Almost every founder who wants a mobile app asks me the same thing: should we build it twice — once for iPhone, once for Android — or once with React Native and share the code? It's a genuinely important question, and the honest answer is 'it depends' — but I can make the 'depends' concrete.
The case for React Native (which wins most of the time)
For the vast majority of apps, building twice is a waste of money. React Native lets one codebase serve both platforms, which means:
- Roughly half the build cost and time of two native apps
- One team, one codebase, one set of bugs to fix instead of two
- Updates ship to both platforms at once
- Performance that's genuinely excellent for most app types
When I'll tell you to go native instead
I won't pretend React Native is always right — that's how people get burned. If your app lives or dies on the absolute bleeding edge of performance or deep hardware access — think heavy 3D games, intensive real-time graphics, or specialized device features — native is the honest choice, and I'll say so.
Use one codebase when you can. Use two only when the app genuinely demands it.
For the everyday business app, marketplace, social product, or tool, React Native gets you to market faster and cheaper with results your users will love. Tell me what you're building and I'll give you a straight recommendation — not whatever earns me more.