Ionic
A UI toolkit for building iOS, Android, and web apps from one JavaScript and web codebase.ionic-team/ionic-framework
- Stars
- 52.7k
- Forks
- 13.3k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- TypeScript
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- Library
What it is
Ionic is an open source toolkit of user interface components for building apps that run on iPhone, Android, and the web from a single codebase. It is built on Web Components and works with popular frameworks such as Angular, React, and Vue. Developers use it to make cross-platform apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript instead of writing separate native apps.
- Build a cross-platform mobile app with a single web codebase
- Build a Progressive Web App that runs in a browser
- Start from the official Ionic Conference App examples for Angular, React, or Vue
- Migrate an existing Ionic app from v7 to v8 using the official guides
Great for
- Web developers who want to build mobile apps using existing web skills
- Teams that already use Angular, React, or Vue and want a shared UI toolkit
- Projects that need one codebase for iOS, Android, and Progressive Web Apps
- Developers who want a well-documented, MIT-licensed framework
Not ideal for
- Projects that need full access to the newest platform-specific native APIs without a bridge, since the README does not detail this and it relies on web-based packaging
- Developers who want a framework without any dependency on a specific frontend framework, since the README highlights integrations with Angular, React, and Vue
- Developers maintaining Ionic 1, 2, or 3 apps, since those versions were moved to separate repositories and this repo covers current versions
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: Node.js · npm
Install the Angular package
npm install @ionic/angular - 2
Run it
- Follow the official quickstart in the Ionic documentation at ionicframework.com/docs
- Create a new project using the Ionic CLI as described in the docs
- Run the project locally using the development server described in the docs
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the official Ionic Conference App examples for Angular, React, or Vue as a starting point
- Read the migration guides when upgrading between major versions
- Check the contributing guide if you want to report issues or help with development
- Join the Discord or forums to ask questions
Downloads
Strengths
- Single codebase for iOS, Android, and web, based on standard web technologies
- Works with Angular, React, and Vue, according to the README
- Open source under the MIT license with active documentation and community channels
Trade-offs
- The README is truncated and does not describe the full feature set or performance details, so claims beyond the summary are unverified
- Mobile apps rely on web technologies, so behavior and performance depend on the chosen platform layer and setup
- Migration is needed between major versions, as shown by the existence of several migration guides
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ionic-framework (this) | 52.7k | Library | intermediate | 4 days ago | Web developers who want to build mobile apps using existing web skills |
| react-native | 127k | Framework | intermediate | 4 days ago | Web developers who already know React and want to build mobile apps |
| framework7 | 18.8k | Framework | intermediate | 6 days ago | Developers who already know HTML, CSS and JavaScript and want to build mobile-style apps |
| capacitor | 17k | Dev tool | intermediate | 7 days ago | Web developers who already have a modern web app and want it in the app stores |
| getx | 11.2k | Library | beginner | 5 days ago | Flutter developers who want state management, routing and dependency injection from a single package |
| angular | 101k | Framework | intermediate | 5 days ago | Developers building larger, multi-screen web applications |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.