Our take
- Activity
- 53
- Community
- 90
- Issues
- 90
- Pull requests
- 74
+761 stars in the last 7 days
- Closes issues faster than 82% of the projects we track
- More contributors than 77% of the projects we track
- Merges more pull requests than 76% of the projects we track
Overview
Flutter is a UI framework and SDK for creating applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a shared codebase. It provides a widget-based interface toolkit and rendering capabilities, helping teams build platform-targeted experiences without maintaining entirely separate UI implementations.
It is a fit for developers who want control over app appearance and can work with Dart. Flutter also supports integration with native code, which can help when an app needs platform-specific APIs or existing native components.
Key Features
- Build interfaces for iOS, Android, web, Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Use a shared Dart codebase across supported targets.
- Compose and customize interfaces with Flutter widgets, including Material and Cupertino styles.
- Preview code changes during development with stateful hot reload.
- Render graphics using hardware-accelerated 2D graphics libraries, including Skia and Impeller.
- Integrate native functionality through FFI and platform channels.
- Use editor plugins for Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ or Android Studio.
Use Cases
- Product teams building a mobile app for iOS and Android while sharing UI code.
- Developers creating a web and desktop companion for an existing mobile product.
- Designers and frontend developers who need fine-grained control over app visuals and custom components.
- Teams prototyping or iterating on app interfaces that benefit from hot reload.
- Apps that use a shared UI but still need access to platform-specific APIs through native integration.
Getting Started
Install Flutter by following the official installation guide. For setup details and development guidance, see the Flutter README.
Alternatives
| Project | Language | License | Stars | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| flutter | Dart | BSD-3-Clause | 179k | Not checked yet |
| dioxus | Rust | Apache-2.0 | 39.3k | Active |
| fyne | Go | BSD-3-Clause | 28.7k | Active |
Considerations
- Flutter requires learning Dart if your team does not already use it.
- The framework supports many targets, but platform-specific APIs and native integrations may still require platform-specific code.
- The Flutter tool may download resources from Google servers, including the Dart SDK when installed from GitHub and first run. Use of the SDK is subject to Google's Terms of Service.
- Consult the official documentation for platform setup and current breaking changes before committing to a target.
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