Lots of startup founders ask us: is there really a way to build for both iOS and Android without it costing double?
With cross-platform frameworks like Flutter, the answer is yes. Startups can get two working apps for the cost of nearly one, because there’s one codebase, one team, one set of shared UI components.
Flutter has grown fast. In 2023, about 46% of developers using cross-platform tools chose Flutter. Using Flutter instead of separate native apps can cut development costs by around 30-40% and reduce time to market.
Why Not Choose Flutter?
Before we start, let us say this: we love Flutter. It is fast, flexible, and one of our top recommendations for startups and small businesses. Still, no tool is perfect for every case. As much as Flutter shines for most mobile apps, there are situations where native development or another cross-platform framework might be the smarter choice.
High-performance 3D or AR/VR apps
Apps like 3D games, AR navigation, or VR training platforms need extremely smooth performance and direct GPU access. Native iOS or Android development is better here because it handles physics engines and graphics-intensive tasks without compromises.
Complex integrations with device hardware
Healthcare apps, IoT solutions, or industrial platforms often rely on Bluetooth, NFC, or specialized sensors. Flutter plugins cover many cases but may fall short when you need precise, low-level hardware access. Native development ensures reliability and accuracy in these situations.
Large-scale enterprise apps
Enterprise platforms with microservices, heavy background processing, or strict security requirements can grow too complex for Flutter to handle efficiently. In such cases, React Native or fully native solutions are more sustainable for long-term scaling and maintenance.
Ultra-low-latency apps
Trading platforms, live collaboration tools, or video streaming require responses in milliseconds. Even small delays can hurt the experience. Native development is more suitable when ultra-fast networking, caching, or computations are essential.
Web-first or desktop-heavy projects
While Flutter now supports web and desktop, its maturity is still strongest on mobile. For advanced dashboards or desktop-first workflows, React, Angular, or native desktop frameworks might deliver a smoother experience.
At Perpetio, we never recommend a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we analyze your app’s requirements and suggest the best technology stack, whether that means Flutter, React Native, or native development. To make things easier, we provide free tech consulting before kicking off a project so you can start with the right foundation.
Real Startups, Real Numbers: How We Built and Scaled a Flutter App
At Perpetio, we like to prove our point with real cases, not just theory. One of our favorite examples is eargym, a startup dedicated to hearing health.
The app started as an ambitious idea: combine hearing tests, brain-training games, and learning resources into one easy-to-use platform. The challenge was to scale fast without losing quality. Our team stepped in to streamline the workflow, improve the Unity integration for games, and reshape the app’s codebase to handle growth.
With Flutter, we could deliver new features faster while keeping the app stable across platforms. We introduced daily progress tracking, a gamified point system, and a Discover Tab with articles and sounds. On top of that, we set up analytics like Smartlook and A/B testing to measure what really works for users.
The results speak for themselves. Eargym rolled out a version with a smoother user experience, a new subscription model, and better engagement tools. After launching the 14-day free trial and gamified daily system, the app saw a 40% increase in active users and is now scaling toward 100K+.
Flutter helped eargym test ideas quickly, introduce updates efficiently, and grow into a subscription-based platform trusted by both individuals and companies.
Design Systems, Smooth UX, and Fast Delivery: Why CTOs Love Flutter
Flutter makes it easier to build apps that look great, feel native, and get delivered fast. For many CTOs, it is a practical choice because it combines design consistency, short iteration cycles, and strong performance monitoring tools.
Native-like design with widgets
Flutter comes with a rich library of widgets that replicate both Android’s Material Design and Apple’s Cupertino elements. This means your app can have a native-like look and feel across platforms without needing two separate design tracks. With hot reload, developers can see changes instantly without restarting the whole app, which makes fixing bugs, polishing UI, and experimenting with design much faster.
Smooth performance and built-in testing
Performance is another strong point. Flutter relies on the Skia rendering engine, which ensures smooth animations and transitions. Combined with tools like DevTools for tracking rebuilds and frame rendering, teams can spot bottlenecks early and keep the app responsive. Testing frameworks for unit, widget, and integration tests are built in, making quality control straightforward.
One codebase for every platform
One of the most appealing benefits is writing one codebase and running it across Android, iOS, web, and desktop. This reduces design, QA, and maintenance effort while speeding up time to market.
Scalable for startups and enterprises
For startups and scaling companies, this means a faster way to test ideas and bring products to users without sacrificing quality. For established businesses, it offers a reliable system for managing design systems, ensuring smooth user experience, and maintaining apps across multiple platforms without doubling the effort.
At Perpetio, we look at your product roadmap, design needs, and technical requirements, then suggest whether Flutter, native, or another approach fits best. We also provide free technical consulting so you can make these choices with confidence and start development on the right track.
What’s New in Flutter 3.22 and How it Affects Scalability
Flutter is not standing still. With every release, it becomes more powerful, opening new possibilities for apps and making development easier and more pleasant for teams. The latest Flutter 3.35 update continues this trend, bringing improvements that boost performance, scalability, and overall developer experience. Here are the highlights.
- Stateful hot reload on the web is now stable, making development faster and smoother across platforms
- Wasm dry runs ensure web apps are ready for the upcoming WebAssembly default build target
- Accessibility improvements with richer semantics, better screen reader support, and new tools like
SemanticsLabelBuilderandSliverEnsureSemantics - New widgets and components such as
DropdownMenuFormField, scrollable NavigationRail, and CupertinoExpansionTile for more flexible UI building
- Refined Material and Cupertino libraries with higher fidelity, polished interactions, and expanded customization
- Sensitive content protection on Android prevents data leaks during screen sharing on API 35+
- Engine optimizations improve app startup time, rendering performance, and fix critical crashes across iOS, Android, and macOS
- Experimental Widget Previews let developers test and visualize widgets in isolation, speeding up design system building
- AI-powered productivity boost with the Dart & Flutter MCP Server now stable, connecting Flutter projects with AI coding assistants like Gemini Code Assist and GitHub Copilot
- DevTools updates improve debugging, performance tracking, and analysis speed, making development workflows more efficient
- Breaking changes include deprecations in theming, redesigned Radio widget, and the drop of 32-bit x86 Android support
Each Flutter update comes with a bunch of exciting improvements that make apps run smoother, scale easier, and reach users faster. Our developers can’t be happier about each update.
Flutter vs. Native in 2025: What Matters More than Benchmarks
The debate between Flutter and native development has been around for years. Benchmarks on performance, app size, or load times often make headlines, but in practice, these numbers matter less than you might think. What really counts in 2025 is how fast you can bring your product to market, how consistent your user experience is, and how easy it is to scale.
Flutter lets startups and businesses launch across iOS and Android with one codebase, saving both time and money. Modern improvements like Impeller for graphics rendering and Wasm for the web keep Flutter apps running smoothly, often close to native. For many products, this is more than enough to deliver a seamless experience to users.
Native development still has its place. If you are building a high-performance 3D game, a complex AR experience, or an app deeply tied to platform-specific features, going native may be the safer bet. Native apps give you direct access to every capability of iOS or Android, which can be critical for very advanced use cases.
At Perpetio, we don’t treat it as a one-size-fits-all choice. The right decision depends on your product vision, technical requirements, and growth plans. Sometimes Flutter is the smartest path, sometimes native is a must, and sometimes a hybrid strategy works best. The real question isn’t which is faster in a benchmark, but which approach brings you closer to your users and business goals.
Get a free tech consultation from us before kicking off your project.
