Top 7 Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2025

With the rise of smartphones and continuous mobile users worldwide, businesses and entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to building apps. Mobile app development can help companies expand their digital presence with greater brand value. People around the world spend an average of 3-5 hours per day using mobile apps. This shows how mobile apps are the ultimate digital solutions for staying ahead in business.

The mobile app development industry has experienced remarkable growth, boasting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 23.8%. Projections suggest the market will reach an impressive $366.93 billion by the end of 2030.

Before you start building your mobile app, it is important to choose the best frameworks and technology tools. The right mobile development frameworks can help you achieve faster time-to-market ideas and streamline the development process. Based on the programming language and app type (whether native or cross-platform), there are several frameworks you can choose from.

Here are 7 Mobile Development Frameworks You Can Trust

1. React Native

React Native, developed by Meta (formerly Facebook), is one of the most popular JavaScript mobile development frameworks. It can help you build fast-loading cross-platform apps for iOS and Android. This mobile framework is completely open-source, flexible, and ideal for creating apps using a shared codebase.

Key Features:

• Based on JavaScript, which is a must-know for full-stack developers
• Offers high performance and faster time-to-market
• Built-in access to native components like Views, Text, and Images
• Allows third-party library integration for added flexibility
• Hot reloading lets you instantly view code modifications
• Support for various 3rd party libraries
• High Code reusability helps to shorten development time
• Declarative syntax ensures high code readability
• Good architecture laid the foundation for building reliable React Native apps
• Popular Apps Built with React Native: Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, etc.

2. Flutter

Flutter is Google’s open-source UI toolkit. It is helpful in building natively compiled apps across mobile, web, and desktop—all from a single codebase. The mobile development framework uses the Dart programming language and comes with beautiful UI components and rich motion APIs.

Key Features:

• Eliminates the need for platform-specific UI elements
• Uses its own rendering engine, Skia, for smooth visuals
• Rapid cross platform app development with Hot Reload feature
• Built-in Material & Cupertino design
• Access to device features via platform channels
• Excellent documentation and support
• Rich widget library that can be customized as per needs
• Popular Apps Built with Flutter: Alibaba, Google Ads, Philips Hue, etc.

3. Xamarin

Xamarin enables you to create apps with native UI controls, ensuring a consistent user experience across platforms. This means your apps will look and feel like native apps on each platform. The app framework allows you to write a single codebase in C# that can be deployed across different platforms. It compiles into native code, offering high performance and a native user experience.

Key Features:

• Share up to 90% of code across platforms
• Built-in testing and diagnostic tools
• Deep integration with the Microsoft ecosystem
• Uses .NET as its foundation, so you can leverage various APIs and libraries
• Code reusability over iOS, Android, and Windows platforms
• Apps provide a native look and feel
• Open-source and backed by Microsoft
• Support for wearables, TVs, and IoT devices
• Popular Apps Built with Xamarin: UPS, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft News, etc.

4. Ionic

Ionic is a free, open-source framework built with Angular and Apache Cordova. It is built on top of web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This makes it easier for web developers to get into mobile app development services. Ionic also offers a variety of features that streamline the development process like access to native device features, pre-designed UI components, and more.

Key Features:

• Ideal for building hybrid mobile apps and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) that run on multiple platforms
• Extensive library of pre-built UI components
• Seamless integration with various other mobile development frameworks
• Live reload and also provides a developer-friendly CLI (command line interface)
• Lets you quickly build platform-independent UI components
• Smooth animations and transitions
• Popular Apps Built with Ionic: Untappd, JustWatch, Diesel, etc.

5. Mobile Angular UI

Mobile Angular UI combines AngularJS and Bootstrap to create responsive mobile user interfaces. Counted among the best mobile development frameworks, it is completely open-source and perfect for building a wide range of solutions. It is a lightweight framework that helps to design and develop responsive, mobile-friendly web and hybrid applications.

Key features:

• Lightweight and helps to quickly build responsive mobile apps
• Includes libraries like Overthrow.js and FastClick.js for better mobile usability
• Responsive components like overlays, sidebars, and switches
• Help create a native-like experience for mobile users
• Small CSS footprint and comes with strong developer community support.
• Popular Apps Built with Mobile Angular UI: Hotelier News, Zaobao Mobile, Guezz It, etc.

6. jQuery Mobile

jQuery Mobile is an HTML5-based UI framework that enables developers to build responsive web and mobile apps with ease. It has minimal setup and a simple learning curve that makes it great for rapid prototyping or MVPs. The mobile app development framework supports a wide range of devices and platforms. It is an excellent choice in specific use cases, especially for building simple, responsive applications quickly.

Key features:

• Ideal for building cross-platform apps that run on smartphones, tablets, and desktops
• Easy theme customization and ARIA accessibility support
• Lightweight and SEO-friendly with progressive enhancement features
• It has a simple, extensible API (application programming interface)
• Wide browser and OS (operating systems) compatibility
• Popular apps Built with jQuery Mobile: Radioactive Crocs Club, Lucalem, The Nifty Portal

7. Solar2D (earlier called as Corona SDK)

Solar2D is a powerful and easy-to-use cross-platform framework. It allows developers to create 2D mobile applications and games for various platforms, including Android, iOS, and Windows, from a single codebase. Its core strength lies in mobile development, particularly for games. It uses Lua for scripting and supports a range of platforms, from Android and iOS to smart TVs.

Key Features:

• Excellent for developing mobile games
• Real-time testing and simulation
• Fast development cycle with strong performance
• Comes with a lightweight Lua-based scripting
• Native library access with various built-in monetization plugins
• Cross-platform compatibility supporting Android, iOS, and Windows devices
• Completely free and open-source
• Popular Gaming Apps Built with Corona SDK: Tiny Boxes, Ava Airborne, Gunman Taco Truck, etc.

Conclusion

Businesses are increasingly relying on powerful development frameworks to create high-performing apps. Whether you’re building for Android, iOS, or both, these mobile application development frameworks help streamline production, enhance performance, and create seamless user experiences.

At JS Panthers, we can help you build reliable native and cross-platform mobile apps. Based on your specific project requirements, we choose a suitable technology stack that helps to fast-track the development process. As a leading mobile app development company Raleigh, we offer the following:

• 60 Day of guaranteed support
• Project roadmap with deliverables
• Easy to track development progress
• Use top management tools
• 100% data secrecy & privacy with NDA

Talk to our consultants for building cost-effective mobile apps at your budget.