First published on tychelabs.net .

Choosing between native, Flutter and React Native for a UK startup? Here is when each wins, what it costs, the myths worth ignoring and a five-question way to decide.

If you are commissioning an app, one of the first technical decisions is how it will be built. There are three realistic options for most startups in 2026: native apps (Swift for iPhone, Kotlin for Android), Flutter, or React Native.

You will find strong opinions online about each one. Most of them come from developers who use only one. We build in all three at Tyche Labs, so this is our attempt at a fair comparison and a simple way to decide.

The three options in plain English

Native

A native app is written in the language and toolkit each platform's maker recommends. On Apple devices that means Swift and, for the interface, SwiftUI, which Apple describes as a way to build apps "across all Apple platforms with the power of Swift" [1][2].…