All three frameworks ship one JavaScript code base to Android and iOS; what separates them is how they draw the screen and who owns the native code.
| Question | Capacitor | Cordova | React Native |
|---|---|---|---|
| What draws the UI? | WebView (HTML, CSS) | WebView (HTML, CSS) | Native views |
| Reuse an existing web app? | Yes | Yes | No, rewrite the UI |
| Who owns native projects? | You, as source | CLI, regenerated | You, or Expo 6,418 prebuild |
| Version (Sep 2026) | 8.5.2 | CLI 13.0.0 | 0.87.1 |
| License | MIT | Apache 2.0 | MIT |
Choose Capacitor when you have, or want, a web app: a Framework7 572,986 , React 7,897 or Vue 5,482 front end, a PWA, or a team fluent in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Catalogs, forms, business and content apps such as BookNest fit well. Choose Cordova mainly to maintain an existing Cordova app; for new work Capacitor offers the same WebView model with a current toolchain. Choose React Native (React Native) when the interface is the product: long lists at full frame rate, heavy gestures and animation, or a strictly native look.