2026 Comparison · Capacitor vs React Native vs Flutter

The Best Mobile App Boilerplates & Starter Kits

An honest side by side comparison of the most used mobile app starter kits, CapShip, Expo, Ignite, ShipFast, and Flutter + Supabase starters. What's included, what's missing, what it costs, and which one fits your stack.

Quick comparison

The six options below cover almost every path to a mobile app in 2026. CapShip is the only one that ships a complete backend and native configuration together with the frontend, at a free starter tier and a $97 one time Pro price. Expo, Ignite, and TheCodingMachine's boilerplate are free React Native options that leave the backend to you. ShipFast is a $199 one time kit for web SaaS products, not mobile apps. Flutter and Supabase starters suit Dart teams who prefer a managed backend. The right choice depends on your stack, and each option below includes its honest trade off.

Best overall for web developers: CapShip

CapShip is a Capacitor starter kit with a React and TypeScript frontend and a Python FastAPI backend. It includes passwordless Google and Apple authentication, secure sessions, PostgreSQL, Redis, transactional email, account management, WebSockets for real time updates, and scripts that generate and sign the native iOS and Android projects. The free tier lets you start building, and Pro is a $97 one time purchase for the complete kit. Its trade off is webview rendering, which is not the right fit for animation heavy, gesture heavy interfaces. It is best for React and web developers who want iOS, Android, and a backend from one codebase without rebuilding the foundation.

Best for React Native teams: Expo

Expo is the standard toolchain around React Native, offering the Expo SDK, Expo Router, EAS builds, and over the air updates. It is free, with paid tiers for hosted build services. Its trade off is that authentication, backend, and database are yours to build or wire separately. It is best for teams already committed to React Native who want the smoothest tooling and ecosystem.

Best open source React Native starter: Ignite

Ignite, built by Infinite Red, is an opinionated open source React Native starter with navigation, state management, theming, and CLI generators baked in. It is completely free. Its trade off is that it includes no backend, and it requires React Native specific skills. It is best for React Native teams that want a well maintained, opinionated project structure to build on.

Best free React Native boilerplate with auth: TheCodingMachine

TheCodingMachine's React Native boilerplate ships authentication flows, navigation, theming, internationalization, and a testing setup out of the box, and it is free and open source. Its trade off is that it is frontend only, so the backend and infrastructure remain your project. It is best for React Native developers who want a head start on authentication without paying for a kit.

Best for web SaaS products: ShipFast

ShipFast is a Next.js boilerplate with Stripe payments, SEO setup, auth wiring, and landing page components, priced at $199 one time. Its trade off is simple: it is web only, and it does not ship native iOS or Android apps. It is best for founders launching a web SaaS or marketing site quickly, not a mobile app.

Best for Dart teams: Flutter + Supabase starters

flutter starters paired with Supabase use Flutter for the UI and Supabase as a managed backend handling auth, database, and storage, with prices ranging from free to paid depending on the template. Their trade off is that they require Dart, and your backend lives with one vendor. They are best for teams that prefer Flutter and want a managed backend instead of running their own.

How do I choose a mobile app boilerplate?

Three questions decide it. First, what does your team already know: web technologies point to Capacitor, React Native experience points to Expo or Ignite, and Dart points to Flutter. Second, how much backend do you want pre built: if you do not want to build authentication, sessions, database, and email yourself, choose a kit that includes them, because that is the difference of several weeks of work. Third, what does your app's UI demand: animation heavy interfaces favor React Native or Flutter, while marketplaces, booking systems, fitness apps, AI products, and dashboards feel fully native in Capacitor.

Which boilerplate is fastest for web developers?

For developers who build with React today, a Capacitor based kit is the fastest route to both app stores, because nothing new has to be learned and the foundation can arrive pre built. That is the gap CapShip fills: one codebase, iOS and Android, backend included, for a $97 one time purchase.

Can I sell an app built from a starting kit?

Yes. When you build with CapShip, what you create is yours, you can modify the foundation, ship commercial products, establish your own brand, and turn the work into a real business.

The starter provides the beginning. Your product logic, design, and brand belong to you, subject to the CapShip license and applicable third, party licenses.

What kinds of apps can you build with a starter kit?

Any product that needs accounts, data, and a mobile presence. The foundation is generic on purpose. Developers use it for marketplaces, booking systems, member platforms, fitness and sports apps, creator tools, community apps, AI products, productivity tools, and internal business tools.

If your idea needs login, a backend, and real users on iOS and Android, the same foundation applies.