Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Ionic vs Xamarin Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Ionic
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Xamarin Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Ionic is 7.2%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Xamarin Platform is 6.9%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Roche De Kock - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows us to create cross-platform mobile apps from a single code base, but should have a complete set of libraries for Capacitor
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 plugins that are still using, for instance, PhoneGap. So, you have to jump between Capacitor and PhoneGap. Their documentation is good, but there are some versioning control issues. For example, if you want to bring up a phone dial-up or a map, you have to decide whether to use Capacitor, PhoneGap, or Cordova. 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. They have started to bring them closer and closer so that you don't have to use two different sets of libraries. They're close to where you don't have to use Cordova or PhoneGap, and you can only use Capacitor. In versions 5 and 6, they have improved it a lot. They can also improve it in terms of publishing to different stores. For instance, I'm using Firebase to make my Ionic app web compatible. If I don't have a Node.js server to host on, I have to host it on Firebase or something like that. Currently, if I need to publish to different stores, such as the Microsoft store or the Huawei store, the only way I can publish to, for instance, the Huawei store is by creating the APK and uploading it. If they can start adding a little bit more integration to publish to different stores, such as the Samsung store, Huawei store, or Microsoft store, it would be good. Currently, there are no problems with iOS and Google Play Store, but for the other stores, you have to do a little bit of a workaround to get things done. Its stability could be better. For me, jumping between versions 3, 4, and 5 was a big problem because it wasn't seamless. Jumping from version 5 to 6 is more seamless. Jumping from version 3 to 5 has been a nightmare because I had to recode quite a lot to be compatible with version 5. I totally skipped version 4 because it was just too quick. Jumping between versions has definitely been a problem for me. If I have to do a lot of plugins and redo a lot of my coding because they're jumping versions, I'm going to look for something else.
Prince Tiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates UI development with XAML, enabling shared UI code across platforms and reducing platform-specific work
I like its simplicity. As someone who didn't start my career as a dedicated developer, I was used to building websites or Windows applications. Transitioning to mobile app development meant learning new languages like Swift or Java. With C# and Xamarin, though, I could leverage my existing skillset. Xamarin, and specifically Xamarin.Forms, let me write my code once and deploy it natively to both Android and iOS. 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. The advantage is that roughly 90% of my UI code can be shared. This significantly reduces the amount of platform-specific UI work compared to having to write separate UIs for each platform. For the most part, Xamarin's integration with Visual Studio improved the workflow, whether I'm on Windows or Mac. Since I'm familiar with Visual Studio, it provides a comfortable development environment. Additionally, features like Hot Reload and the integration of tools like Copilot help streamline the development process. Overall, it offers a positive development experience.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's very flexible for UI development."
"The most valuable feature of Ionic is the ease of use and the simple connection of the applications. Additionally, the documentation is good in the Ionic application, and beginners can easily learn and download their own application using Ionic. Everyone can easily switch out, their domain, from native applications to hybrid applications."
"What I like the most about Ionic is live reloading, which enables us to develop new features without having to build the application again and re-check the functionality."
"The solution can support many languages."
"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 solution is secure, reliable, and packed with features so we can easily implement apps even in the most complex situations."
"Ionic's best features are its hybrid app development, design, and tags."
"Ionic's best feature is that it's not necessary to write your own custom codes as all the hybrid is provided by Angular."
"Xamarin.Forms reduced the effort and time to build and market our solution, market our features, and get our solution into production."
"Plugins like MvvmCross make a developer’s life easy."
"The solution is easy to understand and has banking integrated. The shorter development time, the bugging and as well as availability of a lot of documentation on the web. Also the native integration is easy."
"You can create one solution in C Sharp."
"On the market, compared to everyone else, they're the top solution. They're the best solution out there that I could see."
"The cross platform ability is a great asset."
"Xamarin is well-integrated with Visual Studio so it will feel very familiar to you once you start."
"The initial setup is very simple."
 

Cons

"Ionic would be improved with dynamic design features."
"The documentation could be improved."
"Ionic could improve in the Native mode because while we do testing it is difficult to find the root cause of problems. It could be more user-friendly."
"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."
"The navigation within this solution could be improved; it is currently quite complicated to move through the different tabs."
"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."
"Documentation for migrations and compatibility is insufficient."
"There is a lack of a community environment."
"The major I see with Xamarin right now is that there is no visual editor"
"The solution always has room for improvement with price, integration, stability, and documentation."
"From time to time, it is a bit harder to code some specific scenarios compared to the native approach."
"The worst build issue concerns are the caching process MSBuild uses to reduce the build time."
"There is room for increasing the scale a little bit further with the designer in the Visual Studio, more specifically, Xamarin.Android Designer in Visual Studio."
"The solution does not include Hot Reload which is painful because it causes us to wait quite some time for huge builds."
"Xamarin Platform can improve by making the enterprise documentation better. There's a lot of basic documentation of how to do many of the functions of the solution, but there's not much enterprise-level documentation."
"Regarding improvements, there are still some limitations with Xamarin, particularly regarding access to core functionality in Android and iOS."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Ionic is an open source solution, and there are no hidden fees."
"Ionic is an open-source solution, it is free."
"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."
"The starting cost for the enterprise option is around one hundred dollars per month."
"You can use the free version, but if you still want to buy it, the price starts from $499/month."
"We pay 50,000 dinars per month."
"The solution's open source option is free with no licensing fees."
"It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."
"The product is inexpensive."
"Xamarin Platform is open-source, but there are fees for deployment, the API Store and Play Store, and using third-party libraries."
"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."
"You can build in Xamarin without paying any money."
"Xamarin is available under several licensing arrangements. Each developer needs one license at least. All features, especially the Profiler, unlock only with the highest tier."
"For personal use, the Community Edition is free."
"Xamarin is free, or comes with Visual Studio. Therefore, it is very profitable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Mobile Development Platforms solutions are best for your needs.
859,579 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Educational Organization
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Educational Organization
23%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin Platform is free, and we use an Azure subscription at a relatively low cost for our builds. It offers a good value for money, although it requires time to make it work effectively.
What needs improvement with Xamarin Platform?
The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google. The lack of robust documentation and support for third-party bin...
 

Comparisons

 

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: June 2025.
859,579 professionals have used our research since 2012.