Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Capacitor

258
314
+ 1
2
NativeScript

538
1.1K
+ 1
516
Add tool

Capacitor vs NativeScript: What are the differences?

  1. Framework Approach: Capacitor is a cross-platform framework that allows developers to build mobile applications using web technologies such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. It is designed to work with any frontend framework, enabling developers to leverage their existing skillset. NativeScript, on the other hand, is a JavaScript framework that provides a native runtime to build cross-platform mobile applications. It uses a single codebase written in JavaScript or TypeScript, allowing developers to access native APIs directly.
  2. UI Rendering: Capacitor follows a WebView-based approach for UI rendering, which means that the application's UI is rendered within a WebView component. This approach allows for easier development using web technologies, but it may also lead to slightly slower performance compared to NativeScript's native UI rendering approach.
  3. Development Flexibility: Capacitor provides more flexibility in terms of choosing the frontend framework for building mobile applications. Since it works with any frontend framework, developers can choose the framework that best suits their needs. NativeScript, on the other hand, has its own set of UI components and layout system, which may require developers to learn and adopt its specific way of doing things.
  4. Native API Access: NativeScript provides direct access to native APIs, allowing developers to tap into the full potential of the underlying native platforms. This means that developers can leverage any native functionality provided by the platform without any limitations. Capacitor also provides native API access, but it follows a plugin-based architecture, where developers can add plugins to extend the functionality of their application.
  5. Tooling and IDE Support: NativeScript offers a command-line interface (CLI) and IDE plugins for enhanced tooling support. It provides features like live-reload, hot module replacement, and debugging support to streamline the development process. Capacitor also provides a CLI and supports popular web development tools, but it may not have the same level of tooling and IDE support as NativeScript.
  6. Community and Ecosystem: NativeScript has an active community and a mature ecosystem with a wide range of plugins and resources available. It has been around for a longer time and has gained popularity among developers. Capacitor is a newer framework, so its community and ecosystem may not be as extensive as NativeScript's, although it is growing rapidly.

In summary, Capacitor and NativeScript differ in their framework approach, UI rendering method, development flexibility, native API access, tooling and IDE support, and community and ecosystem.

Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Capacitor
Pros of NativeScript
  • 1
    Full compatible with ios
  • 1
    Modern
  • 75
    Access to the entire native api
  • 47
    Support for native ios and android libraries
  • 46
    Support for javascript libraries
  • 46
    Angular 2.0 support
  • 44
    Native ux and performance
  • 37
    Typescript support
  • 35
    Backed up by google and telerik
  • 29
    Css support
  • 27
    Cross-platform declarative ui and code
  • 25
    Fully open source under apache 2.0 license
  • 11
    Vuejs support
  • 9
    60fps performance
  • 6
    Powerful data visualization with native UI
  • 5
    VS Code integration
  • 5
    Angular, typescript and javascript support
  • 5
    No need for Mac to build iOS apps in Telerik Platform
  • 4
    Extended CLI support
  • 4
    Cloud builds as part of Telerik PLatform
  • 4
    Truly Object-Oriented with Typescript
  • 4
    On-device debugging
  • 4
    Extensibility
  • 3
    Access to entire native api
  • 3
    Live reload
  • 3
    Easiest of all other frameworks
  • 3
    Easy to learn
  • 3
    Backed by google
  • 3
    0 day support for new OS updates
  • 3
    Publishing modules to NPM
  • 2
    Vue.js support out of the box
  • 2
    VueJS support
  • 2
    Svelte support
  • 2
    Powerfull mobile services as part of Telerik Platform
  • 2
    Native ui with angular
  • 2
    Vue support
  • 1
    Playground
  • 1
    Hot Reload
  • 1
    HMR via webpack
  • 1
    Very small app size
  • 1
    Write once, use anywhere
  • 1
    Easy to use, support for almost all npm packages
  • 1
    Rich ecosystem
  • 1
    Compile to Apple/Google Stores via CloudCompiler
  • 1
    Has CSS ;-)
  • 1
    It works with Angular
  • 1
    Code reuse with your website
  • 0
    Dart

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Capacitor
Cons of NativeScript
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 5
      Lack of promotion
    • 1
      Slower Performance compared to competitors

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    What is Capacitor?

    Invoke Native SDKs on iOS, Android, Electron, and the Web with one code base. Optimized for Ionic Framework apps, or use with any web app framework.`

    What is NativeScript?

    NativeScript enables developers to build native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Universal while sharing the application code across the platforms. When building the application UI, developers use our libraries, which abstract the differences between the native platforms.

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use Capacitor?
    What companies use NativeScript?
    See which teams inside your own company are using Capacitor or NativeScript.
    Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

    Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

    What tools integrate with Capacitor?
    What tools integrate with NativeScript?

    Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

    What are some alternatives to Capacitor and NativeScript?
    React Native
    React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.
    Flutter
    Flutter is a mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.
    Ionic
    Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.
    Xamarin
    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.
    Apache Cordova
    Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
    See all alternatives