Android Studio is an IDE that is Android Studio which is an environment for integrated development of the software. But sometimes the requirement is unique which takes either the compiled methods to use Android studio which not only consumes time but is hard to understand as well. So developers look for some alternative to Android Studio to create that specific feature.
There are many alternatives available in the market in place of Android Studio. Therefore, in this article, we will discuss the Top 10 Android studio alternatives that are used by developers to increase their productivity.
What is Android Studio?
Android Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for Android applications that provides support to the extensive framework and testing tools. Android Studio provides support to NDK and C++ and also provides built-in support to the Google Cloud. Android Studio also supports popular programming languages like Java and Kotlin which make it an obvious choice for Android app development.
To learn more, refer to this article: Android Studio
Android Studio Alternatives For App Development
Android Studio is a very important tool used for app development but there are a few features that are complex to use, so to handle these complexities developers have built alternatives to Android Studio that are not only user-friendly but also have developer-friendly interface. Here is the list of the top 10 Android studio alternatives for app development
1. IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA is an IDE that was developed by JetBrains and is written in Java, Groovy, and Kotlin. It helps in building the IntelliJ IDEA community from the source code and also produces high-quality code.
To learn more, refer to this article: IntelliJ IDEA
Key Features
- IntelliJ helps in detecting grammatical mistakes made by users.
- It is used to search keywords from databases.
- For various programming languages, it provides support for syntax highlighting.
Advantages
- A set of inspections are provided which are built-in static code analysis tools.
- It helps to find bugs and errors in the code.
Disadvantage
- The paid subscription is costly.
- The code corrections are sometimes useless for the developers.
Pricing – The community edition is free but for the individual developers paid plans start from $16.90/month.
2. Android SDK
Android SDK is an API library and the tools that are used for testing and debugging Android applications. It is a development kit that includes a collection of software development tools and libraries.
To learn more, refer to this article: Android SDK
Key Features
- Some sample code, docs, libraries, and many more things are provided to create apps.
- Some selective tools are provided in Android SDK to build the Android apps.
- It supports the IOT and mobile devices.
Advantage
- Android SDK integration with other apps is easy.
- It provides tools and resources to the developers.
Disadvantage
- Some security issues are there in the Android platform of Android SDK.
Pricing- Users can use the free version of Android SDK.
3. Flutter
Flutter is a framework that is used by stack developers to build multi-platform apps from a single codebase. It is an open-source project which was developed by Google to build app UI.
To learn more, refer to this article: Flutter
Key Features
- The feature of “Hot Reload” is used for fast development facilities.
- It has a variety of rich widgets.
- It provides dark mode support in less light conditions.
Advantage
- A customizable user interface design is provided.
- Due to the fast development cycle developers can modify and see the change in real time.
Disadvantage
- The Dart programming language used by Flutter is difficult to learn.
- Some bugs and errors can be seen in old browsers.
Pricing- As it is an open source it is free to use but there are also some paid plans available for flutter development.
4. Qt Creator
Qt Creator is an IDE for programmers that is used to create multiple applications and eases GUI application modifications or designs. It is the best tool for creating Qt applications.
Key Features
- It supports code formatting and syntax highlighting for different programming languages.
- The rest of the word is completed while we are typing and it also has great debugging facilities.
Advantage
- Software applications can be created in mobile and desktops.
- It supports platforms like macOS, windows, and Linux.
- It is easy to integrate Qt Creator with the Qt libraries.
Disadvantage
- Users experience some problems with the mobile versions.
Pricing- The paid plans of commercial license start from $459/month.
5. Apache Cordova
Apache Cordova is used for building mobile applications with the help of HTML, CSS, and Javascript. It is an open-source mobile application development framework that was created by Nitobi.
To learn more, refer to this article: Apache Cordova
Key Features
- The command line interface is provided in Cordova.
- A set of core components is provided in all mobile apps.
Advantages
- It is used with different libraries and frameworks.
- It consists of five platform supports and there are different native plugins available.
Disadvantages
- Cross-browser compatibility creates major issues.
- Some plugins consist of some compatibility issues.
Pricing- It is open source therefore it is free to use.
6. Thunkable
Thunkable is a mobile application development platform that allows users to create apps on Android or iOS without having any coding skills. It consists of a drag-and-drop interface which makes it easier to use by anyone.
Key Features
- It consists of camera-capturing features.
- It supports visual programming and provides drag-and-drop features.
- It allows users to add components and connect them to build desired functionality.
Advantage
- It supports cross-platform development therefore users can develop apps both on Android and iOS devices.
- It doesn’t need to create separate applications for other platforms.
- Anyone can create an application in thinkable without coding.
Disadvantage
- It provides limited customization options available.
- Limited control is provided over the code as it is a no-code platform.
Pricing- Thunkable consists of both free and paid plans. The paid plan starts from $13.0/month.
7. MIT App Inventor
MIT App Inventor is a visual programming environment which is developed by Google. It allows users to build apps for tablets and smartphones.
To learn more, refer to this article: MIT App Inventor
Key Features
- It consists of drag-and-drop features.
- With the help of app inventor applications, it is easy to test apps that are developed on laptops and desktops.
- It also provides users with lessons that help in building apps with a good understanding.
Advantage
- No typing is required due to the drag-and-drop facility provided by the MIT App inventor.
- It is easy to test the app which is developed on a desktop or laptop using the app inventor.
Disadvantage
- The user interface is not user-friendly.
- It is difficult for beginners to use.
Pricing- It is free to use as it is open source.
8. Bubble
Bubble is a no-code application and development platform which was developed by Bubble Group which helps noncoder people to build website apps without writing a single line of code.
Key Features
- It provides drag-and-drop builder features.
- It helps noncoders to build pixel-perfect designs.
- It supports visual programming languages.
Advantages
- It is good for beginners and free plans are available.
- It allows the use of the data outside the service and multiple templates are provided.
- It is good for web application development.
Disadvantages
- It has slow performance.
- The game creation tools perform poorly.
Pricing- It is freely available for anyone to use, the paid plans start from $29.00/month.
9. B4X
B4X is a cross-platform tool that helps in creating applications on platforms like Google Android, Arduino, Apple iOS, and so on. The syntax of B4X is similar to BASIC.
Key Features
- B4X consists of different native Java libraries.
- It supports multiple types of apps including games.
- The app files that are generated are small compared to the files that are developed in other editors.
Advantage
- It is easy to learn therefore it is beneficial for beginners.
- It is free therefore anyone can use it.
- It consists of huge collections of libraries.
Disadvantage
- B4X is only available in Windows.
Pricing- It is freely available for everyone.
10. Pocket Code
Pocket Code is another alternative to Android Studio. It is a mobile programming environment that is used by users to create simple animations, games, apps, music, videos, and much more directly on a tablet or phone.
Key Features
- As it has multiplayer features, in a game mode it offers more than one player.
- It can be used without worrying about an internet connection.
- No coding is required in pocket mode therefore anyone can develop apps using pocket code.
Advantage
- With the help of this app, it is easy to create games without coding.
- It helps in translating the code parsed by XML files.
- The pocket code projects can be published in an integrated community.
Disadvantage
- The interface has some bugs because it crashes sometimes while using it.
Pricing- Pocket code is a freely available app.
Conclusion
Android Studio is popular for creating Apps using Android development but there are many alternatives available that have unique capabilities required for creating specific applications that we have discussed in the article above. These alternatives are used across the industry for creating Apps by the software developers. Therefore, these are the Top 10 alternatives of Android Studio used by the developers based on their requirements. By using these alternatives developers can acquire the best results. This article covers some of the popular Android studio alternatives, their features, advantages, disadvantages, and their pricing.