While the Ionic framework is good enough for building desktop apps, it suffers from a few drawbacks. The alternatives you’ll learn about here are devoid of those disadvantages.

1. The Best Alternatives To The Ionic Framework

2. Table of Contents
1) An overview
2) The problems with Ionic
● Lack of native app performance
● The system depends on plugins
● No hot reloading
● Security-related issues
3) The best alternatives
● React Native
● Flutter
● NativeScript
● Xamarin
● Cordova
● PhoneGap
4) Conclusive statements

3. Introduction
Have you been thinking about investing in desktop app development? Then you’ll inevitably have to use the Ionic framework.
However, it isn’t the only option you have at your disposal. In reality, it suffers from a few disadvantages that’ll affect your project.
Instead of Ionic, you should consider leveraging one of the other frameworks you’ll read about here.
Every business company has to build a system that’ll aid brand valuation and integrity across multiple channels, apps, and devices. As
the notion of globalization is constantly growing, it’s of the utmost importance for you to connect through apps to the four corners of
the world. Your clients are everywhere. Naturally, you’ll need appropriate apps and software to stay connected and updated.
Creating the right kind of applications is now mission-critical for every business. Only these apps will perform on every system, device,
and platform. The key to the future lies in reusability, and Ionic framework is one of the most widely used frameworks. It accelerates
app development projects efficiently.
However, Ionic suffers from a few disadvantages. If you search for information on the effectiveness of this framework, you’ll find more
write-ups telling you to avoid using it. Of course, it depends entirely on your project, and Ionic may not turn out to be the right
choice. Nonetheless, these alternatives require your attention.
An overview
So, what is Ionic anyway? It’s an open-source, cross-platform desktop app development framework. You can also use it to create
mobile applications for iOS and Android. The cross-platform ability of the framework makes it suitable for building apps for various
platforms using the same codebase.

4. Ionic makes it easier for trained developers to create hybrid applications for smartphones. They usually combine the framework with
different programming languages and web tools, such as TypeScript, Angular, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
Furthermore, Ionic has an inclusive library consisting of functional components that your developers can use and add to the app they
build. Ionic even promises a low level of DOM manipulation without affecting the performance standards of the application. It has an
exceptionally efficient CLI that saves app development time and coding efforts.
The problems with Ionic
● Lack of native app performance
In terms of the performance level of heavy apps, Ionic fails to deliver suitability. By using WebView for app rendering, it shows better
results for common functionalities of a mobile application. However, resource-hogging apps or apps with enhanced systems won’t work
seamlessly if created using Ionic.
The reason behind this problem is that the framework renders all graphic elements through a browser. It takes multiple steps to show
the image on the device’s screen. The more functionality you put in between, the more time it’ll take to load.
● The system depends on plugins
Whenever your developers create an app with Ionic Framework, you’ll have to use plugins to gain access to native functionality. Thanks
to all the readymade plugins available on the internet, you can find packages to implement the functionality you want with relative
ease. Then again, you won’t find an appropriate plugin every time.

5. If your app has a highly specific feature, or if it has to gain access to an exclusive piece of hardware, you’ll have to develop a plugin for
it. Ionic is incapable of implementing native plugins without converting them into JavaScript. While you can go all-out with the web,
you can’t use even the least bit of native code. It’s entirely impossible.
● No hot reloading
Developers can use a few techniques to add changes to the code. In the field of software engineering, hot reloading isn’t just a
necessity but a usual standard. Hot reloading lets you change things in the app without reloading it from scratch. You can refresh the
app and continue to work on it and implement changes in live mode.
Ionic doesn’t have hot loading. That’s why the developers of today need time to get used to it. Instead of hot reloading, it has live
reloading. As a result, whenever they apply one or more changes, live reloading will refresh the entire app to make the changes
active.
● Security-related issues
You shouldn’t think that this disadvantage affects Ionic. It’s a pitfall that’ll affect you if you choose to work with it. Whenever you build
hybrid solutions, you’ll have to deal with security-related problems; at least as long as a developer can reengineer it. With version 4,
the CLI of Ionic doesn’t provide the in-built code uglification.
In short, you’ll run the risk of dealing with cyber-attacks if you use the Ionic framework to build your application.

6. The best alternatives
So, what are your choices? What should you use in place of Ionic?
● React Native
React Native is one of the appropriate substitute for Ionic. It’s an open-source framework for app development, and it comes from the
world-renowned house of Facebook. By using React Native, experienced developers can build apps for Windows, Android, iOS, Mac,
and even web applications.
From the first day, React Native has been an excellent option for large and small businesses alike. It’s suitable for creating
performance-based iOS and Android applications through already-written codes.
Also Read : These Are The Top 7 Alternatives To React Native
● Flutter
Flutter is the next-best choice – an exceptional product from Google. It’s a practical choice for developing applications for the web and
mobile devices. This open-source SDK is a combination of a massive collection of widgets developers need to create striking user
interfaces.
It’s worth mentioning here that this framework doesn’t use OEM widgets. Instead, it prefers readymade variants with a native touch
for Android and iOS applications. Developers will even have the option to build exclusive widgets of their own.

7. At the moment, Flutter is the only framework that can provide reactive views without resorting to a JavaScript bridge.
● Native Script
Native Script app providers a best option to developers for mobile devices in javascript. By using Native Script, developers can create apps that’ll
perform platform independently.
Native Script also makes it easy for them to access the APIs of Android and iOS from TypeScript, Angular, and JavaScript.
● Xamarin
Xamarin should’ve been above Native Script. Nevertheless, it owns a spot on this list, at least. Xamarin is a suitable alternative to Ionic and it
works through a managed environment. Your developers can use it to create apps for Windows, Android, and iOS platforms.
It’s an open-source app development tool that makes the tasks of developers easy when working with pre-used codes across multiple platforms.
One significant benefit of Xamarin is that it features code structure reusability. As a result, app developers can use one language to write app
business logic for various platforms without any performance hindrances.
Another advantage of Xamarin is that a developer can write apps on PC and Mac. After that, they can compile the same into native IPA and APK
files.
● Cordova
Cordova is a framework from the house of Apache. Developers use it to build native apps using CSS, JavaScript, and HTML5. Experts describe
Cordova as a container used in running mobile and web apps written in HTML, JS, and CSS.

8. By using this framework, developers will ensure that an app will use device functionalities like the camera, accelerometer, GPS,
contacts, etc. In technical terms, the UI of an app created using Cordova is a WebView that works in a native container and occupies the
entire screen of a device.
It suggests that the web pages will remain the same internally. On the other hand, the native containers will change depending on the
scenario.
● PhoneGap
PhoneGap is a product from Adobe Systems, and it's suitable for developing open-source apps for mobile devices. By using it,
developers can stick to a systematic process to create apps from scratch. It leverages JavaScript, CSS, and HTML for app development.
Phone Gap provides a common codebase to make the work of the developers a bit easier. Coding becomes relatively simpler with
Phone Gap too. Developers can open, modify, and reapply an app’s code across various platforms.
The presence of various plugins helps developers assess certain requirements.

9. Conclusive statements
Ionic is an extremely powerful open-source cross-platform SDK that your developers can use to build platform-independent
applications for the web and mobile devices. The apps created using Ionic will run on WebView with JavaScript while
interacting with various native features using the plugins of Cordova.
While Ionic is good enough, it isn’t suitable for specific projects. Depending on the requirements of the app you want to create,
you may notice that this framework lags behind when compared to the others explained above.
Besides, Ionic has a massive list of imperfections. If you’ve been going through this write-up from the beginning, you already
know about them. You won’t have to look far if you require app development services, either. Moon Technolabs is an agency
that excels in using all the frameworks explained above for building applications for different platforms.

10. Thank You