NPM Star
Collections
  1. Home
  2. Compare
  3. expo vs react-native
NPM Compare

Compare NPM packages statistics, trends, and features

CollectionsVS Code extensionChrome extensionTermsPrivacyLinkTreeIndiehackersBig Frontendqiuyumi

Expo vs React-Native comparison

Compare expo vs react-native for frameworks use cases, including package popularity, downloads, ecosystem fit, and practical tradeoffs.

Frameworksframeworksnpmcomparisonexporeact-native

Unable to load comparison data. Please try again later.

<!-- Title --> <p align="center"> <a href="https://expo.dev/"> <img alt="Expo" height="96" src="../../.github/resources/expo.svg"> </a> </p> <h1 align="center">Expo</h1> <p align="center">The open-source framework for universal React Native apps — one codebase for Android, iOS, and the web.</p> <p align="center"> <a aria-label="expo documentation" href="https://docs.expo.dev">📚 Documentation</a> &ensp;•&ensp; <a aria-label="expo api reference" href="https://docs.expo.dev/versions/latest/">📖 API Reference</a> &ensp;•&ensp; <a aria-label="expo router" href="https://docs.expo.dev/router/introduction/">🧭 Expo Router</a> &ensp;•&ensp; <a aria-label="eas" href="https://expo.dev/eas">🚀 EAS</a> &ensp;•&ensp; <a aria-label="expo blog" href="https://expo.dev/blog">📝 Blog</a> &ensp;•&ensp; <a aria-label="expo changelog" href="https://expo.dev/changelog">📰 Changelog</a> &ensp;•&ensp; <a aria-label="contribute to expo" href="#contributing">👏 Contribute</a> </p> <p align="center"> <a aria-label="npm version" href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/expo" target="_blank"> <img alt="npm version" src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/expo.svg?style=for-the-badge&label=npm&labelColor=000000&color=4630EB" /> </a> <a aria-label="npm downloads" href="https://www.npmtrends.com/expo" target="_blank"> <img alt="downloads" src="https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/expo.svg?style=for-the-badge&labelColor=000000&color=33CC12&label=downloads" /> </a> <a aria-label="License: MIT" href="https://github.com/expo/expo/blob/main/LICENSE" target="_blank"> <img alt="License: MIT" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-success.svg?style=for-the-badge&labelColor=000000&color=33CC12" /> </a> <a aria-label="Join the Expo Discord" href="https://chat.expo.dev" target="_blank"> <img alt="Discord" src="https://img.shields.io/discord/695411232856997968.svg?style=for-the-badge&color=5865F2&logo=discord&logoColor=FFFFFF" /> </a> <a aria-label="GitHub stars" href="https://github.com/expo/expo/stargazers" target="_blank"> <img alt="GitHub stars" src="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/expo/expo.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&label=stars&labelColor=000000&color=FFD700" /> </a> <a aria-label="GitHub contributors" href="https://github.com/expo/expo/graphs/contributors" target="_blank"> <img alt="GitHub contributors" src="https://img.shields.io/github/contributors-anon/expo/expo.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&label=contributors&labelColor=000000&color=4630EB" /> </a> </p> <p align="center"> <a aria-label="Follow @expo on X" href="https://x.com/intent/follow?screen_name=expo" target="_blank"> <img alt="Expo on X" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/X-000000?style=for-the-badge&logo=x&logoColor=white" target="_blank" /> </a>&nbsp; <a aria-label="Follow @expo on GitHub" href="https://github.com/expo" target="_blank"> <img alt="Expo on GitHub" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/GitHub-222222?style=for-the-badge&logo=github&logoColor=white" target="_blank" /> </a>&nbsp; <a aria-label="Follow @expo on Reddit" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/expo/" target="_blank"> <img alt="Expo on Reddit" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Reddit-FF4500?style=for-the-badge&logo=reddit&logoColor=white" target="_blank" /> </a>&nbsp; <a aria-label="Follow @expo on Bluesky" href="https://bsky.app/profile/expo.dev" target="_blank"> <img alt="Expo on Bluesky" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Bluesky-1DA1F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=bluesky&logoColor=white" target="_blank" /> </a>&nbsp; <a aria-label="Follow @expo on LinkedIn" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/expo-dev" target="_blank"> <img alt="Expo on LinkedIn" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/LinkedIn-0077B5?style=for-the-badge&logo=LinkedIn&logoColor=white" target="_blank" /> </a>&nbsp; <a aria-label="Subscribe to Expo on YouTube" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx_YiR733cfqVPRsQ1n8Fag" target="_blank"> <img alt="Expo on YouTube" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/YouTube-FF0000?style=for-the-badge&logo=YouTube&logoColor=white" target="_blank" /> </a> <p align="center">⭐️ Be sure to star the Expo GitHub repo if you enjoy using the project! ⭐️</p> </p>

Expo is the officially recommended framework for building production React Native apps. It gives you everything you need to design, develop, and ship universal apps for Android, iOS, and the web from a single codebase — the SDK, the router, the build and update infrastructure, and the tooling — all open source and production-tested.

You write your app in React with TypeScript or JavaScript; Expo handles the rest: a Metro-powered dev server with fast refresh, file-based routing that works the same on every platform, and a curated SDK of native modules you can drop in. From there, choose your own path — ship straight to the App Store and Play Store without ever opening Xcode or Android Studio, or reach for development builds and custom native code when your app needs to go further.

Built and maintained in the open by the Expo team and a community of thousands of contributors.

Quick start

Create a new app and start the dev server:

npx create-expo-app@latest my-app
cd my-app
npx expo start

Then open the app on a simulator, a device with Expo Go, or the web. See the official Quick Start guide for a full walkthrough.

Already have a React Native app? Add Expo to it with install-expo-modules:

npx install-expo-modules@latest

The Expo ecosystem

Expo is a collection of tools and services that work together, but each piece is independently useful.

Expo SDK

A large set of first-party, cross-platform modules covering device APIs, media, storage, and system services — expo-camera, expo-image, expo-notifications, expo-file-system, expo-sqlite, expo-sensors, and many more.

Every module is opt-in, fully typed, and maintained by the Expo team — install only what you need with npx expo install, and your bundle stays as small as your app demands.

Expo Router

A file-based router for universal navigation across Android, iOS, and the web. Drop a file into app/ and you have a route — with typed paths, automatic deep linking, and universal-link config generated for you. Layouts, modals, tabs, and stacks compose as React components and look the same on every platform.

Under the hood it builds on react-native-screens for true native navigators on mobile, plus a real router on the web. It also brings a fullstack story to React Native: API routes and static rendering for SEO-friendly web builds.

Expo Modules API

A modern Swift and Kotlin API for writing native modules — and the foundation the entire Expo SDK and a growing ecosystem of third-party libraries are built on.

You describe a module declaratively: functions, properties, native views, and lifecycle events all live in a small Swift or Kotlin DSL. The framework handles type coercion and the calls between JavaScript and native automatically — no Objective-C, no Java, no C++, no JNI, no boilerplate. Scaffold a new module in seconds with npx create-expo-module@latest, ship it as a regular npm package, and have it picked up by Expo's autolinking on iOS and Android.

Expo UI

Expo UI — a set of truly native UI components backed by SwiftUI on iOS and Jetpack Compose on Android. Use platform controls (pickers, switches, sliders, menus, …) that look and feel exactly like the rest of the OS, from React.

DOM components

Mark a React component with "use dom" and Expo will render it as web content inside your native app — perfect for incrementally migrating web code or reusing a React web component on mobile. Learn more.

Continuous Native Generation

Your ios/ and android/ folders are generated, not maintained. Describe your native config in app.json and config plugins; run npx expo prebuild to materialize the projects on demand. Upgrades, package additions, and native customizations all flow through the same declarative pipeline — no more merge conflicts in native code.

EAS

Expo Application Services — hosted infrastructure for shipping React Native apps:

  • EAS Build — cloud builds for iOS and Android, no local Xcode or Android Studio setup required.
  • EAS Submit — one command to submit to the App Store and Play Store.
  • EAS Update — over-the-air JavaScript and asset updates, with channels and rollbacks.
  • EAS Workflows — CI/CD for building, testing, and releasing your app.
  • EAS Hosting — host your web app and API routes on Expo's edge.
  • Expo Launch — a guided, browser-based path to ship to the web and App Store without touching configuration. Built on top of EAS.

EAS is optional, but the fastest path from git push to the store.

Tooling

  • Expo CLI — one interface around Metro and the native toolchain (Xcode, Simulator.app, Android Studio, ADB, …). Keep dependency versions aligned with npx expo install.
  • Expo Go and development builds — preview your app on a device in seconds.
  • Expo Atlas — visual bundle analyzer to inspect what's shipping in your JS.
  • Snack — try Expo right in your browser, no install needed.

Why Expo

  • Universal by default. One codebase targets Android, iOS, and the web — with tvOS and Android TV support too.
  • Production-ready. Used in tens of thousands of apps on the App Store and Play Store.
  • Customizable all the way down. Config plugins and the Expo Modules API let you reach the metal when you need to.
  • Open source. MIT-licensed, actively developed in the open.

Learn more

  • Documentation — guides, tutorials, and the full SDK reference.
  • Tutorial — build your first universal app step by step.
  • Examples — sample projects you can copy from.
  • Changelog and blog.
  • Discord & Forums — ask questions and chat with the community.
  • Support — community, enterprise, and partner-agency options all in one place.

Contributing

Bug reports, fixes, and improvements are very welcome. See CONTRIBUTING for how to set up this package locally, and the repo-wide contributing guide for general guidelines.

License

The Expo source code is made available under the MIT License.

No README available

Dependencies Comparison

expo

Dependencies

@expo/cli^58.1.18
expo-font~58.0.11
expo-asset~58.0.19
@expo/metro~58.0.0
@expo/config~58.0.10
@expo/log-box^58.0.14
pretty-format^29.7.0
react-refresh^0.14.2
@babel/runtime^7.20.0
@expo/devtools~58.0.2
expo-constants~58.0.14
expo-keep-awake~58.0.3
expo-file-system~58.0.13
expo-modules-cli~0.4.0
@expo/dom-webview~58.0.2
@expo/fingerprint^0.21.8
babel-preset-expo~58.0.23
expo-modules-core~58.0.29
@expo/metro-config~58.0.20
whatwg-url-minimum^0.2.0
@expo/log-box-utils^58.0.2
@expo/config-plugins~58.0.11
@ungap/structured-clone^1.3.0
expo-modules-autolinking~58.0.16
@expo/local-build-cache-provider^58.0.10

Dev Dependencies

react19.3.0
rimraf^6.1.2
react-dom19.3.0
@types/node^22.14.0
@types/react~19.3.0
expo-updates58.0.20
npm-run-all2^8.0.4
react-native0.88.1
@expo/metro-runtime58.0.16
web-streams-polyfill^3.3.2

Peer Dependencies

react*
react-dom*
react-native*
react-native-web*
@expo/dom-webview*
@expo/metro-runtime*
react-native-webview*

react-native

Dependencies

ws^7.5.10
anser^1.4.9
yargs^17.6.2
semver^7.1.3
promise^8.3.0
base64-js^1.5.1
invariant^2.2.4
scheduler0.28.0
ansi-regex^5.0.0
nullthrows^1.1.1
tinyglobby^0.2.15
flow-parser0.327.0
memoize-one^5.0.0
whatwg-fetch^3.0.0
metro-runtime^0.87.1
pretty-format^29.7.0
react-refresh^0.14.0
hermes-compiler260318099.0.5
metro-source-map^0.87.1
stacktrace-parser^0.1.10
flow-enums-runtime^0.0.6
react-devtools-core^6.1.5
regenerator-runtime^0.13.2
@react-native/codegen0.88.1
@react-native/asset-utils0.88.1
@react-native/gradle-plugin0.88.1
@react-native/normalize-colors0.88.1
@react-native/virtualized-lists0.88.1
@react-native/community-cli-plugin0.88.1

Dev Dependencies

Peer Dependencies

react^19.3.0
@types/react^19.1.1
StarsIssuesVersionUpdatedⓘLast publish dateCreatedⓘPackage creation dateSizeⓘMinified + Gzipped size
E
expo
53,2751,04458.0.22a month ago13 years agoinstall size 16.8 KB
R
react-native
126,8501,3600.88.1a month ago11 years agoinstall size N/A

Who's Using These Packages

expo

feathers
feathers

The API and real-time application framework

create-expo-stack
create-expo-stack

CLI tool to initialize a React Native application with Expo. Provides options to include Typescript, file-based routing via Expo Router, configuration based routing via pure React Navigation, styling via Nativewind, Restyle, Unistyles, StyleSheets, or Tamagui, and/or backend as a service such as Firebase and Supabase.

checkin-frontend
checkin-frontend

Pra onde vou sair hoje?

react-native

livestore
livestore

LiveStore is a next-generation state management framework based on reactive SQLite and built-in sync engine.

create-expo-stack
create-expo-stack

CLI tool to initialize a React Native application with Expo. Provides options to include Typescript, file-based routing via Expo Router, configuration based routing via pure React Navigation, styling via Nativewind, Restyle, Unistyles, StyleSheets, or Tamagui, and/or backend as a service such as Firebase and Supabase.

generator-jhipster-react-native
generator-jhipster-react-native

A React Native blueprint for JHipster

farcaster-examples
farcaster-examples

A collection of Farcaster mini-apps powered by Neynar