Appcelerator vs Xamarin: What are the differences?

What is Appcelerator? Build network-connected mobile applications across native platforms and the web. Appcelerator is the first mobile platform to combine the flexibility of open source development technologies with the power of cloud services.

What is Xamarin? Create iOS, Android and Mac apps in C#. Xamarin’s Mono-based products enable .NET developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools (including Visual Studio*), as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create mobile applications for the industry’s most widely-used mobile devices, including Android-based smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Appcelerator can be classified as a tool in the "Mobile Backend" category, while Xamarin is grouped under "Cross-Platform Mobile Development".

Some of the features offered by Appcelerator are:

• Library of over 20 pre-built common services that are both proven and robust, to reduce integration time and risk, services such as push notification, status updates, photo storage, and social integration, or create your own custom cloud services.
• Client-side APIs for any development platform (e.g. Titanium, iOS SDK, Android SDK)
• Extensibility enabling you to build your own custom cloud application development services in Node.js on the Appcelerator cloud for all your mobile apps.

On the other hand, Xamarin provides the following key features:

• Cross-platform development- Thinking about supporting iOS, Android, Mac and Windows? Xamarin allows you to write it all in C#.
• Reuse existing code- Use your favorite .NET libraries in Xamarin apps. Easily use third-party native libraries and frameworks.
• Discover as you type- Explore APIs as you type with code autocompletion.

"Easy to learn" is the primary reason why developers consider Appcelerator over the competitors, whereas "Power of c# on mobile devices" was stated as the key factor in picking Xamarin.

Olo, Crowdkeep, and GoFormz are some of the popular companies that use Xamarin, whereas Appcelerator is used by BrightMachine, Manchester.com, and LilyPad. Xamarin has a broader approval, being mentioned in 75 company stacks & 66 developers stacks; compared to Appcelerator, which is listed in 12 company stacks and 3 developer stacks.