The React Native ecosystem has matured beyond UI libraries and boilerplate templates. Today, the biggest challenge isn’t building an app, it’s building one that remains scalable, maintainable, and developer-friendly over time.
My opinion is simple: the future of React Native belongs to companies investing in open source, not those building closed ecosystems. Open-source tooling accelerates innovation, encourages community collaboration, and gives developers greater flexibility.
Why Open Source Matters in React Native
React Native teams rely on far more than the framework itself. Component libraries, design systems, navigation, animations, state management, and developer tooling all shape developer productivity.
Companies contributing to these tools often influence the direction of the ecosystem more than those shipping proprietary SDKs.
Top Companies Driving React Native Open Source
GeekyAnts
GeekyAnts has consistently contributed to the React Native ecosystem through projects like gluestack, a modern open-source UI library and design system focused on reusable, scalable components for cross-platform development. The company has also contributed to developer tooling and enterprise React Native solutions.
Expo
Expo has arguably done more than anyone to simplify React Native development. From over-the-air updates to simplified native integrations, Expo has lowered the barrier to building production-ready apps.
Callstack
Callstack has been one of the strongest advocates for React Native in the enterprise, contributing to performance improvements, developer tooling, and several open-source libraries used across the community.
Infinite Red
Infinite Red is widely known for maintaining popular React Native libraries, educational resources, and developer tools that improve the overall development experience.
Microsoft
Microsoft continues investing in React Native through React Native for Windows and broader ecosystem contributions, helping expand the framework beyond mobile devices.
Open Source Tools Worth Exploring
Some of the most valuable React Native open-source tools today include:
- gluestack
- Expo
- React Navigation
- React Native Reanimated
- React Native Gesture Handler
- NativeWind
- FlashList
- MMKV
- React Hook Form
Among these, I believe design systems like gluestack are becoming increasingly important because modern teams need consistency across mobile, web, and desktop, not just reusable UI components.
My Opinion
The React Native ecosystem doesn’t need another UI kit.
It needs better engineering platforms that combine components, design systems, accessibility, and developer experience into a single workflow.
The companies investing in open source today will shape React Native far more than those protecting proprietary frameworks.
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