Capacitor by Ionic vs Apache Cordova

Struggling to choose between Capacitor by Ionic and Apache Cordova? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Capacitor by Ionic is a Development solution with tags like crossplatform, hybrid-app, ionic, capacitor, webview.

It boasts features such as Cross-platform - Build iOS, Android, and Web apps with one codebase, Native APIs - Access native device features like Camera, Geolocation, Notifications, etc, Plugin ecosystem - Extend functionality with community-built plugins, Web Standards - Use web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Native Bridge - Call native code from JavaScript and vice versa, Live Reload - Update code and see changes instantly and pros including Write once, deploy anywhere, Access native features through web standards, Large plugin ecosystem for added functionality, Fast development with live reload, Leverage knowledge of web development.

On the other hand, Apache Cordova is a Development product tagged with crossplatform, mobile, html5, css3, javascript.

Its standout features include Cross-platform development, Web technologies like HTML, CSS & JavaScript, Access native device capabilities, Large plugin ecosystem, Open source & free, and it shines with pros like Write once, deploy to multiple platforms, Leverage web developer skills, Avoid platform-specific languages like Java or Swift, Quick prototyping.

Feature	Capacitor by Ionic	Apache Cordova
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Development	Development

Product Overview

Capacitor by Ionic

Description: Capacitor is a cross-platform app runtime that allows developers to build web apps using HTML, CSS and JavaScript and deploy them to native iOS, Android and web. It includes a rich set of web APIs and allows wrapping web code into native code using plugins.

Apache Cordova

Description: Apache Cordova is an open-source mobile development framework. It allows you to use standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding native development languages like Objective-C and Java. Cordova wraps the HTML and JavaScript code into a native container which can access the device functions of many platforms.

Key Features Comparison

Capacitor by Ionic Features

• Cross-platform - Build iOS, Android, and Web apps with one codebase
• Native APIs - Access native device features like Camera, Geolocation, Notifications, etc
• Plugin ecosystem - Extend functionality with community-built plugins
• Web Standards - Use web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Native Bridge - Call native code from JavaScript and vice versa
• Live Reload - Update code and see changes instantly

Apache Cordova Features

• Cross-platform development
• Web technologies like HTML, CSS & JavaScript
• Access native device capabilities
• Large plugin ecosystem
• Open source & free

Pros & Cons Analysis

Capacitor by Ionic

Pros

• Write once, deploy anywhere
• Access native features through web standards
• Large plugin ecosystem for added functionality
• Fast development with live reload
• Leverage knowledge of web development

Cons

• Still requires native project setup for each platform
• Not as performant as fully native code
• Limitations of web vs native UI
• Some more complex native features may lack plugin support

Apache Cordova

Pros

• Write once, deploy to multiple platforms
• Leverage web developer skills
• Avoid platform-specific languages like Java or Swift
• Quick prototyping

Cons

• Performance limitations
• Not fully native experience
• Complex debugging
• Limited access to some native APIs

Pricing Comparison

Capacitor by Ionic

• Open Source

Apache Cordova

• Open Source
• Free