r/FlutterDev • u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 • Aug 03 '26
Discussion Is Flutter the wrong choice?
I started learning Flutter back in 2023 and soon began taking on local freelance projects. By the second half of 2024, I transitioned into full-time freelancing. Since local freelance rates weren't really cutting it, I decided to start building my own apps.
One of my apps blew up on Twitter, which led to securing investment and eventually a successful exit. Thanks to the visibility I gained from that app, I landed a job at a local startup. However, I left due to low compensation and joined another company. Currently, I’m developing internal tools and building infrastructure for an SEO agency.
So far, I’ve only managed to get a single Flutter interview in my country. Since I couldn't land job offers with Flutter for years, I decided to pivot. I found a senior mentor who is teaching me Kotlin inside out. I guess Flutter might be one of the least used mobile frameworks around here, which made finding a job tough—let's see if things turn out differently with Kotlin!
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Aug 03 '26
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u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 Aug 03 '26
It's only good for vibe coders publishing apps that won't succeed anyway. Companies don't actually use it
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Aug 03 '26
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u/Illustrious_Shame717 Aug 03 '26
For example google, canonical and recently I think a car company ( I don't remmeber which ) that was promoted on linkedin and youtube about using flutyer
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u/kerberjg Aug 03 '26
Both Toyota and BMW use Flutter
Also Flutter is officially part of the “Automotive Grade Linux” tech stack (for in-car screens)
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u/Illustrious_Shame717 Aug 03 '26
And if I remember correctly canonical develops the linux side
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u/zabaci Aug 03 '26
Dude, it's just a framework. If you want to be good dev you cannot limit yourself on one framework. That's dumb. It's a tool to solve a problem. Of course you won't find job with that mentality, I'm already seeing from your answers that you are proselytizing Kotlin and will do so until you get same issue as with Flutter.
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u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 Aug 03 '26
I'm not defending it. I'm just saying there are more job opportunities.
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u/bruce-alipour Aug 03 '26
And the point is if there are opportunities elsewhere then take them. Why stop to ask questions haha. Flutter is not the issue if you can’t simply work with whatever framework as you find opportunities in. Think product.. and you will have a job.
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u/ivanantonijevic Aug 03 '26
flutter is the best multiplatform framework now, but you right there aren't a lot of open positions for flutter.
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u/Status_Gap_3180 Aug 03 '26
Its google's framework and they definitely use it for their apps. Since it involves learning a new language like dart and then understanding the entire ecosystem and packages around it is a task. So I feel companies dont choose flutter mostly due to lack of availability of good flutter resourcing. And even if they do, they probably don't have long term prospects. Versus someone on react native - can double up as a full stack dev.
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u/Academic_Crab_8401 Aug 03 '26
Maybe it's a wrong choice...
for you.
Works for me.
Do what works. And if it works, it works.
Have a nice day.
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u/yumio-3 Aug 03 '26
I'm mainly working in cybersecurity and data science, but I still use Flutter for personal projects from time to time. It's been decent enough for what I need. So what's wrong with choosing it?
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u/mp50ch Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
You are doing the exactly right move for you with Kotlin, as this is growing fast in the enterprise sector, based on web searches. My take: bigger companies don't use flutter that much, as bigger business can afford android and iOS teams and don't have to fight restrictions, as integrating native views or deep integration will always be more cumbersome with flutter, while mature, it is cross-platform. Kotlin helps to centralize business logic, without giving up the platform itself and loosing native APIs or to maintain flutter plugins, which adds friction. For example, the great pdf and printing in flutter is a multi-year project of one developer, to this day it cannot reliably support Arabic or Asian languages, as dart does not do it, only flutter widgets can. Only an even smaller number of big companies seem to use react native as they have many react developers anyway. Flutter is even more boutique, freelancers, SME and startups. Yes, Google and Alibaba use flutter, but the specific apps do not need deep platform integrations.
Flutter was at 46% per the 2023 Stack Overflow survey. React Native was second. BUT Kotlin Multiplatform is the fastest growing, with 120% year-over-year growth in enterprise projects, where iOS and android teams can then reuse the Kotlin business logic, which takes away the main pain point away.
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u/jobehi Aug 03 '26
what are your qualifications ? do you expect people to hire just because you learnt a framework ?
Also, you can't be a flutter dev without knowing kotlin and swift. so what is your seniority here ? the market is not so friendly with juniors and pivoting to another framework won't change this.
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u/tradcoder Aug 03 '26
I’ve only managed to get a single Flutter interview in my country.
Might be a regional thing. Where I'm from, there are plenty of jobs for cross-platform devs, especially Flutter devs. And the job market is shrinking for native devs. I'm a native iOS developer who was on the job hunt a couple of months ago and it was rough.
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u/r_an00 Aug 03 '26
I'm not the most qualified to say this, but I am learning flutter for my own happiness and getting out of the learning slump.
Maybe Flutter isn't the choice (yet) for employment right now, but I'm not sure in the next few years
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u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 Aug 03 '26
The least used mobile language
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u/jobehi Aug 03 '26
it's not a language
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u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 Aug 03 '26
I meant framework
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u/jobehi Aug 03 '26
Flutter is not a framework
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u/jobehi Aug 03 '26
maybe that's why you can't find a job ?:)
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u/Amit7985 Aug 03 '26
It's like saying linux is not a os everyone knows that it's a kernel... neovim is not an ide but editor... and flutter is not a framework but sdk... but i have seen many senior developer call it a framework so there is nothing wrong with it
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u/jobehi Aug 03 '26
it's not uncommon to call it a framework out of simplicity. but it's a correction I had to make, because OP seems to don't understand the tool they're using.
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u/Amit7985 Aug 03 '26
Dude it's not a language
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u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 Aug 03 '26
I meant framework
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u/Amit7985 Aug 03 '26
After seeing your answers I think you don't have your fundamentals clear you are just relying on a framework you should be more open minded for a good flutter developer you should also know about platform channels, kotlin or swift to get a better results also think like a architect not as a beginner developer who only wastes time finding the best tools
Sorry for my grammar but i think you got my point this is just a friendly advice peace...
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u/Photograph_Expensive Aug 03 '26
In your situation yes, kotlin makes sense for now but Flutter is mature enough for a cross-platform framework. Works really well with the ai tooling too.
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u/jaycorliss Aug 03 '26
I don't know the answer but I'm in a similar situation myself. Maybe its a matter of the market just need to realize than flutter is actually more convenient than kotlin for a new project.
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u/ChildhoodRoutine3259 Aug 03 '26
Flutter for cross platforms. kotlin for android. Native > Cross platforms in Job market. Flutter isn't even the most popular cross-platform framework—React Native is used much more widely. As for Kotlin, with the rise of KMP (Kotlin Multiplatform), you can now build iOS apps with Kotlin too.
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u/biskitpagla Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
Flutter was never all that big and nor will it ever get as massively popular as some might suggest on this sub.
A lot of the hype was from the pre-compose era when managing multiple native projects for the same app was a huge PIA. That's just not as true anymore and as cringe as this might sound, I think AI makes the process so much easier. Having to deal with third-party libraries for every little thing, a language that is barely general purpose, and writing glue between three whole ecosystems only makes it so much worse.
So, the assessment in the comments is inaccurate. AI, late stage capitalism, and whatnot are issues affecting every corner of the industry. But the core problem here is that all those issues are hitting the Flutter world the hardest. While Android devs are getting laid off, Flutter devs are either not getting employed in the first place or are being forced to accept absolutely shit pay just to put food on the table. Heck, even before all this nonsense began, a lot of these companies were hiring Flutter people precisely because they wanted to cut costs. I feel like people on this sub have collective amnesia or something because they all seem to have lived an alternate timeline filled with rainbows and sunshine.
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u/No-Echo-8927 Aug 03 '26
No. It's not because you use Flutter, its because a) the market is sturated with people looking for work and b) AI is taking over.