new projects. For companies with existing Android apps, Kotlin Multiplatform provides the most cost-effective path to iOS. React Native's initial cost advantages may be offset by higher long-term maintenance expenses, particularly for complex apps.
Developer Hiring & Talent Pool in 2025
The availability of skilled developers significantly impacts framework choice, project timeline, and development costs. The talent landscape for cross-platform frameworks has evolved considerably in 2025, influenced by market demand, educational trends, and the maturity of each technology.
Developer Talent Pool Comparison
| Framework | Global Developer Count (est.) | Year-over-Year Growth | Ecosystem Maturity | Learning Curve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android (Kotlin/Java) | 7.6 million | +5% | Mature | Moderate |
| iOS (Swift/Objective-C) | 3.2 million | +3% | Mature | Steep |
| JavaScript/TypeScript | 18.3 million | +9% | Mature | Gentle |
| Kotlin Multiplatform | 850,000* | +28% | Established | Moderate |
| Flutter (Dart) | 2.3 million | +22% | Established | Moderate |
| React Native | 1.9 million | +15% | Mature | Gentle for JS devs |
Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024, language popularity data, GitHub metrics, and industry reports. *Most Kotlin developers can transition to KMP with minimal training.
Important Consideration: When evaluating Kotlin Multiplatform's talent pool, remember that most Android developers (7.6 million) using Kotlin can transition to KMP with minimal additional training. This makes the effective talent pool for KMP significantly larger than specialized cross-platform frameworks like Flutter.
Hiring Reality: Cross-Framework Transition
Understanding how easily developers can transition between technologies is crucial for hiring strategies:
| Developer Background | To Kotlin Multiplatform | To Flutter | To React Native |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android (Kotlin) | 1-2 weeks | 2-3 months | 3-4 months |
| iOS (Swift) | 1-2 months | 2-3 months | 3-4 months |
| Web (JavaScript) | 3-4 months | 2-3 months | 2-4 weeks |
| Flutter | 2-3 months | N/A | 2-3 months |
| React Native | 3-4 months | 2-3 months | N/A |
This transition matrix highlights a key advantage of Kotlin Multiplatform: Android developers can rapidly become productive with minimal additional training, whereas other cross-platform frameworks require significant learning curves regardless of background.
Developer Experience & Satisfaction
Developer satisfaction impacts retention, productivity, and overall project success:
Kotlin Multiplatform
- Pros: Type safety, modern language features, native integration
- Cons: Kotlin/Native complexity, iOS tooling still maturing
Flutter
- Pros: Hot reload, widget system, single codebase
- Cons: Dart ecosystem limitations, large app sizes
React Native
- Pros: Fast refresh, familiar React model, large ecosystem
- Cons: Native integration complexities, performance challenges
Hiring Strategies in 2025
For Kotlin Multiplatform
- Target existing Android Kotlin developers
- Look for experience with Kotlin coroutines and flow
- Value architectural knowledge (MVVM, Clean Architecture)
- Consider former native iOS developers for UI expertise
For Flutter
- Seek developers with Dart experience
- Look for UI/UX design understanding
- Value state management expertise (Provider, Bloc, Riverpod)
- Consider former React developers for component thinking
For React Native
- Target experienced React.js developers
- Value understanding of native module integration
- Look for experience with mobile-specific UX patterns
- Seek developers familiar with performance optimization
Key Takeaway: React Native benefits from the largest potential talent pool due to JavaScript's ubiquity. However, for companies with existing Android development teams, Kotlin Multiplatform offers the smoothest transition path. Flutter occupies the middle ground with a rapidly growing developer base but requires specific Dart expertise.
Real-World Case Studies: Success Stories and Cautionary Tales
Examining how companies have implemented—or abandoned—cross-platform frameworks provides valuable insights into their real-world applicability.
Companies Succeeding with Kotlin Multiplatform
Netflix
Use Case: Studio Production Management App
Netflix uses KMP to share logic for their mobile studio apps, reducing duplication and enabling faster, more reliable development. This approach helps deliver high-quality features efficiently in the fast-paced world of TV and movie production.
Key Benefit: Consistent business logic across platforms while maintaining platform-specific UI optimizations, crucial for unreliable network environments on production sets.
Cash App (Block, Inc.)
Use Case: Financial Transactions and Wallet
Cash App leverages KMP for critical financial transaction logic, ensuring consistency across platforms while maintaining platform-native UIs for optimal performance and user experience. They've open-sourced several KMP libraries including SQLDelight.
Key Benefit: Security and consistency in financial operations while maintaining platform-specific UI optimizations.
Careem (Uber subsidiary)
Use Case: Driver App
Careem collaborated with JetBrains to revamp their Captain (driver) app using KMP. After successfully rewriting the Android app with modern architecture, they leveraged that investment to build an iOS version sharing core business logic.
Key Benefit: Accelerated iOS development by reusing Android business logic that had already been thoroughly tested in production.
McDonald's
Use Case: Global Mobile App
McDonald's leverages Kotlin Multiplatform for their global mobile app, enabling them to build a shared codebase across platforms. This approach has allowed them to maintain consistent business logic while providing platform-specific user experiences.
Key Benefit: Unified backend communication and business logic across a massive global deployment while respecting platform UI standards.
Companies Succeeding with Flutter
Google (various products)
Use Case: Google Pay, Google Ads, Stadia
Google uses Flutter extensively across several products, including Google Pay, Google Ads, and Stadia (before shutdown). These implementations demonstrate Flutter's ability to scale to enterprise needs with high performance and visual polish.
Key Benefit: Fast iteration on UI changes and consistent experience across platforms.
BMW
Use Case: My BMW App
BMW rebuilt their customer app with Flutter, replacing separate native apps. The Flutter implementation delivers vehicle status, remote controls, charging management for electric vehicles, and navigation features across platforms with a unified design language.
Key Benefit: Single design system and codebase across platforms, reducing maintenance and ensuring brand consistency.
Companies Succeeding with React Native
Use Case: Specific Features (Post Promotion, etc.)
Instagram integrated React Native for specific features like the Post Promotion interface. Rather than rebuilding the entire app, they took a hybrid approach, adding React Native components to their existing native apps where it made sense.
Key Benefit: Faster deployment of new features across platforms while maintaining the performance of the core native app.
Discord
Use Case: Mobile Messaging Platform
Discord built its mobile apps with React Native to complement its web platform. By leveraging their web development expertise, they were able to rapidly deploy feature-rich messaging experiences across platforms.
Key Benefit: Leverage existing JavaScript expertise and share code with web platform.
Cautionary Tales: Framework Migration Stories
Airbnb: From React Native Back to Native
In 2018, Airbnb made headlines by announcing they were "sunsetting" React Native and returning to fully native development. After initially adopting React Native for new features, they encountered several challenges:
- Technical challenges: Initialization time, async first render issues, and upgrading difficulties
- Integration challenges: Communication between native and React Native became complex and error-prone
- Talent issues: Rather than reducing teams, they ended up needing JavaScript experts alongside native developers
While some of these issues have been addressed by React Native's New Architecture since then, Airbnb's experience highlights the risks of early adoption and the importance of evaluating cross-platform solutions against your specific organizational needs.
Airbnb's Retrospective: "When React Native worked as intended, engineers were able to move at an unparalleled speed... [but] the numerous technical and organizational issues that we outlined in this series added frustrations and unexpected delays to many projects."
Dropbox: From React Native to Swift
Dropbox initially built their document scanner feature with React Native but later rebuilt it in Swift. Their reasons included:
- Performance issues with complex image processing features
- Difficulty integrating with native iOS libraries
- Maintenance overhead of bridging between React Native and native code
Their experience demonstrates that for feature-specific functionality requiring deep platform integration or high performance, native development can sometimes be more efficient than working around cross-platform limitations.
Key Learnings from Real-World Implementations:
- Successful implementations tend to match the framework's strengths to specific business needs
- Organizational factors like team composition and development culture are as important as technical considerations
- Incremental adoption (specific features/modules first) often succeeds where all-or-nothing approaches fail
- Framework selection should be made with both initial development and long-term maintenance in mind
Special Case: Benefits for Businesses with Existing Android Apps
For businesses that have already invested in building an Android app, expanding to iOS presents unique challenges. Kotlin Multiplatform offers distinct advantages in this scenario that neither Flutter nor React Native can match.
The Traditional Expansion Dilemma
Businesses with existing Android apps typically face three unappealing options when expanding to iOS:
- Complete iOS Rebuild: Develop a separate iOS app from scratch, requiring duplicate business logic implementation and ongoing maintenance across two codebases.
- Cross-Platform Rewrite: Abandon the existing Android app to adopt Flutter or React Native for both platforms, essentially discarding previous investment.
- Hybrid Solution: Keep the Android app but build iOS with a different stack, creating architectural inconsistencies and maintenance challenges.
None of these approaches effectively preserves the investment already made in the Android app while delivering a high-quality iOS experience.
The Kotlin Multiplatform Advantage
Kotlin Multiplatform offers a fourth option that uniquely balances investment preservation with expansion:
- Gradual Migration: Incrementally extract business logic from the existing Android app into shared Kotlin modules
- Native iOS UI: Build a true native iOS UI using Swift and SwiftUI that integrates with the shared Kotlin logic
- No Android Rebuild: Keep the existing Android UI intact while benefiting from the shared business logic
- Team Specialization: Allow Android and iOS developers to work in their native environments while sharing core functionality
This approach preserves the investment in the Android app while creating a high-performance, platform-optimized iOS experience—something neither Flutter nor React Native can offer without abandoning the existing codebase.
Implementation Options for Android-to-iOS Expansion
| Approach | Implementation | Advantages | Challenges |
|---|---|---|---|
| KMP with Swift UI | Extract business logic to KMP, build iOS UI with Swift UI |
|
|
| KMP with Compose Multiplatform | Extract business logic to KMP, gradually adopt Compose for both platforms |
|
|
| Flutter Rebuild | Create new Flutter apps for both platforms |
|
|
| React Native Rebuild | Create new React Native apps for both platforms |
|
|
Case Study: Android-to-iOS Migration with Kotlin Multiplatform
VMware Workspace ONE
VMware faced the challenge of maintaining parity between their Android and iOS enterprise applications while delivering platform-optimized experiences. Their solution was to create a dedicated team that builds KMP libraries used by both platform teams.
Implementation Approach:
- Identified core business logic in existing Android app
- Extracted logic into shared Kotlin modules
- Created abstraction layers for platform-specific functionality
- Built iOS UI with SwiftUI connecting to shared modules
- Maintained Android app with minimal changes
Results:
- Preserved years of investment in Android business logic
- Delivered platform-optimized UX for both platforms
- Accelerated iOS development timeline by 40%
- Reduced bug rates by sharing tested business logic
Key Takeaway: If you have an existing Android app built with Kotlin, Kotlin Multiplatform offers the most efficient path to iOS expansion. Rather than discarding your Android investment (as required with Flutter or React Native) or building completely separate apps, KMP allows you to strategically share business logic while delivering a true native experience on both platforms.
Framework Decision Guide: When to Choose Each Technology
Based on performance data, cost considerations, hiring realities, and real-world case studies, here's a strategic framework to help you choose the right technology for your specific business needs.
Choose Kotlin Multiplatform When:
- You have an existing Android app and want to expand to iOS without rebuilding
- Native performance is critical, especially for computation-heavy tasks or complex business logic
- Your team has Kotlin/Android expertise that you want to leverage
- You need deep platform integration with device capabilities or native libraries
- You're building an enterprise app with complex business rules that need to be shared across platforms
- You want to start with Android and have a clear path to iOS in the future
Consider Compose Multiplatform if you also want to share UI code, accepting some performance tradeoffs for increased development efficiency.
Choose Flutter When:
- Starting a new project with no existing native codebase
- Visual consistency across platforms is a top priority
- UI rendering performance is more important than computation performance
- You need the fastest MVP development cycle for a new product
- Custom animations and complex UIs are central to your app experience
- You want to target multiple platforms beyond just iOS and Android (web, desktop)
Flutter is particularly strong for content-consumption apps, catalog/e-commerce, and interactive experiences where UI consistency matters.
Choose React Native When:
- Your team has strong JavaScript/React expertise but limited mobile experience
- You're building a relatively simple app without heavy performance requirements
- You need to share code with a React web application
- Fast iteration and deployment cycles are more important than raw performance
- Your local talent market has abundant JavaScript developers but limited mobile expertise
React Native works best for content-focused apps, forms-based applications, and situations where leveraging the JavaScript ecosystem is a priority.
Decision Framework: Scoring Matrix
Use this scoring system to evaluate which framework best matches your specific project requirements:
| Project Factor | Kotlin Multiplatform | Flutter | React Native |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing Android app | Excellent (5/5) | Poor (1/5) | Poor (1/5) |
| Performance requirements | Excellent (5/5) | Very Good (4/5) | Average (3/5) |
| Development speed (new project) | Very Good (4/5) | Excellent (5/5) | Very Good (4/5) |
| UI consistency across platforms | Very Good (4/5) | Excellent (5/5) | Very Good (4/5) |
| Native platform integration | Excellent (5/5) | Average (3/5) | Average (3/5) |
| Talent availability (global) | Excellent (5/5) | Average (3/5) | Excellent (5/5)* |
| Long-term maintenance | Excellent (5/5) | Very Good (4/5) | Average (3/5) |
*Assuming web developers with js experience. Actual RN developer pool with a mobile background may rank closer to 3/5
Decision Process: Weight each factor according to your specific project needs, multiply by the scores above, and sum the results to see which framework aligns best with your requirements. Remember that no framework is universally superior—the right choice depends entirely on your specific circumstances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Kotlin Multiplatform mean I have to rewrite my Android app?
No, Kotlin Multiplatform is designed for incremental adoption. You can keep your existing Android app intact while gradually extracting business logic into shared Kotlin modules. This approach preserves your investment in the Android app while creating a path to iOS expansion.
Unlike Flutter or React Native, which would require rewriting both Android and iOS apps from scratch, KMP allows you to leverage your existing codebase and expand from there.
What's the difference between Kotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform?
Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) is a technology for sharing business logic code across platforms while keeping the UI layer platform-specific. It allows you to write common code that compiles to different platforms including JVM for Android and native code for iOS.
Compose Multiplatform extends this capability to the UI layer, allowing you to write UI code in Kotlin using the Jetpack Compose paradigm and have it work across multiple platforms. It's built on top of KMP and uses the Skia rendering engine to ensure consistent UI appearance.
You can use KMP alone (with native UI for each platform) or combine it with Compose Multiplatform to share both business logic and UI code. This flexibility lets you choose the right balance of code sharing and platform-specific optimization for your project.
How mature is Kotlin Multiplatform in 2025?
Kotlin Multiplatform has reached a high level of maturity by 2025. It moved out of beta in late 2023 and is now considered production-ready with stable APIs. Major companies including Netflix, Cash App, VMware, and Careem are using it successfully in production applications.
The ecosystem has grown substantially with thousands of multiplatform libraries available. The tooling has also matured significantly, with excellent IDE support in Android Studio and Xcode integration via plugins.
Compose Multiplatform is slightly less mature but has also achieved stability for Android and desktop platforms. iOS support has improved dramatically in 2024-2025 and is now considered production-ready for many use cases, though some advanced UI scenarios may still require platform-specific code.
What happens if we choose the wrong framework?
Choosing the wrong framework can lead to several challenges:
- Performance issues that may require complex workarounds or eventual rewriting
- Development bottlenecks due to framework limitations or mismatches with team expertise
- Higher maintenance costs as you fight against the framework's natural strengths
- Hiring challenges if local talent for your chosen framework is scarce
Companies like Airbnb and Dropbox have publicly documented their journeys migrating away from cross-platform solutions that didn't meet their needs. The cost of switching frameworks after significant development can be substantial, often requiring a complete rewrite.
To mitigate this risk, consider building a small prototype with each framework you're considering to evaluate real-world performance, developer experience, and alignment with your specific requirements before committing to a full implementation.
Conclusion: The State of Cross-Platform Development in 2025
Cross-platform mobile development has evolved significantly by 2025, with each of the major frameworks—Kotlin Multiplatform, Flutter, and React Native—finding its niche in the ecosystem. Rather than a single winner, the industry has matured to recognize that different approaches serve different needs.
The optimal framework choice depends on your specific business context, including your existing technology investments, team composition, performance requirements, and long-term maintenance considerations. No framework is universally superior—each offers unique advantages for particular scenarios.
For businesses with existing Android apps, Kotlin Multiplatform offers a uniquely valuable proposition—the ability to expand to iOS while preserving your Android investment. By abstracting business logic into shared modules while maintaining platform-native UIs, KMP delivers native performance with increased development efficiency.
For new projects starting from scratch, Flutter provides the fastest path to a polished cross-platform MVP with excellent UI performance and consistency. Its single codebase approach and rich widget library make it ideal for rapid development of visually sophisticated applications.
For teams with strong JavaScript expertise or projects that need to share code with web applications, React Native continues to offer a viable path to mobile development, though with more performance tradeoffs than the alternatives.
As we move further into 2025, these frameworks will continue to evolve. Kotlin Multiplatform with Compose is gaining momentum as it matures on iOS. Flutter is expanding its reach beyond mobile to web and desktop. React Native is working to address its historic performance challenges.
The key to success is matching your framework choice to your specific business needs, team capabilities, and strategic objectives rather than following industry trends. By carefully evaluating your priorities through the lens of performance, cost, and talent availability, you can make an informed decision that positions your mobile strategy for long-term success.
About the Author
Andrei Chulkov is a mobile app developer specializing in Kotlin, Compose, and cross-platform solutions with over 10 years of experience. He has worked with startups and enterprises to build high-performance mobile applications using various frameworks.
References & Further Reading
- JetBrains. (2024). "Kotlin Multiplatform Documentation." kotlinlang.org
- JetBrains. (2024). "Compose Multiplatform and Jetpack Compose." jetbrains.com
- Bhatt, R. (2025). "Lynx vs. Kotlin Multiplatform: A Comprehensive Performance Benchmark Analysis." rutvikbhatt.com
- Peal, G. (2018). "Sunsetting React Native." Airbnb Engineering. medium.com
- Stack Overflow. (2024). "2024 Developer Survey." survey.stackoverflow.com
- Annavarapu, S. (2024). "Comparative Study of Body Doubling in Extended Reality." Virginia Tech. vtechworks.lib.vt.edu
- Speednet Software. (2025). "Mobile app development costs in 2025." speednetsoftware.com
- Netguru. (2024). "Top Apps Built with Kotlin Multiplatform." netguru.com
- Netflix Technology Blog. (2020). "Netflix Android and iOS Studio Apps — now powered by Kotlin Multiplatform." netflixtechblog.com
- The Droids on Roids. (2025). "Flutter vs React Native: Complete 2025 Framework Comparison Guide." thedroidsonroids.com