Hire React Native Developers in India
In-house React Native developers working from India, for a new app on Expo, an old app that has fallen behind the supported releases, or a feature that needs native code. Meet the developer in an interview first; once the contract is signed they begin the next working day, committing to a repository your company owns.
On this page
Hiring a React Native developer in India from Digital Heroes takes a free call about your app and the state of its code, then an interview with the developer we put forward. Once you sign, that developer is at work within 24 hours. They are already on our staff rather than found after you pay, and the repository, both store accounts and any Expo account stay in your company's name.
What you are hiring: screens, native code and the release
React Native lets one developer write an iPhone app and an Android app with React, in TypeScript or JavaScript. It is the stack our CTO set as the team's default for apps that run on both platforms. The screens are the part a buyer pictures. Most of the hard days on a React Native project come from the other two parts: the native code underneath, and the path from a commit to a store listing.
| Layer | What the developer does there | Tools you will hear about | Where it usually breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| React and TypeScript | Screens, navigation, forms, state, calls to your API, data kept on the phone for offline use | Expo Router or React Navigation, a data fetching library, local storage | Long lists and animations that run smoothly on a new iPhone and stutter on a mid-priced Android phone |
| Native code | Camera, Bluetooth, payments, push, health data, and any feature no library covers, through a config plugin or a module written in Swift or Kotlin | Xcode, Android Studio, CocoaPods or Swift Package Manager, Gradle | A library that was never updated for the New Architecture, found only when the app is upgraded |
| Build and release | Signing, builds for both stores, test tracks, staged rollouts, and JavaScript updates sent over the air between store releases | EAS Build and EAS Update, TestFlight, Play Console testing tracks | A demo that only ever ran inside Expo Go, or signing keys that live in one person's account |
A developer who is strong on the first layer alone can show a polished demo in week one and still stall at the first TestFlight build. Test all three before you hire, with the questions in the interview section below. When a feature goes deeper than a React Native developer should go alone, our native Swift and Kotlin developers sit on the same team.
Three jobs a React Native hire usually takes on
A React Native developer is usually brought in for one of three jobs. Each needs a slightly different person, so say which one is yours on the first call.
1. A new app for both stores
The React Native docs now recommend that new projects start on a framework, and the one they name is Expo, for its file-based routing, its standard set of native modules and its plugins that change native code without anyone editing native project files by hand. AirTrainr's athlete and trainer apps, which we built, run on React Native with Expo.
2. An app that has fallen behind
This is the job buyers underestimate. React Native maintains only its latest three minor release series, and its releases table plans a new one roughly every two months. On 17 October 2026 the table showed 0.87 and 0.86 in active support, 0.85 at the end of its cycle, and 0.84 and everything older unsupported. An app shipped and then left alone for a year is already outside that window.
The architecture changed under older apps too. React Native 0.82 runs only on the New Architecture, and its release notes name 0.81 and Expo SDK 54 as the last versions that still allow the Legacy Architecture. Moving across means checking every library for support and replacing the ones that never got it, which is why an upgrade quoted as a week can take far longer.
The stores then set the deadline. Since 28 April 2026, Apple accepts uploads only when they are built with Xcode 26 or later against an iOS 26 SDK. Since 31 August 2026, Google Play requires new apps and app updates to target Android 16, API level 36. An old app can keep running on phones, yet every update gets harder to ship.
3. A phone app beside a React web app
If your web product is already written in React, a React Native developer reads its components, hooks and types on day one, and code with no screen in it, such as validation rules and the API client, can often be shared. The screens are still rebuilt, because a phone has no browser page to render into. Shopify made the same bet: in 2020 its engineering team decided to build all of its new mobile apps in React Native.
When React Native is the right hire, and when it is not
We would rather lose a React Native hire than place one on an app that needed something else. All four mobile stacks are on our in-house team, so the advice below costs us nothing either way.
React Native fits when
- The app must ship on iPhone and Android, and most of its screens are lists, forms, maps, chat and checkout.
- Your web team already writes React and will read or review the mobile code.
- You want to fix JavaScript bugs between store releases, within the limits the stores set.
- One codebase matters more to you than the last few percent of platform polish.
Look elsewhere when
- The product lives in the camera, in augmented reality, on a watch or in widgets: hire for iOS in Swift and Android in Kotlin.
- The interface is a custom-drawn brand experience that must look identical everywhere: look at Flutter.
- It is a game. Neither React Native nor a business app team is the right buy.
- Customers open it twice a month to fill in a form: a web app may do the job with no store listing.
Torn between React Native and Flutter? Read our Flutter vs React Native comparison before you hire for either, and the page on hiring mobile app developers covers all four stacks we staff. If you want a whole app built rather than a developer hired, see our React Native development service.
What India pays, in public rate and salary data
There is no Digital Heroes rate card on this page: we quote a monthly figure after a call, once the job and the hours are clear. What follows is the outside data a buyer can hold any React Native quote up to, ours included, taken from three public sources we read on 17 October 2026.
Upwork's guide to React Native developers in India puts typical freelance rates at $15 to $20 an hour, against a US baseline for the same role of $36 to $59. Over a month of roughly 160 hours, the India band works out at $2,400 to $3,200 for one full-time freelancer, before anyone reviews the code or tests it.
Salaries tell a different story. AmbitionBox, working from 7,300 salaries reported by employees, gives a typical range of ₹6.8 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh a year for React Native developers in India with one to six years of experience. At the European Central Bank's reference rates for 16 October 2026, about ₹95 to the dollar, that is roughly $7,200 to $7,900.
| Source | Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Upwork, React Native in India | $15 to $20 an hour | Typical freelance rates on the marketplace |
| Upwork, React Native in the US | $36 to $59 an hour | The US baseline Upwork gives on the same page |
| Upwork, React developers | $51 to $75 an hour, median $63 | Typical marketplace rates for React work in general |
| AmbitionBox, 1 to 3 years | ₹4.4 lakh to ₹4.9 lakh a year, about $4,600 to $5,200 | Salaries employees reported, India |
| AmbitionBox, 3 to 6 years | ₹8 lakh to ₹8.8 lakh a year, about $8,400 to $9,300 | Salaries employees reported, India |
| AmbitionBox, 6 to 9 years | ₹13.9 lakh to ₹15.3 lakh a year, about $14,600 to $16,100 | AmbitionBox's own estimate for this band |
Why a salary and a billed rate sit so far apart
A salary is what the developer is paid. A rate billed to you also carries the employer's costs, the weeks between projects, the reviewer and the tester around the developer, the person you call when the developer is ill, and the firm's margin. When a quote prices a developer close to the salary figure, one of those people is missing from the work, and you find out which one later.
City matters as well. AmbitionBox shows ₹10.6 lakh to ₹11.7 lakh a year in Bengaluru and ₹6.8 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh in New Delhi, so two quotes from India can differ for reasons that have nothing to do with skill. To turn any annual figure into an hourly one on your own hours, use the free salary converter; to test a quote you already hold, the software quote checker shows the hourly rate it implies.
If you need a price for the finished app rather than for one person's month, start from scope with the mobile app cost calculator. For an app you already run, budget for the upgrade work described above as well: the software maintenance cost calculator turns a build cost into a yearly upkeep figure.
Five steps to hire React Native developers in India through us
The vetting happens before you meet anyone: every developer we propose already works on our in-house team, under an engineering standard our CTO owns, and our CTO leads or reviews the architecture of our React Native apps. What is left for you is to check that this one developer fits this one app.
- Book the call and sign the NDA. Booking the call is when both sides sign a one-page mutual NDA, so you can talk freely about the app and its code from the first minute.
- Spend 30 minutes on the app. Bring the React Native version, the Expo SDK if there is one, who holds the store accounts, and the next three things the app must do.
- Read a written scope. Within 48 hours of the call you have a written scope and a quote, or, when the job is not one for us, a plain answer on the call itself.
- Interview the developer. You meet the person who will commit to your repository, not a stand-in. Use the questions further down this page.
- Sign, and start the next working day. Once the MSA and statement of work are signed, the developer starts within 24 hours.
Three ways to engage, and how fast each one starts
| Model | Starts | Who directs it | Billing | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A React Native developer in your team | Within 24 hours of signing | Your product lead, in your standups and your repository | Monthly | Someone on your side can review mobile code |
| A dedicated team | One to three weeks after signing | Our lead, against your roadmap, with our QA team testing each build | Monthly, normally for a quarter or more | There is no mobile lead on your side |
| A fixed-scope app | After a two-week discovery sprint | Our team, against a written scope | One price, set when discovery ends | Version one is defined and you want one number |
Only the first model starts the next working day, because one person from the bench can move at once. A whole team takes longer to put together, and our page on the dedicated development team model explains how that one runs.
What the developer does in weeks one and two
An existing app is audited before it is changed. The first fortnight below is written for that case; on a new app, day two becomes choosing the versions and the libraries rather than measuring the gap. Two things speed it up: invite the developer to your Apple and Google accounts before day one, and keep one lower-priced Android phone on hand.
| When | The work | What you hold at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | A clean clone, then a release build, not a development build, on an iPhone and on the Android phone | A note of everything the build was missing, from signing keys to a login for testing |
| Day 2 | A version audit: React Native and Expo SDK versions, the architecture in use, the JavaScript engine, and each library without New Architecture support | One page saying how far the app sits from the supported releases and the store rules |
| Days 3 and 4 | Signing and builds moved into your accounts: the Apple team, the Play Console and the Expo organization if the app uses EAS | Builds that come from accounts you control, not from one laptop |
| Day 5 | One small fix taken through review to TestFlight and to the Play internal testing track | Proof that a change can travel from a commit to a tester's phone on both platforms |
| Week 2 | The first feature from your backlog, tested on both phones; the over-the-air update channel checked if the app has one | A feature in testers' hands, and a written plan and estimate for any upgrade the audit found |
The audit on day two is the part to insist on, from us or from anyone. It turns "the app is a bit old" into a list of versions and libraries with an estimate beside each, and that list is what tells you whether to upgrade in place, spread the work over several sprints, or plan a rebuild.
Seven interview questions only a working React Native developer can answer
A web React developer can answer questions about hooks and components. The seven below are about phones, builds and upgrades, where web experience does not carry over, and each comes with what a good answer contains. Ask them of our developer and of everyone else on your list.
- "Have you moved an app to the New Architecture? Which library held you up?" A real answer names the library, says whether it was patched, replaced or dropped, and knows there is no switching back after 0.81.
- "Expo with prebuild, or a bare project: which did you pick last time, and why?" Listen for config plugins, development builds in place of Expo Go, and a reason tied to that app rather than to habit.
- "What can you ship over the air, and what needs a store build?" JavaScript, styles and images can go out as an update; a native change needs a new build and a new runtime version, as the EAS Update docs explain. A good candidate adds that updates still follow store rules.
- "A list of 2,000 rows stutters on a mid-priced Android phone. Where do you look first?" Expect a profiler before any guess, then list virtualization, re-renders caused by shared state, oversized images and animations kept off the JavaScript thread.
- "A user taps a link in an email while the app is closed. How does the app open on the right screen?" The Linking documentation separates the two cases: a running app receives the link as an event, while a closed app is opened with it and reads it through getInitialURL(). Expect both handled, and a test of each on a real phone.
- "Walk me through your last upgrade, from which version to which." Expect a step through each release with the upgrade diff open, libraries brought forward first, and an honest count of the days it took.
- "Where does the app keep a user's sign-in token?" Not in Async Storage, which the React Native security guide describes as unencrypted and lists as wrong for tokens and secrets. Expect the iOS Keychain and Android's encrypted storage, usually through a library such as expo-secure-store, and a plan for clearing the token at sign-out.
A take-home task is optional. If you set one, keep it to about three hours, pay for it, and make it a repair rather than a new build: a small app you supply whose product list is a ScrollView that slows down past a few hundred rows, and whose login keeps the token in Async Storage. Ask for both fixed and a short note on why. Then try the build on the oldest Android phone you can borrow.
Five warning signs in a React Native candidate
- Long lists built in a ScrollView. The ScrollView documentation says it renders every child at once, which slows rendering and raises memory use on a long list; FlatList, or a library built on the same idea, renders rows as they come into view.
- API keys inside the JavaScript bundle. Anything in the app's code can be read in plain text by someone who unpacks the installed app, so keys for paid services belong behind a server the app calls.
- Every permission asked for on first launch. Camera, location and notification prompts that arrive before the user knows why are easy to refuse, and a refused prompt is hard to win back.
- Crash reporting added after launch. Without it in the first build, the first week's crashes reach you through store reviews and support emails instead of a stack trace.
- The app ships from their accounts. An Apple team, a Play Console, an Expo project or an Android upload key registered to a personal login leaves with that person when the work ends.
React Native apps we have shipped: AirTrainr
AirTrainr connects athletes with sports trainers across the USA and Canada. We built its athlete and trainer mobile apps in React Native with Expo, with Supabase behind them. An athlete finds a trainer, books a session and answers offers; a trainer keeps a schedule, sends offers and follows earnings and reviews. Chat and notifications run on both sides.
The client agreed to this mention; it carries no results figures because none are cleared for publication. What it tells a hiring manager is that we have shipped the hard middle of a two-sided marketplace in React Native: two apps for two kinds of user, bookings and offers passing between them, chat, and notifications on both platforms.
Who owns the app, and when we are online
Our MSA hands you everything written or designed specifically for your app once the final invoice is paid; what we owned before the project, such as our own reusable libraries, stays ours. A React Native app has more places for ownership to leak than a website does, so put each of these in your company's name and add our developer as a member you can remove:
- The code repository, with branch protection on the main branch.
- The Apple Developer Program membership, enrolled as an organization.
- The Google Play Console account, and the Android upload key, with Play App Signing switched on.
- The Expo organization, if the app builds or updates through EAS.
- The push notification setup: the Apple push key and the Firebase project.
The contracting party is either Digital Heroes Technologies Pvt Ltd in India or Digital Heroesco LLC in the US, whichever the MSA names, with New York law the usual choice for American clients. For a health app that stores patient data, a BAA is signed whenever our team touches PHI. To verify the companies and offices behind these terms, see our custom software development company page.
On hours: India runs on one clock, UTC+05:30, all year. Engineering in Delhi and Lucknow keeps hours that overlap with New York, the mobile team works from the Delhi engineering headquarters with some mobile engineers in Sydney, and the New York office picks up messages on weekdays during Eastern business hours. Check the shared hours for your city with the free time zone planner.
Two cases where we are the wrong choice: a contract that needs every engineer to sit in the US, since our engineers are in India and Australia, and a budget decided by the cheapest hourly number alone, where a body shop that sells on price will beat us.
Sources behind these figures
Every outside figure and date on this page comes from one of these, read on 17 October 2026 unless marked otherwise and linked at the original publisher.
- Upwork, React Native developers in India: typical rates of $15 to $20 an hour, and a US baseline of $36 to $59.
- Upwork, React developer hourly rates: a median of $63 an hour within a typical $51 to $75, and US salaries of $106,000 to $157,000 and up.
- AmbitionBox, React Native developer salaries in India: ranges by experience and city from 7,300 reported salaries.
- European Central Bank reference rates for 16 October 2026: 1.1253 dollars and 106.864 rupees to the euro.
- React Native releases, the 0.82, 0.84 and 0.86 release notes, and Get Started: the support window, the New Architecture and Hermes changes, the React Foundation move and the Expo recommendation.
- React Native, Security, ScrollView and Linking (read 18 October 2026): token storage, why a long ScrollView is slow, and how links reach a closed app.
- Expo, EAS Update: what an over-the-air update can change, runtime versions and store rules.
- Apple, upcoming requirements and Google Play, target API level requirements: Xcode 26 since 28 April 2026, and API level 36 since 31 August 2026.
- Shopify Engineering, React Native is the Future of Mobile at Shopify (29 January 2020) and the React Native blog's San Francisco meetup recap (12 August 2016).
Questions buyers ask about React Native hires
How much does it cost to hire a React Native developer?
On Upwork, typical freelance rates for React Native developers in India are $15 to $20 an hour, against a US baseline of $36 to $59 for the same role. At about 160 hours a month, the India band is $2,400 to $3,200 for one freelancer, with no reviewer or tester included. We quote our own monthly figure after a call, once the job and the hours are clear. The cost section has the full table.
What is the average salary for a React Native developer in India?
AmbitionBox, from 7,300 salaries reported by employees, gives a typical range of ₹6.8 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh a year for one to six years of experience, roughly $7,200 to $7,900 at the ECB rates of 16 October 2026. It shows ₹4.4 lakh to ₹4.9 lakh at one to three years and ₹8 lakh to ₹8.8 lakh at three to six. A salary is not a billed rate, which also carries the employer's costs, review, testing and margin.
Is React Native still good in 2026?
For apps whose screens are mostly lists, forms and chat, yes. It ships a new release about every two months, has run only on the New Architecture since 0.82, made Hermes V1 its default engine in 0.84, and, as the 0.86 release notes record, is moving with React to the React Foundation, an independent foundation. It is the wrong pick when the product depends on the camera, augmented reality, a watch app or a game.
How much does it cost to hire a React developer?
Upwork lists a median of $63 an hour for React developers on its marketplace, with most rates between $51 and $75, and US salaries of about $106,000 to $157,000 or more a year. The same page notes that React developers who specialize in React Native for mobile may charge more than web work pays. A web React developer is not automatically a mobile one, so test for builds and native code before you hire.
Is Netflix using React Native?
Netflix engineers have worked with it. The React Native blog's recap of a 2016 San Francisco meetup describes a talk by a Netflix senior engineer on designing React Native libraries, and reports that about 80 percent of that library code at Netflix was shared between Android and iOS. That is a 2016 account of library work, not a statement about the Netflix apps on your phone today.
How soon can the developer start?
One developer joining your team begins the working day after the contract is signed, inside 24 hours. A dedicated team takes one to three weeks to assemble, and a fixed-scope app begins with a two-week discovery sprint. Invite the developer to your Apple, Google and Expo accounts before day one, or the first day goes on waiting for access.
Can one React Native developer build for both iOS and Android?
Yes. Most of the code is shared, and the work that is not, such as signing, store listings and the odd native setting, is routine for someone who has shipped both. iOS builds need a Mac or a cloud build service such as EAS Build, and every release should be tried on at least one lower-priced Android phone. When a feature needs deep native work, our Swift and Kotlin developers join for that piece.
Can you upgrade an old React Native app instead of rewriting it?
Usually, yes. The developer audits the app first: its React Native and Expo versions, its architecture, and every library without New Architecture support. You get that list with an estimate per item before any larger commitment. Most apps then move forward release by release; a rebuild only makes sense when the libraries it depends on are dead and the screens need redesigning anyway.
Who owns the code and the store accounts?
You do, once the final invoice is paid: the MSA assigns you everything built for the app, while our pre-existing tools stay ours. Hold the repository, the Apple and Google developer accounts, the Expo organization and the Android upload key in your company's name, with our developer as a member you can remove.
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Bring the app, then meet the developer
Send a line on what the app does and which React Native version it runs today. We spend a free 30-minute call on it, then put a developer in front of you to interview, and if you sign, they start the following working day. The call carries no obligation. Book a call with a React Native developer.
Comparing firms first? Our list of the top React Native development companies is a place to start.
Why work with Digital Heroes
115 people across five studios in New York, Delhi, London, Sydney and Lucknow, shipping ecommerce, web, software and mobile work for founder-led brands. Senior engineers only, no account-manager relay, and the same team from kickoff to launch.
- Shopify Select Partner, as listed in the Shopify Partner Directory
- Tier 1 registered supplier on the United Nations Global Marketplace, which requires audited company documentation
- Top Rated Plus on Upwork, the bracket for the top 3% of talent by client outcomes
- 397 public five-star-weighted reviews across four Fiverr gigs, from clients in 36 countries
- DUNS verified business, No. 650878346, so procurement can check us before signing
- Listed by Clutch in Top 1000 Global B2B Companies and Top Web Designers 2024
- Verified profiles on GoodFirms, DesignRush, Digital.com, AppFutura and TopDevelopers
- 2,000+ brands built across 40+ countries, with $50M+ in client revenue scaled
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