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Expo

React Native framework and cloud platform for building and shipping apps

As of 25 August 2026, Expo has a free plan and paid plans start at $19/month. Expo is the official React Native framework with cloud build, submission, and over-the-air update services for iOS, Android, and web apps. Softwr lists it under Mobile Development. Expo is available on Web, iOS, Android, API.

Overview

What Expo does

Expo is an open-source framework and platform for building universal native apps with React Native, recommended by the React Native team at Meta. It combines a large SDK of pre-built native modules with Expo Application Services (EAS), which provides cloud builds, app store submissions, over-the-air updates, and hosting without requiring local Xcode or Android SDK setup. Expo Router adds file-based navigation, and the platform is widely used by AI-assisted app builders.

What people use it for

  • Building cross-platform apps with React Native without native tooling
  • Running cloud builds and store submissions via EAS
  • Shipping over-the-air updates to bypass app store review
  • Adding file-based navigation with Expo Router
  • Hosting companion web apps and APIs

The honest half

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Expo.

  • Free tier build counts and MAU support are low, pushing active projects to paid plans quickly.
  • Usage-based overage charges for builds, CI/CD minutes, and MAUs can make costs less predictable.
  • Concurrent build limits on lower tiers slow down teams with frequent releases.
  • Some native functionality still requires ejecting to bare workflow or writing custom native modules.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Expo

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

  • Expo logo
    Expo
    vs
    React Native logo
    React Native

    React Native: Expo is built on top of React Native and provides tooling around the same core framework.

  • Expo logo
    Expo
    vs
    Flutter logo
    Flutter

    Flutter: Flutter is a competing cross-platform mobile framework with its own build and deployment tooling.

Pricing

What Expo costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Free

Free

  • 15 Android and 15 iOS builds
  • Low-priority build queue
  • 60 minutes of CI/CD workflows
  • 1,000 monthly active users for updates
  • 25 projects maximum

Starter

$19 /mo

  • $45 build credit included
  • High-priority queue and large workers
  • 3,000 MAUs for updates
  • Usage-based charges beyond included amounts

Production

$199 /mo

  • $225 build credit included
  • 2 concurrent builds
  • 50,000 MAU support
  • 10 environment variables
  • Priority support and SSO

Enterprise

On request

  • $1,000 build credit included
  • 5 concurrent builds
  • 1M+ MAU support
  • Dedicated support and SLAs

Capabilities

Features

  • Expo SDK

    100+ production-ready native modules for camera, notifications, sensors, and more

  • EAS Build

    Cloud-based building and code signing for iOS and Android without local toolchains

  • EAS Submit

    One-command submission of builds to the App Store and Play Store

  • EAS Update

    Ship over-the-air JavaScript and asset updates without app store review

  • Expo Router

    File-based routing for navigation across native and web platforms

  • EAS Hosting

    Deploy web apps and APIs via Cloudflare Workers

  • EAS Insights

    Monitor production app usage and update adoption

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

What does Expo cost?

Expo offers a free plan, a Starter plan at $19/month with $45 build credit, a Production plan at $199/month with $225 build credit, and custom Enterprise pricing.

Source
Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The Free plan includes 15 Android and 15 iOS builds, low-priority build queue access, 60 minutes of CI/CD workflows, and support for 1,000 monthly active users on updates.

Source
How is usage metered on paid plans?

Beyond included build credit, Expo charges per build by platform and worker size, per CI/CD workflow minute, per million Observe events, and graduated per-MAU overage rates for updates.

Source
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Where to go from Expo

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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Expo, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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