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CompanyBlog
Taras Dolynyuk photo
Taras Dolynyuk
Apr 4, 2025

React Native for Web: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Use Cases

React Native for Web: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Use Cases

If you’ve ever wondered, “can React Native be used for web?”, the answer is yes — and it’s more practical than you might think. React Native for Web is a powerful tool that lets you write once and run everywhere: iOS, Android, and Web. At Apiko, we’ve used this approach to help startups like Syntho launch faster and reach more users without compromising quality. Here’s how it works — and when it makes sense to use it. 

What is React Native for Web?

React Native for Web is a compatibility layer that enables React Native components (which are traditionally used for mobile applications) to be rendered in web browsers using React DOM. This allows developers to write a single codebase that can be used across iOS, Android, and web platforms without significant modifications. 

How does it work?

On the most basic level, React Native for Web acts as a bridge between React Native and React DOM.

It maps React Native components (like <View>, <Text>, <Image>) to their closest HTML equivalents.

Instead of using mobile-native elements, it renders web-friendly versions:

  • <View> → <div> (HTML)

  • <Text> → <span> or <p> (HTML)

  • <Image> → <img> (HTML)

This allows developers to write React Native code that works perfectly on the web.

Key advantages of React Native for Web

React Native for web provides developers with several key advantages. 

Unified code for multiple platforms

Traditionally, to build an app that works on iOS, Android, and Web, you'd need to write three separate codebases in different languages and frameworks: Swift/Objective-C for iOS, Java/Kotlin for Android, and React (or another framework like Angular or Vue) for the Web. 

With React Native for Web, you write one set of code, primarily in JavaScript/TypeScript, using React Native components, and deploy it across all three platforms. This greatly reduces development effort, testing time, and maintenance overhead.

Additionally, since React Native for Web outputs a React DOM app (standard web technology), it can be wrapped into desktop apps using frameworks like:

  • Electron.js, which runs your web app inside a Chromium browser window with access to native OS features.

  • Tauri — a lightweight alternative to Electron, written in Rust, which also lets you package web apps as native desktop apps.

This means you can extend your codebase to also support Windows, macOS, or Linux without needing to learn or use React Native for Windows/macOS. This advantage makes it a truly flexible solution for React Native deployment. 

Consistent design across platforms

In software development, consistency is crucial for a unified brand experience, better usability (users don’t have to relearn the app on each platform), and reduced design and testing costs. 

React Native for Web ensures that:

  • Core components like <View>, <Text>, <Image>, etc., behave similarly on iOS, Android, and web.

  • Styles are defined in JavaScript and are then converted into optimized CSS. This reduces the need to maintain separate CSS files or write multiple versions of layout and styling logic for different platforms.

  • Layouts follow the Flexbox model – one of the most versatile layout systems — which is consistent across all platforms React Native targets.

This means the app’s buttons, text fields, lists, images, and even gestures will behave similarly across all devices, which improves the React Native software development experience. 

React native ecosystem support

React Native has a large and active ecosystem of third-party libraries, including:

  • Gesture handling (react-native-gesture-handler)

  • Animations (react-native-reanimated)

  • UI libraries (like react-native-paper, react-native-elements, react-native-maps, etc.)

Many of these libraries are starting to include web support, thanks to React Native for Web’s growing popularity.

This means that developers don’t have to search for completely new libraries when going from mobile to web. They can also keep using familiar APIs and extend their functionality to the browser. Plus, if a library doesn’t support the web out of the box, it’s often possible to polyfill or adapt it with minor effort.

advantages of react native for web development

Disadvantages of React Native for Web

While React Native for Web has many advantages, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Here are some of the significant limitations of React Native for Web. 

No native support for traditional web frameworks (like Next.js)

React Native for Web does not natively integrate with web frameworks like Next.js, which are commonly used in web development for features like:

  • Server-side rendering (SSR)

  • Static site generation (SSG)

  • File-based routing

  • SEO optimization

  • Middleware support

For example, React Native typically uses react-navigation for navigation across screens. Web frameworks like Next.js, however, rely on file-based routing and a different navigation model.

So if you're trying to use React Native for Web inside a Next.js app, you run into routing conflicts.

This means that you will need to use workarounds. You need to build an adapter layer to glue react-navigation to Next.js's routing system, which adds complexity. Or, alternatively, you can use expo-router, which is based on react-navigation, works across mobile and web, and adds SSR, SSG, file-based routing, and SEO optimization support for web. 

This necessity to use adapters and workarounds may increase technical debt and slow down development. 

Performance limitations for complex web apps

For basic or moderately interactive apps – like mobile-first websites, admin dashboards, or consumer UIs – React Native for Web works well enough.

But for large-scale enterprise-level web apps, you may hit performance ceilings.

  • Rendering inefficiencies. React Native’s layout engine (based on Flexbox) isn’t always the most performant for deep, complex web UIs.

  • Heavy JavaScript bundles. Some React Native libraries are not optimized for the web, and don’t support tree-shaking — a feature that removes unused code from your final bundle.

For example, if you’re building something like a data-heavy enterprise dashboard with lots of tables, charts, filters, and modals:

  • Traditional React DOM with libraries like MUI, Ant Design, or Chakra UI might be more performant and scalable.

  • React Native for Web might struggle with layout performance, bundle size, and rendering optimization.

Library compatibility limitations

While React Native has a large ecosystem, not every library is built with web support in mind.

Some problems you may encounter:

  • A React Native library works fine on iOS/Android – but fails completely on the web (e.g., depends on mobile APIs).

  • A component (e.g., maps, camera, file picker) may not render properly in a browser or may need extra effort to polyfill.

  • Some components use native modules written in Java/Objective-C/Swift – which simply don’t work in a browser.

This means that you may have to use different libraries for mobile and web or write custom wrappers that detect the platform and switch components accordingly. You may also need to fork libraries and add your own web support (costly and error-prone) or just use web-specific versions on the web.

disadvantages of react native web development

When can you use React Native for Web?

React Native for Web is designed to be flexible and adaptable, which makes it useful for different types of projects.

When you need a unified app for mobile and web

If your product is meant to be available on both mobile and web platforms – and the core functionality is the same across platforms – using React Native for web and mobile is a great option. 

  • You can share UI components, business logic, and even state management between mobile and web.

  • You avoid the overhead of building and maintaining multiple codebases.

  • Whether you're using React Native CLI or Expo, the ecosystem can help you close the technical requirements for most products.

For example, React Native for Web can be useful if you’re building a social app or e-commerce platform that offers the same login, feed, and user features across iOS, Android, and the browser.

When you already have a React Native team

If your developers are already working in React Native, and you're looking to expand to the web without retraining or hiring a web-focused team, React Native for Web is a natural extension.

  • Your team can reuse their existing skills, components, and code structure.

  • No need to learn traditional web frameworks like React DOM or Next.js. 

  • You can launch the web version with minimal friction, using familiar tools like react-navigation, expo, and even expo-router (for SSR support and routing).

For example, if a company with an established React Native mobile app wants to reach desktop users by adding a web version, building a React Native for Web app is an excellent solution. 

For MVPs and rapid prototyping across platforms

React Native for Web is especially valuable when speed is critical – for example, during early-stage development, prototyping, or startup launches.

  • You can create a fully functional, multi-platform app with a single codebase.

  • Perfect for demonstrating functionality to customers or investors on any device — mobile, tablet, or browser.

  • Lets you validate your product idea without investing heavily in platform-specific infrastructure.

For example, a startup building a fitness tracker app may want to show it off to investors on both mobile phones and web browser. With React Native for Web, the team can ship one MVP across all platforms in record time.

why use react native for web

React Native for Web case study: Syntho

Syntho is a specialized platform built for DJs and electronic music producers, which offers a focused environment to learn, share, and grow within a passionate community. It is available on both web and mobile applications and provides accessible, high-quality content, as well as networking features tailored for the electronic music scene.

Syntho is designed to support users in improving their DJing and music production skills through:

  • A growing library of tutorials focused solely on electronic music.

  • Multilingual subtitles to increase accessibility.

  • Features for users to share tracks, customize profiles, and connect with like-minded creators.

  • A subscription-based model that opens access to premium educational content.

The emphasis is on building an engaged community of creators while providing structured tools to help users advance their craft.

react native for web case study

Our team built Syntho using Expo, a framework for building native apps with React Native. One key advantage of using Expo is its out-of-the-box support for React Native for Web, which allowed the Syntho team to target both mobile and web platforms from a single codebase without additional configuration effort. 

Key technical choices:

  • React Native for Web (via Expo) was used to enable cross-platform development.

  • MobX-State-Tree was integrated as the state management library.

  • Dripsy was used to build responsive UI layouts.

  • react-navigation was chosen for managing navigation across screens.

For a new project, our team recommends using expo-router instead. As a wrapper around react-navigation, expo-router offers better web support, including native web behaviors like SEO and server-side rendering (SSR), which makes it more suited for hybrid web-native apps.

react native for web development case study

Conclusion

If you’ve been asking, “is React Native good for mobile app development?”, or wondering how far it can take you — the answer is: much further than just mobile.

React Native for Web is a practical and forward-thinking solution for building unified apps across iOS, Android, and web from a single codebase. At Apiko, our developers are highly experienced in both React Native and React Native for Web, and we’ve successfully used these tools to deliver fast, scalable, and user-centric cross-platform applications like Syntho.

If you're considering a multi-platform product or want to expand an existing mobile app to the web, get in touch with us— we'd be happy to help bring your idea to life.