Expo 6,418 is a framework on top of React Native 36,878 : a project template, a CLI (npx expo ...), a standard library of native modules, file-based routing with Expo Router 6,418 , and optional cloud services (EAS 6,418 ) for building and updating apps. The Community CLI (@react-native-community/cli) is the plain template the React Native team maintains: your JavaScript plus hand-maintained android/ and ios/ projects. React Native's own documentation now says, "if you're building a new app with React Native, we recommend using a Framework", and names Expo. The old objection, that Expo locks you out of native code, no longer holds: an Expo project can use any native library and your own Kotlin or Swift modules.
| Question | Expo (create-expo-app) | Community CLI (init) |
|---|---|---|
| React Native version today | 0.86.3 (pinned by SDK 57) | 0.87.1 (latest) |
| Native folders | Generated by expo prebuild | Committed, edited by hand |
| Native configuration | app.json and config plugins | build.gradle, Info.plist |
| Cloud builds and updates | EAS Build 6,418 , EAS Update 6,418 (optional) | Your own CI, no update service |
| Licence | MIT; EAS is paid with a free tier | MIT |
Pick the Community CLI to add React Native to an existing native app or to run a React Native release the week it ships (Expo SDKs trail by about one minor version). Pick Expo for everything else, which is what BookNest does. Infinite Red's Ignite 19,943 (https://github.com/infinitered/ignite 19,943 ) (about 20k GitHub 29 stars) is a popular third-party boilerplate that builds on Expo.