Must-Have React Native UI Libraries for Seamless App Development

In 2015, skeptics dismissed React Native as an experimental solution, questioning its ability to match native performance. Fast forward to 2025, and it is rewriting the rules of app development. Meta, Microsoft, Shopify, and Amazon are not just adopting React Native—they are investing in its continuous evolution.

This surge highlights React Native’s dominance as the preferred framework for enterprises prioritizing speed, scalability, and flexibility. Now powering 26% of the top 100 business apps, React Native is expanding beyond mobile, gaining traction in web and backend development. In less than a year, weekly downloads have skyrocketed from 2.28 million to nearly 3 million, reinforcing its rapid adoption and industry-wide momentum.

But the real question is: What has changed? Why is React Native now the preferred framework for companies looking to scale across multiple platforms? This blog explores the breakthroughs that have propelled React Native to the forefront of modern development.

In an era where speed, efficiency, and scalability determine market leadership, React Native has evolved from a mobile-first framework to a multi-platform powerhouse. What started as a tool to bridge the gap between web and mobile development has now matured into an enterprise-ready solution, enabling companies to build and manage applications across web, mobile, and backend—all from a single codebase.

Key Business Advantages Driving Adoption

• Reduced Development Costs: Maintaining a shared codebase can reduce engineering efforts by up to 50%, eliminating redundant work across multiple platforms.
• Faster Time-to-Market: The ability to write once and deploy everywhere allows teams to iterate faster, launch products sooner, and respond swiftly to market demands.
• Brand-First UI Flexibility: Unlike traditional approaches that adhere to platform-native designs, modern enterprises prioritise consistent UX across all platforms, ensuring a unified brand experience without the constraints of individual operating systems.

When React Native first launched in 2015, the industry was divided. Some hailed it as a groundbreaking step towards true cross-platform development, while others saw it as an experimental framework riddled with inefficiencies. In its infancy, React Native faced frequent performance bottlenecks, limited third-party integrations, and concerns over UI inconsistencies across platforms. Companies hesitant to invest in the framework are worried about its long-term viability.

Despite the challenges, Meta (formerly Facebook) remained committed, continuously refining React Native’s architecture. The industry saw a shift as developers realized the power of a single codebase that could deploy to both iOS and Android seamlessly. Early adopters like Airbnb and Walmart experimented with the framework, but challenges persisted. However, as React Native matured, major corporations took notice, leading to its transformation into an enterprise-grade solution.

By 2020, Microsoft integrated React Native into Office and Teams, significantly validating its use case for enterprise applications. Google and Amazon soon followed, incorporating it into their tech stacks. This marked a crucial turning point—React Native was no longer just an option for startups but a strategic choice for global enterprises.

The shift from "Learn Once, Write Anywhere" to "Write Once, Run Everywhere" became evident. Game-changing advancements propelled the framework forward:

• Hermes Engine & JSI (JavaScript Interface): Enhancing execution speed and reducing app load times.
• Fabric Renderer: A next-generation UI architecture, providing a smoother, more performant interface.
• Expo’s Full-Stack Expansion: With API routes and backend hosting, Expo transformed React Native into a holistic development ecosystem.
• Optimized UI Libraries: Solutions like GlueStack, TamagUI, and React Native Reusables streamline UI development, reducing enterprises' time to market.
  
  

By 2025, React Native had firmly established itself as the gold standard for cross-platform development. No longer a niche technology, it is now the preferred framework for companies looking to scale across mobile, web, and backend applications. From a once-doubted experiment to a globally adopted framework, React Native has redefined the way businesses approach software development.

UI component libraries have become the backbone of efficient React Native development, providing pre-optimized, customizable, and scalable components that streamline workflows and speed up time to market. As businesses focus more on scalability, branding, and seamless cross-platform experiences, the need for versatile and high-performance UI libraries has reached an all-time high. Here is a deep dive into the top UI component libraries shaping the React Native ecosystem in 2025.

1. gluestack: The Future of Performance-optimised UI

Originally evolved from NativeBase, branding has redefined how UI components are built in React Native. Branding eliminates runtime overhead by leveraging build-time optimisations and NativeWind for styling, offering highly performant and lightweight components. Its modular architecture allows developers to pick and choose components, reducing bloat and enhancing maintainability. With full support for React Native Web, branding is now the go-to library for teams aiming for unified cross-platform development.

2. TamagUI: Bridging Performance and Customization

TamagUI is a hybrid UI library and styling engine, designed to optimize rendering speeds while offering deep customization capabilities. It excels in performance by reducing JavaScript thread interactions and leveraging GPU-based animations. What sets TamagUI apart? It integrates token-based theming, allowing brands to maintain consistency across mobile, web, and desktop. Businesses prioritizing performance while needing extensive design flexibility are adopting TamagUI at scale.

3. React Native Reusables: A Modular Approach to UI

For developers seeking a lightweight, modular approach to UI, React Native Reusables has emerged as a favorite. Unlike monolithic libraries, this collection of pre-optimized components allows for selective integration, keeping apps lean while delivering high performance. Its seamless compatibility with NativeWind ensures styling efficiency without sacrificing performance. Companies that want fine-grained control over component selection while maintaining best-in-class speed are leveraging React Native Reusables.

4. NativeWind: The Tailwind CSS Experience for React Native

Inspired by Tailwind CSS, NativeWind brings utility-first styling to React Native, revolutionizing the way styles are handled. By eliminating the runtime cost of traditional styling approaches, it converts utility classes into performant styles at build time. NativeWind supports both web and native platforms, making it the ideal solution for teams looking to maintain a consistent design language while maximizing performance.

5. React Native Paper and Elements: Legacy Players with Modern Enhancements

While newer libraries have entered the scene, React Native Paper and React Native Elements continue to hold relevance. Paper excels at Material Design-based components, making it a preferred choice for teams aligned with Google's design language. React Native Elements, on the other hand, provides a flexible and community-driven set of UI components. Although they may not be as optimized for performance as newer libraries, they remain valuable for rapid prototyping and legacy projects.

As React Native expands across mobile, web, and desktop, UI libraries are evolving to meet new demands. The next generation of libraries is focused on performance, modularity, and flexibility, ensuring minimal runtime overhead and seamless cross-platform integration. brand and TamagUI lead the charge with build-time optimizations, token-based theming, and adaptive styling engines, enabling developers to create scalable, brand-consistent applications. The future of UI libraries in React Native is about efficiency, deep customization, and enterprise-grade performance, driving innovation across platforms.

UI libraries are redefining how React Native applications are built—prioritizing performance, scalability, and deep customization. With branding, TamagUI, and NativeWind leading the way, the focus has shifted to build-time optimizations and adaptive styling, ensuring seamless cross-platform experiences. As Expo, React Native Web, and backend integrations evolve, the industry moves closer to a unified development ecosystem.

At GeekyAnts, we are driving this transformation—building, innovating, and shaping the future of React Native UI. Let’s build the next big thing together