Comparisons
Every tool in this category says "native". Almost none of them mean the same thing by it. Below is what nineteen builders actually generate, quoted from their own documentation rather than their homepages — because the homepage and the docs frequently disagree.
The word doing the most work in this market is native.
A tool that generates React Native through Expo will call its output native, and it has a defensible reason to: the app renders real platform views rather than a web page in a frame. A tool that generates Swift will also call its output native, and mean something different — a project that opens in Xcode, compiles with Apple’s toolchain, and contains no JavaScript runtime at all. A tool that generates a progressive web app will sometimes call that native too.
So the question worth asking a builder is not "is it native". It is what exactly do I get, and can I open it without you?
Cross-platform app builders, sorted by what they ship asks the same question of the ten tools that promise both stores.
That question has a factual answer for every product here, and every vendor documents it somewhere — usually in the docs rather than on the landing page. The table below collects those answers with their sources. Where a vendor’s own pages contradict each other, that is noted instead of resolved, because guessing which page is current is not our job.
Output column quotes each vendor’s own documentation. Checked 4 September 2026. Pricing in the currency each vendor publishes. Modaal and Bitrig run on the AI agent subscription you already pay for (bring your own agent, not metered per seat); the other tools meter AI usage themselves. Export column checked 6 September 2026. 'No plan gate stated' means the vendor documents export but names no tier for it; 'Not documented' means no vendor page states it either way.
Export details for all 19, quoted and dated: AI app builder code export
Web only
Free tier (5 credits/day)
from $25/mo (Pro; $21/mo annual)
React and Vite web applications. No native iOS output, no native Android output, no App Store submission.
Project export cost: GitHub sync on all plans (incl. Free); direct code download on paid plans
Free tier ($5 credits/mo)
from $30/user/mo (Plus)
React and Tailwind web interfaces. No native mobile output.
Project export cost: Included — "Export the code to work locally"; no plan gate stated
Free tier
from $25/mo (Basic)
Progressive web apps. Their documentation states Glide does not support App Store or Google Play publishing.
Project export cost: No code export documented (PWA hosted by Glide)
Web + mobile
Free tier
from $25/mo (Pro)
"Bolt projects can be turned into mobile applications using Expo." Mobile is a documented path rather than the core product.
Project export cost: GitHub sync documented; no plan gate stated
Free tier (dev only, can't go live)
from $59/mo billed annually (Starter)
paid plan required to ship iOS/Android
Web apps natively; mobile through a React Native add-on in public beta — "Our current version of React Native". Their docs state "there’s no way of exporting your application as code".
Project export cost: No export — "there's no way of exporting your application as code"
Free tier (Starter)
from $20/mo (Core; $17/mo annual)
"Expo uses React Native to help you build apps for iOS, Android, and the web." Their docs also note Replit does not submit to the App Store for you.
Project export cost: Included on all plans — "Download as zip" or GitHub sync
Free tier (no code export)
from $39/mo (Basic; ~$29/mo annual) to export/ship
Flutter and Dart from a visual canvas. Real code download and App Store deploy, both from the paid tier; GitHub sync pushes to a FlutterFlow-owned branch.
Project export cost: From Basic, $39/mo ("Code Download"); Free tier: no export; GitHub sync from Growth
Free tier (1 project)
from $20/mo (Pro)
"React Native (Expo) apps from text descriptions."
Project export cost: Not documented — no export page in their docs
iOS + Android
Free tier
from €9/mo
bring your own agent — no per-seat AI charge
Native Swift and SwiftUI, native Kotlin and Compose. A real Xcode project and a real Android Studio project on your disk.
Project export cost: Free — the Xcode and Android Studio projects are on your disk from the first feature
Free tier
from $25/mo (Junior, 100 msgs)
Rork Max (native Swift) $200/mo
"Rork writes a real Android Studio project in Kotlin." Rork Max builds "native SwiftUI apps… compiled with Xcode". Their docs add: "Rork used to build apps this way and no longer does for new projects" — referring to React Native. Rork Pro remains React Native and Expo.
Project export cost: Paid plan required, from $25/mo — export via GitHub; Free tier cannot export
Free tier
from $20/mo (Plus)
source code download from $50/mo (Pro)
"Your apps are built using React Native and Expo, which compile to native iOS and Android code."
Project export cost: "Download Code" in the web app; no plan gate stated
No free tier
from $25/mo (Agent 25, 50 credits)
"True native code using React Native and Expo… Expo SDK 54, React Native with TypeScript."
Project export cost: Included on every plan (no free tier; from $25/mo) — GitHub or ZIP
Free tier (20 credits/mo)
from $20/mo (Starter)
"Full React Native + Expo source code."
Project export cost: From Starter, $20/mo — "Download project (code export)"; Free tier: no export
Free tier (25 credits)
from $17/mo (Core)
"Expo React Native" — described as "native iOS and Android apps with native UI and gestures, not web wrappers".
Project export cost: Pro, $168/mo — export "Included"; Starter: "Not included"; other tiers not listed
Free tier (test only, can't publish)
from $36/mo billed annually ($43.20 monthly) per published app
Marketing page claims "True IPA output — not a web wrapper" and "Real APK builds… not a React Native wrapper or PWA"; their developer docs say custom components "must write React Native code for mobile". No documented code export found.
Project export cost: No code export documented
Single-platform mobile
Free tier (code export included)
from $25/mo (Pro, App Store distribution)
bring your own agent subscription
"Real Swift code you can ship to the App Store", delivered as "full Xcode projects".
Project export cost: Free — "Export your code at any time" on the Free plan
Free tier (100 bits, no card)
from $25/mo (Builder)
"Nativeline builds actual SwiftUI — not web wrappers." A macOS app, like Modaal.
Project export cost: "You own your code forever" (Builder, $25/mo); export on the free tier not stated
Free tier (5 credits/day)
from $25/mo (Pro)
or $18 one-time credit pack
Native Swift, with App Store submission handled in-product.
Project export cost: Included on any plan — "you can export the full Xcode project on any plan" (features page)
Free (AI Studio itself is free; Gemini API usage is pay-as-you-go beyond free quota)
"A Kotlin and Jetpack Compose project that you can preview in a browser-based emulator, install on a physical device, and publish to the Play Store."
Project export cost: Free — "download the project as a ZIP file"; GitHub export not yet available for Android
| Product | What their docs say it outputs | Platforms | Entry price | Project export cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web only | ||||
| Lovable | React and Vite web applications. No native iOS output, no native Android output, no App Store submission.lovable.dev | Web | Free tier (5 credits/day)from $25/mo (Pro; $21/mo annual)Full comparison | GitHub sync on all plans (incl. Free); direct code download on paid plans |
| v0 (Vercel) | React and Tailwind web interfaces. No native mobile output.v0.dev | Web | Free tier ($5 credits/mo)from $30/user/mo (Plus)Full comparison | Included — "Export the code to work locally"; no plan gate stated |
| Glide | Progressive web apps. Their documentation states Glide does not support App Store or Google Play publishing.glideapps.com | PWA only | Free tierfrom $25/mo (Basic) | No code export documented (PWA hosted by Glide) |
| Web + mobile | ||||
| Bolt | "Bolt projects can be turned into mobile applications using Expo." Mobile is a documented path rather than the core product.support.bolt.new | Web first; Expo for mobile | Free tierfrom $25/mo (Pro) | GitHub sync documented; no plan gate stated |
| Bubble | Web apps natively; mobile through a React Native add-on in public beta — "Our current version of React Native". Their docs state "there’s no way of exporting your application as code".manual.bubble.io | Web; iOS + Android in beta | Free tier (dev only, can't go live)from $59/mo billed annually (Starter)paid plan required to ship iOS/AndroidFull comparison | No export — "there's no way of exporting your application as code" |
| Replit | "Expo uses React Native to help you build apps for iOS, Android, and the web." Their docs also note Replit does not submit to the App Store for you.docs.replit.com | iOS + Android + web | Free tier (Starter)from $20/mo (Core; $17/mo annual) | Included on all plans — "Download as zip" or GitHub sync |
| FlutterFlow | Flutter and Dart from a visual canvas. Real code download and App Store deploy, both from the paid tier; GitHub sync pushes to a FlutterFlow-owned branch.flutterflow.io | iOS + Android + web | Free tier (no code export)from $39/mo (Basic; ~$29/mo annual) to export/shipFull comparison | From Basic, $39/mo ("Code Download"); Free tier: no export; GitHub sync from Growth |
| a0.dev | "React Native (Expo) apps from text descriptions."a0.dev | iOS + Android + web | Free tier (1 project)from $20/mo (Pro) | Not documented — no export page in their docs |
| iOS + Android | ||||
| Modaal | Native Swift and SwiftUI, native Kotlin and Compose. A real Xcode project and a real Android Studio project on your disk.How this works | iOS + Android | Free tierfrom €9/mobring your own agent — no per-seat AI charge | Free — the Xcode and Android Studio projects are on your disk from the first feature |
| Rork | "Rork writes a real Android Studio project in Kotlin." Rork Max builds "native SwiftUI apps… compiled with Xcode". Their docs add: "Rork used to build apps this way and no longer does for new projects" — referring to React Native. Rork Pro remains React Native and Expo.docs.rork.com | iOS + Android | Free tierfrom $25/mo (Junior, 100 msgs)Rork Max (native Swift) $200/moFull comparison | Paid plan required, from $25/mo — export via GitHub; Free tier cannot export |
| Vibecode | "Your apps are built using React Native and Expo, which compile to native iOS and Android code."vibecodeapp.com | iOS + Android | Free tierfrom $20/mo (Plus)source code download from $50/mo (Pro) | "Download Code" in the web app; no plan gate stated |
| Newly (formerly Natively) | "True native code using React Native and Expo… Expo SDK 54, React Native with TypeScript."newly.app | iOS + Android | No free tierfrom $25/mo (Agent 25, 50 credits) | Included on every plan (no free tier; from $25/mo) — GitHub or ZIP |
| RapidNative | "Full React Native + Expo source code."rapidnative.com | iOS + Android | Free tier (20 credits/mo)from $20/mo (Starter) | From Starter, $20/mo — "Download project (code export)"; Free tier: no export |
| CatDoes | "Expo React Native" — described as "native iOS and Android apps with native UI and gestures, not web wrappers".catdoes.com | iOS + Android | Free tier (25 credits)from $17/mo (Core) | Pro, $168/mo — export "Included"; Starter: "Not included"; other tiers not listed |
| Adalo | Marketing page claims "True IPA output — not a web wrapper" and "Real APK builds… not a React Native wrapper or PWA"; their developer docs say custom components "must write React Native code for mobile". No documented code export found.adalo.com | iOS + Android | Free tier (test only, can't publish)from $36/mo billed annually ($43.20 monthly) per published appFull comparison | No code export documented |
| Single-platform mobile | ||||
| Bitrig | "Real Swift code you can ship to the App Store", delivered as "full Xcode projects".bitrig.com | iOS | Free tier (code export included)from $25/mo (Pro, App Store distribution)bring your own agent subscriptionFull comparison | Free — "Export your code at any time" on the Free plan |
| Nativeline | "Nativeline builds actual SwiftUI — not web wrappers." A macOS app, like Modaal.nativeline.ai | iOS | Free tier (100 bits, no card)from $25/mo (Builder) | "You own your code forever" (Builder, $25/mo); export on the free tier not stated |
| Superapp | Native Swift, with App Store submission handled in-product.superappp.com | iOS | Free tier (5 credits/day)from $25/mo (Pro)or $18 one-time credit packFull comparison | Included on any plan — "you can export the full Xcode project on any plan" (features page) |
| Google AI Studio | "A Kotlin and Jetpack Compose project that you can preview in a browser-based emulator, install on a physical device, and publish to the Play Store."ai.google.dev | Android only | Free (AI Studio itself is free; Gemini API usage is pay-as-you-go beyond free quota) | Free — "download the project as a ZIP file"; GitHub export not yet available for Android |
For a lot of apps it genuinely is not. If you are validating an idea, an Expo app will get you to the App Store and real users will not notice or care. React Native is a serious framework with serious apps shipped on it, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
The stack starts to matter at three specific moments, and it is worth knowing whether any of them are in your future before you pick a tool.
When you need a platform capability the framework has not wrapped yet. Every cross-platform framework sits behind the platform it targets. Usually the gap is months and irrelevant. Occasionally the thing you need is the thing that is missing, and then you are writing a native module by hand — in which case you are doing native development anyway, just through a layer.
When someone else has to work on it. A native Swift project can be handed to any iOS developer. An Expo project can be handed to any React Native developer. Neither is harder to hire for in the abstract, but they are different hires, and the pool for one of them is much larger if your app is your company.
When you want to leave. This is the one that actually bites. Ask what happens to your project if you stop paying — whether you get the source, whether it builds without the vendor’s runtime, whether their SDK is threaded through your business logic. Several tools in the table above export a complete project you can open and build with nothing installed but the platform toolchain. Several do not. That difference is invisible on the day you sign up and total on the day you leave.
Modaal generates native Swift and SwiftUI for iOS and native Kotlin and Compose for Android, as two real projects on your own disk. It runs on the AI agent you already pay for — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini and nine others — with no per-token charge on top, and it works through Xcode rather than around it.
The honest limits, so you do not find them yourself later: it needs a Mac, it needs Xcode, and it assumes you are willing to look at code even if you are not writing it. If that sounds like friction rather than control, one of the browser-based tools above will serve you better and we would rather say so here than waste your afternoon.
What Modaal does that none of the tools above do is keep two native codebases in agreement. Duet shares the application logic across iOS and Android and enforces interface parity with fixtures replayed on both platforms — the build fails when the two disagree. Every other product here either targets one platform, or targets both by rendering through a shared runtime.
Every output description above is quoted from the vendor’s own documentation, with the source linked, and dated. Where a vendor’s docs and marketing pages contradict each other we say so rather than picking the flattering reading.
Four products people ask about are deliberately missing: Choicely, x1, Emergent and OnSpace. Each of them describes its output in marketing terms we could not confirm against their own technical documentation. We would rather leave a gap than fill it with a guess, and we will add them the moment they publish something checkable.
This page gets re-verified before every republish. If you find something here that is out of date, tell us — the correction is more useful to us than the claim was.
One page per product, each with pricing, an honest concession, and a recommendation against Modaal where that is the right answer.
There is no technical definition of either, which is why both get used so loosely. The checkable question is what language the code is in and what compiles it. Swift compiled by Xcode and Kotlin compiled by the Android toolchain are native in the narrowest sense. React Native through Expo renders real platform views from JavaScript. A progressive web app is a website. All three get marketed with the same word.
Not by itself. Apple approves apps built with React Native, Flutter and Swift alike, and many of the largest apps on the store are cross-platform. What gets apps rejected is usually metadata, permissions, payment handling or thin functionality, not the framework.
Most export something. The question worth asking each vendor is narrower: does the exported project build with nothing installed but the standard platform toolchain, or does it need their SDK, their runtime or their account? Ask before you sign up, not after.
Because for a lot of projects one of them is the right answer, and a comparison page that never reaches that conclusion is not a comparison. Modaal needs a Mac, Xcode and an agent subscription. If you want to build an app in a browser tab on a Windows laptop this afternoon, nothing on this page is going to change that, and we would rather be the page that told you honestly.
Before every republish, and immediately when a vendor changes what they ship. Rork moved from React Native to native Swift and Kotlin in early 2026 and Google AI Studio added Kotlin and Compose generation in May 2026 — both changes made earlier versions of comparisons like this one wrong.
One project, two native apps: Swift for iPhone, Kotlin for Android.