Compose Multiplatform
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 25 of 45 GUI frameworks by recommenders
Kotlin framework for sharing UI across Android, iOS, desktop and web with a modern API and good developer experience. Web builds draw on a canvas and can feel off.
Kotlin framework for sharing UI across Android, iOS, desktop and web with a modern API and good developer experience. Web builds draw on a canvas and can feel off.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Modern API and good developer experience
“Currently my favourite way to build applications (desktop or mobile) is Kotlin and Compose.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “.NET MAUI is coming to Linux and the browser” “Compiles to wasm, modern api, great developer experience.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Applets are officially gone, but Java in the browser is better” “Compose is my favourite way of doing UI”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Telegram Desktop vulnerability allowed any user's file to be stolen” Shares UI across mobile, desktop and web
“Jetbrain's compose multiplatform is has native Android/IOS supported now with a canvas rendered web frontend supported in Beta currently.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “What Happened to WebAssembly” “You could just use Kotlin Multiplatform and Multiplatform Compose instead.”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “Valdi – A cross-platform UI framework that delivers native performance” “I should be fine with Compose Multiplatform and Kotlin Multiplatform”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “SwiftUI After 7 Years: A Story of Mediocrity” - Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Swift on Android: Full Native App Development Now Possible”
- Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “Using Go for Mobile Apps”
- Comment from 8 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: NeoMud – A multiplayer dungeon game with AI agents that QA and playtest”
Fewer pitfalls and bugs than alternatives
“Eventually dumped it and moved to Kotlin Compose/Multiplatform, which is just so much better at achieving a similar goal”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “.NET MAUI is coming to Linux and the browser” “Even the same APIs, on the Compose Multiplatform side tend to have fewer pitfalls and bugs”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “StreetComplete on iOS is now in public beta” Native Android and iOS support
“Jetbrain's compose multiplatform is has native Android/IOS supported now with a canvas rendered web frontend supported in Beta currently.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “What Happened to WebAssembly” “cmp has gone stable on ios”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Kotlin's Rich Errors: Native, Typed Errors Without Exceptions”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Web canvas rendering feels off
“Jetbrain's compose multiplatform is has native Android/IOS supported now with a canvas rendered web frontend supported in Beta currently.”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “What Happened to WebAssembly” “If you create a Flutter or Kotlin Compose Multiplatform or AvaloniaUI app and put it on the web, it's not going to feel right”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “WinUI 3 Performance: A Leap Forward” “an uncanny valley UI that doesn't feel _quite_ right, and that struggles to keep up with the platform conventions”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Skip Is Now Free and Open Source” - Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Deno Desktop”
Immature and unstable outside Android
“it's quite immature compared to Flutter and they'll spend a lot of time fixing the same bugs with rendering”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “What's New in Flutter 3.47” “it's still quite early, I know they say it's "stable" but when I used it, it really didn't seem so”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Swift on Android: Full Native App Development Now Possible” “You can also share UI with Compose Multiplatform (less mature)”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Swift on Android: Full Native App Development Now Possible” Unwieldy outside standard problems
“At times, I feel it is quite unwieldy when not solving standard problems.”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “StreetComplete on iOS is now in public beta” “I ultimately gave up because it was not straightforward at all”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Swift on Android: Full Native App Development Now Possible”
Other GUI frameworks people recommend
The four most recommended other GUI frameworks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qt | 191 | 133 | 59% | 12 | 15 yrs7 owners | — |
| GTK | 85 | 118 | 42% | 12 | — | — |
| Windows Forms | 76 | 33 | 70% | 12 | 15 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| SwiftUI | 75 | 121 | 38% | 11 | 4 yrs8 owners | — |
| Compose MultiplatformThis page | 15 | 5 | 75% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Compose is my favourite way of doing UI”
“Even the same APIs, on the Compose Multiplatform side tend to have fewer pitfalls and bugs”
“At times, I feel it is quite unwieldy when not solving standard problems.”
“Multiplatform and Compose come to mind as Kotlin differentiators”
“it's quite immature compared to Flutter and they'll spend a lot of time fixing the same bugs with rendering”
“can render to a web canvas, including full accessibility support.”
“I should be fine with Compose Multiplatform and Kotlin Multiplatform”
“you can write a cross-platform app in a modern language, and that is far better than C++”
“I'll stick to Kotlin Multiplatform with Compose Multiplatform”
“Only caveat is that it uses Canvas rendering on web.”
“If you create a Flutter or Kotlin Compose Multiplatform or AvaloniaUI app and put it on the web, it's not going to feel right”
“Kotlin/Compose multiplatform is fast on everything.”
“The Kotlin Multiplatform story for UI is surprisingly mature”
“cmp has gone stable on ios”
“Most of the mainstream UI frameworks are under licenses like that and for good reasons.”
“an uncanny valley UI that doesn't feel _quite_ right, and that struggles to keep up with the platform conventions”
“Jetbrain's compose multiplatform is has native Android/IOS supported now with a canvas rendered web frontend supported in Beta currently.”
“Maybe with Compose multiplatform?”
“it's essentially still Android only as their other OS support isn't really stable”
“You can also share UI with Compose Multiplatform (less mature)”
“I ultimately gave up because it was not straightforward at all”
“it's still quite early, I know they say it's "stable" but when I used it, it really didn't seem so”
“Compiles to wasm, modern api, great developer experience.”
“Eventually dumped it and moved to Kotlin Compose/Multiplatform, which is just so much better at achieving a similar goal”
“Currently my favourite way to build applications (desktop or mobile) is Kotlin and Compose.”
“You could just use Kotlin Multiplatform and Multiplatform Compose instead.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.